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“Manborg: The Novelization” Author Bret Nelson Reopens the Book on the 2011 Cult Hit

Monday, June 6, 2022 | Interviews

By KEVIN HOOVER

The movie novelization was born out of necessity: “I’m old enough to remember when there wasn’t home video, and that’s why novelizations existed,” recalls Bret Nelson. “If you wanted to experience the movie again, you either had to get the book, hope that it came out on View-Master, or that one of your friends ordered the Super 8 millimeter out of the back of Starlog.” For Nelson, author of the forthcoming Manborg novelization of Steven Kostanski’s 2011 sci-fi/comedy about a clash between the denizens of hell and a motley crew of Earth’s protectors lead by the titular half-man, half-automaton, penning the written counterpart to the cult classic was some of the most fun he’s had in his professional career. Impressive, considering the guy’s had a hand in creating many of entertainment’s cherished moments while working for brands like Disney and The Jim Henson Company. Ahead of the book’s June 10th release date, Nelson spent some time with Rue Morgue to discuss his latest endeavor.

Bret Nelson

What enticed you to become involved with the Manborg novelization?

I came in through the side door. I saw PG: Psycho Goreman and knew Mark (Miller, owner of Encyclopocalypse Publications), and he said, “You’ve got to see Manborg.” Right off the bat, I could tell that the people that were making this movie loved making it. Kostanski had to make some choices, clearly because they didn’t have any money, but they had time. Something nice happens when you have time because you can make a good movie. Aside from that, they also had the passion to make this thing right. There are a lot of movies where they’re emulating exploitation, but they’re winking at the camera constantly. None of that’s in there – mocking is not in Manborg. It’s sort of a showcase for Astron-6 (the filmmaking collective of which Kostanski is a part), because up to then they’d have a really good idea and then make little six-to-nine minute trailers. When you’re looking at the cityscapes in the film that he made out of found objects, they’re composited well. There are little tiny vignettes going on in different corners of the screen where you’ve got killborgs beating the crap out of a guy over here; you’ve got a couple walking and talking over there. He populated the world – it was him and two people just putting on different costumes and getting different angles on the camera so there was some texture around this city that he had created. I think that’s what really drew me in. This is a movie that doesn’t have a studio-quality finish because he’s doing it at his house, it’s about an hour long, and he made it for $1000 Canadian.

Novelizing a film would seemingly ensure you have a built-in audience and are guaranteed at least some modicum of success as fans follow you over. Manborg is very niche; was your hope to help increase awareness of the film, as opposed to the other way around?

I don’t think there was any sort of a goal like that. This world starts with a battle from Hell, literally, which is then annexed as a part of Hell with a group of gladiators that break out and fight their way through the cities. It really is a big story and Kostanski had to shoot through a very tight lens on it; you don’t see a lot of the stuff that’s going on outside. We pretty much follow around these main characters the whole time and even then it’s mostly just Manborg. It sounded like a ball and would be fun to write, more so than we need to bring this to a broader audience. There’s a lot in the book that wasn’t in the movie because the movie was only an hour long.

Explain the novelization process. Did you essentially pen the entire film screen-to-page, or were you allowed any creative freedom with the source material?

It started with a call between Mark, Steve, and me. I said, “Your movie covers the Earth tearing open and Hell’s forces pouring out and conquering the entire planet.” That’s told in about six sentences on a title card at the front of the movie. We’ve got to spread that out a little if we’re to set the stage for what these people are fighting against. I can’t take anything out of the movie – it’s only an hour long. What he has in there is very lean and necessary: all meat, no filler. Everything moves the plot forward and is key, so I couldn’t take any of it out, otherwise, the rest of it wouldn’t make any sense. As far as adding in, I had a list of stuff that were the bits that I need to hook together. These were connections I needed to make so that the thread goes from “here’s the world without help in it” to “here’s the end of the movie and how that affects everybody through it.”

Manborg is a visual anomaly, a property that would almost require the medium of film to accurately depict its characters and settings. Costumes were built out of refuse and locales were completely green-screened. How difficult was that to translate to the written page?

I was being pushed along by the action story itself. I wasn’t trying to describe what was in the movie; I was telling the story that is the movie. I think if you have seen the movie, as I’m in the expository bits describing buildings and vehicles and that kind of stuff, you’ll probably be watching it in your head. If you haven’t seen the movie, you may see something that’s a little slicker.

Was there any feedback or involvement from the director/production team?

Steve was there in the beginning as I was putting some plot points together, but eventually, I had to just go away and write the whole thing. Once I had the notes that I had, he was hands-off. It wasn’t until the book was finished that I handed it back. That could’ve been dangerous because he could’ve looked at it and said, “What the hell is this?” But he was fond of it and liked how it turned out.

The Manborg novelization is available for purchase here.

Kevin Hoover
Ever since watching CREEPSHOW as a child, Kevin Hoover has spent a lifetime addicted to horror (and terrified of cockroaches). He wholeheartedly believes in the concept of reanimating the dead if only we’d give it the old college try, and thinks FRIDAY THE 13th PART V is the best in the franchise. Aside from writing “Cryptid Cinema Chronicles” for Rue Morgue, he’s been a working copywriter for over a decade and you’ve probably bought something with his words on it. He also believes even the worst movie can be improved with buckets of gore.