We spoke to Aja about the contents of the MIRRORS disc, his thoughts on the new wave of 3-D and his plans to brutally kill plenty of spring breakers with his prehistoric killer fish.

Bloody-Disgusting: Tell me about the MIRRORS DVD and Blu-ray that are out this week.

Alex Aja: It’s interesting, because it’s the first movie I’ve had where I’ve had to think about the Blu-ray and the DVD at the same time. I always wanted to limit the DVD bonuses, not because I didn’t want bonuses, but because I wanted as much space as possible to have the best mastering of the movie. On a regular DVD, the space is limited, but Blu-ray is like another world where you have the space to do whatever you want.

We [have a feature] where you can watch the movie and see behind-the-scenes footage at the same time. It’s a nice way of watching the movie and [also] seeing the movie being made. We also have a voice over for that.

BD: Are you a fan of Blu-ray and do you think it’s necessary?

AA: I’m not convinced yet it’s necessary because I don’t see many masters that are that different. But from a certain point of view, it makes a lot of sense. Now with Blu-ray, people get to see exactly what we did in the color timing room.

BD: Does it make special effects trickier because everything is so much clearer?

AA: Yeah, when I’m finalizing special effects I do that on a very high definition master so that I’m sure there are no surprises. It’s a big challenge and there are a lot of people involved. It’s always filmmaker against technical people.

BD: MIRRORS will be best remembered for the gory deaths and, of course, the jaw scene. Did you go into how you did those effects on the discs?

AA: Yes, we go behind the scenes for an hour, maybe more. We go into some details. It might be a little bit technical for some people, but as a moviegoer, I want to see the secrets. I want to see the technique behind the movie. So that’s what we tried to do.

BD: How is everything going on PIRANHA?

AA: I just came back from the stage where we are finishing all the preproduction on PIRANHA. We were supposed to shoot in the fall, but for reasons like not being able to shoot the movie under the water in winter or fall and for location reasons, we had to push back to spring.

BD: So no chance of meeting the July release date?

AA: No, no, it’s impossible.

BD: Do you have a new date?

AA: Not yet. They are working on that.

BD: How important is this weekend’s release of MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3-D to you?

AA: I almost delayed my trip back to France to see the movie. Of course it’s the first horror movie using the new 3-D technology and the marketing is pretty impressive. Besides that, I’m quite a big fan of the original, so I’m kind of wondering what they did [with it]. I hope it’s a huge hit. All of us are secretly thinking 3-D is going to be the new blood of [horror] movies for the next decade.

BD: Is there any danger if MY BLOODY bombs that they would pull the plug on the 3-D aspect of Piranha?

AA: No, I don’t think so. First, I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be a flop. It might have some issue with the number of screens. That’s the only thing that can make sense. Every month you have new 3-D screens being installed around the world. So they are the first one and they don’t have the wide platform that we are going to have and they don’t have any movies to play their trailer in 3-D in front of. When you watch FINAL DESTINATION, you are going to watch the PIRANHA trailer in 3-D and that’s already an experience.

Most of the 3-D movies coming out are not R-rated, so as you know we cannot advertise in front [of those]. We have to find our spots, but I think there is a nice synergy between all the people that are making 3-D movies right now, even if everyone is saying, “My movie is more bloody, more sexy and more topless girls.” (Laughs) Whatever, it’s like the circus is in town. We’re all in it [together] and I love that because we are all part of a new movie evolution.

BD: 3-D has been around for so long and now everyone’s wondering if this is the time for it to finally catch on.

AA: You know what, my feeling is that I’m very, very confident in that. 3-D is getting to home cinema and video games and [maybe even] cell phones. I saw some demos of a basketball game in 3-D and many, many different things besides just movies. When you try that world, why go back to 2-D? The image comes into your living room. It’s amazing.

BD: Speaking to Craig Perry on the set of FD4, he said this process will enhance all movies and he hopes to see it expand beyond just genre material.

AA: I look forward to see the director that dares to do a drama in 3-D.

BD: A Merchant Ivory epic in 3-D.

AA: (Laughs) That seems completely uninteresting because at the same time, it’s the opposite. Like Cameron said about [AVATAR], you’re not supposed to play the 3-D as a gimmick. You can also play it as an opening to a world and the depth you gain through that is the most interesting thing the filmmaker has. So why not?

BD: Tell me a little about your plans for PIRANHA outside of the 3-D.

AA: PIRANHA is Spring break under attack by prehistoric fish that have been released by an earthquake under a lake in Arizona. So we keep that very kind of guilty pleasure style of movie where we set up a very easy storyline to just get the maximum gore and the maximum nudity. It’s a very strange movie to describe because it’s the movie I always wanted to see and make.

I spoke about it with Eli Roth and he said “Oh! This is my dream project. Can I come and do something in the movie?” I think many people were sharing that thrill of going back and doing that kind of movie that we loved when we were 15.

We’ve been able to push production to develop the script and get even more gags and more action pieces.

BD: I can’t wait to see it.

AA: Yeah, you have to come to set! That’s a serious invitation. As soon as we start shooting, it will be a nice Spring Break set with a lot of extras and a lot of action. I’ll wait for you guys!