DEE SNIDER Says His New Horror Movie 'My Enemy's Enemy' Is 'Gonna Change The Game Again': It's 'Very Disturbing'

Dee Snider says that his new horror movie, which he is both writing and directing, has been affected by the 2023 Writers Guild Of America (WGA) strike.

The 11,500 film and television writers in the WGA have been on strike since the beginning of May, leading many productions to pause and live scripted programs such as late-night talk shows to go off the air.

Last month it was reported that Hollywood actors may be on the verge of joining screenwriters in what would be the first two-union strike in the industry in more than six decades,

The TWISTED SISTER frontman spoke about his film, which is titled "My Enemy's Enemy", during a new appearance on The SDR Show with Ralph Sutton. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's a very disturbing movie. It's gonna change the game again. And I'm gonna get to direct it. But right now we're in the midst of a lot of union stuff, which is really stopping the whole process. So, hopefully, once this all settles down, 'cause the actors are next in line… So we'll see what happens."

Asked if the plan is to shoot the movie this year, Dee said: "I was actually set up to film it last year. God, I don't get the industry. We were location scouting, we cast the whole movie in [Las] Vegas, everything was all set to go, and then it was delayed. And everybody in Hollywood goes, 'This is just the way it goes.' It takes years… Somebody — I think maybe [Steven] Spielberg — said, 'It's amazing any movies ever get made.' It's just such a process. So it was postponed to this summer, and now the strikes are happening. So... I'm on hold."

Three years ago, the TWISTED SISTER frontman, who previously wrote and starred in the cult 1998 horror movie "Strangeland", revealed that "My Enemy's Enemy" is based on a real-life crime spree that took place in his native Long Island, New York in 1982.

"I had my movie that was supposed to go into production and there are certain business aspects of that that even now are still slowly moving forward because there are certain things that you can still put in place," he told PopMatters at the time. "You can still slowly work through production elements and everything. I've also been asked to write a reimagining of another classic '80s horror film that I can't mention by name. I was working on the treatment for that. That's been greenlit, so they're putting together deals with that and I'll start writing the screenplay."

Snider went on to say that there are some powerful people in the film industry who think he is "the next Rob Zombie, the rock star-turned-horror writer/director/creator. That's why they're funding me for these two movies and their plan is to turn me into that," he said. "I am ready to be turned into that. This is a place that I've been dabbling in and writing in for many, many years. With my screenplay writing, I'm now firing on all cylinders. That's a very major part."

Dee added that he enjoys being creative without stepping into the spotlight as a singer or actor.

"I really like that part of not being onstage, not being in front of the camera, not being out in front, just being the creative force behind because it's so liberating to me," he said. "As long as I can create it on the page and an actor/actress can represent it convincingly, I can be anybody. I'm so free to be any age, any color, any sex with the written word. It's something I'm really striving toward. I don't plan on being on stage performing for the rest of my days."

Snider previously told the gambling and metal show "Metal Casino Live" about "My Enemy's Enemy": "'My Enemy's Enemy' is powerfully disturbing. People said to me, after 'Strangeland', why didn't I do something else, and I said 'cause I didn't have an idea; I didn't wanna just do something typical. And there was a crime committed where I grew up on Long Island in 1982. It's considered the most horrible of crimes in the history of the area where I grew up. Each of the people convicted got 365 years in prison — each — for the crime. And I took that story, and I said, 'Well, what if…?' And I'm being very general, 'cause I don't wanna give away too much at this point. But I said, 'What if when this crime was happening, a Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees showed up — someone who was more evil. And 'My Enemy's Enemy' is about, can we join each other, when we're enemies, to fight a greater enemy? If you've just had horrible things done to you by people, but could you work with them to fight somebody who was even more horrible. So it's based on a true story, but then I just went with what I call the X factor and go into fantasy world. So I think people are gonna be very disturbed, but they're gonna enjoy it."

Snider's first fictional novel, "Frats", on was released on June 2 via Red Penguin Books.

Based on true events, "Frats" is said to be "a '70s period piece and coming-of-age story" that's "all about toxic masculinity and growing up in a very toxic environment and how it affects people."

The 68-year-old musician, who lives in Southern California, previously wrote two other books: "Dee Snider's Teenage Survival Guide: Or How To Be A Legend In Your Own Lunch Time", which was originally published in 1987 but was re-released in 2019, and Snider's official autobiography, "Shut Up And Give Me The Mic", which was released in 2012 via Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

In 2016, TWISTED SISTER embarked on one final trek, titled "Forty And Fuck It", in celebration of its 40th anniversary. These shows featured the band's "core lineup" of Snider, guitarists Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda and bassist Mark Mendoza, along with drummer Mike Portnoy. The band's last-ever full concert took place in November of that year — 20 months after the passing of TWISTED's longtime drummer A.J. Pero.

TWISTED SISTER's original run ended in the late '80s. After more than a decade, the band publicly reunited in November 2001 to top the bill of New York Steel, a hard-rock benefit concert to raise money for the New York Police And Fire Widows' And Children's Benefit Fund.