Entries Tagged 'Interviews' ↓

...perhaps you would fancy reading a rather lengthy interview with moi over at ye olde Chainsaw Mafia. Or perhaps you would not. Generic businessdouches, however, clearly think it's the greatest thing ever. Who are you- nay, who are any of us- to disagree?

Part two of my interview on The Last Podcast is UP UP UP. So LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN if you WANT WA--ehhh...

Hooray!

It's true, I do...and this interview I did with The Last Podcast proves it! It's rather cracked out, but it's fun...or at least, that's how I remember it. That's how I remember most things, though. Give it a listen! Part two will come along soon enough, so don't worry.

In other me news, I have an opinion! One of my most favoritest comic book artists, Becky Cloonan, posted this picture of Dracula's Bloofer Lady on her blog and lo, I say...it's wicked way beyond bitchin'.

Long may your haunted hills...err...wave.

She rules, plain and simple! Here's an interview I did with her...man, I had to work to control myself so I wouldn't geek out severely. I miss Movie Macabre like nobody's business.

...when the paramilitary commando dudes were going after the Red Queen when they accidentally tripped her defense system and suddenly the hallway they were all standing in had these deadly deadly lasers scooting down it, slicing up everything in their path? And then that one paramilitary commando dude was all ready to face the final laser, like, to jump over that shit or squeeze under it or something, and he was all, "Up YOURS, laser!" but then that eeeeevil, wily laser was all, "Pfft- up YOURS, paramilitary commando dude!" and it turned into a grid and diced him up real good? Yeah, that was cool.




And remember how the same sort of thing had been done a few years earlier in Cube? But when Resident Evil came around, the idea still was a bit novel...but now horror movie schmoes getting silently sliced and then slowly collapsing into a pile of grue-n-chunks is practically de rigueur? Yeah.

Anyway, my buddy JA of My New Plaid Pants has, of course, examined the sequences in Resident Evil and Cube before as part of his most excellent Thursday's Ways Not to Die series. You should check it out, if you know what's good for you!

Speaking of things to check out and knowing what's good for you, here's something else: Scott Weinberg, old friend of both Final Girl and darkness, has bravely gone and posted two massive lists: his top 100 horror and top 100 sci fi films. Mayhaps I'll do a big ol' horror list like that someday so people can get all riled up and call me a jerk for not including House of 1000 Corpses or whatevs. Oh, lists...why can't The Internet quit you?

Another thing to check out, etc etc: tonight- yes, TONIGHT- I- yes, I- will be- yes, BE- (okay that's enough, do-over)...tonight, I wll be a guest on The Graveyard Show podcast! It is something to which you can listen! It will be posted tonight: midnight, EST/9pm PST. I don't remember what I blathered on about, but I do remember that I had a wonderful time talking with The Caretaker. Perhaps this means you will enjoy listening...or not. I can no longer predict your reactions things- in fact, I feel like I don't know you at all anymore. But still, listen listen listen!!

One last thing: as you may have figured out by now, I am a huge fan of all things Resident Evil (although I wouldn't watch the second film again with ten-foot eyes) (whatever that means). It's no surprise, then, that when I saw a television spot for Avon's newest magical age-defying de-wrinkling serum or whatever the fuck it is, I immediately thought Umbrella Corporation. After searching for a picture of said serum online, I quickly discovered that I am not the only massive RE nerd in the galaxy. Behold, the truth behind Avon's serum! It's clearly a bioweapon.

I should warn my mom and gramma about this, lest they procure some and later transform into crimes against nature...although...hmm...that might liven up family functions a bit. Oh, what a dilemma I face!

Written by Elaine Lamkin

Dublin-born actor Karl Geary had worked with director JT Petty (interview) prior to being cast as Fergus Coffey in Petty’s The Burrowers (review), but one wonders if he really knew what he was getting himself into with this film. Sure, he was in Mimic: Sentinel where he had to battle giant bugs as well as a sinister Lance Henriksen and he was simply IN a film alongside Christopher Walken which is just plain creepy. But in The Burrowers, Geary is dealing with a whole new slew of nightmares: the burrowers themselves, 19^th century racism and Doug Hutchison (interview) and his handle-bar mustache. Fatally-Yours.com recently spoke to the very funny and enthusiastic actor while he was waiting for a flight from LAX to New York and discovered the “joys” of riding bitch with a pack horse, the humor of an Irishman speaking French to Ute Indians and his reaction to Doug Hutchison’s “Who fed my Indian?” scene.

Elaine Lamkin: Thank you so much for taking time to speak with Fatally-Yours.com about your new film, the amazing The Burrowers. First though, how about a little of the Karl Geary Story?

Karl Geary: I am originally from Dublin, the youngest of eight (four older brothers and three older sisters). I knew I wanted to be an actor from being in school plays as well as idolizing actors like Albert Finney and Peter O’Toole, but, of course, my family didn’t know what to think about that - my dad worked in construction. When I was 16, I came to the States on my own with a three month student visa and just never went back. I did train in New York with several coaches but I never took a degree. I learned much better just working with great actors and directors. On-the-job training, I suppose (laughs).

EL: You worked with JT Petty before, on the film Mimic: Sentinel. Did you have to audition for the role of Fergus Coffey? And having worked with JT before, you knew his style of directing - what is it like?

KG: No, I never auditioned for The Burrowers. JT is an amazing guy - he is great with the cast, the crew AND the camera! He has this ability to explain why he wrote something and it’s like he has this whole road map for the film in his head.

EL: What was the week-long “cowboy camp” that you attended to prepare for The Burrowers like?

KG: It was a lot of fun, learning how to ride and all. But, when it came time to shoot, my character gets stuck with the pack horse, lazy bastard. That was a nightmare! I think I said something in the commentary about it being like trying to drive with two steering wheels.

Clancy [Brown] already knew how to ride so he just showed up, ready to go. Ride off into the sunset or something (laughs).

EL: You worked with an amazing cast: William Mapother (interview), Clancy Brown (interview), Doug Hutchison (interview), Sean Patrick Thomas, Laura Leighton. What were these guys like?

KG: Everyone was great and everyone had each other’s back. I had never met most of the cast before but knew their work so it was a bit of a surprise when I met Clancy and Doug. Both total sweethearts! And speaking of Doug, I have to comment on one scene he had that was amazing. The “Who fed my Indian?” scene. We had been having a meal prior to shooting that and everyone was laughing, cutting up and then we do this scene where Doug’s character, Henry Victor, goes from being a raving lunatic, or almost, to being a spoilt little baby, about to cry because his “authority was being undermined.” Just brilliant acting from him.

EL: How much research did you do prior to shooting?

KG: I tried to do some. I was surprised to find out just how awful it was to be a cowboy. It was like the worst job in the world and the only people who DID become cowboys did so because they couldn’t manage back East. Add in being Irish and you were the lowest of the low.

EL: Do you have any anecdotes from shooting that you would like to share?

KG: Well, we had to grow our own grass to make New Mexico look like the Dakotas. That took about 6 months. The film was not shot linear - I think the first scene shot (and ended up being cut) was when Coffey returns to Gertrude Spack’s to give her the crucifix. And there is actually quite a lot of humor in the film - I love the scene where Fergus is speaking French to the Ute Indians and Callaghan (Sean Patrick Thomas) gives me this LOOK!! And no, I did not know any French prior to that scene (laughs).

EL: How would you describe The Burrowers?

KG: It’s a very intelligent film and unfortunately, the studio had no idea how to market it. Is it horror? Is it a Western? Well, it’s both! I am sorry there was next to no theatrical release but hopefully the film will find its audience.

EL: While doing some prep for your interview, I noticed that you have worked with some other amazing actors: Christopher Walken (1998’s Trance), Lance Henriksen (2003’s Mimic: Sentinel), genre favorite Larry Fessenden, Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, Stanley Tucci, the late John Ritter, Kyra Sedgwick and, just to keep the Lost theme going that seems to have “infected” the film, Rebecca Mader. Out of all those fantastic actors, I have to ask, what was like working with Walken?

KG: (laughs) Christopher is like Clancy - a true force of nature. I would like to add that my very first film here in the States was produced by David Lynch. A vampire film called Nadya where I played Renfield and which co-starred Peter Fonda, Martin Donovan, Suzy Amis and David even played a morgue receptionist. What an introduction to working in films!

EL: Are you a horror fan and, if so, what are some of your favorite movies and books?

KG: When I was a kid, my dad and I would watch the old black and white monster movies together. Sort of how we communicated. My mom didn’t like horror movies.

The first film I ever saw in a theater was Jaws. One of my brothers took me - I thought it was going to be a Disney movie (laughs). Obviously not. I like the old Hammer films, the one by that French director [Roman Polanski]…The Fearless Vampire Killers. The Descent was brilliant and I really liked the first Saw movie.

I don’t normally read horror. I’m a scaredy-cat. I have a home in upstate New York. Very isolated. Tried to read a horror novel there once. Not a good idea. But I HAVE read Sarah’s (Langan) books [review]. Get in good with the director if you read his wife’s stuff (laughs).

EL: What is up next for Karl Geary?

KG: Well, as we speak, I’m in LAX, leaving for New York and then I’m off to Europe for a few weeks for a project. I recently completed a thriller called Stag Night. After that, who knows…

EL: What is one thing no one knows about Karl Geary that you think they should.

KG: (silence) Hmmm…well, I’m quite a good carpenter. I’ve renovated several homes over the years.

EL: Hey, Harrison Ford used to do that too and look at him!

KG: (laughs) That’s right!

EL: I know your flight is leaving soon so thank you so much for your time, Karl.

KG: You are very welcome, Elaine.  It’s been a pleasure.

Written by Elaine Lamkin

Clancy Brown is one of the most respected character actors around as well as being a force of nature. This reporter was privileged to see Clancy several years ago at Actor’s Theater in Louisville, playing Anthony in Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra with recent Oscar-winner Mercedes Ruehl, so the opportunity to interview him was especially exciting.

One problem though. Clancy was in Chicago at the time we did this interview and it seemed that the city had to be on fire as every few minutes, our conversation would be drowned out by almost literally ear-splitting sirens. But hopefully, what I was able to hear from “Brother Justin/Gus Gilbert/David Brown” and “John Clay” made it into this interview.

Elaine Lamkin: Thank you so much for taking time to speak with Fatally-Yours.com about your new film, the amazing The Burrowers (review). How did you come to be involved with director JT Petty (interview) and The Burrowers?

Clancy Brown: The script was sent to me a few years ago but I wasn’t interested when Tremors was mentioned.  It sat on my desk for a while, then I read it and loved that it was a Western and all of the characters were realistic. I took a meeting with JT and was surprised by JT’s references to such films as The Searchers and Ulzana’s Raid. However, I was offered no money so I did another film instead, The Express with Dennis Quaid. I met with JT again and this time the money for the film was there and I accepted the role of John Clay.

EL: For horror fans, what would you say to those who hear it is a Western/horror hybrid and aren’t sure how “horrific” the film might be?

CB: Well, for people who like Westerns, it’s a Western and for people who like horror, it’s a horror film. The whole psychology of a Western is in The Burrowers: Manifest Destiny, propagation of the species, how Westerns expiate the American sin of racism against the Native Americans. The horror is really the horror of the people, not the creatures. In the film, the horror is created by the settlers killing off the buffalo which the creatures fed on.

EL: You are known for playing bad guys but this time you are the “John Wayne” character or, as either JT or Karl referred to you on the commentary, “Big Poppa”. How would you describe your character, John Clay?

CB: “Big Poppa”?? I’m going to have to give JT some shit about that. John Clay is the iconic American Western character: highly principled, taciturn although, as it turns out, his assumptions are wrong as to what he and Parcher are dealing with. JT is a genius - he gave each of us a backstory for our character as well as the backstory on all of the others in the film.

EL:  Did you do any research on the time period prior to shooting?  I heard you did not attend “cowboy camp” but arrived on set ready to ride.

CB: No, I didn’t do any research and I didn’t attend the camp as I’ve ridden horses in the past. Karl didn’t know how to ride and he had to deal with the pack horse as well (laughs). Thankfully, we had incredible horse wranglers as well as good picture horses. They always hit their marks.

EL:  How was it working with such a diverse cast: William Mapother (interview), Karl Geary, Doug Hutchison (interview), Sean Patrick Thomas, Galen Hutchison and, of course, JT Petty (interview)?

CB: Galen was terrific. He was a young local actor and did a great job. I had never crossed paths with William or Doug prior to The Burrowers.  Doug was the “rocker” of the bunch while I think William just wanted to go off and read a book between takes. Sean Patrick had just gotten married so he behaved himself. There really wasn’t a lot of time for hijinks.

All I can say about JT is that he’s a genius.

EL:  You are a genre favorite with roles in Carnivale, Pet Sematary 2, The Bride, Highlander, etc. Obviously you have no worries about being typecast.  And as someone who has worked in horror, what is your opinion on the state of horror films today? I know I would love to see more films like The Burrowers but the studios only seem to be interested in PG-13/CGI-loaded/pretty 20-something “actors” garbage.

CB: I don’t really watch horror films. The slasher films back in the 80s ended it for me. They are just dumbass gorefests. And I think the current trends are ridiculous.

EL: Carnivale was such an unusual series but has such a loyal fanbase (myself among them). Why do you think HBO pulled the plug? And would you ever want to return to the world of Brother Justin Crowe?

CB: I really don’t know. The HBO folks at the time really changed TV with shows like The Sopranos but then they started treating HBO like a network and they, well, they fell from grace. If Carnivale had come around two years earlier, we might have seen the whole series.

EL: You, along with William Mapother and Doug Hutchison, have appeared on the TV series, Lost. Any idea if fans will see a reappearance of Kelvin Inman?

CB: I’m not really hip to Lost so I have no idea whether Inman might return.  Filming was a great experience though, as I had just finished Carnivale and several of the crew from Carnivale went on to work on Lost. So, for me, it was great seeing those folks again. And being in Hawaii.

EL: Of all of the horrifying characters you have played, who is your personal favorite (you were pretty creepy as “David Brown” in the mainstream made-for-TV movie, Love, Lies and Murder)?

CB: Playing David Brown was a nightmare! God, that guy and what he did… Favorite characters…I would have to say playing Brother Justin Crowe in Carnivale was a favorite as was Sheriff Gus Gilbert in Pet Sematary 2.  That film was really a spoof and we were told to just be as over-the-top as possible.  I think I succeeded with Gus (laughs).

EL: Do you have any favorite horror films and horror books?

CB: I love the old Universal horror films like Frankenstein and The Wolf Man. The Exorcist really freaked me out.  I also loved John Carpenter’s Halloween. As for books, I’m more of a sci-fi reader - Arthur Clarke, Robert Heinlein, those guys predicted things that are happening now way back - although I do enjoy Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

EL: According to the always unreliable IMDb, you are a very busy actor, doing everything from SpongeBob SquarePants (which your children must love) to voice-over work. Any more genre films in your future?

CB: I’m in Chicago right now to have a meeting with the director of the Nightmare on Elm Street remake. My part isn’t that big - I play the father of one of the kids. Still doing Mr. Krabs in SpongeBob SquarePants (which my kids do love) and I recently did some work on a legal series which may or may not be picked up.

EL:  Johnny Depp recently did an episode of SpongeBob. How was that?

CB: Johnny did okay. Johnny is Johnny. And Dennis Quaid was also on recently - he was a pain in my ass on The Express so this was my opportunity to pay him back (laughs). I think the stunt casting for SpongeBob is great.

EL: Would you like to add anything I may not have touched on?

CB:  I hope The Burrowers can be turned into the classic it should be and it really needs to be seen on a big screen.

EL: What is one thing no one knows about Clancy Brown that you think they should?

CB: I’m really boring and don’t rate this kind of attention. I’m just doing my job.

Written by Elaine Lamkin

Doug Hutchison entered the horror genre in a BIG and completely unforgettable way.  Back in 1993 and again in 1994, Doug introduced fans of The X-Files to one of its most memorable characters: Eugene Victor Tooms. And if you haven’t seen his two episodes, “Squeeze” and “Tooms”, you REALLY should! From there, Doug went on to play the despicable prison guard, Percy Wetmore, in Frank Darabont’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Green Mile. Hard to forget THAT character. Now, between playing recurring character Horace Goodspeed (thanks for correcting my mistake, Doug) on ABC’s hit, Lost, Doug found time to play Henry Victor, a military man with a Napoleonic complex, in JT Petty’s The Burrowers (review)

Fatally-Yours.com recently spoke with the very amusing Hutchison about handle-bar mustaches, what REALLY happens at Cowboy Camp and how he “really” feels about his director, JT Petty.

Elaine Lamkin: Thank you so much for taking time to speak with Fatally-Yours.com about your new film, the amazing The Burrowers. How did you come to be involved in The Burrowers? And what was your initial reaction to JT Petty’s (interview) script?

Doug Hutchison: That RAT BASTARD made me audition for him! Can you believe it?? Doesn’t he know who I think I AM?! [ahem] Actually, truth be told, I would’a walked barefoot over hot coals to read for J.T. for The Burrowers. I thought it was one of the creepiest, most macabre and original horror scripts I’d ever read.

EL: Let’s talk about your character’s handlebar mustache. On the commentary, JT mentions how he tried to talk you out of that. What was behind your choice to have your character of Henry Victor so…flamboyant?

DH: Back in that era, handle-bar mustaches were all the rage. They were fashionable and symbolized class status [because they took extra care to maintain and the down-trodden, so to speak, didn't have the means to "keep" their hygiene intact as much as the wealthier folk]. With the help of some late-19th century photo books, I had an immediate image of Henry Victor as a Custer-esque character. I’m not sure why J.T. had such a prob with my handle-bar! Damned control-freak directors…

EL: Much has been made of you, Clancy [Brown] and William [Mapother - interview] being Lost alums. Obviously this wasn’t intentional on the part of the casting agents (or was it?). What was it like working with these guys (and, as was recently discovered on Lost, your character, Horace Goodbody, is the father of William’s character, Ethan. Did you ever get the opportunity to call him “son”?)?

DH: Horace GOODSPEED. Not Goodbody [but thanks for the compliment!]. That is pretty weird about the Lost connection, isn’t it? Perfect coincidence. Such an incestuous biz we’re in.

EL:  What was it like working with JT?  And had you seen any of his previous films: the disturbing Soft for Digging or Mimic: Sentinel?

DH: Haven’t seen Soft for Digging. I heard it’s awful. Just kidding! [Man, I'm really ribbing Petty pretty hard in this interview, aren't I??]  I did, however, see Mimic: Sentinel which proved J.T. could handle the monster-genre with deft hands. His previous work aside, I just enjoyed the hell out of working with J.T. because of his passion. He was VERY passionate about The Burrowers and that kind of passion tends to rub off on the cast and crew.
EL: Clancy described you as the “rocker” on the set - the guy who just MIGHT be the instigator of any antics.  Is that a fair description?  Do you have any anecdotes you care to share about life on the set?

DH: Gosh. Was I drunk when we were filming?  ‘Cause I don’t recall instigating any mischief on the set. I was too busy trying to get that damned horse not to throw me!

EL: You attended Cowboy Camp with everyone but Clancy, who apparently showed up, ready to ride off into the sunset. How was it, learning to ride a horse? Or have you ridden before? And what else was taught in the camp?

DH: Clancy Schmancy! That horse they gave me was called “Patches”. HA! They should have renamed him “Satan”! I HATED that horse!! He was the Devil. And he tried to screw up every scene I was in. I also detested Cowboy Camp! It was hot, dusty, smelly and uncomfortable. Buncha’ males in flannel and boots sitting around smoking and farting beans. Blechh.

EL: How would you describe your character, Henry Victor? On the behind-the-scenes, Karl mentions how JT gave everyone both their character’s backstory as well as that of the other characters. What did he tell you about Henry Victor?

DH: Basically, J.T. told me that Henry Victor would NOT have sported a handle-bar [!]. Other than that, I believe the operative adjective for HV was “dandy”.

EL: For the average horror fan, how would you sum up The Burrowers for them?

DH: The Abyss meets Bonanza.

EL: You seem to have made a successful career out of playing loathsome yet charming (and memorable) villains: Eugene Victor Tooms in The X-Files, Percy Wetmore in The Green Mile, possibly Horace Goodbody on Lost (never can tell how someone will turn out on that show) and now, Henry Victor. Why do you think you continue to be cast as the bad guy and do you prefer playing the “heavy” or playing the “hero”?

DH: Goodbody, again, eh? I like it, Elaine. I like it a lot! In fact, I’d like to propose “Eugene Goodbody Tooms” and “Percy Wetbody” as well. Whaddaya think? But back to your questions: Hell, I enjoy playing antagonists and protagonists. I’ve done both. It’s just that most of my mainstream movies have featured me in the villainous roles and casting directors, producers and most industry folk in Hollywood have very limited imaginations. I don’t mind though. I make a living.

EL: Much has been made about how to classify The Burrowers - is it horror? Is it a Western? For horror fans, what would you tell them that would allay their fears that The Burrowers might be boring, not enough blood and guts?

DH: Honestly, I don’t know WHAT The Burrowers is, which is why I like it so much.  As for blood and guts: blood and guts are BORRRRRRRRRINNNNG. I prefer disturbing… And Burrowers DEFINITELY disturbs. It slowly creeps up on you and injects you with paralyzing dread.

EL:  In another interview you did, you mentioned that you and Clancy “bonded” because you have both played evil prison guards in Stephen King movies (Clancy in The Shawshank Redemption). Care to elaborate on how the two of you discussed such pedigrees?

DH: Clancy and I mostly shared Darabont stories from our respective Frank Darabont films in which we both played bad guards. More incest. I rest my case.

EL: Being the veteran of several genre films, what is your opinion on the state of horror films today? All of the PG-13/CGI overload/20-something pretty kids stuff that the studios seem to think everyone wants to see (at the expense of brilliant films like The Burrowers which Lionsgate simply dumped straight to DVD).

DH: Most current horror bores the crap out of me. I’m not a huge fan of the Saw and Hostel flicks, for example. I’m not into torture porn. Remakes of Friday the 13th and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are simply redundant. Splatter films are kinda lame. They just don’t have the teeth to scare me.

EL: What are your favorite horror films? And horror fiction/writers?

DH: A handful of my fave flicks are The Shining, The Abyss, The Devil’s Rejects, The Exorcist, Night of the Living Dead and Carnival of Souls.

A few of my fave fiction and writers are Shadowland/Peter Straub, The Shining/Stephen King and just about anything you can put in front of me by David Schow.

EL: Am I safe in assuming we will be seeing more of Horace in upcoming episodes of Lost?

DH: Don’t you mean Horace Goodbody, Elaine? [Ha! Ha! Ha] Who knows what they’re cooking up for the final season of Lost? Nobody does. I sure don’t!

EL: What other projects might you have on the horizon? Any more horror films? And I have read that you are a prolific writer. Books, screenplays?

DH: I’m co-starring in an indie feature called Give ‘Em Hell, Malone [with Thomas Jane and Ving Rhames/directed by Russell "Highlander" Mulcahy]. That’ll hopefully see the light of day at a theater near you sometime this fall. It’s not horror. It’s a film noir thriller. And, indeed, I’ve written several screenplays including horror. Currently cooking something up called The Devil’s Eye with my writing partner, Marco Mannone, about a group of con-artist ghosthunters who eventually end up contending with the real deal.

EL:  Is there anything you would like to add that I haven’t covered?

DH: Yes. Speaking of horror: go check out my vampire webseries, “Vampire Killers” at www.vampirekillers.tv. I think you’ll dig it.

EL:  Final question and everyone I interview gets this one so…What is one thing no one knows about Doug Hutchison that you think they should?

DH: I still have recurring nightmares of riding “Patches”, the Horse from Hell.

EL: Thank you so much for your time, Doug, and a BIG thank you for The Burrowers!

Yes folks, it's the one day a year where we all thank our moms for enduring nine months with a parasite sucking her dry, 30-40 hours of excruciating pain to spew out the parasite, and the rest of her life dealing with the parasite's illnesses, bad behavior, and facial piercings.

Okay, maybe there's some up side to childbirth, but frankly I just don't see it. I'm certainly glad, however, that my mom did. My mom is pretty damn awesome, actually- she's the reason I got into horror movies to begin with, which is why I interviewed her for Pretty Scary way back in the day. Go check it out, and say nice things in the comments, because she's probably reading this.

I figured I'd also post a link to something else I wrote back in said day, an AMC column dedicated to horror movie moms. Sure, sure, we all dig Mrs Voorhees, but be sure to give Wendy Torrance some love!

Written by Elaine Lamkin

Writer/director J.T. Petty may not be a horror household name…yet. But after the recent release of the stunning Western/horror hybrid, The Burrowers (review), one can feel fairly confident that Petty will soon be playing with the “big boys” of the genre. For those true horror fans who have seen Petty’s earlier film, the disturbing Soft for Digging, his success with The Burrowers should be no surprise (and if you haven’t seen Soft for Digging, check it out!).

Petty recently took time to speak with Fatally-Yours.com about how long it took to bring The Burrowers to life, his thoughts on the Western genre and just what in the heck IS a “Wilhelm scream”.

Elaine Lamkin: Thank you so much for taking time to speak with Fatally-Yours.com about your new film, the amazing The Burrowers. First though, how about a little of the JT Petty Story? I recall you saying in the commentary that you are originally from North Carolina and according to the ALWAYS “reliable” IMDb, you went to NYU.

JT Petty: I was born in North Carolina, raised outside of DC and Baltimore, came to New York for school and have lived in Brooklyn since.

EL: How long had the idea to do a period Western/horror film been on your mind? To my knowledge, there are unfortunately not too many Western/horror films out there - the wonderful Ravenous springs immediately to mind. And just for strict period horror films, I can only think of Alex Turner’s Dead Birds (one of my favorites) and Clint Eastwood’s uber-creepy The Beguiled (1970), which some might argue is not a horror movie but…

JTP: The two genres have a kind of peanut butter and chocolate quality to them.  I’ve wanted to make Westerns as long as I’ve wanted make movies, and often end up adding monsters to a story by default. I’m a big fan of Ravenous and Dead Birds both. Though you can see a lot of the horror beats in more straight-ahead Westerns like Ulzana’s Raid or The Missouri Breaks, both those movies have an almost supernatural-seeming grinding sadism to them, but one that feels completely natural to a Western. The first draft of Burrowers was called 10,000 Little Indians, and I wrote it around 2002.

EL: You mentioned in the commentary that it took three years for Lionsgate to greenlight The Burrowers - what concerns did they have? And I read that the prequel to The Burrowers, Blood Red Earth, did not make it onto the DVD due to some problems. Where can fans view the prequel and do you think it might eventually be added to a future DVD?

JTP: The biggest studio concern with The Burrowers was simply the lack of other movies they could point to and say “It’ll make a bunch of money like _____.”  A big part of the reason it got made was an executive there named Peter Block, who championed it from the start. Blood Red Earth was made for FEARnet.com, and I believe can still be downloaded there. It was nothing more than legal minutia in actors’ contracts that kept it off the DVD; hopefully we’ll be able to include it in some future version of the movie.

EL: You have assembled an amazing cast for The Burrowers: William Mapother (interview), Clancy Brown, Doug Hutchison, Sean Patrick Thomas, Laura Leighton. How much were you involved in the casting process and did you have a wish list of actors you were hoping you could get for the film?

JTP: I didn’t write the roles with any faces in mind, and wanted to have an Alien-style ensemble, where casting choices wouldn’t give you clues about who’s going to live to the end of the movie, actors who would feel genuine in a period piece. I knew Parcher and Clay (Mapother and Brown) needed to be cast as a couple, you had to feel there was a history between them without a lot of exposition to explain it. I’m trying to think of how to compare Karl Geary to Sigourney Weaver in a way that’ll still make him seem macho-but I do think he has the quality of charisma inside of naturalism where he can be a leading man but still exist as low man on the totem pole within the social structure of the movie.

EL: How much research did you do while writing the script? There are several references to real historical events, the New Ulm Massacre being one, and just the attention to period detail, which I was so happy to see.

JTP: I’m always excited about research, and here especially loved the excuse to read up on the Old West. A horror movie, if it wants to be scary, absolutely needs to feel grounded; if you don’t believe in the world you’ll never feel threatened.

EL: How did you come to be working with Rob Hall and his company, Almost Human?  And having Rob as one of your co-producers? Possibly from seeing his work for Dead Birds?  I also noticed that you and Rob “shared” an actor: Seri DeYoung.  She was your “Audrey/Coma Girl” and then Rob cast her in his film, Laid to Rest as “Bound Girl”.

JTP: I met Rob before I had set up the movie at Lionsgate and we started brainstorming ideas for the creature in Burrowers. One of the benefits of having so much trouble getting the movie made was having a solid three years to build the creature from the bones out. He’s a co-producer on the movie because he’s a good negotiator, and was involved in the process right from the start. I never asked him why he chose Seri for “Bound Girl,” (though I did chastise him for treating her so poorly) but Seri was great to work with; it doesn’t look like she’s doing a lot in Burrowers, but to be as still as she was in the conditions she had to work was remarkable.

EL: How much input did you have as to the look of the creatures? And thank you for going as practical as possible with them. CGI is being used way too often nowadays, in my opinion.

JTP: The look of the creatures evolved over three years of concept sketches. We started with the biology, right from the start we had their method of eating/hibernation/travel, and built outward from there. Right from the start I wanted to keep the critters as practical as possible, and there’s more CG in the movie than I would have ideally used, but I think the fact that we always started with a suit performer/animatronic gives the creatures real weight and presence.

EL: You also referenced, if not, in your words, “outright stole”, from several classic Westerns, mainly John Ford’s classic The Searchers as well as Winchester ‘73, Straw Dogs and Miller’s Crossing. Was it always a dream of yours to make a Western but then turn it on its head with the horror elements?

JTP: I think theft in movies is so much more honorable than homage; if you’re just making a movie to remind people of how cool other movies were, then you’re just making a fetish, not telling a story. With anything I’m doing, I’m trying to get a little outside the genre conventions. It seems like movie watchers, (and especially horror movie watchers) are sophisticated enough to know all the genre beats that are going to be laid out before them. I’d hope they’re interested in being surprised every once and again, seeing something outside the rut.

EL: How did you find Phil Parmet, who many genre fans might recognize as the DP for Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects (2005) and Halloween (2007)?  He certainly has a thing for VERY high crane shots which worked so beautifully in The Burrowers.  And the sepia look you all went for - this film looks like a MUCH bigger budgeted film!

JTP: I looked for Phil after seeing Devil’s Rejects, the photography in that movie really jumped at me. His work on Buscemi and Rockwell’s movies cemented my faith in him, especially considering his documentary background in things like Harlan County USA. How can you discount a cameraman who’s been shot at on the job?

EL: Joseph LoDuca scored The Burrowers.  Are there any plans for a soundtrack release?  His music really added to the film as well as Grant Campbell’s creepy rendition of the lullaby, “All the Pretty Little Horses”, over the closing credits.

JTP: I love the work LoDuca did, and hope a soundtrack comes together. It’s hard to say, and there’s a lot of unfortunate gaps in the way the movie’s being released.

EL: Just for my own edification, what is a “Wilhelm scream”? You mentioned it in the commentary and I have read about it elsewhere but haven’t the faintest idea what it means. And there is one brief scene where the camera is shooting Coffey sideways as he whittles a cross for a grave - was that an accident or just something to further mess with the viewer’s mind?

JTP: A Wilhelm Scream is a sound effect that’s been used for decades, started in B pictures, usually shot Indians or Germans would wail like Goofy while dying.  Sound designers started incorporating it into big budget pictures in the Raiders of the Lost Ark days and it stuck. Nothing more than a bit of fun. The sideways shot of Coffey and the cross is intentional, and one of several in the movie.

EL: The Burrowers was shot in four weeks in the summer of 2007 in the Santa Fe National Forest with a budget of around $7 million. Not bad for an independent film which is also a period piece. How grueling was the shoot for you? Any anecdotes you care to share? You also mentioned in your commentary that the original title of the film was 10,000 Little Indians - or was that just a working title?

JTP: The movie’s been called The Burrowers as long as Lionsgate has owned it; the idea being that a monster movie will sell better than a Western. The shoot was difficult but fun, I always wanted the production to be out in the elements, to add more chaos and dirt. But I absolutely would have liked to have more time, twenty-two days is an obscene schedule when you’re working on an ensemble piece filled with horses and practical monsters.

EL: You have worked with Karl Geary before in Mimic: Sentinel but how was it working with Clancy Brown, Doug Hutchison (and his handlebar moustache), William Mapother and Sean Patrick Thomas? There was a lot of testosterone on that set. And how many of your actors actually went to the week-long “cowboy camp” prior to shooting?

JTP: Everybody but Clancy went to cowboy camp, since he showed up already knowing how to cowboy. And yeah, lotta testosterone. Doug insisted on the handlebars and I’m glad he did. They’re all a great bunch of guys and remarkable actors; and were consistently professional despite all the trouble that comes with horses and guns and a set sporadically shut down by lightning strikes and flash floods.

EL: Again, relying on the unreliable IMDb, there is a listing for The Burrowers as a TV series. Same cast, you directing - can you elaborate on what that is about?

JTP: That’s Ol’ Reliable IMDB mistaking the short prequel Blood Red Earth for an episodic TV show. There’s no TV series that I know of, (though every possibility that Lionsgate could be making Burrowers in Space without me).

EL: As with Dead Birds and Ravenous, this film takes its time evolving from a Western to a horror film so it will probably not be a big hit with the younger horror crowds who want blood and guts in the first scene. What are your feelings about today’s crop of PG-13/CGI overload/20-something actors horror versus horror one has to really pay attention to. Or what I like to call “intelligent horror”?

JTP: I recently watched a 35mm print of Rosemary’s Baby at an arthouse theater in NYC with a packed house that mumbled and shifted all through the movie, and when it was over got to their feet blowing raspberries and calling it boring. And these were not teenagers; they all looked like people in their twenties. Breaks my heart.  I think there is a risk of cynical, low-brow horror harming the genre. And I think the popular media presentation of gore as what makes horror pornographic is entirely wrong. Horror becomes pornographic when it explicitly ignores the story. I think actual pornos are designed to have shitty stories because masturbators don’t want to be distracted by plot or tension while they’re masturbating. Horror can go the same way, and there are all sorts of movies that just give you laughable plots and characters to either mock or ignore while you’re waiting for the next kill. All that being said, I can enjoy that sort of horror; I just never want to make it.

EL: There are quite a few comedic moments in an otherwise somber, bleak film (poor Coffey’s “fuck-you” scenes, Parcher not being able to feel his neck, then his hand after touching his neck THEN his face after touching it with his hand, Callaghan’s total disbelief at what he’s gotten himself into, etc.). In the screenings you have had of The Burrowers, have audiences appreciated these lighter moments?

JTP: I hope people laugh in the movie, though I’ll admit I don’t like watching my own stuff with an audience. The bit with Parcher’s arm always gets a laugh. A couple of Clancy’s lines as well. I think it’s hilarious when the Utes show up and have a conversation with the Irishman in French.

EL: Several reviewers, myself among them, have compared The Burrowers to Tremors or The Descent.  How do you feel about these comparisons? You yourself felt the film more akin to Ridley Scott’s Alien.

JTP: The Tremors comparison falls apart to me outside of broad categorical ideas; Burrowers would be in the same section of the video store, but differs drastically in tone.  I love The Descent, and that’s definitely closer to the feel of it. In terms of structure, I was definitely stealing from Alien, I think that movie’s an amazing example of creating a new monster. You build the rules of your monster and then slowly dole them out to the audience, and more slowly still to the characters at the cost of pain and death.

EL: The Burrower” premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and has also played at FantasticFest in Austin, Screamfest Film Festival and the Lyon L’Étrange Festival. Any chances of it playing in any more theaters as this film REALLY should be seen on a big screen?

JTP: The studio hasn’t been very supportive of festival screenings and we haven’t been able to play as many as we’ve been invited to. We shot the movie with the intention of a big screen, but it’s a hard market for original horror these days. (And I don’t mean some pretentious statement of originality, just a movie that’s not a remake/sequel.)

EL:  For the average horror fan, how would you sum up The Burrowers for them?

JTP: The Hollywood pitch was The Searchers meets The Thing.

EL:  Is there anything you would like to add that I haven’t touched on?

JTP: I feel pretty well covered.

EL: As a horror fan, as well as being married to an award-winning horror author, the wonderful Sarah Langan [author of The Keeper - review], what are some of your favorite horror films and books?

JTP: Yes, we have a creepy household.  Movie-wise, I always comes back to Alien, Don’t Look Now, Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Suicide Circle, Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Kairo, Clean Shaven, all the regulars. Book-wise, I’m a big fan of Carrion Comfort [by Dan Simmons], The Road [by Cormac McCarthy] , Stephen King, Fangland [by John Marks], The Painted Bird [by by Jerzy Kosinski].

EL: What is up next for JT Petty? Is the horror genre your niche or might you one day branch out into more “mainstream” films?

JTP: I’d like to play around in all sorts of genres. The most successful thing I’ve worked on so far was a technothriller videogame called Splinter Cell, and I write kid’s books and have written screenplays in other genres. It’s more of a question of what I can convince the studios/financiers I can get away with. Though, of course, my most likely next movie will be a horror movie, and I can’t imagine ever leaving the genre behind.

EL: Final question and everyone I interview gets this one so…What is one thing no one knows about JT Petty that you think they should?

JTP: I always carry string with me, just in case.

Written by Elaine Lamkin

William Mapother is becoming a genre favorite, after his role in The Grudge and his recurring role as Ethan Rom in ABC’s hit, Lost.  Now fans can add The Burrowers (review) to his genre credentials. A stunning Western/horror hybrid set in 1879, Mapother plays Will Parcher, a former Indian hunter, who, along with Clancy Brown (Carnivale), Doug Hutchison (The X Files), Karl Geary (Mimic: Sentinel) and Sean Patrick Thomas (Halloween: Resurrection), sets out to find settlers who have been violently kidnapped by Indians. Or so they think. Directed by JT Petty (Soft for Digging), the film, unfortunately, received only very limited release before going straight to DVD, but the buzz about it possibly being the best horror film of 2009 is already starting.

Mapother graciously took time to answer questions for Fatally-Yours.com, divulging his secret for how he plays “insane” so believably as well as what his favorite cake is. A true Southern gentleman.

Elaine Lamkin:  Thank you so much for taking time to speak with Fatally-Yours about your new film, The Burrowers. How about a brief rundown of the William Mapother Story and then, how did you come to be involved in this project?

William Mapother: My story is a common one: I was born shoeless, in a deep hollow in Louisville, KY. Cut to: me auditioning for The Burrowers in May of 2006.  I was told I got it, but it kept getting pushed back. Sure, I thought. But to my shock and awe, we shot it 14 months later…

EL:  Were you familiar with JT’s other films, the creepy Soft for Digging or Mimic: Sentinel prior to being cast in The Burrowers?  And have you seen the prequel to The Burrowers - Blood Red Earth?

WM: I hadn’t seen them at the time, though I have since. Blood Red Earth is still unknown to me at this time.

EL: You all shot The Burrowers from July to August of 2007. Did you attend the “cowboy camp” prior to filming? I heard Clancy Brown just showed up on set, ready to ride.

WM: Clancy was there for a couple of days, I think. I knew how to ride, being from Kentucky, thank you very much, but I wouldn’t have missed the camp for the world. Being paid to ride? My dream job.

EL: There have been several reviewers who have pointed out that three of you are alums of Lost - you as Ethan Rom, Doug Hutchison as Horace Goodbody and Clancy as Kelvin Inman. Coincidence? And I seem to recall that earlier this season on Lost, in the 1977 setting, your character was born to Horace and his wife. Did you know that was coming so you could call Doug “dad” while shooting The Burrowers?

WM: Between JT and JJ (Abrams), nothing is a coincidence. Actually, my Lost character was born to a man in Horace’s camp, so had I known, which I didn’t, I could have called Doug “Creepy dude who stands too close to the new mother”.

EL: What was your reaction to JT’s script when you first read it and how would you describe your character, Will Parcher?

WM: I loved the script. I’ve always wanted to do a Western, and I really liked how JT combined and played with the genres while keeping the world and the characters straight.

Parcher is a former Indian fighter and current wealthy rancher who missed the excitement he and Clancy’s character had back in the day.

EL: As I asked JT, this film is not your typical horror film and might not appeal to the average horror fan who wants blood and guts in the first scene. What would you tell someone who wasn’t sure what this film was about? And as someone who has appeared in other horror films, what is your opinion on the PG-13/CGI overload/20-something “actors” who seem to be overtaking the genre?

WM: I tell those interested to adjust their expectations. If they watch it with a fresh eye, I think they’ll be pleasantly surprised. Horror isn’t always red. The genre of horror has always been used for exploitation and young audiences, and I’m not convinced that today’s wasting of its opportunities are any worse than those before. That doesn’t change the fact, of course, that it’s a hangin’ offense.

EL:  In the commentary JT and Karl “Coffey” Geary did, JT mentions the picnic scene you have with Laura Leighton and Galen Hutchison and that coconut cake just happens to be your favorite. True?

WM: It is. That’s when I knew we’d get along just fine.

EL: I got the impression from both the commentary and the behind-the-scenes that everyone had a wonderful time making The Burrowers. It IS every little boy’s fantasy to play “cowboy”. Any anecdotes from the shoot you would like to share?

WM: I had an absolute blast making the movie. One of my favorite moments of shooting occurred when we reach the trading post. I’m far into “unwell” at that point and in a couple of takes, I let myself dismount like milk poured from a pitcher. It was cut, as I suspected it disrupted Herr Director’s precious tone, but regardless, letting go to that degree is always fun. And it’s to JT’s credit that he let me do it a few times and himself found it pretty funny.

EL:  JT says on the commentary that you asked him why you always get cast as someone who goes insane and JT replied that you do it so well. You DID do an excellent and uber-creepy job in The Burrowers.  How does one prepare for playing a character who has such an arc from sanity to insanity?

WM: One studies politicians.

EL: You learned to speak Lakota for this film.  How hard was that and who was your coach?

WM: David Midthunder (who plays Dull Knife) recorded my dialogue for me and then I wrote it out phonetically.  Needless to say, immediately after the last scene, I suffered a Men in Black memory wipe and couldn’t recall a syllable.

EL: What was it like working with Clancy Brown, Doug Hutchison, Karl Geary, Sean Patrick Thomas and Galen Hutchison? You must have some humorous stories you could share?

WM: We got along just fine. No funny stories. We were all deep in character, and men back then didn’t laugh.

EL: You underwent the most extensive SFX makeup of any of the other cast members.  What was that experience like and how was it, working with Rob Hall and the Almost Human folks? And what did you think when you first saw the creatures? Was their appearance kept from the cast until the last minute so as to get a genuine horrified reaction as was done in The Descent?

WM: Rob Hall had abused me a couple of years earlier, when I played an 800 lb cannibal (that’s one for true dark comedy-horror fans) in the Fox series, The Inside, so I had an inkling of what to expect. His team did fantastic work, and we had fun during the hours I spent in the make-up chair. The only pain was the contact lens. One kept getting grit under it, making me want to scratch out my own eyes. That’s always a bonus when you’re playing insane.

I’d seen the creatures before, but they took on a whole new awfulness at 2 am shooting when I’m in a crazy-ass mindset.

EL: Did you do any of your own research about the period prior to the beginning of the shoot?

WM: Yes, I ate lots of beans.

EL: The Burrowers has played at the Toronto Film Festival, Fantastic Fest in Austin, the Screamfest Film Festival and Lyon L’Étrange Festival. This is a film which begs to be shown on a big screen. Do you know if there will be any future festival showings?

WM: Yes, thank you for asking! This film looks fantastic on a big screen. It’s showing at the first-ever Flyover Film Festival, June 12-14, in Louisville, KY. (http://www.louisvillefilm.org/)

EL: What is next for you?  I assume we will be seeing more of Ethan on Lost?

WM: Well, I can’t make any promises, but yes, I suspect Ethan will return…(Bwaahaahaaahaaa)

EL:  I have noticed recently that there are several Louisville natives besides yourself who are making their mark in the horror genre: Jennifer Carpenter in The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Quarantine as well as Jess Weixler in Teeth.  Is there something in the water in Louisville?

WM: It’s the limestone. Good for horses and mausoleums.

EL: As a genre veteran, what are some of your favorite horror movies and horror fiction?

WM: I love the oldies, eg The Thing.  I also like horror-comedies, like Bride of Frankenstein.

Horror fiction terrifies me. I swore off Stephen King after one too many sleepless nights.

EL:  Where else can people get information about you?

WM: My blog is at http://www.williammapother.blogspot.com/

EL: My infamous question everyone gets hit with: What is one thing no one knows about William Mapother that you think they should?

WM: I have no idea. William out-sourced the answers for this interview.

EL:  Again, thank you so much for taking time to do this interview, William.

WM: You’re welcome. My name’s Tim, by the way.

Written by Fatally Yours

English artist Suzzan Blac paints for pain. Her incredibly gory, surrealist paintings are both beautiful and frightening, depicting scenes of torture, anguish and brutality. And yet, she says all these emotions come directly from her experience with abuse and the visuals come straight from her wild imagination.

More amazing still is that she doesn’t rely on computer manipulation, paints everything by hand and is self-taught, drawing further inspiration Francis Bacon’s nightmarish paintings, the realism of Jan van Eyck and Hans Holbein and the ornate Baroque style of Caravaggio. Throw in a bit of the surrealism of Hieronymus Bosch and some H.R. Giger, and you’ve got an inkling of an idea of what Suzzan’s artwork looks like…but nothing can prepare you for actually seeing her stunning art for the first time!

We had a chance to talk to Suzzan about her art, her technique and just how she comes up with such horrifying and disturbing images.

Fatally Yours: How long have you been painting? How long have you been painting as the “Goddess of Gore?”

Suzzan Blac: I have been painting since 2000, previous to that I only ever used pencil! Well, the Goddess of Gore was the name given to me by my friend Roxanne who runs my fan page, people then referred to me as that and it kinda stuck, I think its really cool because there are not many women who paint as I do! Although I know that I am inspiring some to do their very worst too!!

Fatally Yours: Were you self-taught or did you go to art school to hone your craft?

Suzzan Blac: No, I didn’t attend any art school, I wouldn’t of stuck it out anyway, I am way too stubborn and I can’t be told what to do - that doesn’t sit well in my pig-headed world!

Fatally Yours: What medium do you use most?

Suzzan Blac: Although I do still like to draw in pencil sometimes, oil is my only medium. It is the only medium that I can achieve the realism that I want.

Fatally Yours: What do you think of digital manipulation of art and the “shortcuts” artist use today as opposed to the traditional, “pure” form of art?

Suzzan Blac: Oh I love it, there are some amazing images out there, but I can’t see beyond the aesthetics. I can’t see any emotion within digital art, you can only get that through the pain of painting. What I do is such fucking hard work; you can only relay your suffering through endless, lonely, frustrating, servile months of absolute hatred! I only ever enjoy the first layer, after that I dread every day!

Fatally Yours: Do you believe artistic skill is inherent or is it possible to be taught to be a good artist?

Suzzan Blac: I think anyone can learn to draw and paint to a certain degree, but that does not make you an artist. You cannot “learn” to be an artist, you either are or you’re not!  It is inherent, a true artist already knows, they don’t need lessons in perspective, colors, etc. I know how things are meant to be or I can imagine how they would be. I don’t even use reference, I hate that, it’s boring, and I refuse to copy, say a photo of a person. You can’t get pure emotion from copying a photo; the closest would be if it were a candid shot of someone displaying real emotion. I paint from my mind, that’s the best reference.

The other elements that make an artist are that of passion, stubbornness, determination, imagination and the ability to push the boundaries of your mind further each time!

Fatally Yours: Does the pain, torture, anger and sadness in your paintings come from personal experience? Does painting act as a cathartic experience for you?

Suzzan Blac: Yes. Mostly all of my painting’s are self portraits; I only ever paint my feelings. My paintings are my mind, my anger, my pain, my fear…splattered over canvas, but not in an angry way. That would not be suffering, that’s why I paint so meticulously, it’s painstaking, it’s torturous,  it’s almost self abuse, so I guess it is cathartic, but only because I know that I’m turning all of my “bad” into “good”, and that makes me feel alive.

Fatally Yours: Are there paintings you keep to yourself and don’t show anyone because they are too brutal and intense?

Suzzan Blac: Yes, I have about 40 private paintings that I don’t show anyone, I have shown them, and received shocking reactions such as ”personal distress” and “condemnations and judgment of myself”.  I may show them one day…but not yet!

Fatally Yours: Do you hope your art sends the viewer a message? What do you hope people take away after viewing your art?

Suzzan Blac: I want my paintings to really touch people, but only those that matter, not the ignorant, shallow, narrow-minded shitheads out there, but the compassionate and people who can identify and connect to my work. There are a lot of them, I receive so many wonderful, inspiring messages of appreciation and these people…they fuel my art!

Fatally Yours: What would you say to those that wish to censor your work?

Suzzan Blac: Those that censor my work not only violate my freedom of speech and expression as an artist, but also as a survivor of abuse and the many who are unable to view it.

Fatally Yours: What artists’ work has influenced you the most?

Suzzan Blac: My main influences are artists such as [Hans] Holbein, [Jan] van Eyck, Caravaggio and [Francis] Bacon. I love realism and strong emotion, so I guess I combine those two elements within my work.

Fatally Yours: What other external factors (besides other artwork) influence your paintings?

Suzzan Blac: My true inspiration comes from artists who have suffered, overcome and given their all within their art - people like Beethoven, Otep Shamaya [lead singer of metal band Otep], John Nash [American mathematician whose life is the basis for the film A Beautiful Mind] Jacqueline du Pre [English cellist] and David Helfgott [Australian concert pianist whose life is the basis for the film Shine]…to name a few.

Inspiration for my subject matter comes from my hate, anger and pain, I wasn’t born with those feelings, they were given to me by the sub-humans that infested my life. They don’t “own” me anymore, though. I portray them in paint, so in effect, I own them.

Fatally Yours: Are you a horror movie/book fan? If so, what are some of your favorites?

Suzzan Blac: I only like really good horror movies if there is a good story, I hate those “slash” films, there so crappy and lame!

I love thrillers such as Silence of the Lambs, Fargo, Seven and quirky, surreal, black movies such as Oldboy and the Coen Brothers and of course Stephen King’s books and films…He’s like the best storyteller ..EVER!

Fatally Yours: Your paintings are so unique, original and scary. Would you ever consider taking a job in the entertainment industry designing monsters for horror films?

Suzzan Blac: Oh yeah!! I would love to create some weird, creepy scary creature that would freak people out,  that would be really cool!!

Fatally Yours: Tell us about your first solo show at the (in)famous Stychnin Gallery in London!

Suzzan Blac: Oh it was immense!! A great night, great people, great music…and free booze!! I spend so much time creating alone, it was a wonderful, stimulating feeling to relax and watch people observing and discussing my paintings. I have great reactions on the internet but nothing beats a live audience!!

Fatally Yours: What new paintings are you working on?

Suzzan Blac: I’m doing one more of my doll series, and working on two others…YES!! YES!! they contain BLOOD!! I tried not to, but it just came out…I can’t help it! Well, I am the Goddess of BLOODY Gore you know!

Fatally Yours: I couldn’t imagine your art without some blood in it anyhow! Thanks so much for your time, Suzzan. Your art is spectacular and we wish you all the best in the future!

Suzzan Blac: You are most welcome…and thank you for having me!

Visit Suzzan Blac on Myspace!

Watch a slideshow of some of Suzzan Blac’s artwork:

Written by The Dhampir/Edcrophilia

Special effects makeup artist and gore maestro John Mays is mostly known within the horror community as “Evil” John Mays…and it’s not hard to see why. His effects are all done from scratch and he uses no pre-made prosthetics to create his disturbingly realistic effects work.

Evil John has worked on many low-budget, independent films where he is based in Texas, including Sitters Four, ZERO ONE, Murder by Mistake, Knight Silver, Savage Spirit, Why, The 15 Minute Rule, Red Victoria, Crushed, Dementia, Unglued, Sundown, and Shroud.

Our own Dhampir (aka Edcrophilia) got to sit down with Evil John Mays and talk about his work on horror films, working with the “Texas Blood” group of horror filmmakers and how he likes to freak out actors with his realistic makeup effects.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: Well first allow me to Thank Evil John for taking the time to do this interview! And to congratulate him on his work on the film Red Victoria (review)!

Evil John Mays: Thank you very much, although I can only take credit for being there at the right time.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: Well, let’s start with the obvious question -how did you get into effects?

Evil John Mays: Well in all turned out due to a friend of mine out here in Texas. He had one of the premier haunted houses, Lance Pope, he had Verdun Manor. He turned the haunted house into more of a haunted theme park, kind of like a haunted Six Flags. He trained me for a good portion for what I do. Everything was going along great, but Lance unfortunately died due to not wearing a respirator long enough during his career while doing certain things. When you’re 20 years old, you never think about wearing a respirator, and eventually his liver gave out.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: That’s unfortunate.

Evil John Mays: What’s really shocking is that he was only several months older than I was. He’d been in this stuff [FX] since his early teens. So it taught me a life lesson; anything with the word “zene” in it, wear a respirator. I got started doing horrific effects through the haunted house industry due to Lance. I practiced under him for a number of years and after he passed, I was contacted by a couple of fellows wanting to do some movie work. Pro bono stuff. Got into that and found that I really enjoyed it, it took my technique to another level. When you do something in a movie, people will fast-forward and rewind and any flaw you’ve got, they’ll see it. So I’ve taken great pains to get everything as good as I can get it, because the camera is not very forgiving.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: Ok, aside from Stan Winston, which is the obvious choice for any effects guy, who are your influences as far as effects go?

Evil John Mays: Well, you named him right off the bat! Stan was the person I most regret not meeting in my lifetime. When he passed, last year, I was very upset because it was one of my goals in life to meet him. Of course, you can’t not bring up Rick Baker; I’ve always loved his werewolf creations. You’ve got [Tom] Savini who is a master of everything. Those guys, everyone has to look towards them, they’re the masters of influence in this area [effects].

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: Let’s discuss Baker a moment. His work on An American Werewolf in London forced the American Film Academy to create a new category: “Best Make-up”.

Evil John Mays: Exactly, he’s got enough clout and prestige with the directors in Hollywood that they really have to pay attention to him. Whereas I get the impression that Stan Winston and Dick Smith, they felt they [the directors] could be “Well, you’re just over there, you’re not really making art for the movies.” but Baker proved that this is a true art and a true industry.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: Great point! I see that you have some “webisodes” on how to make special effects makeup for Halloween!

Evil John Mays: That was actually one series I did for a friend of mine a few years ago. Boy! I wish I’d worn better clothes and weighed 30lbs less and combed my hair better. (Laughs) I’m glad that it’s out there just for the exposure, but yeah, I look better behind the camera. What I’ve noticed about effects, is that you’ve got to understand what bothers people. I mean, think about regular people. If you’re looking at someone, your eye is attracted to the bilateral symmetry of the face, the left and right side are the same. When they’re not the same, that upsets people. They may not say it, but it does. So my technique is to break up that bilateral symmetry as much as possible. Even looking at the eye, the left side and right side of the eye are mostly similar. But if you break, even that level of the symmetry up, that’s disturbing to people and that’s what I go for. I want it to look realistic, I want it to look like it’s into the skin.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: Would you say that you’re, as an effects artist, more into wounds and cuts than creatures per se?

Evil John Mays: That has been the calling so far. I’ve done some creature effects, but at the budget level of most of the fellows I’m working with, they can’t afford it. I’ve got some zombie creature masks that I originally started working on and I get feedback from people I’ve shown it to. It’s just that at the independent film the budget’s not there yet [for creatures]. We’re hoping that things will come along in this direction, and I would love to have the opportunity, but wounds and trauma seem to be my mainstay at the present.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: What about your independent contemporaries like Oddtopsy FX? They’ve been working with minimal budget as well and pumping out some really great stuff.

Evil John Mays: I’m sure they are. But they guys I’ve been working with the budgets are next to nothing. I mean, if the picture has $1,000 to effects, I have yet to come across one like that in my realm. I’m glad for the guys that they’re able to land productions that have money to apply towards materials. Because, basically, in effects, materials are your primary expense.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: So at this point, you’re primarily working with micro-budget filmmakers like Anthony Brownrigg (interview).

Evil John Mays: Yeah, Brownrigg, David Jeter I worked with, right now at Poor Child Films, Mike Brown. They’re all trying to get the industry going here in Texas. My main goal really is to bring as good effects as I can to the very low budget films. We’ve all seen movies that the script’s good, the acting is pretty good but somebody’s nephew did the effects.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: A lot of ketchup and water.

Evil John Mays: Exactly. If I can’t do it right, I’ll tell the guy and try to steer him in the right direction. Just on this film I’ve been working on, I made a girl look like she was a crack addict at a believable level. It’s just putting this stuff out there for the small budget film that’s my goal.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: So essentially, you’re working with filmmakers who I’ve coined the “Texas Blood.” These are independent, young and unknown for the most part filmmakers who are making horror and creating this kind of resurgence in indie horror.

Evil John Mays: That’s what we’re cultivating down here.Think about it, there’s a lot of horror history here in Texas. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, we have the films that Tony Brownriggs’ father made, Don’t Look in the Basement and things like that. They were all Texas productions. It seems that as some of our governors came along, they decided that they didn’t want that money in the state and pretty much removed it.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: You did Savage Spirit with Corey Turner who was also in Red Victoria. Did he bring you into the project with Tony Brownrigg, or did you already know Tony?

Evil John Mays: Cory and I had known each other for years, through different conventions and things here in the Dallas area. We’re a fairly tight-knit group of folks who seem to all drift into the same sort of areas. Horror conventions and such, most of us will volunteer because we just like the people and the genre involved. I’d met Tony several years ago, he sent me the script for RV [Red Victoria] and I begged him to let me work on it. I knew it was good and I knew it was good at a level that we in the small budget community could do. Cory I had actually met at a convention. I’d had some of my materials set up and they were getting set up to start on their second movie Savage Spirit. I showed him my book of stuff, they seemed to like it, they brought me on board and I brought, ginormous, as it’s been put, gallons of blood for them.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia:  I really enjoyed Red Victoria and I’ve interviewed Anthony Brownrigg (interview), Arianne Martin (interview) and Ed Landers (interview). Talking with Arianne, her story of what you did to her with that make-up in the first appearance of Victoria.

Evil John Mays: (Laughing) Yeah, she hated me! Oh man! In a loving way, she hated me, I think. It’s just not a comfortable feeling having that stuff put on your face in the first place. I’ve not read that interview, what all did she say?

Dhampir/Edcrophilia:  FROM THE ARIANNE MARTIN INTERVIEW; “The very first scene was a whole different story. It was done by the famous “Evil” John Mayes. He did an excellent job. However, that was not skin friendly by any means! It took about a week to get all of that makeup off. I still have nightmares about it.” (continue reading interview). She also mentioned that you were stuffing “pig guts” down her gown.

Evil John Mays: Arianne was just a crack up to work with. When she would get tired, she would just get funny. I would work with her again in a heartbeat, I’m not sure she’d want me working on her again, but she was really fun to work with! And that’s not entirely true…it wasn’t “pig guts”, it’s a blended form of tripe! I’ve preserved it and used that stuff in several movies now. I freeze it, because the texture of that stuff would be very hard and expensive to duplicate. I’ve got this stuff preserved with salts and coloration it was all food grade when I started out, but it is a texture all its own. Now what she’s talking about was the base make-up that Tony had made for her. It was a grey color, and that stuff was fairly tough on her skin from what I understand. She had to be in it repeatedly and I’m sure she was finding little bits of grey and not all of it washed off.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia:  I know that Ed Landers he’d said that it wasn’t that bad having the blood and the guts poured all over him.

Evil John Mays: One of the things about that is that in one of the scenes, is I’m cracking him up as he’s laying there. Because having a stinging cold liquid and feeling it drip around and then having these bits placed on the cuts in the shirt and things, it’s a weird sensation. He was just busting up constantly, because it’s the kind of fun that only a four year old boy can understand. If you know what I mean. (SPOILER ALERT) That scene where Ed is dead in the bed near the end of that movie. That is always my favorite scene especially when I’m watching in a theater. I will wait for the audience to see that, and always I’ll hear a gasp through the entire crowd and I know that it sold. It tells me that they weren’t expecting it and it threw them for a loop and their mind is buying what they’re seeing on that screen.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: It’s an extremely successful shot, because it’s not shown for very long and what you see is very explicit for those few seconds.

Evil John Mays: Right, and I think that’s [a mistake] that a lot of horror movie makers did over the years, you know. I paid umpteen hundred dollars for this effect; we’re not just gonna put it in front of the camera for 15 or 20 seconds. That doesn’t help, horror works best on the realm of theater of the mind. So you give it to the full screen fast enough to enter the mind, let them think they saw one thing, when you may have shown them something slightly different. In their minds [the audience] they’ll focus on what really grabbed them. So having a quick scene that’s deep and penetrating and disturbing makes for a successful horror film. In Tony’s case, he had a really great script.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: On the heels of what you just said, do you think that the Saw films and maybe the Hostel movies go a little too far with their effects?

Evil John Mays: To be honest, yes, because if you’re not careful, horror becomes parody. If it’s going to be parody, then it’s not gonna scare people. A lot of times, if you look at the Saw movies especially the later ones, they’re digital effects. I personally don’t like digital effects. I think that unless you’re doing something like Lord of the Rings, where you can’t make work in the real world, then go digital. Nothing against the digital art, but I think it lacks the texture, the quality of the shadowing that you get truly get shooting it live on set.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: There were a few digital shots in RV, but they seemed appropriate considering what Tony was doing and the budget he had. What did you think of those?

Evil John Mays: I think he did a good job! The one, in particular, where the severed arm is pointing at the contract or the script that he’s writing. That’s something you kind of have to do to remove the person. One of the other ones, I think I could have gone ahead and staged, but I think he was just trying to enhance things he’d already shot, but I think he did a good job. The eyeball scene in particular, that’d be way too expensive to try to do on this size budget and I think he did an excellent job of doing that. That’s the kind of thing where I don’t mind having a digital shot at all. I think he did a beautiful job!

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: So you prefer practical effects to digital nine times out of ten?

Evil John Mays: In most cases. Where there comes too much of an expense, you kind of have to figure out that breaking point. It takes a great deal of time to get all those pictures in there to do a big scene. A tight shot like the finger in the eyeball, that was perfect! It would have been difficult to duplicate, trying to do it live. You would have to build a prosthetic head and make it photo-realistic. The digital way is much better, in that case.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: Of the effects that you’ve done thus far, what would you say is your favorite, if you have one?

Evil John Mays: Well, effects wise, my favorite scene would be the scene I did in Savage Spirit, where a head gets squashed by a garage door. The scene is that, you’ve got this guy crawling towards a garage door on his hands and knees, he’s all cut up and bloody, he’s just about to make it out and the garage door drops on his head. Squashes it like a grape and I had an effect head and cannon rigged up, one of my blood cannons to shoot out about a quart and a half of ejaculate matter, blood, brains and bone at about 120psi. Which came out just below the garage door and it kinda shook the door as it came through. It’s my favorite scene of the entire movie.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: Sounds great and gory! You’re in Texas and you’ve worked with Tony, is there anyone else in the “Texas Blood” you’d like to work with? Mel House (interview), Stacy Davidson (interview), Josh Vargas (interview), Robert Luke (interview) or Pat Keith (interview)?

Evil John Mays: I think it’s be great to work with any of them. Like most of us working indie right now, we all have day jobs, films aren’t paying the bills right now, so most of the low budget guys, we’re all in the same boat right now, so we’re all trying to do things on nights and weekends, when we can all square things away. If one of those guys dropped me a phone call, a letter or knocked on the door I would be more than happy to talk about it.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: What about Texas Frightmare Weekend? It’s a convention but also a great venue for the independent film makers to get together and network, meet each other and such, do you ever attend it?

Evil John Mays: I attended last year, and this year myself and one of my cohorts is setting up a booth called “The Gore and More Store”. We’ll have a chair set up and be doing live make-up effects on people, putting on scars, wounds, horns if you want, stitches. You can check it out on Myspace. There are photographs of the types of things we’ll be doing at the convention. Basically, think of it as face painting by the Manson family! It’ll be, you sit in the chair, tell us what you’d like to get done, flip us ten or twenty bucks and we’ll make you nasty for the day. It’s all silicone appliances, custom built there on site. Not only will you walk away looking quite professionally done and very violent, you can also take care of the appliance and reapply it later with the appropriate adhesives.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: You should have one of the busier booths.

Evil John Mays: That’s my hope, with the booth cost at Frightmare, we’re really gonna need to do some business! (Laughs) It’s one of those things where you have to do two or three people to have them as walking advertisements to get the point across. The funniest photographs I have are like little kids, 12 or 13 years old, little boys and little girls with a bullet hole in the middle of their head! I think it’s hysterical!

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: Do you think that the younger generations are becoming desensitized to make-up effects due to these “torture porn” films?

Evil John Mays: They’re not desensitized; I just think that they realize the difference. In the same way that the Tom & Jerry cartoons, a generation back, you couldn’t hit a cat with a book and squish it flat. They know that there’s a difference. They know that if they see it on TV in the context of a movie and not the news that it’s for fun, not for real. Which requires you to be very judicious in trying to scare people. Take a look at the Frankenstein’s monster films of the 50’s. At that time, those were outstanding horror in their day, now you see them and it’s “They’re kinda cute.,,”. That’s kind of fascinating, you’re not scared by them anymore.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: But do you think that these “torture porn” films push for reality so hard that some of the reality is lost? Back in 1984 when I first saw An American Werewolf in London I truly believed that David Naughton was turning into a werewolf. Now, effects wise, there’s not too much that’s believable.

Evil John Mays: Well, that is still one of the best depictions of a full change; it’s one of my favorite movies. Though, as we’ve all matured and gained knowledge of the process, kind of like knowing the magician’s secrets. You can see where he’s stuffed the handkerchief, see where the little ball has been hidden in his hand. We’re becoming very knowledgeable of how things are done, so you have to be very judicious. You have to be very scientific and very accurate in how you do things. Otherwise you become parody!

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: Do you find yourself studying a lot of anatomy books, or medical references of actual wounds and trauma?

Evil John Mays: I do indeed, you can’t beat the old Grey’s Anatomy cutaway book showing the different layers of skin and bone. Actually I keep a quick cheat sheet that they have for nursing students in my portfolio book and I can reference it to make sure that I’ve got everything completely balanced up. If I need to find out, is there an actual bone under this position I’m working on? I can go look at that. For facial trauma it’s good to go and look where the major cranial nerves and veins are. Maybe I’m the only one who’s been paying attention to that, but I’m hoping that as time goes on, that maybe people will look at that and realize that I had a pretty decent idea of what I was doing.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: What are your upcoming projects?

Evil John Mays: There is a movie called Shroud we worked on, it’s a western and they’re looking into distribution right now. We’ve got a short called Murder by Mistake that is looking to hit the festival circuits. The one I’m currently working on which is Dirty Red and we’re filming currently.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: What kind of advice would you give to aspiring make-up artists?

Evil John Mays: (Laughing) First; Keep your day job for right now, don’t go off and try to do this as your main job, unless you like being poor. Secondly; volunteer for films and just get in there and play - find out what works. You can go to Mr. Savini’s school and some of the other schools you’ll learn a great many things but it’s kind of like when you’re a kid and you play with Play-Doh. You learn how to sculpt. When you’re doing horror, you play with goo and see what it looks like on somebody. There’s no training tool as good as just getting in there and doing it and seeing what works. Rather, there’s no better training tool.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: Describe yourself as you relate to a film?

Evil John Mays: Well I like to think of myself as the actor with no voice. You can put the greatest effects on somebody that you can make, but if they can’t sell the effect then it doesn’t, no matter what I do to somebody. I’m counting on them to sell the effect. That’s what I tell them if they’ve got this big old bruise on their face, if they look like their face has been burned or smashed in they’ve got to sell it! I’m just the guy dressing them. The actor has to make them [the audience] believe it’s there. Make them believe it’s real. Everyone I’ve worked with has done just an outstanding job of doing that. I try to make sure that they understand that the make-up that I’m putting on them is not the star of the scene, they’re the star of the scene. They have to make it work.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: I don’t think I’ve ever heard it put that way, it’s an interesting way of looking at it.

Evil John Mays: I’m only as good as the actor is willing to let me be. It’s the actor that they [the audience] are coming to see. I generally enhance the actor and tell the actor what’s going on. If the actor is not comfortable with what you’ve out on them then they’re not going to be able to believe in the effect and sell it. So you have to involve them in the process. I try not to have anyone in the chair for more than an hour because they get uncomfortable and at the level we’re working at right now. I don’t need to have someone in the chair three and for hours. I try to put on the effects as fast as I can because I want them to stay in the moment.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: Have you ever put anything on an actor or actress that when they saw the finished product it disturbed or bothered them?

Evil John Mays: Almost always. A lot of times I’ll be working in a rather confined area that they are in a chair and I’ll be taking photographs in the process. They aren’t always aware of what’s going on. I’m currently working on this girl, her character is a crack addict. The main thing is to blotch her skin out and make her lips stained and withdrawn and cracked up, things like that. When she saw it, and she’s a very pretty girl, she was very disturbed at what I had achieved. Where, for everyone else on set it was just a gas. They’ve lived in the urban environment and they know what a crack addict looks like and I pretty much nailed it. Another girl, her face was burned by a gas grill it really kinda shocked her, because she was not really in a horror temperament. She wasn’t the girl you see going to see the Friday the 13th movies. She was the type of girl who would go see more family-friendly types of films. When she saw this and realized it was her underneath it, it really kinda creeped her out. Which really helped her sell it in the scene because she was so knocked off balance by it.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: Have you ever done any effects that when you got done you looked at it and were impressed by your own work?

Evil John Mays: I end up running into that a lot and what it is, is kind of like, I live on the “Happy Accident”. I’ll try something and I work with very small brushes and Q-tips and things. Try to go for a very organic approach. When I see something going in the right direction I’ll start to pursue it and at the end, I’ll say “Hey! That’s pretty good!”. I just hope I can duplicate it on the next day’s shoot. That’s always what it boils down to. I try to do that every time. I don’t want to come off as being arrogant in the process. If I look at my finished process and say to myself that this is the best job I could have possibly done and I’m very happy when I finish up, then I’m good with that. If I look at it and it’s not the best job, I’ll go to the director and say “Look, I need to take a step back.” or “I need to get your input on this cuz I’m not getting it right, not getting the results that I wanted and I want to make sure we’re on the same page with this.” Being honest with your producers and directors and making sure that what you have in your mind and what’s in theirs and what you’re putting on their actor, really is the key to success.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: Outstanding! Is there anyone whom you’d like to give a shout out to?

Evil John Mays: Anyone willing to patronize our movies and my lovely wife Jan. who has put up with the gore and crap and things I leave all over the living room.

Dhampir/Edcrophilia: Excellent! Well I would like to once again thank you for taking the time to do this interview.

Evil John Mays: You’re welcome and thank you.

Visit Evil John Mays on Myspace!

As you may or may not remember, the season finale of Ghostella's Haunted Tomb, "Top Friends", featured a Person You May Have Heard Of, one Lena Headey of 300 and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. After the episode aired, I really dug reading speculation on a couple of websites regarding how I possibly could have gotten her on my show. Blackmail? Did someone owe me a favor? Was it a mafia thing?

Alright, so I fueled that last rumor myself. But still, people wondered about it...but the answer is quite simple: I got her in Ghostella the way I've gotten everyone who's been in Ghostella in Ghostella. We're friends, and I thought it would be fun so I asked. Mystery solved- rest easy, internet! See, a mutual friend introduced us at San Diego Comic-Con and that was that.

LH: Quite sober, I think. We laughed, I remember, Ponder, and I was feeling very fond of you immediately.

SP: You made fun of my drink.

She did, and since I spent the night drinking whatever candy apple red thing it was they were giving away free, I probably deserved it.

We watch horror movies, we play video games, we both like Dallas, she gives me Toblerone, and neither of us can resist a photo booth. It's like having anyone else for a friend, except my mom gets excited because she'll go to Best Buy and, like, see Terminator: TSCC on the shelf.

Believe it or not, there's a point to all this, I swear! That point is, Lena stars in The Broken, one of After Dark's 8 Films to Die For, hitting a store shelf NEAR YOU on Tuesday, March 31. For my AMC column this week, I attempted to sit down with her for an interview. Upon transcription, however, I realized that what I'd recorded was an hour of...of...well, not quite madness, I suppose, but certainly nonsense. I cobbled together what I could and you can read it now at AMC.

But...AMC has, like, rules and stuff about length and format, you know? And there's an editor. All those ellipsis? That's where they made with the chop chop...which is fine, that's their bag. However, I think people (myself included) like to read interviews that aren't so TV Guide, Q & A boring. Cutting out quirky speech patterns or whatever makes everyone sound the same, and it's strictly dullsville. Take the last question, for example, where I ask her about being paprazzied; I think her full answer gives her a little more, you know, personality, and I think it makes the whole affair more interesting for someone who might want to learn more about the actor.

LH: I think I’ve been paparazzied twice in my life since I’ve been out here and it was sort of…horrendous, do you know what I mean? I don’t go anywhere. You know me. I’m such a big spaz, I’m happy to sit here with my dogs and hang out with people I like. All that doesn’t appeal to me. I do think it is a conscious effort of keeping your head down so you can remain anonymous. It’s very funny, I feel like I have this thing where they’re like, “She’s Sarah Connor!” Nobody knows what else I do or what else I’ve done. It’s funny to me, and it couldn’t be farther from me. But I do love shooting stuff!

Or maybe the question where I ask about The Sophisticates, the short film that marked Lena's writing/directing debut, the film she hopes to expand into a feature:

LH: As you know, directing is a long road and I’ve got many ideas and the movie that I’ve written, The Sophisticates, which is a comedy. Yeah, all these other things are exciting, but you know, I’ve never directed before so I need to make sure that people know that I can do it. In terms of that, The Sophisticates is a small ensemble comedy and I hope it’s charming and funny. I think female directors, first timers, always seem to set out and do a drama, a two-person drama. I think, oh fuck it, I wanna make a goofy movie. And I think making people laugh is really fucking difficult. Part of the reason for me writing The Sophisticates was sort of that Wizard of Oz element. I want people to go in and have a treat, be uplifted and charmed, and have a colorful thing to stare at for a minute. And not to please this sort of short memory we’ve got. But you know, I get into trouble for that, for saying no to things.


But anyway, I'm not going to go back and forth, comparing and contrasting. Rather, I'm going to post here what didn't make the cut...the ridiculous nonsense. Why? I don't know. It's like DVD special features or something.

SP: So if life was like The Broken, what would you do if you were out on the street and you saw someone drive by and it was, like, kind of…you? What would you do?

LH: I would just punch her in the face.

SP: “There’s only room for one Headey in this town!”

LH: “Stop trying to be so pretty!” Actually, I’d probably just ask her where she got her hair done. But if she had a better car than me I’d fucking steal that. If it was a Volvo PS 1800 I would kill the person that looked like me and I’d take it.

SP: I don’t even know what that is.

LH: It’s the coolest car ever made. Just that.

SP: I’m sorry, I thought The Love Bug was the coolest car ever made.

LH: No, not Bernie. What’s his name?

SP: Herbie.

LH: Ernie. Barbara!

SP: It should’ve been Barbara!

LH: Yes! “Love Bug 2: Barbara’s Revenge”. She kills Herbie. She makes Herbie go bananas, is what she does.

SP: Well played. Let’s get Hollywood on the phone. Lindsay can star in it again…

LH: Johnny Depp can play the car…

SP: You’re very much…umm…

LH: Kind.

SP: Very kind. You have a certain grace about you.

LH: Like a kindly swan.

SP: What’s your historical disease of choice: consumption, the plague, or the vapors?

LH: That…but do you die from the vapors?

SP: No, just…people fan you and then you’re fine.

LH: Well, it’s not really a disease, is it? Just attention seeking. A narcissistic disease.

SP: Mental illness and corsets…

LH: I’ve done a few movies in a corset, and let me tell you: no. You can’t eat a Fatburger, you can’t have a pint of beer.

SP: Let’s talk about The Cave!

LH: Alright, let’s do it, Ponder. Is that your favorite film of mine? Or of all time?

SP: It is. I’m not gonna lie.

LH: It’s got amazing power.

SP: Yeah, it really spoke to me.

LH: It changes lives. It does.

SP: They play it in children’s sick wards…

LH: When people do charity walks, they play it at the beginning to get everyone pumped up. I think they play it on Romania’s travel website…


SP: The impression I have of you…you know, you go on your first press junket and you listen to all the actors and you think, “Wow, this is so interesting!” Then you go on your second press junket and you realize that they’re all saying the exact same things that everyone on the first junket said. It’s all these standard answers, and it’s so boring. But knowing you beyond a press junket, it does honestly seem to be about the work with you. You’re always talking about ideas, we’re always talking about ideas, you’re up for anything, you know what I mean? So it’s cool to know that you’re out there.

LH: It’s a strange thing about acting- people almost think it’s some bestowed sort of honor, but it’s like, you’re fucking human. The fact is, it’s happened for us and there are many more talented people out there who haven’t gotten the work. But yeah, I don’t ever want to stop being curious about it, because when I do it’ll be over for me and I’ll go make cakes or something. Really shit cakes. But I love it. I love actors, I think there’s obviously and element of narcissism involved with being an actor, but I think there’s a bravery to it. The cinema for me is such a therapy. Even a silly movie- the lights go down and for that hour and a half you’re kind of lost. I love that. And to give people that experience- movies that move you, or make you laugh, or scare you, it’s just such a joy. And to come out of a movie, having really had an experience, that’s part of what makes me really want to direct. Working with actors, it’s a privilege to direct. Some directors don’t feel that- it’s just an excuse to yell and seek revenge for a playground experience.

We talked a bit about the internet and how there's up-to-the-minute, behind-the-scenes this and sneak peek that, how there's no waiting for a movie anymore, no real anticipation...you know, just general old people vs the internet bitchery.

LH: I have such a hard time on the TV show because they want me to do publicity for every single thing, speak to everybody, and I can’t- for me, it takes away everything that acting’s about. Why can’t we have mystery anymore? Why can’t people go and watch it and decide for themselves? But actors aren’t the advertisers, and I don’t think we should have to go and do all that. If I can sit like this and talk about everything, you know, that makes sense to me. But the sort of generic repetition…

SP: Well, you’re supposed to want the attention.

LH: Maybe that’s it. I have no interest in that.

SP: Alright, I think we're done.

LH: Are we? Did you get enough? We didn’t talk about anything, did we?

SP: It’s fine. I can weave some magic.

LH: You can. I don’t care what you say.

SP: Don’t worry, I won’t make you look any worse than you actually are.

Then we had pizza and watched Session 9. Holla!

Written by Theron Neel

Trent Haaga has been knocking around the world of independent horror for almost a decade. He got his start, doing anything and everything, at Troma Entertainment, Lloyd Kaufman’s infamous production house.

Though primarily known as an actor, Haaga has recently found success as a screenwriter. Deadgirl, a film he wrote, is making the rounds at festivals with much success. Haaga’s latest acting role is in Timothy Friend’s new film, Bonnie & Clyde vs. Dracula. We were able to chat with Haaga recently about the past, the present and the future.

Theron Neel: Hey Trent, thanks for taking the time to chat. Your latest role is Clyde Barrow in Timothy Friend’s cool new flick, Bonnie & Clyde vs. Dracula. How did you get involved in this project?

Trent Haaga: I basically just got a call for that one. I had never met Tim and Jenn Friend before, but I guess that they had seen me in some movies before. Jeff Sisson, their makeup FX guy, is one of my closest friends, and I think that he kind of put the bug in their ear.

Theron Neel: It’s been doing very well on the festival circuit, garnering lots of praise and awards. Have you been at any of the festivals?

Trent Haaga: I have not had the chance to see the film with a crowd yet. The Friends sent me a DVD of the film a few months ago and that’s been my only exposure to it.

Theron Neel: Is this the first time you’ve played a historical character? Did you do any research on Clyde, or did you just go by what was on the page?

Trent Haaga: Yes, and that’s one of the main things that attracted me to the project. It’s not often that a low-budget production attempts a period piece - they’re just too expensive to do by nature. So I was excited to shoot something that didn’t take place in the “Now.” I didn’t really do any research on Clyde. As far as I know, he never fought Dracula.

Theron Neel: Well, I fear we’ll never know for sure. Tiffany [Shepis] was really great as Bonnie. You two have a lot of chemistry together. How long have you known Tiffany?

Trent Haaga: I guess that’s a testament to her acting ability! Tiffany and I have been in the same movie several times, but Bonnie & Clyde vs. Dracula was the first time that we had any actual scenes together.

Theron Neel: Those early days at Troma have taken on an almost mythic quality, kind of like the Wild West of filmmaking. I’m sure the reality was much less glamorous, right?

Trent Haaga: It was glamorous to me. Just making movies was exciting. And making movies with one of my cinematic heroes [Lloyd Kaufman] was even better. But, yeah, it’s not what anyone would call “glamorous” by any definition of the word. But there was definitely a sense of being some sort of punk rock pioneer while we were doing those movies. Everything’s working against you when you make a movie like that, and they only get made through sheer force of will and persistence.

Theron Neel: The great thing about Troma, I suppose, is the opportunity it gave you to learn everything about filmmaking from the ground up. You had almost every job possible at one time or another, right? From crew member to producer, you did it all.

Trent Haaga: Lloyd will basically give you any and all responsibility that you are willing to take on. I saw working for Troma as an opportunity to learn everything I could about making films - from writing through to post-production. Then I had to un-learn a lot of it! But what Troma did teach me for sure was the ability to keep going no matter what you have up against you.

Theron Neel: And these days, though you’re known primarily as an actor, you also write and produce. How do you decide what you’re going to do? Do you just field offers as they come in? Do you find properties to develop?

Trent Haaga: The acting thing just happened by accident - I went in to be an extra in Terror Firmer and landed a plum role in the film. Once that came out and was somewhat popular, I started to get acting offers. I always knew that I wanted to work in the movies and didn’t really care what I was doing - which is why I’ve done everything from Production Assistant to Producer. I generally field offers as they come in, but have always written scripts and have had the good fortune to have a handful of those made, too. 

Theron Neel: So, is directing in your future? You’ve done everything else. It seems like the next logical step.

Trent Haaga: Ultimately, yes. I used to want to make another extremely low budget film that I direct … but I feel like I’ve done that already - made extremely low-budget films before. Now my plan of attack is to sell some scripts and eventually get someone to pony up a real budget. 

Theron Neel: I have to say, man, as an actor you have this quality that allows you to make any character you play likable, no matter how despicable they may be. I actually felt a little sorry for your character in Jessicka Rabid (review). How do you do this? Is this just the natural Haaga charm?

Trent Haaga: I think that, no matter what kind of character you play, you have to understand that they’re real people that have all the qualities of a real person - good and bad. Marley Hoffman (my character in Jessicka Rabid) is truly a terrible person. But maybe he doesn’t recognize how horrible he is … especially compared to the people that he lives with and interacts with. I may not agree with what all of my characters do, but it’s my job to try and understand them as they do these things. To view them as real people. Certainly having a cool script and an understanding director always helps this. 

Theron Neel: You know Elske McCain from your Troma days too, right? How was working on Jessicka Rabid with her and [director] Matthew Reel (interview)?

Trent Haaga: I had actually shot a film with Elske and Matt that never came out, so Jessicka Rabid was just like old times. And it’s a real family vibe - small cast and crew, working in people’s homes. Makes the film feel more intimate. Comfortable and fun.

Theron Neel: That’s quite an intense film. How was the mood on the set? Was it extra-jovial to offset the grim subject matter?

Trent Haaga: Well, we’re all kind of twisted individuals at heart, so once a scene was done, it was right back into fun and games. The vibe on set was very relaxed and friendly.

Theron Neel: You are very much a proponent of independent film. Would you love a chance to appear in a big-budget flick? Or does your heart belong to the indies?

Trent Haaga: Let’s be realistic here. I’ve done a ton of ultra-low budget films and I love the spirit in which they’re made. But I’m a family man with a wife and kid. Money becomes an issue. If I won the lottery, it probably wouldn’t matter as much, but I’d like to expand my horizons and have the subsequent paycheck that comes with a larger movie. I’d also like to know what it’s like to make a movie without budgetary compromise - just to see what it’s like!

Theron Neel: I’d like to ask you about Deadgirl, Trent. This is an original script of yours, right?

Trent Haaga: Absolutely. It’s the first “spec” script that I managed to set up - every other script that I’ve had made has been based on someone else’s ideas or characters or for the money. Deadgirl was something I wrote on my own time and on my own dime.

Theron Neel: The film is getting amazing reviews and winning awards. This has to be very exciting for you.

Trent Haaga: Absolutely. It’s edifying to know that this is one of my most critically and commercially successful projects and it’s something that came from a place of pure creation. I wasn’t doing it for the money or for the gig. And it’s a lot closer, thematically, to the kind of things I’d like to do more of or be known for. Don’t get me wrong, I love Troma and don’t regret my time there at all, but Troma is Lloyd’s company and I get tired of being Trent “Troma” Haaga. It’s great to think that soon I might get to be Trent “Deadgirl” Haaga instead.

Theron Neel: [Laughs] I promise to always think of you that way from now on. Can you tell us a little about the story?

Trent Haaga: I like to say that it’s The River’s Edge meets A Simple Plan with a zombie sex slave.

Theron Neel: Now I ask you, what could be better than that? And this particular story seems to be hitting a lot of nerves and connecting with people, which is what being a writer is all about.

Trent Haaga: 100% so. There’s nothing worse than making something that’s met with a general air of indifference…and I’ve made quite a few projects like that in my time!

Deadgirl has been really galvanizing audiences. Some seem to really love it; some seem to really hate it. Some think that it’s an exercise in misogyny; some see it as a statement against misogyny. Some are moved, some offended. But the main thing seems to be that it’s affecting people. People have been debating it and talking about what it means and deciding on its artistic merit, etc. And that’s what good art is supposed to do - inspire debate and thought. I wrote a film called Hell Asylum that moved a lot of units. And people generally said things like, “It was okay” or “I didn’t really like it.” There was no passion for the film, no real love or hate for it. That indifference is more painful than passionate hate, in my opinion.   

Theron Neel: I agree. Was there any particular inspiration for Deadgirl?

Trent Haaga: I wrote Deadgirl right after we finished Citizen Toxie. I was kind of burned out on scatological superhero sex gore comedy. I needed to do something that I felt was more personal to me as a writer. And we had just shot a movie in upstate New York where locations were abundant and cheap. I actually wrote Deadgirl around two of the locations we had shot Citizen Toxie at: a high school and an abandoned mental institution. So those locations were important to the process. The rest of it came from the “troubled teen” movies that I really love and the kind of dead-end kids that I grew up with in small towns in the Midwest.

I actually wrote the film for Lloyd. He was wanting to return to Poughkeepsie and shoot a really quick DV [digital video] movie. He asked if I had any ideas, so I wrote Deadgirl thinking that it would be really interesting if Lloyd made the kind of movie that no one would expect of him. He read it and seemed to like it, but ultimately it just wasn’t the kind of movie that he wanted to do. It all worked out for the better, in my opinion … but it took nearly a decade to happen the way it did! 

Theron Neel: Hey, it happened the way it was supposed to, man. Tell me, how was your experience with the filming? Are you happy with the filmmakers’ interpretation of your script?

Trent Haaga: It was great. We shot it here in LA. My wife was the costume designer. I was the AD [assistant director]. It was everything that’s great about low-budget filmmaking, but with a more - dare I say “artistic?”- ambition. I worked on the script with the directors for a few months and was there every day on-set. It was very hands-on for me, particularly so considering I’m the writer. I’m extremely pleased with the outcome. And it’s great to make something that premieres at a prestigious festival like Toronto. I’d work with [co-directors] Gadi [Harel] and Marcel [Sarmiento] again in a second.

Theron Neel: So, what’s on the radar for you, Trent? Anything in particular planned?

Trent Haaga: The writing thing seems to be working best for me right now. Deadgirl has been playing some very prestigious festivals to some amount of acclaim. I landed an agent and manager as a writer, and have a couple of writing projects working - some already in the can and in pre-production, some on the horizon. I’m not going anywhere for the time being!

Visit Trent Haaga’s Official Site!

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Visit Deadgirl’s Official Site!

Visit Deadgirl on Myspace!

Watch the teaser for Deadgirl: