Hot & Horrifying: The First Ladies Of Horror (3)
"The Horror Genre gives women the freedom to get as crazy as they wanna be!" *Michelle Tomlinson *** ''I love being in horror films because I know they are intriguing to the audience and they bring back happy childhood memories of when I first started watching thriller movies at the drive in with my parents. They also take your mind off of other things and make you realize that your problems in real life are nowhere near as problematic as the situations the characters entail in horror movies. '' - Judy Cerda *** I cannot remember a time I didn't love horror. I would CRY when Halloween was over - didn't do that about Christmas! I loved watching spooky TV shows and movies and reading anything I could get my hands on - "Dracula", the Brontës, "Rebecca" by Daphne DuMaurier, Stephen King, Robert McCammon, Dan Simmons, Tom Tryon. I think one reason I love horror is it is an "escape" from the horrors of the "real" world. Go to a horror movie for a couple of hours and your life just doesn't seem so bad compared with that of Sally Hardesty in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or Nancy in "A Nightmare on Elm Street". And reading a book can take you to places like Castle Rock or Derry, Maine. Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi (yes, Faulkner wrote horror). Erzsebet Bathory's castle in what was then Hungary, Perdido, Alabama in Michael McDowell's "Blackwater Saga", Gary A. Braunbeck's Cedar Hill, Ohio stories and on and on. And if the going gets too "tough", you can just bookmark that page and close the book until you're ready to continue. Many people say horror begets "horrors". Well, you can't change some people's minds - I had a former friend take it upon herself to "check out" "The Devil's Rejects" and she announced to me afterwards that the film had "no redeeming qualities". Well, aside from my response of "I didn't ask for your critique of a movie I KNEW you would hate", I just felt sorry for her as she was going through some rough times in her own life and if she had just given horror a chance for her to escape reality for a little while... Who knows. I am proud to be a horror fan and if friends and relatives think I'm nuts or going to hell (had a cousin tell me that), so be it. I will be going to the nuthouse or to hell happy. - Elaine Lamkin / Dread Central *** As very young girl I was watching way too many movies, all day long "The Early Movie"... "Afternoon Matinee"... "The Late Movie". I loved Vincent Price, all things Film Noir, and then there was Hitchcock. I loved him. Suspense and thrillers were always my favorites. The Blob, when I was 8, and Mr Sardonicus, at the tender age of 10 may have left an indelible impression on my psyche. Oskar Homolka, as Krull scared the bejezus outa me! I believe, I may have been subsequently damaged for good! Although I am a fan of many genres, for Chainsaw, I was in the right place at the right time, gave the right reading... and became involved, somewhat by happenstance, in a future groundbreaking horror film. I've been a news/crime buff since I was knee high to a grasshopper. I still am. Playing "Pam", "the girl on the meat hook", seems entirely appropriate to me. I just chose to live in obscurity and anonymous for my own good reasons! Here's an interesting little tid-bit for you. I was doing a play in Austin, TX, "My Daughter, Your Son". The "celebrity/star" in the play was Andy Devine. Andy was a character actor, and cowboy sidekick, beloved for his raspy-high-pitched frog voice. His career was a long one, but hit a peak during the 40's and 50's. He was best known by my generation as, "Jingles", Roy Rogers , trusty chum. We were in the final stages of post production, after a hot, painful, and torturous shoot withTCM. They wanted me for some pick-up shots with Pam, on the porch with the tooth. To do them I would have to turn down another important job offer that would secure my Actor's Equity Card. When Andy heard about my quandary, and about my involvement in this local, non-union, low budget, horror film, involving "chain saws", he was completely disgusted, mainly by my passion for the project. The working title at that time was "Headcheese". I don't think we knew it would be called by another title, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Andy was, to say the least, less than impressed. His exact words to me were, "Oh, Teri, THAT film's never going to come out of the can!" Rest in peace, Andy *_* - Teri McMinn *** "Acting in the horror genre allows me to explore and express a deep, dark, evil and sexy side that I would never experience in real life. There is something about "Scream Queen" that feels POWERFUL!" - Brooke Lewis NVF Films Interview with Nicole Kruex Greetings and salutations, my dear. How have you been doing? Hello Dave!! I’m doing great!! Working hard to get The Story of Annie Kellister into production while promoting the efforts of my new partners in crime and balancing my acting career. It’s a difficult but fulfilling effort as always, and I’m learning every step of the way I've been keeping tabs on you, and I see you have some new films in the works. The film In The Eyes Of Silence sounds interesting. Does this film tend to lean more toward psychological horror? In the Eyes of Silence is like my child, I’ve coddled and cooed it like a malformed demon child that is misunderstood and destined to be a lethal menace to society. I wrote the screen story almost two years ago basing it on a concept I had in my head for over five years previous. It’s most certainly a psychological thriller and has made a mark or two of it’s own on a few Hollywood heavyweights. Thanks to the talented efforts of two local authors, Joshua LeSuer and C.A. Bryers I was finally able to make the dream a reality. Now, it is in a pre-production limbo but I’m hoping to move back into full production sometime in 2010, the film is so beyond amazing… it deserves to see the celluloid. Now, the film The Story Of Annie Kellister sounds as if it strays away from horror in general. You going soft on us? {Laughs}. Oh my, Annie Kellister. This immoral tale of enticing wonderment is equal to if not more disturbing then Eyes of Silence even wishes to be. Considering your assumption, our anonymity and lack of consideration to dispersing detail has weaved the blinding web we had hoped it would. Annie is my dirty little secret, and once finished I hope she will become a blemish on the face of indie film in a way that only the strongest of medication will erase the imagery we are prepared to display. Now, your Dead Reckoning TV series sounds great! It's not your typical ''ghost-hunters'' plot though, is it? YES!!! No really, it IS in fact currently based on a team of investigators but the concept may change as the wrinkles are ironed out. Things are constantly changing in the industry, and as of late I’m finding myself less and less available so much so that there is a chance after launching the pilot I may have to take my leave. In fact it has been discussed to purely base the show entirely around it’s creator with just guest appearances… My only wish in the process is to see the show get off the ground because it’s creator Scotty Roberts has worked so hard to make his dream a reality, and from the start I was determined to do everything in my power to make that happen. What's it like being behind the camera for a change? Quite a departure, isn't it? I truly enjoy it Dave, it’s a creative release that the confines of dialog written for me just can’t quite satiate. There is nothing like giving live to a story dancing in your head, providing it the right level of care to help it grow into something mature and practiced, the watching it manifest before your eyes as a series of images you were sure would only maintain their life in your head. Then you have the opportunity to share this vision with others, good bad or ugly, it’s a moment spent in your soul and that’s a rare opportunity shared. What are the most important rules for indie filmmaking? When you think you’ve planned for everything, plan some more. Ha! I heard that!Do you think the budget makes a big difference, or or do you feel that it depends on how well the filmmaker handles what budget they have to work with? The budget always changes the game, but the experience and preparedness of the filmmaker closes the deal. You can make the same movie on a 200K budget that you could make on an 800K budget, but you need the experience to know where to sacrifice and still come in under budget with a great product. You need to be a learned talent scout and cast the right people. You need to spend as much as you can on lighting!!! But most of all, you need to be a hustler… get what you can for free, make deals and search for bargains, but never sacrifice the quality of the final project. Do you think that the indie film will continue to rise as a major force in horror cinema? I mean, it seems as though the big studios are churning out the same old crap, while indies are being much more creative. Indies have always been more creative, but we as peers in the industry of entertainment need to understand the those studio films have their place as well!! They are a source of inspiration, and a level of quality to aspire to. One thing Independent Filmmakers forget is that this medium, aside from serving as a source of creative expression, is still a business that is intended to generate income. Studio productions heavily weigh the pros, cons, and options available to them to best serve the public… they are not in the game to service personal expression. Much like radio play music, studio producers understand that the greater the demographic reach of their product (ie uncreative and formulaic) the greater the profit potential… original concept is a small price to pay for a $50M return. =D What's on the horizon for Nicole right now? Whew!! That’s a loaded answer, from the production of Annie Kellister, Eyes of Silence, Dead Reckoning, Diesel, and an unmentioned new comer Soldiers of Dresden to completing my roles in Funland, Zen: Hunter, Opposite Blood, All the Needless Killing, Whitey, Hayride and now Longwood? I’m booked with projects though fall of 2010, I may even entertain (as a co-director) a documentary showing at Sundance with a co-production team in New Mexico and take a trip to Miami and LA for a few music videos I’m facilitating. The world around me has so many gifts, I only hope I’m deserved enough to receive them. Any last words before you leave us? Gosh…. Is it really true that the Mongolian Death Worm aka. allghoi khorkhoi can spray an acid like substance that causes death instantly AND has the ability to kill from a distance with some sort of super charged electrical charge emitted from it’s butt? Cause if so…!? I’m making a movie about it….guaranteed. Thanks Dave for this amazing opportunity, I hope if nothing else it inspires new talent to reach as high as their dreams!! NVF Films Interview with Rachel Grubb Good morning, my dear. You look radiant as usual. How are you today? I'm great! Thank you for asking. It's been awhile since I layed some Q&A on you, so I'm sure you have some exciting news for us. Fill me in on your most recent film project, Perversions. I had worked with director Ted Dewberry on a feature film called GROUP HOME. It was a script he wrote about his experience working in a group home for developmentally delayed adults, and the problems he encountered. I played Shelly, the meth-addicted manager of the group home. It was a very dark comedy, and I really enjoyed working on it. It was a very low budget movie, but what really made it entertaining was the solid writing and the performances. He approached me about doing a short film called PERVERSIONS and offered me the lead. It was a very dark story about a women who has just had gastro-by-pass surgery and had a feeding tube installed. She's stopped eating altogether, and uses her feeding tube to pour alcohol directly into her. She has a bizarre fetish going to stranger's houses and telling them their loved ones have been found dead. It was a very dark and challenging role, and I'm pleased to have been able to play it. Now, I hope you don't consider the next few questions too forward of me, but I'd like to also profile your inner being as well as your outer being - which we already know is absolutely gorgeous. Is that ok? Aw, thank you! Yes, this is fine with me. Good! Now, first of all, what was it like ''growing up Rachel''? Alot of fun? No, not always. I had a very supportive family, but I didn't always fit in with the other kids. I was kind of a weirdo. Not really into what the other kids liked. As a pre-teen, I was mostly interested in 1960's pop culture, and I preferred The Beatles, The Monkees, and The Who to the New Kids On The Block, which made me quite the freak. In junior high, I was into superhero comics, especially Batman, which was especially un-cool if you were a girl. By the time I got to high school, I embraced my strangeness, and decided to just dress as weird as humanly possible and follow my own fashion code. It wasn't until then that I got to be proud of who I was, and really start to like myself. At least you hung in there girl! You strike me as the type of lady who can all-business when she needs to be, but otherwise pretty easy-going, sweet-natured. Could I be correct? And if so, do people ever try to take advantage of your good nature? They do with me. I used to be very easy going most of the time. Now I try to be very business minded, unless I'm around people I trust. I used to try to help people out whenever I could. If someone was interested in getting them into independent film, I would refer them to anybody I knew, and try to find work for them. But now I will only do that for people I know are committed. I would love to be able to help as many people as possible, but I can't do that. If I tell someone to cast this person, and that person ends up being a diva or not showing up, or bitching the whole time, it reflects on me. Having said that, I know a lot of actors who are looking for roles, crew people who are looking for movies to work on, and directors who are looking for cast and crew. But I am very selective about who I will recommend. Sounds fair to me. Do you ever hope to take time out for a family someday? Get married and have a little Rachel Jr.? My fiance, Joshua LeSuer, and I are getting married this summer, but neither one of us would like to have children. We are both very happy growing old together, just the two of us. Sounds good to me. Is your family supportive of your career? That can make a big difference if you know other people are proud of your accomplishments, are out there pulling for you. I know I am. Why, thank you! My family does support what I do. When I got my first IMDB credit, my dad was so excited that he bought a pro account so that he could put my picture up. They come to see my movies, as long as they are not too scary! My mom doesn't like horror, so she can't go to many of my premieres, but they did go to all the screenings of THE MONSTER OF PHANTOM LAKE and CAVE WOMEN ON MARS. I’d like to visit Mars now! Tell me a little bit about Silent But Deadly Productions. How did you and Brooke Lemke meet up? I first met Brooke when we were both extras on a local Minnesota independent film. We got along very well, and stayed in touch. I referred Brooke for a role in TALES OF THE DEAD by Haunted Autumn Productions. The two of us were playing best friends who run out of gas by the side of the road and get attacked by a werewolf. We had so much fun working together that we wanted to keep doing it, which was how we decided to start Silent-But-Deadly. Do you two get along well, or are there occasional ''clashes of personality''? For the most part, I would say we get along very well. When we started this, people would tell us, "This is going to test your friendship." Well, it did, and we both believe that our friendship passed the test. The interesting thing is that Brooke and I barely knew each other when we worked on TALES OF THE DEAD together. We just knew that we got along, and we enjoyed each other's company. So essentially, we became friends by learning how to run a production company together. We communicate very well, and when we have differences of opinion, we know how to talk to each other about it. That’s good. Do you mainly dabble in the horror genre, or do you dabble in other genres as well? I love horror. It's my favorite genre to watch. But I like to do as many different things as possible. GROUP HOME is a dark comedy, and I am very proud of my work in that. I am working on a comedy film called THE MANXES with Jorge Sosa. I also did a drama called FALLEN CITY, with Team Chow Fa Productions. I also have a comedy feature film coming soon called THE TELEPHONE GAME by Jason Schumacher. It was filmed entirely without a script, and all the dialog was improvised by the actors. The movie I directed, WHY AM I IN A BOX? is actually a dark comedy, although people assume it's horror, just because that's what I usually do. It looked pretty horrifying to me! What’s it like being on the other side of the camera? Do you feel more comfortable in front of the camera or behind it? I would have to say that I feel more comfortable in front of the camera. When you're directing, everything is your fault, no matter what happens. If something goes wrong because someone else screwed up, it's your fault for letting them do it. And then, of course, when things go well, I feel like it's because of the cast and crew, and not me. Acting is very relaxing. I'm only responsible for my own performance, and that is it. Do you honestly believe that women in horror will continue to be a driving force in indie filmmaking? Yes, I do. I think that women have always been an important part of horror, and we will continue to be. Without women, you wouldn't have 99% or horror, and since we're getting more involved in every aspect of filmmaking, I think you'll be seeing a lot more of us. As an actress, I tend to gravitate toward movies with stronger women roles and since women are such an integral part of horror, I think we're going to be an influence on the way women are portrayed. I must agree. Well dear, I know you are a busy lady, so I will let you go for now. But do you have any last words before you leave us? You should never ask a Scream Queen if she has any last words. It's a little like saying, "I'll be right back." Because you won't be. Oops! Am I in trouble?!
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