|
First up, could you all introduce yourself and talk about your
(film-)career so far ?
Hello Mike, it's good to talk to you
again. Well as you may know
my film career started as early as age 12. Being a life long horror fan me
& my neighborhood buddies started filming stuff just for fun on 8mm film
as early as 1980. Later when I became of age I starred in a few genre films
under the name Scarlet Fry (my alter ego). The first film I appeared
as an actor in was called Satan's Storybook which starred x porn queen
Ginger Lynn who had a small role recently in The Devils Rejects. The film also
starred the author of The Howling Gary Brandner & was released on
VHS with moderate success.
The first theatrical release I appeared inwas a
movie called Grossout which was filmed in the tradition of the old John
Waters
movies & still plays occasionaly as a midnight movie in big cities like
Los Angeles &
New York.
Once I decided I wanted to make my own films I put out
my first movie back in 1990 called Scarlet Fry's Horrorama. The intent of this
film was to establish that Scarlet Fry is here to stay. Horrorama was an
anthology like most of my films & made it into about 100 video stores
nation wide. I did a lot of things in between such as appear in a Kiss video
& several bit roles around Los Angeles, I also did a lot of audience work
which is where you get paid to appear in the backround on court tv shows &
game shows. I'm on like 30 episodes of Judge Brown. When I got tired of that I
decided to release a follow-up to Horrorama & released Scarlet Fry's Junkfood Horrorfest starring Calico Cooper (Alice Cooper's daughter). This was
a major accomplishment for me. The film actually got picked up by a distributor,
Brain Damage Films & will hit shelves in late July of this year. During this
time is when I met my partner Laurence Holloway, who is currently working on
my new project Nightmare Alley with me which is by far the best work I've ever
done & I'm very excited about. Larry would like to share a few things
with you guys ...
Hi Mike, Laurence Holloway speaking, & I too am a lifelong horrorfan. I remember
being towed to drive ins as a kid with my parents I loved it. The ticket booth
attendant would hand out cheap plastic vampire teeth & sometimes rubber
eye balls & the speakers would cut in & out, but most of all I
remember the movies, Night of the
Living Dead, old Charles Bronson action
flicks & the like, but I was hooked on horror. I saw the omen with my folks
As a kid & didnt sleep for a week after words, I spent saturdays watching
creature double features & actually met the local horror host as a kid
growing up in Richmond Va. I grew up on Hammer studios & i loved the genre
& wanted to model myself in that mode of filmaking. I also love splatter
movies to death, I used to shoot short horrorfilms with my brother that my dad
who was a videographer would use in his classes to teach students how to set
up intresting camera shots.
You have a new movie coming out,
Nightmare Alley. Could you tell us in a few words what it is
about ? Its a horror anthology in the style of
Tales
from the Crypt & Creepshow, with a little hint of
the old school 50's & 60's Horror hosts & 70's grindhouse
style films. The host Scarlet Fry will tell you six twisted tales from an
old comic book called Nightmare Alley. As co-directors of the film, how did you get along with
each other, and did you often clash ? Our directing styles are very
similar, we both like to get in there & make things work, we value
each others creative input & criticisms, & we listen to each other
& try not to have inflated egos, so we work well together, we just
want to do the best we can with what we got. You seem to have a
predilection for anthology films, since the last Scarlet Fry-outing,
Scarlet Fry's Junkfood Horrorfest, was also an anthology film. Why is that
? I think there's something about those old horror hosts that made
the genre fun, & I see that lacking these days. There's way too many
sadistic horror films out there now that just don't have anything about
them to make it fun. Don't get me wrong I love being scared, but in a fun
way, & I love gore the more the better, there's nothing like a bloody
scare that you can laugh about later & not have to go see a psychiatrist.
I want to bring back the old tradition, the likes of Vampira , zachery, etc,
& make everyday like Halloween.
Is there any way to compare Nightmare Alley and
Scarlet Fry's Junkfood Horrorfest ?
Only that they are both
anthologies. The host Scarlet Fry also will be in Nightmare Alley,
but there is a great difference, Scarlet Fry's Junkfood Horrorfest was shot on
video , where as Nightmare Alley
will be done on film & made to
look like an old print in the style Robert Rodriguez did with Planet Terror
[his segment of Grindhouse
- the editor]. We are also making
our trailer to be just as cool as the ones you see in Tarantino's Grindhouse
which has been a big influence on this film. Scarlet Fry's Junkfood Horrorfest did
star Alice Cooper's daughter Calico Cooper who is to play a cameo in Rob
Zombie's Halloween, in Nightmare Alley
we got Jack Grisham to
star who is the lead singer of the legendary Punk band TSOL. Will we ever see Scarlet Fry in another role than a host of
horror anthologies, and does he have a special origin story ? Scarlet
fry does appear in some other films. Like I mentioned earlier one is
called Satan's Storybook & was released in 1989 on VHS. Fry
plays the leader of satan's servants, also Scarlet appears in a film
called Grossout where he plays a street punk who likes to harrass
girls for their underwear, Fry also always makes a cameo in the films he
hosts, if you pay attention you can find him in multiple roles. Your
cast includes Jack Grisham from the legendary punk-band TSOL. How easy (or
difficult) was it to get hold of him ? I have mutual friends of Jack
Grisham so when it came time to contact him about the film it wasn't to
hard to get him to agree on being a part of it, we just sent him the
script & he loved it, we are very honored to have him aboard. For
those who don't know, Jack's band TSOL can be heard on the soundtrack to Return
of the Living Dead & Jack can be seen in the movie American
Hardcore which was recently released on DVD. How difficult is it in
general to get actors and a crew for an independent horror film, and do
people turn you down once you mention horror ? We let people know
right away what they're in for, so far it hasnt been to difficult. It's
the nude scenes that are sometimes troublesome, but everybody has a price
haha.
 |
Feeling lucky?
Want to
search
any of my partnershops yourself
for more, better results?
(commissions earned) |
The links below
will take you
just there!!!
|
|
 |
As with many horror films, make-up plays a big part in Nightmare
Alley.
What can you tell us about this aspect of the film ?
ScareFX Studios is handling the make-up chores on this film. We
have zombies, beheadings, thumbs ripped from the socket & lots of
the proper red stuff, there's a Jack
the Ripper joke who also will be featured in one of the
stories. We are currently in the works of trying to aquire Dick Ayers who
worked on the original Halloween
& the the original Hills
Have Eyes & Tourist Trap, all 70's classics. The
Scarlet Fry character himself has been graced with a new look. What can
you tell us about this ? Well in the first film Scarlet Fry Was a
more traditional Gothic host Like Lon Chaney's charctor in London after
Midnight, & in Junkfood Horrorfest he was a redneck zombie
similar to something out of House
of 1,000 Corpses. In this new film we will go for more of a zombie
look but don't wanna give too much away, It's gonna be deadly frightening,
we just don't wanna scare you too much until the film is released. What can you tell us about the music
in the film/the bands on the soundtrack ? So far the soundtrack
includes a great psychobilly act called Grave Danger who can also
be heard on the film Chainsaw
Sally which stars Herschell Gordon Lewis [Herschell
Gordon Lewis bio - click here], also they can be heard
on the film First Snow. We also are featuring an up-and-coming
band out of the UK named Invey along with several other studio
musicians who will contribute to the filmscore. By and large,
your film was inspired by grindhouse movies from the 1970's. Do you have a
special love for these films ? I think one of the reasons grindhouse
films are having a comeback is because people appreciate the escapism from
reality that the old grindhouse horror/kung fu movies gave. Larry &
myself both love the Shaw
Bros., Sonny Chiba & horror greats Like Fulci [Lucio
Fulci bio - click here] & Herschell Gordon Lewis [Herschell
Gordon Lewis bio - click here]. Any favourites from that era ? Larry's favs: Zombie,
The Beyond, Let Sleeping
Corpses Lie, Hammer
films like Kung Fu Vampires [he might be referring to Legend
of the Seven Golden Vampires - the editor], Movies like The
Car etc. Scarlet Fry's favs: She Devils on Wheels, Wizard
of Gore, Suspiria,
& anything by Mario Bava [Mario
Bava bio - click here]. In
that respect (I just have to ask): What did you think about the Robert
Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino grindhouse hommage Grindhouse ? It
was great & is a huge influence to what we are doing, I believe
you will see a whole wave of this stuff in the future. Any good genre films you've seen lately, and your all time
favourites ? Lately Grindhouse
of course, Dead Silence
was good & 28 Weeks Later, all time favs Halloween,
Dawn of the Dead,
Bava's Black Sabbath, the original Texas
Chainsaw Massacre, The Excorcist & The
Evil Dead. ... and the films you hate ? Bad
modern vampire films, there are so many crappy ones out there. I Think any
movie based on a video game is pretty bad as well. Anything
else you are dieing to tell and I have just forgotten to ask ? Nightmare Alley
is coming to your town, terror will begin where the sidewalk
ends. Beware! & remember, always look down!
Thank
you for the interview, and good luck with your film.
|
amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.de
eThaiCD.com
find Walter Ruether at adultvideouniverse.com
