IT’S “20 QUESTIONS WITH CROSS” DAY!

As you all are well aware, my two first Horror Film Interviews were with band members, which is great to know that bands you like dig horror films too. For this one interview though, I thought to change the tradition a bit and sit down to talk to a different type of artist. He’s a YouTuber and a master of spoken words. He has the talent to place the right word right where it belongs. In his YouTube content, for as long as I’ve known him, he never uses notes. Everything comes out of his mind and heart. One of the main reasons I decided to get him on board for my next Horror Film Interview is cause we share one common love, Nosferatu. Let’s let him tell us a bit more about himself before we get through the 20 questions.

Cross – Hi, J! How are you? I thought it would be interesting if you would tell us a couple things about yourself so we get to know you a bit better. Like for example, that huge, epic, Nosferatu tattoo you have on your arm. How did you get the idea and who tattooed it on you? We will talk about Nosferatu movies later on.

J – Hey Cross. I’m aright. Tired as always. I consider myself relatively boring. I’m a crane operator in a steel mill. Spend most of my time pouring metal. When I do have some free time I try to catch up on wrestling, movies and occasionally review music.

About the tattoo… There’s actually a long story behind that. It went through a lot of idea changes. It was going to be the shot of him in the hallway, standing. That was going to be on my forearm. My artist said it would just blur together after a while, he would lose too much detail. Then it was a lot of back and forth with ideas, for about three months.

Cross – Good you listened to him. The reason I’m starting this interview with this film is because the title leads me to some other great horror films I like. Robert Eggers’ “The VVitch”. To be honest I have never seen this film until the end, even when I re-watched it. My brother loves this film, but every time he was up to watch it, I fell asleep. Both times. (Laughs)

I’m sure many know why it’s called ” The VVitch ” and not with a W but, I want you to explain that to us and tell us something about the film. Make me want to go for it one more time and this time watch it till the end. Make me curious! (Laughs)

J – I watched the VVitch right when it was released in Blu-ray. I had seen a few articles about it that were pretty ambiguous because a lot of reviewers had trouble covering it. The film is slow, lumbering, drab and as it goes on I just got sucked in to the bleak despair that that family is struggling with. It’s a very human story and one that is tightly contained. To the level of suffocating at point. I prefer horror films to have that isolating feel. Then they rush ending, is amplified so much because of the pacing of the previous 80 minutes or so. I also love that they pull the trigger on this all being real. The Devil walks among them and he is there to guide Thomasin.

Cross – Gonna let you know when I’ll give it another try. It will be soon, ’cause I’m watching everything that gets mentioned in these interviews and I haven’t watched before or it has been a long time since the last time I’ve watched it.

Viy (1967). Not sure if you like old horror but this is one of my favorite witch films. Often spoken of as the first Soviet era horror film. Ever heard of it, J?

J – I haven’t heard of it but you have my attention with it being a Soviet Era film. I watched a lot of exploitation films from the 60’s and 70’s. A few local channels would run them Saturday nights. They were all chopped up and the dubbing was horrible but that added to the appeal.

Cross – They call him the “Master of Italian Horror” and the “Master of the Macabre”, Mario Bava. One of his greatest horror films, in my opinion always, is “Kill Baby Kill”.  Ever heard of Bava and this particular movie?

J – There is a chance I have seen “Kill Baby Kill” because it sounds familiar but I can’t say for sure.

Cross – Jumping to a totally different movie: Pascal Laugier’s “Martyrs”. Brutal, nasty, gruesome and not for everyone. It has such a low rate from what I expected it to have. What are your thoughts about it and the movie?

J – Shortly after “Martyrs” came out it was on the top of nearly every shocking and banned film list so I had to see what the buzz was about it. The film lives up to what people say. The mid 2000’s surge of French Horror was what the whole industry needed. It’s as gruesome as it’s contemporary counter parts “Inside” and “Irreversible” as well as “A Serbian Film” or even some of the over the top splatter films from Japan. But “Martyrs” is different. You’ll see a common theme with a lot of my favorite films in general, especially horror. They are usually minimalistic. And bleak. The most incredible part of that film to me is the years of trauma, all the plotted revenge, and then all the suffering was for nothing. There is no answer. Not one that the audience gets to find out. That’s the best way I have ever seen a film end without answering anything and yet still feeling fulfilled.

Cross – Here’s another not so old film: Ari Aster’s “Hereditary”. It got nominated for many awards, MTV movie award for the most frightening performance, for best actress and many others. Any thoughts about it? It didn’t do much for me though…

J – Ari Aster is a genius when it comes to story telling and misdirection. The film was written without any horror or supernatural elements to it originally. Once that was completed he added the rest. The core of it is a family struggling to process grief and how everyone handles it differently. Adding in King Paimon makes it so much better. Instead of some generic demon or being, Ari took the time to research everything. Using the proper sigil as well as the right attributes. But even without that aspect, seeing a family that already had its problems simply try to function, makes it more human.

Cross – You mentioned this one in one of our conversations… “Videodrome”. I haven’t had a chance to give it a try yet, but I sure do know David Cronenberg from “The Fly”, his most triumphant and accessible film to date. About “Videodrome” I’ve heard it is extremely brutal and violent. What can you tell us about it?

J – I think “The Fly” is his most notorious film. I stumbled across “Videodrome” on TV one day. I didn’t know it was a Cronenberg film until the end. I saw it in the late 90’s for the first time. The internet wasn’t as prominent as it is now. And so a lot of the elements in the film were still relevant. Parts of the BDSM subculture that get touched upon were unknown to the average person. Lots of shock films like “Faces of Death” were still few and far between. Max Renn’s drive to find more and experience everything through the screen hit close to home. As well as Brian O’Blivion being this cult leader that exists only on vhs. Now, nearly 40 years later the film is more relevant. The formats have changed from vhs and tube screens to our phones. We are living the reality that’s depicted. Hard to separate real life from the digital world.

Cross – That’s true. Let’s jump to a Sci-fi/Crime film, which for many might not be considered as a horror film but to me a horror film doesn’t need creepy scenes or blood to be a horror film. “A Clockwork Orange”, one of Kubrick’s finest movies. A misunderstood classic. What does this movie tell you?

J – I always saw the film as a good example of how people will adapt to society but don’t change who they are. The book has a bit more ambiguous ending, at least that I remember. But Kubrick’s take on it was clear. Simply go through the motions and show people what they want to see but you can’t change who you are inside. You can simply become better at hiding it. Along with that, the film has one of the most amazing scores out there.

Cross – I’m sure many know Kubrick from “The Shining”. Stephen King’s horror novel, which established him as a preeminent author in the horror genre. Getting back to Kubrick and his ” The Shining”, he can make your own room seem creepy and unfamiliar. Are you a “The Shining” fan J? Or a fan of Jack Nickolson’s performance in this movie?

J – I love “The Shining”. King’s work has had some rough adaptations. I know Kubrick took the skeleton of the books idea and created his own nightmare out of it and I think it’s much better that way. The insane amount to detail that he puts into every film that he made is otherworldly. There are no mistakes. The torture he put Shelley Duvall through was probably a bit too much. Jack Nicholson was a fantastic actor until playing the Joker broke him mentally. “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Chinatown” showed how deep he could go even early on.

Cross – I’m glad you mentioned “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest“ (great Book too) and “Chinatown”. You have a large amount of piercings, does that have anything to do with Pinhead? (Laughs) Clive Barker most known for his books, he’s one of the directors in “Hellraiser”. I’m sure if one is a fan of Barker they know he is a painter too. How many “Hellraiser” films are out there,10? And which one is your favorite?

J – It’s a pretty common question actually. If “Hellraiser” inspired my interest in body modification. It might have played a part in it but the next question will explain it more. I watched the first two “Hellraiser” films a lot growing up. When I was younger I was a larger fan of the second one. The exploration of psychology and the vision of hell in the end was amazing. But Clive’s universe is a bit different as I would discover later through a number of his books. Hell is simply another realm of existence. The massive landscape that you see is simply a temple there. As I grew older and understood the films more, the first one resonated more with me. Even though the Cenobites are only on screen for roughly 5 minutes they had the most impact. The story gets overshadowed. A woman who is tired of the life that she is living. Longing for something she had for a brief moment. A husband oblivious to her misery. And Frank. A man driven by an unquenchable desire for experience. Nothing in the world means anything to him. He is never satisfied.

For the series there are 8 that star Doug Bradley. Those are the ones that are more or less considered cannon. The additional 2 were made simply to hold the rights to the name. I think I’ve made it 15 minutes into “Revelations” and that was it. The final 4 films during Doug’s time were simply scrips that were adjusted to kinda fit into the “Hellraiser” universe. They are low budget but kinda watchable if you don’t want to really pay attention. I did read the original scrip to “Deader” and it was a much better film than it ended up becoming. Clive wrapped up his vision for “Hellraiser” with “The Scarlet” Gospels having it take place after the second film and ignoring the rest as well as both of the comic book series. I think he did an amazing job wrapping it up. I know he is a very active painter, his mind and his creativity never stop. He will do up to 3 paintings a day and that’s on top of writing on and off. Unfortunately he doesn’t do anything with them. Just stock piles his work.

Cross – He does painting exhibits with them I’m sure people pay to get inside. When this movie came out I was one year old. (Laughs) I’m talking about Dan O’Bannon’s “The Return of the Living Dead”. Classic! Hilarious! Educational too. One of the funniest zombie movies I’ve ever seen. Do you consider it as an intro to modern zombie movies?

J – I am a fan of most of the series. The second film is kinda meh. But Return was great. It was my introduction to the punk subculture as a kid. And it blends the right amount of horror and comedy. The third film takes the approach of being a tragic love story. That helped expand what you could do with a zombie film. They are simply the backdrop. Julia going through her transformation is where I saw for the first time that you could pierce anything if you really wanted to. Even though some of what she does to her body is exaggerated, a lot of it is still realistic. I started to look into it more and more as I got older. Also gave me the mentality of “fuck it, I’ll just do it myself”. 4 & 5 are bad but entertaining bad. Low budget fun.

Cross – Talking about zombies, Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” and the most famous line of a zombie film “They coming to get you, J!” (Laughs) How much do you like this one?

J – “Night of the living Dead” is probably the first zombie film I saw. As with most people. It set a new standard. Moved away from films like White Zombie. Romero found a way to critique humanity and culture while also scaring the hell out of people.

Cross – Love that last line. “Dawn of the Dead” another one of Romero’s movies, his second, the true classic. A blast. Considered as the best zombie horror film ever made. Do you agree?

J – I think it’s up there. The original might be tops. But I love the scathing criticism of consumer culture.

Cross – To stay in the world of the “living dead”, let me drop you a title that goes beyond the boundaries of the Supernatural to the half-world of the living dead, Mario Bava’s “Black Sabbath/ I Tre Volti Della Paura”. Another of my favorites. Ever heard about it?

J – I watched it as a kid because I thought it had something to do with the band Black Sabbath but that was it. I keep telling myself I should watch it again but it’s been about 30 years and I still haven’t. Maybe one day I will finally pull it off the shelf along with the dozens of other films I’ve bought and haven’t had time to watch.

Cross – I always thought they took it from there. (Laughs) Now it’s time to talk about Vampires. So we end this conversation right. “Nosferatu” (1922) Max Schrek, “Nosferatu the Vampyre” (1979) Klaus Kinski, “Dracula” (1931) Bela Lugosi, or Christopher Lee in “Dracula Has Risen from the Grave”?

J – Nosferatu and Dracula were staples in my house growing up. They are fantastic for different reasons. Max made a vampire terrifying. Bela showed how to make a monster wonderfully charming. I’m not a fan of the Kinski remake. It just didn’t really do anything for me. Though they are working on a new adaptation of Nosferatu being Directed by Robbert Eggers that I’m really excited about. His ability to tell a story with minimal dialogue and muted or black and white is perfect. His visual style is the ideal blend needed. I liked Christopher Lee’s approach to the roll. Added more terror. But that’s something he was always good at. Creating a fear inducing atmosphere. Not just his character.

Cross – The one with Kinski has a lot of atmosphere and that’s one of the reasons why I love it. Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, Cappola’s adaptation. I know this movie is like super loved but it never got me. Do you like it?

J – I have mixed feelings on it. Visually it’s fantastic. Gary Oldman is one of the best actors of all time. But a lot of it falls flat.

Cross – “Shadow of the Vampire” with William Dafoe?

J – Wonderful. I love the twist. I am a fan of meta work and I like that they took the idea of Max actually being a vampire and running with it. Defoe is another legend. His performance just adds so much to it. As well as the film being symbolic of the lengths that a director will go through to make a film.

Cross – “Interview With The Vampire”? I think it’s fun but not my cup of tea. Don’t like her book series at all. She goes too much around the bush in my opinion. Boring books. What are your thoughts?

J – I’m not a fan of the books. Good ideas but they just don’t do anything for me. I love the movie though. I think it comes down to casting. Brad Pitt and Tom Cruse were perfect. They did tone down the homosexual relationship in the film but I understand that wasn’t going to fly in the early 90’s but the idea still is there.

Cross – “Blade”? ” From Dusk Till Dawn”?

J – “Blade” is priceless. Solid action and entertaining. Has a pretty good soundtrack as well. Second one was all the mastermind of Guillermo del Toro. I don’t think a sequel would have worked with the same direction. Would have just been a repeat. He kept the action but amped up the horror. “From Dusk Till Dawn” is entertaining. But I don’t think it aged well. I liked it as a teenager but that’s about it.

Cross – “Let the Right One In”, the Swedish one. Do you like it?

J – I’m actually a fan of both the original and the remake. Though the American version doesn’t translate well in certain parts. But I really like when horror films take an established idea and run in a completely different direction with it.

Cross – I could mention so many other movies but I think we better let some for some other time (laughs. Second interview if you will). If there’s any other movies you would like to mention or suggest or if you would like to add something more…

J – There are tons I could go on about but I will end with two short ones. “Event Horizon”. Incredible cast. A very unique story. The bait and switch approach. It seems like it is simply going to be a dark sci-fi. Instead it dives deep into the idea of fear. What might happen when we play with technology that we don’t fully understand. And going to hell and back. That’s clearly a common theme for my interests.

And “Cube”. It’s kind of unknown. The first film simply offers no explanation. Just shows how people handle stress and shows how humans will break down rather than come together. And the film has no solid ending. I don’t count either of the sequels.

Cross – Would have to watch “Event Horizon”. You make it sound interesting. I agree with you about “Cube”. I’ve seen them all but the first one is what does it.

Thank you J for taking the time to answer all my questions. It’s been great talking to you as always. Appreciate it, thank you very much!!

IT’S “20 QUESTIONS WITH CROSS” DAY!

When I first started this blog/interview series, I mentioned that the most important part of these interviews is art and the people who make it. Art is a wide genre and horror films are a huge part of this genre, at least to me. I enjoy watching horror movies as much as I do enjoy drawing or exploring/listening to music (heavy music usually) and obviously my humble “trying to be” a guitar shredder (laughs).

To talk about horror films and those who make them, one needs a horror fan obviously. If you all remember, most of the band members I interviewed recently, showed their love about horror films, but the only one who did show more excitement about getting to sit down and talk about this passion, was Mike of “The Tell Offs” band.

Cross – Hey Mike! How is it going?

Mike – Hi Cross! Down live-stream on the 29^th, let’s go! Haha

Cross – Hell Yeah!!! (Laughs) You ready for this? Hah!

Mike – I am sooo ready!

Cross – First of all, tell us what genre of horror films do you like? Do not mention titles!

Mike – Ok so, I’m open to whatever. A good movie is a good movie but I seem to gravitate towards gore and slasher type films. The gorier the better! I’m actually not crazy about paranormal stuff or exorcism type stuff. I want murder and blood in my horror for some reason, I dunno haha!

Cross – On our first interview we had, you said your favorite horror film is, Tobe Hooper’s “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” (one of my favorite movies of all time. The Beautiful, Marilyn Burns and the Giant, Gunnar Hansen).

When was the first time you’ve watched it, where were you? What did the movie spark in you? Why do you love it as much as you say you do?

Mike – Ok so! The original “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre”. I was probably about 8 years old? I was watching a movie from the 1980s, this comedy called “Summer School” with Kirstie Alley and Mark Harmon. In the movie, two of the students were obsessed with “ The Texas Chain Saw Massacre”. I somehow managed to convince my dad into letting me rent it during a blockbuster trip. Starting to show my age here haha. I had this little TV in my room with a VHS player attached to it. I watched it there in my room, by myself. It scared the living s**t out of me, but I friggin’ loved it.

Cross – I hear great words from people I know who had the chance to meet Gunnar Hansen, a real great person. Have you ever had the chance to meet him (I would have loved to)?

Mike – I never have, sadly!

Cross – Paul A. Partain (Franklin Hardesty). Many people say he has been a pain during the shooting of the movie and not many like his performance. I do love him in the movie though. What are your thoughts about it?

Mike – Well if he was a pain in the a**, it sure didn’t stop the movie from being a classic! Franklin surely isn’t my favorite character in the movie but he’s essential and he became essential in “The Texas Chain Saw 2”. Again, all the little things about this movie. I kinda found myself having sympathy for Franklin. Here’s a guy in a wheelchair that kinda got dragged on this trip and then you have that one scene where they are all upstairs having a great time and he’s all alone and he starts spitting up at them in disgust? I dunno, I kinda felt for him. I mean, I’m not in a wheelchair and I’m blessed by way of that so I’m not complaining but I’ve been a 3rd wheel a few times in my life haha it’s not the greatest feeling in the world.

Cross – I agree with you there.

Are you a Dario Argento’s fan Mike? His “Suspiria” (in Latin means “sighs”) is a treat for my eyes and not only that. The greatest part of the movie is “Suspiria”’s Soundtrack, by Goblin.

Mike – I have never seen or heard of this movie but this is another reason why I’m glad we’re doing this! I don’t claim to be a know it all but I sure as s**t wanna be! This is added to the list!

Cross – It’s not slasher as you like them but it gonna stay with you, trust me.

Mike – After I watch it, I’ll let you know. Hey by the way….you got me goin’ with the death metal band Portal. Brilliant music. Haha

Cross – One of the scariest, greatest, darkest bands out there, Portal that is.

They made a remake of “Suspiria”, Luca Guadagnino’s “Suspiria” (Thom Yorke, Radiohead’s singer did the soundtrack, which  reminds me of Philip Glass somehow… the composer and pianist who made the soundtrack for “Candyman”. True genius…). In my opinion they should have called it something else but it wasn’t bad at all. Sorry I keep talking about it. (Laughs)

Mike – Well, I will get back to you on this one too, but I did love Candyman!

Cross – Rob Zombie. I’m sure we both know him from his music but he does horror movies too. I’m not that much of a fan of his horror movies (don’t get me wrong, they’re beautifully shot) but… you’ve got to love Sid Haig and Bill Moseley (here we go, back to Tobe Hooper’s “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 2”, Chop – Top… laughs) in ” The House of 1000 Corpses”.  What can you say about all that (too much happening on that train of thought)?

Mike – I love Rob Zombie’s films. Besides his recurring cast, I tend to lean more towards gore with my horror movies. I like feeling a bit uncomfortable. If I can think about a movie long after I’ve watched it, and think about specific scenes later, I feel like it’s a good movie or at least resonated with me, again going back to “ The Texas Chain Saw Massacre”. So many little scenes I just think about from time to time and it’s just eerie. But with gore, there’s also a visual that I find pleasing which you just touched on saying they’re beautifully shot.

I feel that with “House of 1000 Corpses” (this one in particular), “The Devils Rejects” and “3 From Hell” which by the way got a bit of heat but I still enjoyed it, I feel that visually, Rob Zombie takes a page out of the book of “ The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” with these movies. That uncomfortable, unsettling feeling. And again, the cast of characters is just so damn strong. So many one liners, and the music is so damn good, in all 3 movies. I’m ashamed to say I just discovered Suzi Quatro last year thanks to “3 From Hell”. And I also think that the final scene in “The Devil’s Rejects” with “Free Bird“ is just breathtaking.

These three movies sure do take me on a wild ride. I also love the look on people’s faces who say they’ve seen this movie and I have to remind them that Dwight Schrute is in “House of 1000 Corpses” haha, I also really enjoyed “31”, which to me was like Rob Zombie’s version of “Saw” if “Saw” didn’t suck (sorry folks, I’m not a fan) and “The Lords of Salem” was really good. I may be biased though because I love the town of Salem, Massachusetts. I’ve been there quite a lot and it’s a damn good time. I also have issues with remakes sometimes but I thought Rob Zombie’s take on “Halloween” was very enjoyable. I thought he put his Rob Zombie spin on it while doing the original plot justice but also added more depth to the origins of Michael Myers. Who he was and why? All that stuff. Wasn’t too crazy about the sequel though. Seemed a bit unnecessary but that’s just me.

Cross – Ain’t a “Saw “ fan either. About “Halloween” we’ll get to that in the next question. Enjoyed “House of 1000 Corpses“, I’ve been a fan of Sid Haig since Ralph Merrye in “Spider Baby”. Which one was your first movie of his?

Mike – My first Sid Haig movie was actually the 1971 James Bond film “Diamonds are Forever!” Sid Haig was just fantastic. May he rest in power.

Cross – Michael Myers, Jon Carpenter’s masterpiece “Halloween”, my favorite!!! (told you we’ll get to it) with the iconic Scream Queen, Jamie Lee Curtis.

Mike – We touched on this earlier. Yes! I love “Halloween”! Between “ The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and “Halloween”, these movies were definitely a gateway in horror movies as a young boy.

Cross – How many Halloween movies are there?

Mike – Haha oh boy, there’s been lots right?

Cross – Way too many. (Laughs)

Mike – I mean you had the first 6. The third one not involving Michael Myers. You had H2O which I thought was pretty stellar. Then you had “Halloween Resurrection” which, my god what a piece of s**t haha… and then the most recent one which I thought was good. I wouldn’t have named it “Halloween” but that’s me nitpicking haha. So not including Rob Zombie’s, we have had 9? With a tenth on the way this fall? Did I nail it?

Cross – Haven’t watched them all, told you my love stays with the first one but, I think you nailed it. (Laughs) Which one do you prefer?

Mike – Besides the original, I really enjoyed “Halloween 4”. Michael Myers mask kinda sucked haha but I thought the story was strong and we really need to give a shout out to Donald Pleasance because I don’t care how many remakes you do… he is and always will be Dr Loomis haha. May he rest in power.

Cross – I’m a huge fan of F. W. Murnau’s “Nosferaru”. I’m sure it shows in my drawings (laughs). My favorite silent movie ever, and I do love immensely “Nosferatu the Vampyre” with Kinski and Adjani. Which one do you like better?

Mike – “Nosferatu” rules! Again, eerie. One of the best things about the older horror movies is that they’re so old it makes them even scarier. Sometimes I feel like horror movies aren’t meant for a massive budget. Nobody wants to watch Die Hard here. Haha

Cross – That’s a Venom song. (Laughs)

Mike – With that said, I like the original better BUT! I enjoyed “Nosferatu the Vampyre” a lot. I thought Kinski’s take on the count was really good. He had this sympathetic approach to his character in a way. If that makes any sense. Haha

Cross – How about Bela Lugosi as Dracula (music was composed by Philip Glass later on, I mentioned him earlier. Laughs)?

Mike – Lemme tell you something, put Bela Lugosi on a screen staring directly into it for 1 hour straight with them bug eyes he does and I’ll call it a horror classic. Bela Lugosi for me is to horror what The Beatles are to rock n’ roll. Nobody will ever touch him and he planted the seeds whether he realized it or not. Also, shout out to “White Zombie” another one I love.

Cross – I’m sure he knew how good he was. And all you said there made me happy. I couldn’t agree more.

When we talk about horror films we have to mention Sam Raimi’s “Evil Dead”. The first movie is my favorite. Which one does it for you and have you watched the TV show “Ash vs Evil Dead”?

Mike – The first movie is absolutely my favorite and I haven’t watched the show yet! It’s on my list of stuff I need to watch along with “Suspiria” now!

Cross – Are you Mike an Alfred Hitchcock fan? “Psycho”, the perfect nightmare. A classic!

Mike – Oh “Psycho” has to be a top 10 all time, am I right? That would be a good one for Halloween! I could be Norman when he dresses up like his mom!

Cross – (Laughs)

Mike – All I’d need is a dress, a wig and a knife (a styrofoam one of course haha). Maybe next year. This year I’m gonna be Walter from the Big Lebowski. Haha sidenote, Hitchcock… loved “Dial M for Murder”.

Cross – You already planned it huh? And that’s a good one too. Everytime I talk about Hitchcock, Roman Polanski pops in my mind. To name some of his horror masterpieces, “The Tenant”, “Repulsion”, “Rosemary’s Baby”. He has many other great movies, but since we’re talking about horror I’ll stop there. Ever heard of him or any of these films I just mentioned?

Mike – Rosemary’s Baby was great, only recently found out Mia Farrow was married to Frank Sinatra and I’m deeply ashamed by that. Haha another thing Roman Polanski did that was great was marry Sharon Tate, she was beautiful!

Cross – They didn’t stay that long together though, Sinatra and Farrow. And Tate, she was stunningly beautiful.

Rod Serling, unmistakable voice. I’m a Mad fan of his work. From “The Twilight Zone” to “Night Gallery” and his books too. He died two years after his participation in the ” Encounter with the Unknown”, a horror/mystery film. Do you know about him or the TV shows? Any thoughts?

Mike – Well surely I know “The Twilight Zone”. Funny quick story, last year I went to a Phish concert in upstate New York with my guitar player and a couple of friends. By the way, not a big jam band guy, but they’re great musicians and my guitar player lets me take him to see bands like Anthrax, Slayer and Eyehategod so I feel like I wanna go to a Phish show sometimes because he loves them haha. Anyway, we got a hotel to spend the night and I brought my DVD player. Having gotten a bit drunk… ok really drunk and maybe there was some hippie lettuce present… not too sure haha… when we got back to the hotel I was the first one to pass out. That was maybe around 1am. About 4am I woke up and my guitar player had put “The Twilight Zone” on because it’s on Netflix. So by that point they were all asleep so I sat up for a couple of hours eating Doritos and watching “The Twilight Zone”. End of story. Hahahaha

Cross – Bullshit Artist. Does that ring a bell? (Laughs)

Mike – If anyone hasn’t seen “The Greasy Strangler” yet, see it! I ain’t playin’. Hahahaha what a movie. Nothing like it.

Cross – You tell them Mike!!!

Chucky, Jason, Freddy Krueger, Ghostface… which one does Mike like the most?

Mike – Ughhhhhhhhhhhhh… this is tough……. I’m a “Friday the 13^th” guy overall but I’m gonna say Freddy, I just think he’s got the most depth. I have a sister whose 4 1/2 years older than me so around this time, the movie “Scream”, was really big… right or wrong it was big haha. I remember being in 4th grade and in a catholic school no less. Haha everyone dressed as the Ghostface that year. Except me of course, I don’t remember who I was. But there’s a scene in that movie where they’re all watching “Halloween” with Jamie Lee Curtis. So I feel like interest in “Halloween” came about with my generation based on that so I had seen that movie around this time too and while I loved “Halloween” and still do believe me it’s one of my favorites, “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” resonated in a totally different way. I’ve seen it a zillion times now and I still have that same eerie vibe at 32 that I got watching it at 8 years old. There’s nothing like it.

Cross – I Love Matthew Lillard but I ain’t a Scream fan. “Eden Lake” (2008), “Hatchet” (2006), “The Midnight Meat Train” (2008), “Tucker & Dale vs Evil” (one of my favorite horror comedies), are you a fan of any of these Mike?

Mike – “Tucker & Dale vs Evil” was awesome! Plus the fat guy got the girl. Speaking as a horizontally challenged man myself, that’s always good. We need more of that! Haha

Cross – He sure did. (Laughs)

Not sure how much of a Black Flag, Henry Rollins (love him!) fan you are, but he did appear in some horror films: “Wrong Turn 2 – Dead End” and “He Never Died”, to mention one or two. Have you seen these two and what do you think about them?

Mike – I love Henry! I feel like when you’re a big Phil Anselmo fan, you have to like Henry by default I mean c’mon! Haha I’ve never seen these films but I’m intrigued. Did you ever see “The Chase” with Charlie Sheen and Kristy Swanson? Henry is in it. Reeked of 1990s. Great cameos by Anthony Keidis and Flea from the Chili Peppers too haha… dammit I miss the 90s!

Cross – Yeah I’ve seen it. How Henry says, if I like an artist I want to even know wtf they had for breakfast. (Laughs) Talking about Phil Anselmo…

American Guinea Pig movies. The second one “Bloodshock” premiered on Housecore Horror Film Fest part lll in 2015, I believe. I haven’t watched the last two ones though but are on my list. Ever heard of them Mike, do you like any?

Mike – Never heard of any of these but I’m tellin ya right now, if there’s ever another Housecore Horror Film Fest I don’t care where it is, I’m going.

Cross – If that ever happens, and I really hope it will soon, we have to sit down and talk about that experience.

We talked mostly about sort of “old horror” movies. Any other ones you’d like to suggest or talk about, old or new, Mike? What are your feelings about the horror genre nowadays?

Mike – Let’s see, well if you wanna ever gross out non horror movie fans show them the movie “Terrifier.” Art, the Clown will not appeal to them. Hahahaha

Cross – I go with “ Blookshock” and “ Nekromantik “ for that. (Laughs)

Mike – Let’s see what else… so, I’m a big pro wrestling nerd. There’s a wrestler whose retired now but his name is CM Punk. He’s ventured out into acting recently and he starred in a horror film called “Girl On The Third Floor.” Came out last year. Kind of a haunted house type flick. I thoroughly enjoyed it so check that out and listen… I may get hung for this but seeing as how I have the platform I’m gonna do something that not a lot of people have done and that’s openly admit my love for the Kevin Smith horror movie “Tusk.” I friggin’ loved it. Yes, the plot was beyond ridiculous, the idea of it is stupid but the acting. First of all you’ve got Michael Parks. A genius. Then, I’m gonna tip my hat to Justin Long because… spoiler alert here… there’s a scene where he’s drugged by Michael Parks character and when he comes to, he’s all out of it and realizes that his leg has been cut off. Justin Longs reaction was superb. Because seriously imagine that happening.

Cross – No spoilers Mike!!! (Laughs)

“Tusk” has been on my list for a while now. Every time I mention “The Greasy Strangler” people suggest me “Tusk”.

Mike – Lastly, Johnny Depp’s cameo was literally out of this world. Another deep cut Johnny Depp transformation. The movie was so universally panned when I’ve told people to watch it, they didn’t even realize it was Johnny Depp I had to tell them later. Haha! Anyways, I do like my horror movies older usually but there’s been some gems here and there. I just hope they stop remaking the classics. How many “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” remakes can they do? And did we really need to reboot “Friday the 13^th” and “Nightmare on Elm Street”? No thanks. I understand remakes have been happening forever but some performances are just so timeless I don’t see how it can be done. Not horror but I’ve heard of a “Scarface” remake coming? How can you possibly top that movie in general let alone Al Pacino’s performance in it? Haha end rant.

Cross – I know, right? Make your own f*****g movie!! (Laughs)

Thank you for taking the time to answer to all my questions, Mike. Can’t thank you enough brother, it has been a blast!!!

Mike – Thanks for the time Cross this was fun let’s do it again, sometime!