Part 2 of our Exclusive Coverage of the Chillerama World Premiere

Steve Barton   |  

Sep 19, 2011

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Dread Central hit the world premiere of the Image Entertainment and Ariescope Pictures anthology film Chillerama at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California, last Thursday, September 15th (see Part 1 here), and today we bring you Part 2 of our coverage. In this installment we provide interviews with one of the film’s directors, Adam Rifkin, and cast members Lin Shaye, Gabby West, Kristina Klebe and more!

“We wanted from the start to make a movie that was a love letter to the movies that we loved growing up,” director Rifkin told us of their approach to the horror-comedy that is Chillerama, “(the type) that you don’t see getting made that often anymore and that you don’t see getting played that often anymore. When I was growing up in Chicago, they played these types of movies constantly on this show called ‘The Son of Svengoolie’, and that’s where I saw all of the Universal monster movies and all of the Japanese monster movies and Hammer films and all of that great drive-in, grindhouse stuff so we wanted to make a love letter to those ‘B’ films. So we all had a pow-wow and said, ‘All right, Adam Green’s The Diary of Anne Frankenstein is going to be an homage to 1930’s movies; Tim Sullivan’s I Was a Teenage Werebear is going to be an homage to 1960’s movies; Joe Lynch’s Zom B Movie is going to be an homage to 1980’s movies; and my Wadzilla is going to be an homage to 1950’s movies.”

On whether genre fans can expect a follow-up to the unabashedly non-PC, intentionally and universally offensive flick (read our Chillerama review here), “We definitely want to do a Volume 2 of Chillerama. We’d like to do Volume 20! This was so much fun!” said Rifkin.

Actress and genre vet Lin Shaye (Insidious) spoke with us as well, along with her “I Was a Teenage Werebear” co-star and winner of VH1’s “Scream Queens 2” Gabby West, and when asked whether or not she was surprised by the overwhelming turnout, Ms. Shaye replied, “No. I mean, these are four legendary directors, who each individually have an incredible following, and a little bit different of a following, too, so when all of those people come together, it’s really huge. They are really funny, skilled, passionate and creative people, and I’m thrilled to see the response tonight.”

Of Sullivan’s “Werebear” segment, a labor of love for those involved as we’d witnessed during our visit to the Malibu set (see our set report here), actress West recalled of the shoot, “It was so fun! I feel so lucky because it was really my second film, and I got to work with Lin, and I had a really fun experience. Lin and I gelled so well [during production], and to see everyone here supporting it is amazing, and I’m really grateful for it.”

“For me that was the best part of the experience,” mirrored Shaye, “the relationships that we created both personally and in character, and I guess as an actor there’s always a little bit of both. It’s not just what happens on screen, it’s what happens personally, and that’s what enriches what you have onscreen, and for me that’s part of the joy of acting.”

On collaborating once again with director Sullivan, “Tim is the man!” offered Shaye, who previously worked with him on the genre flicks 2001 Maniacs and Driftwood. “I’ve been fortunate enough since Detroit Rock City and through him to meet people like Gabby and the people he’s accumulated in his experiences along the way, and it’s become a little bit of a traveling road-show.”

As for her humorously lovelorn character of “Peggy Lou” in “Werebear”, West commented, “Tim created a comedic opportunity for me with that role that really wasn’t available, and something I wouldn’t have ever dreamed up, and it was awesome to have that.”

Actress Kristina Klebe (who appears as “Eva Braun” in Adam Green’s outrageously funny segment “The Diary of Anne Frankenstein” with Kane Hodder and Joel David Moore) made an appearance on the carpet as well alongside actress Kaili Thorne (the latter portrays final girl “Mayna” in Joe Lynch’s “Zom B Movie”) and stated, “I had a Chillerama cocktail in the mausoleum!” of prepping herself for the carpet melee.

“I’m just not used to this anymore for some reason,” Klebe expounded (she’s currently attending NYU grad school for directing), “and I’m in a whole other mindset, where I’ve been looking at things analytically and not performing in front of people” (although she’s certainly no stranger to the passionate response of genre fans and media, having previously appeared in the much debated Rob Zombie Halloween redux).

Thorne chimed in, “I didn’t expect it to be this big. When we were filming it, it was such a little movie, and no one could talk about it because if you did, Joe or Adam would slap you in the face! It was so secret, and this response, it’s so amazing! I haven’t seen anything except for the trailer yet, and I’m glad I made it into that.”

Also on hand to lend their support and chat up their projects were actor Jay Gillespie, who portrays “Nico” and “Pseudo Pinhead” in Mirrors 2 director Victor Garcia’s upcoming Hellraiser: Revelations, and Alexandra Holder, who appears with Gillespie in the forthcoming horror feature Jack the Reaper.

Dread questioned Gillespie (who worked with Chillerama director Sullivan on 2001 Maniacs) on his thoughts regarding the rather negative Internet reaction to the released Hellraiser: Revelations trailer and press materials, to which he stated, “Hopefully when audiences see it, they’ll think it’s better. I can understand it, with Doug Bradley not playing Pinhead. Personally, I worked with Stephan Smith Collins, who plays Pinhead [in Hellraiser: Revelations], and I think he did a great job. Everyone was really passionate, and I loved what I did in it. I’m psyched to be in it.”

Moving on, Gillespie commented, “Alexandra and I did Jack the Reaper together, and it just played at Cannes, and it’s going to be awesome.” Directed by Kimberly Seilhamer and starring Tony Todd, Sally Kirkland and Douglas Tait, the slasher flick is set in a desert carnival, and Gillespie commented, “It’s a new horror franchise, most likely, and it’s going to kick ass!”

Feast series director John Gulager also made an appearance and teased of his currently in post-production feature Piranha 3DD (which opens wide via Dimension on November 23 and which stars Katrina Bowden, Danielle Panabaker and the returning Christopher Lloyd and Ving Rhames), “We are editing right now, and it’s bat-shit crazy! You haven’t seen insanity like this yet!”

Chillerama hits Blu-ray, DVD and VOD on November 29th and is currently touring. Check out our previous news story for an event in your city soon, and for more on the flick visit Chillerama online.

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