Tales of Halloween Interview Spotlight: Kristina Klebe
Horror hits like V/H/S and The ABCs of Death have proven that the anthology film format has been revived, and so a new omnibus is afoot for 2015 – assembling the likes of Neil Marshall (The Descent), Darren Bousman (The Devil’s Carnival), and Lucky McKee (The Call) behind their collective cameras.
Epic Pictures Group financed and produced Tales of Halloween, which brings together ten segments from different directors into one unified series of stories, all set in an Anytown, USA, suburb terrorized by ghouls, ghosts, and slashers on one, er, epic Halloween night.
We had a chance to chat with one of the actors, Kristina Klebe (Rob Zombie’s Halloween), on the set of Neil Marshall’s segment, which shot in Eagle Rock, CA, one nippy November night.
Dread Central: So, aside from your talent, did you snag this role from hanging out at all the horror directors’ parties?
Kristina Klebe: This is a great story. I had never met Neil before. I met Axelle at the Etheria Film Festival, where she had her premiere [for Soulmate], and we were talking about writing and directing as females. I always loved Neil’s work but had never met Neil so I was like, “Okay, I will meet him at some point down the line.” So, I was doing the… remember that signing for 35 Years of Halloween?
DC: Yes, I sure do.
KK: Well, suddenly Axelle and Neil show up, and I get up and was like, “Oh gosh, it’s so nice meeting you; I’m such a big fan,” and I shook his hand. I was really excited because I’m a huge fan… The Descent is one of my favorite horror movies; I own that, and I don’t own a lot of movies… I owned it before I ever knew him or knew who he was really. So I shook his hand, and actually he said the nicest thing; I said I was a big fan of [his] and he goes, “We’re big fans of yours,” and he’s like, “You’re the celebrity right now.” So I like him; he’s so sweet, and then like the next day or two days [later], I got an email and he said, “Hey, you know, I wrote this segment for this anthology series, and when I met you the other night, I really had this weird instinct that you were the person to play the role of the detective; I actually wrote it for a man, but when I met you, I shook your hand and you had such a strong handshake and you looked me straight in the eyes.” And he goes, “It was so weird; I was just like: She’s got to play that part!” It was like the weirdest thing. So I can’t even say that it’s from hanging out, but I will say that I’m lucky Axelle brought him that night!
DC: So, how’s he been to work with? What’s his directorial demeanor?
KK: He’s the nicest guy. He’s very quiet and soft-spoken and very calm but actually really funny. He has these witty comments that he’ll just come out with that are like pretty sarcastic, but he’s very attentive… it’s very specific; there’s not a lot of words used. He just knows, I think, exactly what he wants.
DC: Now, which story is this one? I haven’t read the scripts so can you give me just a little inkling as to that line of the story.
KK: I’ve not read any of the other scripts actually, but this is the last one. It ends the anthology and they all take place on Halloween night. I don’t know how much I can give away… pretty much there’s a killer on the loose. It’s called “Bad Seed,” and it’s pretty much about a killer pumpkin.
DC: That’s like Attack of the Killer Tomatoes…!
KK: Right. But we’re playing it straight.
DC: What’s your and Pat [Healy]’s relationship in this film?
KK: He plays friends with Bob and I play Detective McNally, and I’m like the rogue detective… I pretty much catch all the bad guys and this friend of Bob always tries really hard to help him out, but he’s kind of a mess and he’s doing the wrong thing. But he actually pulls through on this one and he kind of gains my respect. In the end it turns into a love story.
DC: You have a great location here (practical location in a quaint Eagle Rock neighborhood). What’s the bit you’re filming tonight?
KK: Well, tonight I know there are a lot of extras for trick or treating and stuff but I don’t know actually. I think there is a big scene where there are a lot of extras that are trick or treating.
DC: Do you know much about how gory this will be? Is it pretty extreme or is it more psychological?
KK: That’s a good question. I think it’s gory but it’s gorier in the campy kind of gory. I think there are some other segments though that seem more dark. This is dark but with a lighter tone; I don’t even know how to quite explain it. It’s not like nasty, like it’s kind of fun I would say. So, yes, it’s gory but it’s fun gory.
DC: And who else is in your segment?
KK: Well, Cerina Vincent is going to play the wife so we have a scene tomorrow night which is super fun; I love Cerina. And Joe Dante had a cameo and Adam Green and Graham Skipper has a little cameo, but you’ll see a bunch of the directors too, you’ll see Paul Solet; he plays a little extra in the background, but you know all the guys and who else is in it. Oh, John Savage, he plays the Chief. So we had our scene in a police station that we did yesterday, and tonight is the location of the “epic pumpkin battle.” Tomorrow is the beginning of the movie. We are first introduced to the fact that there is a killer on the loose, but we don’t know who that killer is.
DC: What’s your favorite thing about playing this character?
KK: Well, you know, it’s funny. Everyone always says that I would be a good detective or cop, but I’ve only played a cop once before and it was like in a zombie movie so it wasn’t really like a cop that goes to the station and does all the kind of daily grind. So it’s the first time that I’ve gotten to play a detective honestly. So, that’s cool; she’s really tough and she’s very cynical, really kind of like weary. Neil was like, she is kind of a Snake Plissken… You know, this is short so you don’t have that much time to develop characters, not like Proxy where we worked for two months beforehand and I got to have this incredibly deep character. But you try to make what you can of it and the best you can of it. And the other thing is, I was just happy to work with Neil. I mean, God, it was like a kind of dream. I hope I can live up to his standard. That’s the truth; I feel like I hope he didn’t like make a mistake that time when he shook my hand.
Tales of Halloween will showcase the following ten short stories:
- “TRICK” Directed by Adam Gierasch
- “BAD SEED” Directed by Neil Marshall
- “GRIMM GRINNING GHOST” Directed by Axelle Carolyn
- “THE WEAK AND THE WICKED” Directed by Paul Solet
- “FRIDAY THE 31st” Directed by Mike Mendez
- “THE RANSOM OF RUSTY REX” Directed by Ryan Schifrin
- “THIS MEANS WAR” Directed by Andrew Kasch and John Skipp
- “THE NIGHT BILLY RAISED HELL” Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman
- “SWEET TOOTH” Directed by Dave Parker
- “DING DONG” Directed by Lucky McKee
The film has an ensemble cast including Pat Healy, Barry Bostwick, Noah Segan, Booboo Stewart, Greg Grunberg, Clare Kramer, Alex Essoe, Lin Shaye, Dana Gould, James Duval, Elissa Dowling, Grace Phipps, Pollyana McIntosh, Marc Senter, Tiffany Shepis, John F. Beach, Trent Haaga, Casey Ruggieri, Kristina Klebe, Cerina Vincent, John Savage, Keir Gilchrist, Nick Principe, Amanda Moyer, Jennifer Wenger, Sam Witwer, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Ben Woolf, Caroline Williams, Robert Rusler, Cameron Easton, Austin Falk, Madison Iseman, Daniel Dimaggio, Natalie Castillo, Ben Stillwell, and Hunter Smit.
Cameos include Joe Dante, John Landis, Adam Green, Adam Pascal, Adrianne Curry, Mick Garris, Lombardo Boyer, Graham Skipper, Stuart Gordon, Greg Mclean, Spooky Dan Walker, and Adrienne Barbeau.
Axelle Carolyn created the concept and brought the filmmakers together for this unique production. Tales of Halloween is being produced by Patrick Ewald and Shaked Berenson of Epic Pictures Group along with Mike Mendez and Axelle Carolyn. Composers Frank Ilfman (Big Bad Wolves) and Joseph Bishara (The Conjuring) are both attached to the project.
Synopsis:
Ten stories are woven together by their shared theme of Halloween night in an American suburb, where ghouls, imps, aliens, and axe murderers appear for one night only to terrorize unsuspecting residents.
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