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Owen: Hey Reggie, I know as a musician actor you have had some of your music in your films...but I was curious if you have written songs about your film characters? Reggie: The only tune I've written about a character I've played in films is "Have You Seen It," which is featured in the roll-up at the end of "Phantasm Oblivion." I originally wrote it for my CD "Fool's Paradise," which I recorded in '96. The lyrics reflect Reggie's wearied determination to find and confront the Tall Man once and for all. It's a hard rockin' epilogue to the whole series.  Owen:
I love the 'Phantasm' films -- what's
your take on the direction the series is taking?Reggie: I think we're all getting deeper than shit into the Tall Man's world, trying to navigate through it with some kind of impunity. In other words, we're trying to find out as much as possible about it without getting our asses kicked to bad. I think it's a great direction that leaves open endless opportunity to explore any number of scenarios. In that way, it takes on a life of it's own, constantly growing, changing... realities folding together. It's great stuff! Owen: What is the freakiest thing to ever happen when filming a Phantasm movie? Reggie: I've told this story before - but we were shooting a scene in a cemetery/mausoleum in Compton late one night. The scene had to do with me and the resurrected Jody witnessing the tall Man talking to Mike through what seemed to be a glass paneled crypt. As the Tall Man finished talking and walked away, the glass panel suddenly becomes solid marble. I rush up to the crypt, puzzled as to what has taken place and reach up to touch the surface of the stone and just as I did, a huge crash of thunder shook the building. The skies literally opened up with a deluge of rain and then hail as thunder and lightning rocked and lit up the property. I mean, it all happened the second I touched the marble. I held it together to finish the scene but we were all totally tripped out. You see, it was "Lord Of The Dead" and the first time Angus, Bill, Mike and I had ever worked on the same scene together. Hell, it was the first time Bill, Mike and I had worked together since the original picture! Yeah, I'd have to say that was pretty freaky. Owen: This may hint at my FX ignorance...but how do you guys get the ball fly and has the technology of that changed with FX technology?  Reggie:
In the seventies when we started all of this,
there were only basically two ways of making an
inanimate object appear to fly. The two
techniques was either 'in camera' or
super-imposition. In camera means you've actually
rigged the object to something that makes it look
like it's flying so that you get the shot
organically. Like in the first picture, when the
bug comes flying out of the sink. They rigged the
bug on nylon fishing line so that when it 'fly's'
it goes right in front of the camera. In
super-imposition, you film the object, a ball,
just hanging against a black screen. Then you can
film let's say, a mausoleum wall with the camera
on a dolly being pushed parallel to the wall.
Then, in the photo lab they super impose the
image of the ball on the image of the wall flying
by. Mostly, the ball FX we use are in camera even
though now CGI is available. As I think back, I
believe that the only time we've used CGI was in
Oblivion for the sphere swarms in the prologue
montage. We've used fishing poles and ladders.
Balls mounted on plexi-glass and then mounted to
the camera lens, we've even just thrown balls
down mausoleum halls... it all works pretty well.Owen: How much of Reggie, the Ice Cream man, from the Phantasm films your own creation and how much has been scripted that way?  Reggie:
Don Coscarelli is a lot of fun to work with. The
character he created for me in "Phantasm"
is great just the way it's scripted but, because
the lines are already cool it inspires me to
sometimes want to extrapolate on what's already
on the page. Don is always willing to listen to
ideas for either dialing in or expanding
dialogue. There have even been times when he
would say "You know, I'm not crazy about
this dialogue...what do you guys think you'd say
here?" So, I'd have to say that the Reg
character as it has developed over the years has
been a collaborative effort.Owen: Is a fifth installment of the series planned? Reggie: I know that we'd all like to shoot another picture sooner than later. There's a new script written so we'll all just cross our fingers, toes and balls and hope that it happens. Owen: Some of your other great films are 'Wishmaster', 'Silent Night Deadly Night 4', 'Cemetery Gates', 'Absence of Light', etc. Are you drawn to the genre or are you offered mostly genre roles? Reggie: I'm both drawn to it and mostly offered roles in genre flix. The genre, as I'm sure you've noticed, is very healthy these days. This year alone I've worked on three genre pieces and a sci-fi fantasy called "The Ghastly Love Of Johnny X," with Will Keenan and Kevin Macarthy. I'm scheduled for work on a zombie flick in December and will be working on two pics scheduled to shoot in January and April next year. There are other projects formulating but I can't really get into them here. Owen: I hear you are also playing the president in the flick 'Song of the Dead'. Tell me about that...did you incorporate your own political slant into the role?  Reggie:
"Song Of The Dead" is
a zombie rock opera so, I not only get to play
the president with dialogue, I also get to sing
the part. I really didn't have to slant anything
as the role already had the slant built in. This
is a smart story with great dialogue and songs
all written and directed by Chip Gubera. And yes,
there is a cabin in the woods inhabited by a
functional family (now that's scary), a
dysfunctional boyfriend and a serial killer. And
oh, those zombie hordes. I'm tellin' ya', you
can't beat this picture with a hammer.Owen: So where is your heart when it comes to the arts --- is it an even split between music and movies? Reggie: My heart lies with the art form that can convey and mean the most to humanity. If you had asked me this question in the '70's or earlier, I would have said hands down that music was the highest art form on the planet because people listened and we gave it to 'em. They ate it up and wanted more. In the '60's music was the driving force of change in the world. Now, it's more like simple entertainment. Very few artists are writing significant lyrics couched in beautiful chord and lead patterns. Film is now the stronger medium for socio/cultural comment and I am fortunately, working more now in film than ever. Musically today, I play small venues generally as a solo act. It's always great to play as long as someone really wants to listen. Owen: What scares you in real life? Reggie: George W. Bush
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