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1. At what age did you see yourself as an entertainer? When I was a little girl, I would sing along to Monkee's songs in front of my mirror, holding a hairbrush like a microphone. However, I had no aspirations to be an actress, ever. I expected to work in a science lab all my adult life. My acting career apparently chose me, rather than me choosing it. 2. Did you see yourself acting in horror films? I've loved horror movies since childhood. When I was a teenager, I wanted to be one of those beautiful Hammer Horror vampires like Ingrid Pitt. It was purely by coincidence that my very first movie ("SPM") was horror. I did not seek it out originally, but eventually I became known for doing that genre. 3. Now I understand that your first horror gig was the 'Slumber Party Massacre' as you had a small role named Linda but were offered to play one of the leads. Which lead character were you offered to play? As I recall, they needed at least a dozen actresses for various roles. But the roles were not individually specified -- whoever did the best job at auditions would be given the largest speaking parts. Amy Jones (the director) liked me, and wanted to see me play a major role - but I was already booked for a modeling gig at Lake Tahoe. So, I ended up with "Linda", who soon dies in the girls' locker room. 4. I remembered your role so well as you left an impression especially when the driller killer Russ Thorn was moving in for the kill and did you ever scream. I felt sorry for you. Do you have any fond memories of that scene? I love that movie, because it was the first time I ever screamed, died horribly, ran from a maniac, and took an on-screen shower. A lot of "firsts" there! I had no idea if I could act or not, since I'd never really done it before. But I was very pleased with the final results. 5. I understand that they were going to make a part 4 of the film and your role as Linda survived that deadly incident. Will this film ever see the light of day? A couple years ago, Jim Wynorski made "Cheerleader Massacre", which was intended to be "SPM 4". I did reprise my role as "Linda", some 20 years later. The police come to my home to interview me about a new series of murders, and it's clear that I'm quite mentally scarred by the original incident. (We just pretended that I did, in fact, survive from the first movie, since they'd never shown my funeral or anything.) 6. Do you still stay in contact with any of the actors from the first film? Once or twice, I've crossed paths with Debra DeLiso, but none of the others. I'd heard that Michelle Michaels gave up on Hollywood and moved away. And of course, Robin Stille committed suicide -- that happened a few years after we teamed up again for "Sorority Babes" (1986). 7. After many other small roles in films afterwards David DeCoteau cast you in the horror/comedy spoof 'Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl O Rama' with your friends Linnea Quigley and Michelle Bauer who also became scream queens like you. It also starred Robin Stille from 'Slumber Party Massacre'. Did David see the film and figured you two would work well opposite of each other as she played the head sorority sister Babs and you played a pledge named Taffy? Do tells us every detail on that film. Linnea and Michelle had already been cast, when they told me about DeCoteau and his new project. I was fortunate to work with all of them on that one, and also on "Nightmare Sisters" around the same time. The three of us girls had a great chemistry and played well together. Our working conditions were very difficult -- we had two weeks of all-night shooting for "Sorority Babes". And "Nightmare Sisters" was entirely shot in just FOUR days, which is nearly impossible. But we really knew our lines and hardly made any mistakes, so it went swiftly. 8. Another film you were famous for was 'Grandma's House'. What was the whole experience like from start to finish in that film? I'm impressed with that movie, because it is intense horror in broad daylight. It was directed by Peter Rader, who wrote the script for "Waterworld". We shot for almost a month on-location in Redlands, CA. It's always hard to be away from home for so long. My role was very physical -- I had to run after kids, hang off a speeding truck, take falls into the bushes, and so on. I injured my leg at one point, but that's where ice really comes in handy! 9. You worked in many horror films directed by Fred Olen Ray. How did you meet him? Back in the mid-1980's, there was a small close-knit community of indy filmmakers like Fred Ray and David DeCoteau. Everyone seemed to know everyone else, just from hanging out in the same social circles in Los Angeles. I think my first movie for Fred was "Warlords" (1988). I also worked with him on "Mob Boss" (1990), "Bad Girls from Mars" (1990), "Haunting Fear" (1991), "Spirits" (1992) and so on. He's such a great guy, easy to work with and he has a very dry sense of humor that always makes me laugh. 10. Congratulations for your role as Dr. Emily Thesiger in 'Corpses Are Forever' as it was definetely a party flick with a nice plot although some people found it confusing. Please tell us your whole experience working on that film? I spent a week in beautiful Coral Gables FLA, along with scream queen pals Debbie Rochon, Linnea Quigley, and Felissa Rose. We shot every night at a large, self-contained compound in a scary part of town. I enjoy playing serious roles, like doctors and scientists, and Debbie was so perfect as the sexy secret agent. We had a lot of fun on the shoot, including running for our lives from hungry zombie hordes. Jose Prendes had a decent budget and sizable crew, so it was a very professional shoot. It was also quite a thrill to work with bad-guy veteran Richard Lynch. Now, that close-knit horror community no longer exists in LA like it did 20 years ago. Instead, I do more work for regional filmmakers across the country, young people who are just starting out in the business and funding their movies themselves. Fortunately, even though the system has changed so remarkably, I'm still getting hired a lot -- I think I've done maybe 135 movies since 1980. |