Tom Sizemore and Cybil Lake sat down with us to discuss their new upcoming horror thriller, Central Park Dark.
In the film, which Lake wrote, directs, and stars in, a one-night stand turns into a never-ending nightmare when a married doctor (Sizemore) spends a night with a woman (Lake) that ends in an argument. She then aims to torture the doctor in a bid for revenge in the film that combines history, horror, and magic.
Cybil Lake: “So, do you want to talk about this movie, or what [laughter]?”
Horror Fuel: “Yes ma’am I do.”
Cybil Lake: “So, it’s a horror-thriller about a one night stand that turns into a nightmare. Tom plays an alcoholic, married doctor who meets my character, Anna, with whom he has a past. After a really heated argument, I jump out of a window. He doesn’t know if I’m alive or not. I appear to him in his dreams and I’m working with these dark forces. That’s the film and Tom did a great job.
Horror Fuel: “Was the movie filmed in Central Park?”
Cybil Laker: “We shot mostly in Central Park and a little up on the east side.”
Tom Sizemore: “New York City is going through a lot of hell right now with the pandemic.”
Horror Fuel: “I can only imagine. It’s not that bad here in Georgia, but I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about New York recently.”
Cybil Lake: “I moved here to L.A. from new york not long ago, just in time. It’s crazy.”
Horror Fuel: “I’m sure it is. I’m glad I’m here in Georgia.”
Tom Sizemore: “Oh, my grandfather is from Tifton, Georgia.”
Horror Fuel: “I know Tifton well. I’m about two and a half hours from Atlanta, in the middle of nowhere. Cybil, what made you want to make a horror film?”
Cybil Lake: “I really never intended on making a horror movie. At the time, I was in upstate New York with my boyfriend. Off the cuff, I said I always wanted to make a horror film there. I was like, “alright.” I had written this script, then he broke up with me and I went back to the city and rewrote the script and I moved the movie to Central Park which has a better history. Before Central Park was Central Park, it was a place called Seneca Village. This was the first community of free African Americans. That village was destroyed to build Central Park. I weaved some of that history into the film.”
Horror Fuel: “I love when real history is featured in horror movies. The movie automatically becomes more interesting to me.”
Cybil Lake: “Totally. And since I’m white I couldn’t do part of that history so I wrote an ancestor in. You see there were also a lot of Irish people in Seneca Village. There were schools and churches and graveyards so I wrote that one of my ancestors from the 1860s is there. I also play her. She’s where I get my spells and charms from. My character Anna is very powerful but pretty dark. She takes her revenge on Tom’s character with these rituals because of the baby Tom’s character promised her.”
Horror Fuel: “I assume we are talking about Voodoo?”
Cybil Lake: “Yeah, that’s right. I actually made a Voodoo doll of Tom [laughter]. Tom I’ll have to send it to you [laughter]. I hope you haven’t had any bad things happen [hysterical laughter].”
Tom Sizemore: “You did?”
Cybil: “Yes [laughter]. Seriously though, the village was an amazing place. You should have been there [laughter]. The people were all paid a small amount to leave, they were excited and the government took the land. Obviously, I created the mythology, and a lot of it is not true because it is a horror film, but the village was very real.”
Horror Fuel: “People being forced to leave their homes and lands qualifies as something horrifying. There’s a lot of horror in that. I imagine some were physically forced out.”
Cybil Lake: “You’re right. I’m sure it was a horror show.”
Tom Sizemore: “We’re going through a horror show right now with this pandemic.”
Horror Fuel: “Yes we are.”
Cybil Lake: “You’re right and it’s the theme of a lot of scary movies, right?”
Horror Fuel: “Cybil, is this your directorial debut? It appears on IMDb as your first.”
Cybil Lake: “Actually, it’s not, but it is unlisted. I made a feature film right out of college. I don’t know where I stand with that. It was actually a really good film, but it didn’t get received the way I wanted it to. So I got discouraged and left the business for a little bit. Then, I got cast in a couple of commercials and small TV roles and remembered how much I really love film and TV. So, I told myself that if I was going to get back in the business, I’d have to understand that it wasn’t a fair business and that you really have to do it simply because you love it. So I returned to it. After this, I’m gonna make romcom [laughter]”
Horror Fuel: “Tom, are we going to see you play that type of tough-guy character we all love to see you play?”
Tom Sizemore: “Not really. He’s a doctor and he’s being besieged with nightmares and unexplainable phenomena. When I tell her that this isn’t going to go any further, she jumps out of the window. I’m right next to Central Park and when I go outside there’s no body. I’m trying to figure out and the audience is trying to figure out what really happened. There’s a lot of psychological aspects to it. I didn’t really get the chance to kick anyone’s ass [laughter].”
Horror Fuel: “That’s awesome. I love to see you in different types of roles. It sounds like your character is having a rough go of it in Central Park Dark.”
Tom Sizemore: “I didn’t kick ass but Cybil did hit me in the head with a shovel.”
Cybil Lake: “Oh, yeah I did. But then you do it back, you hit me.”
Tom Sizemore: “That’s right.”
Cybil Lake: There isn’t really a nice way to do that [laughter].”
Tom Sizemore: “The worse thing for me is that he doesn’t know if it really happened. He’s on a downward spiral of drug and alcohol abuse.”
Cybil Lake: “I was pregnant so I had to do some reshooting flashbacks. Tom, you didn’t see these. We added them during editing.”
Horror Fuel: “So it really features the themes of addiction, revenge, and how the people of this village were mistreated? Oh, and of course the message not to cheat on your spouse?”
Cybil Lake: “Totally. It’s funny because I wrote that right before my boyfriend broke up with me and told me he had an affair. I wonder, did I know deep down? I never knew what the signs of cheating were, but now I wonder if I knew deep down and wrote this film.”
Horror Fuel: I’m so sorry that happened to you, but on the plus side, at least you got a movie out of it.”
Cybil Lake: “I really truly did not know. Now, in retrospect, it was super obvious.”
Horror Fuel: “I bet he’s kicking himself now.
So when can our readers see this supernatural thriller?”
Cybil Lake: “February 2, 2021, on Amazon, Apple, all the streaming services. The trailer will be out soon.”
Tom Sizemore: “It will be streaming. The really good thing about the movie is that it shows a lot of heart. There’s really no other movie to compare this one to.”
Horror Fuel: “It sounds awesome. On top of everything else, I’ve always found Voodoo and Hoodoo very interesting. My great-grandmother was run out of town for practicing.”
Cybil Lake: “Really. That’s so interesting. Thank you for sharing that with us. I read somewhere -not sure where- that people are returning to those types of things.”
Horror Fuel: “When people get desperate they return to their heritage to try to find help. It’s religion. Some people pray for change, others make a sacrifice or say a spell.”
Cybil Lake: I come from the northeast, land of Protestants, I didn’t know about it until I visited the south when I was a kid. It was a culture shock. But that is so cool.”
Tom Sizemore: “I shot two seasons of Red Road with Jason Momoa in Atlanta.”
Horror Fuel: “I am familiar with Red Road. I really enjoyed it. Speaking of enjoying, I can’t wait to see Central Park Dark. It sounds so interesting between the history, you Cybil and you Tom.”
Central Park Dark has so much going for it between an interesting story, the history of the location, Cybil, and Tom’s talent. Be sure to keep an eye out for the trailer and watch it on your favorite streaming service come February 2, 2021. For more, follow Cybil Lake on Instagram as well as Tom Sizemore on Twitter who is frequently announcing new roles.
