CategoryInterviews
Interviews with horror filmmakers, actors and writers — how the films get made and what comes next.
438 stories
Interviews
John Portanova is making his feature directorial debut with ‘Hunting Grounds’ (previously titled Valley of the Sasquatch), a film about family, desperation, and deadly beasts. This afternoon Portanova took a few minutes to talk with me about the film. Horror Fuel: “Can you tell us a little about your film Hunting Grounds?” JP: “Yes, Hunting Grounds is the new film that I was involved with through the production company October People. It’s actually the first film I have directed. It’s a horror movie about a family that falls on hard times, they are forced to move into a cabin in the woods that happens to be smack-dab in the middle of Bigfoot territory. ” Horror Fuel: “You wrote it as well, correct? JP: “It was actually the first screenplay I ever wrote, at this point, it’s been about a decade ago. I wrote it right after I got out of film school. I decided that I needed to write a
Continue reading →
InterviewsStreaming TV
I had the pleasure of talking with actor Ricky Worthy who you may recognize him from one of his many roles including ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’,’Stargate SG-1′, ‘The Magnificent Seven’ (1998 TV series) , ‘The Vampire Diaries’, ‘Heroes’, ‘NCIS’, ‘Fallen’, ‘The Man in the Highcastle ‘, and his role as the “Alpha Vampire”, the first vampire in creation, in ‘Supernatural’. Worthy now stars as Dean Fogg in the hit Syfy series ‘The Magicians’ which follows a group of students recruited to a secretive academy. The students discover that the magic they read about as children is very real and more dangerous than they have ever imagined. Today, we talked about his role as Dean of the Brakebills University, a secret school of magic, where the best of the best hone their skills and learn to be more powerful magicians. As season two prepares to premiere, Worthy gives us insight into his character and the new season. Photo Credit: The
Continue reading →
Interviews
Today, I had the pleasure of speaking with choreographer turned horror director Glenn Packard Douglas, a man with a love for the arts and a passion for horror. After many years of success serving as choreographer for musicians like Pink, Usher, and Michael Jackson, Douglas recently made his directorial debut with the slasher ‘Pitchfork‘. He was kind enough to talk with me about his career and ‘Pitchfork’. I would like to share that with you now. Horror Fuel: “I have to ask, what is like to receive an Emmy nomination?” GP: “I was at the peak of my career and it had led me to Michael Jackson. To work with Michael Jackson, it is like the one person you want to work with as choreographer. It shows determination. I was literally at a Barnes and Nobles hanging out when I got a phone call. ‘Is this Glenn Douglas Packard?’ and I’m like ‘Yes.” and then they said ‘You’ve been nominated
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Interviews
Joining the cast of yet another film part in the Soska Sister’s annual Blood Drive PSA is Tonya Kay (Bastard, Puppet Master: Axis Termination, Amityville Terror). Joining Patricia Chica’s short “The Cholas” as the lead opposite to fellow genre moguls Tiffany Shepis (Syfy’s 12 Monkeys), Devanny Pinn (House Of Manson), Phillip Friedman (Insidious) and Eileen Dietz (The Exorcist). “When Patricia asked me to be a part of her contribution to this year’s Massive Blood Drive PSA film, I cackled” recalls Kay (Favorite Villain, The Horror Society 2016) upon hearing the news she was cast. Evidently Kay previously starred in Chica’s 2016 film, Crimson Dance’. A film in which was part of last year’s Soska Blood Drive PSA, and also one in which Kay starred opposite Tiffany Shepis. Speaking on being asked to star and her time working with Shepis and starring in Crimson Dance’ Kay told me “When Patricia asked me to be a part of her contribution to this
Continue reading →
Interviews
Today I spoke with professor/actor/writer/director Miles Doleac who has been featured in a wide range of series and films, including ‘American Horror Story’, ‘Containment’, ‘The Magnificent Seven’, ‘Shark Lake’, ‘Don’t Kill It’, as well as writing and directing his on films such as ‘The Historian’, ‘The Hollow’ and his upcoming feature ‘Demons’. Horror Fuel: “I read that you are a professor.” MD: “My degree is in ancient history so I work on Greek and Roman history and ancient Christianity at my university in Mississippi. I teach an ancient history course, Latin, and Greek. I also teach one course in Mass Communications. This semester, I taught an intro to film studies course. In the past I’ve taught screenwriting and film business management types of courses as well. The university reached out to me based on my experience in the film industry. My first film was largely based on my experience as a graduate student and my early years of my being
Continue reading →
Interviews
Actress Gabrielle Stone and I had a chat about her most recent projects, including her roles in the highly-anticipated genre films ‘Death House‘ and ‘Rock Paper Dead‘, which will both see release in 2017. We also spoke about her other upcoming projects, being the daughter of genre legend, and her upcoming directorial debut. Horror Fuel: “What made you want to act?” GS: “Both my parents are in the industry, or were in the industry. My mom, I grew up with her on sets and was always traveling around with her, so I always felt at home on a film set. I always thought growing up that I wanted to be an actress, but didn’t really realize it until my first short film and that was called Henry John and the Little Bug. I remember walking off that set and thinking that I never want to do anything else for the rest of my life.” Horror Fuel: “Speaking of your parents,
Continue reading →
Comic Books/Graphic NovelsEventsHalloweenHoliday HorrorIndieInterviewsMovies
Suspension of Disbelief? Sit through this annoying video up until the 5:00 mark. The fan boy “host” in the above video talks in attention deficit tweets. The video uses jump cut “hip” editing to spill out unabashed respect and love for the CGI technique that brought Peter Cushing back from the grave in “Rogue One.” He spends the first five minutes elaborating on the incredible work and effort it took create this digital feat. The “host” proclaims, “I think they pulled it off.” Then, being a true “fan” he takes a swipe at all of the work done by Industrial Light and Magic, effects artist, John Knoll and director Gareth Edwards. “Now Tarkin didn’t look a hundred percent authentic,” the “host” whines, “especially the movement of his mouth, but…he looked better than any other time this has been used.” What movies has this guy made? What has happened to film audiences? In the never ending quest for “realism” in special
Continue reading →
Interviews
I had the pleasure of talking with actor Josh Mikel about many aspects of his acting career, including his role on ‘The Walking Dead’ season 7. He may play a bad guy well, but he comes across as the exact opposite in real life. Not only does he have only positive things to say about his co-stars and directors, he seems to truly love acting and the art of it, not just having his name in the credits. Horror Fuel: “You appeared in the Sundance series Rectify. What was it like to be part of a story about a man falsely convicted and sentenced to death row ?” JM: “While I am interested in the subject matter of the show (I’m very much of the opinion that there is a huge need for prison reform in this country), I think what attracted me to Rectify was more the divine auspices that brought a show like that into the world. Created
Continue reading →
Interviews
Tonight, I had the pleasure of speaking with actor-writer-director Jose Prendes. Prendes has several films and series on his resume. He co-stared in ‘The Horror Geeks’, ‘Airplane vs. Volcano’ and ‘The Day the Earth Stopped’, Prendes has written films such as the upcoming dark horror film ‘Blood Brothers’, ‘Hansel & Gretel’ (2013),’ The Haunting of Whaley House’, ‘Haunting of Winchester House’, ‘Corpses Are Forever’, ‘Song of the Vampire’ and the film ‘Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark’ for the Syfy Channel. He was in the director’s chair for ‘Blood Brothers’, ‘The Haunting of Whaley House’ and others. Horror Fuel: “How did you get into directing?” JP: “I was an only child, and I lost my parents very early. I sort of felt disconnected to the world and reality. There was something about movies and books the are for escape. I took advantage of that and fell in love with this dream world. So, they became such a big part of my
Continue reading →
Interviews
Writer-director-producer Scott Frazelle sat down to talk with me about his upcoming creature feature ‘Moggy Creatures‘, featuring mutant cats. Frazelle has been part of the horror genre for many years. He has appeared in films such as ‘Day of the Dead 2: Contagium’, ‘Marked’ and ‘Passed the Door of Darkness’ and ‘Creepshow 3’, which he also co-wrote. He was part of the special effects team of ‘State of Desolation’ and ‘Shark Bite Beach’ that was part of ‘Shark Week’ in 2010. Frazelle has worked on many projects in the role of assistant director, in movies like ‘Blackwater Valley Exorcism’, ‘Marked’, ‘Passed the Door of Darkness’, ‘Shattered!’, ‘Rough Hustle’, and the series ‘Channel Surfing’. ‘Steampunk’d’, ‘The Devil’s Tomb’ and ‘The Reverent’ were projects Frazelle worked for in the art department. He also penned and executive produced 2013’s ‘House of Bad’. Horror Fuel: “You have been involved with so many aspects of the film industry. acting, special effects, directing, producing, writing. Which
Continue reading →
More from Interviews
Interviews
John Portanova is making his feature directorial debut with ‘Hunting Grounds’ (previously titled Valley of the Sasquatch), a film about family, desperation, and deadly beasts. This afternoon Portanova took a few minutes to talk with me about the film. Horror Fuel: “Can you tell us a little about your film Hunting Grounds?” JP: “Yes, Hunting Grounds is the new film that I was involved with through the production company October People. It’s actually the first film I have directed. It’s a horror movie about a family that falls on hard times, they are forced to move into a cabin in the woods that happens to be smack-dab in the middle of Bigfoot territory. ” Horror Fuel: “You wrote it as well, correct? JP: “It was actually the first screenplay I ever wrote, at this point, it’s been about a decade ago. I wrote it right after I got out of film school. I decided that I needed to write a
Continue reading →
InterviewsStreaming TV
I had the pleasure of talking with actor Ricky Worthy who you may recognize him from one of his many roles including ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’,’Stargate SG-1′, ‘The Magnificent Seven’ (1998 TV series) , ‘The Vampire Diaries’, ‘Heroes’, ‘NCIS’, ‘Fallen’, ‘The Man in the Highcastle ‘, and his role as the “Alpha Vampire”, the first vampire in creation, in ‘Supernatural’. Worthy now stars as Dean Fogg in the hit Syfy series ‘The Magicians’ which follows a group of students recruited to a secretive academy. The students discover that the magic they read about as children is very real and more dangerous than they have ever imagined. Today, we talked about his role as Dean of the Brakebills University, a secret school of magic, where the best of the best hone their skills and learn to be more powerful magicians. As season two prepares to premiere, Worthy gives us insight into his character and the new season. Photo Credit: The
Continue reading →
Interviews
Today, I had the pleasure of speaking with choreographer turned horror director Glenn Packard Douglas, a man with a love for the arts and a passion for horror. After many years of success serving as choreographer for musicians like Pink, Usher, and Michael Jackson, Douglas recently made his directorial debut with the slasher ‘Pitchfork‘. He was kind enough to talk with me about his career and ‘Pitchfork’. I would like to share that with you now. Horror Fuel: “I have to ask, what is like to receive an Emmy nomination?” GP: “I was at the peak of my career and it had led me to Michael Jackson. To work with Michael Jackson, it is like the one person you want to work with as choreographer. It shows determination. I was literally at a Barnes and Nobles hanging out when I got a phone call. ‘Is this Glenn Douglas Packard?’ and I’m like ‘Yes.” and then they said ‘You’ve been nominated
Continue reading →
Interviews
Joining the cast of yet another film part in the Soska Sister’s annual Blood Drive PSA is Tonya Kay (Bastard, Puppet Master: Axis Termination, Amityville Terror). Joining Patricia Chica’s short “The Cholas” as the lead opposite to fellow genre moguls Tiffany Shepis (Syfy’s 12 Monkeys), Devanny Pinn (House Of Manson), Phillip Friedman (Insidious) and Eileen Dietz (The Exorcist). “When Patricia asked me to be a part of her contribution to this year’s Massive Blood Drive PSA film, I cackled” recalls Kay (Favorite Villain, The Horror Society 2016) upon hearing the news she was cast. Evidently Kay previously starred in Chica’s 2016 film, Crimson Dance’. A film in which was part of last year’s Soska Blood Drive PSA, and also one in which Kay starred opposite Tiffany Shepis. Speaking on being asked to star and her time working with Shepis and starring in Crimson Dance’ Kay told me “When Patricia asked me to be a part of her contribution to this
Continue reading →
Interviews
Today I spoke with professor/actor/writer/director Miles Doleac who has been featured in a wide range of series and films, including ‘American Horror Story’, ‘Containment’, ‘The Magnificent Seven’, ‘Shark Lake’, ‘Don’t Kill It’, as well as writing and directing his on films such as ‘The Historian’, ‘The Hollow’ and his upcoming feature ‘Demons’. Horror Fuel: “I read that you are a professor.” MD: “My degree is in ancient history so I work on Greek and Roman history and ancient Christianity at my university in Mississippi. I teach an ancient history course, Latin, and Greek. I also teach one course in Mass Communications. This semester, I taught an intro to film studies course. In the past I’ve taught screenwriting and film business management types of courses as well. The university reached out to me based on my experience in the film industry. My first film was largely based on my experience as a graduate student and my early years of my being
Continue reading →
Interviews
Actress Gabrielle Stone and I had a chat about her most recent projects, including her roles in the highly-anticipated genre films ‘Death House‘ and ‘Rock Paper Dead‘, which will both see release in 2017. We also spoke about her other upcoming projects, being the daughter of genre legend, and her upcoming directorial debut. Horror Fuel: “What made you want to act?” GS: “Both my parents are in the industry, or were in the industry. My mom, I grew up with her on sets and was always traveling around with her, so I always felt at home on a film set. I always thought growing up that I wanted to be an actress, but didn’t really realize it until my first short film and that was called Henry John and the Little Bug. I remember walking off that set and thinking that I never want to do anything else for the rest of my life.” Horror Fuel: “Speaking of your parents,
Continue reading →
Comic Books/Graphic NovelsEventsHalloweenHoliday HorrorIndieInterviewsMovies
Suspension of Disbelief? Sit through this annoying video up until the 5:00 mark. The fan boy “host” in the above video talks in attention deficit tweets. The video uses jump cut “hip” editing to spill out unabashed respect and love for the CGI technique that brought Peter Cushing back from the grave in “Rogue One.” He spends the first five minutes elaborating on the incredible work and effort it took create this digital feat. The “host” proclaims, “I think they pulled it off.” Then, being a true “fan” he takes a swipe at all of the work done by Industrial Light and Magic, effects artist, John Knoll and director Gareth Edwards. “Now Tarkin didn’t look a hundred percent authentic,” the “host” whines, “especially the movement of his mouth, but…he looked better than any other time this has been used.” What movies has this guy made? What has happened to film audiences? In the never ending quest for “realism” in special
Continue reading →
Interviews
I had the pleasure of talking with actor Josh Mikel about many aspects of his acting career, including his role on ‘The Walking Dead’ season 7. He may play a bad guy well, but he comes across as the exact opposite in real life. Not only does he have only positive things to say about his co-stars and directors, he seems to truly love acting and the art of it, not just having his name in the credits. Horror Fuel: “You appeared in the Sundance series Rectify. What was it like to be part of a story about a man falsely convicted and sentenced to death row ?” JM: “While I am interested in the subject matter of the show (I’m very much of the opinion that there is a huge need for prison reform in this country), I think what attracted me to Rectify was more the divine auspices that brought a show like that into the world. Created
Continue reading →
Interviews
Tonight, I had the pleasure of speaking with actor-writer-director Jose Prendes. Prendes has several films and series on his resume. He co-stared in ‘The Horror Geeks’, ‘Airplane vs. Volcano’ and ‘The Day the Earth Stopped’, Prendes has written films such as the upcoming dark horror film ‘Blood Brothers’, ‘Hansel & Gretel’ (2013),’ The Haunting of Whaley House’, ‘Haunting of Winchester House’, ‘Corpses Are Forever’, ‘Song of the Vampire’ and the film ‘Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark’ for the Syfy Channel. He was in the director’s chair for ‘Blood Brothers’, ‘The Haunting of Whaley House’ and others. Horror Fuel: “How did you get into directing?” JP: “I was an only child, and I lost my parents very early. I sort of felt disconnected to the world and reality. There was something about movies and books the are for escape. I took advantage of that and fell in love with this dream world. So, they became such a big part of my
Continue reading →
Interviews
Writer-director-producer Scott Frazelle sat down to talk with me about his upcoming creature feature ‘Moggy Creatures‘, featuring mutant cats. Frazelle has been part of the horror genre for many years. He has appeared in films such as ‘Day of the Dead 2: Contagium’, ‘Marked’ and ‘Passed the Door of Darkness’ and ‘Creepshow 3’, which he also co-wrote. He was part of the special effects team of ‘State of Desolation’ and ‘Shark Bite Beach’ that was part of ‘Shark Week’ in 2010. Frazelle has worked on many projects in the role of assistant director, in movies like ‘Blackwater Valley Exorcism’, ‘Marked’, ‘Passed the Door of Darkness’, ‘Shattered!’, ‘Rough Hustle’, and the series ‘Channel Surfing’. ‘Steampunk’d’, ‘The Devil’s Tomb’ and ‘The Reverent’ were projects Frazelle worked for in the art department. He also penned and executive produced 2013’s ‘House of Bad’. Horror Fuel: “You have been involved with so many aspects of the film industry. acting, special effects, directing, producing, writing. Which
Continue reading →
