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Director
Mike Mendez with a momentarily
friendly ghost
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GRAVEDANCING
with the STARS
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Actress
Clare Kramer and Director
Mike Mendez
discuss the Horrorfest
hit along with cast members
Megahn Perry, Oakley Stevenson
and composer
Joseph Bishara
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One of the dark delights of the
2006 After Dark Horrorfest was
the return of indie director Mike
Mendez with two cult favorite
actresses from his goofy, gothic
nunsploitation film The Convent.
Clare Kramer, who as 'Glory' was
a major star of Buffy the Vampire
Slayer, plays a lead role in The
Gravedancers beside Dominic
Purcell of Prison Break. Model-turned-actress
Josie Maran (Van Helsing) co-starred
with former 'Convent' girls Megahn
Perry and Oakley Stevenson.
In The Gravedancers, three friends
who gather in a cemetery at night
to drink a toast to a recently
deceased friend make the mistake
of dancing on some evil-filled
graves. Soon the restless occupants
of the defiled graves, a serial
killer, an axe murderer and a
pyromaniac, are gathering strength
to take revenge on the three and
on those near them.
As a season-long regular on Buffy,
Clare Kramer is unforgettable
to those who loved the acclaimed
vampire series, and she was voted
by fans as their favorite villain.
Following her appearance in The
Gravedancers, she returned to
the vampire genre to star in The
Thirst, playing a recovering drug
addict who learns that blood can
be the most dangerous drug of
all.
Read any review of The Convent,
and you'll find unanimous praise
for Megahn Perry in her role as
Mo, the sarcastic goth girl whose
morbid curiosity leads an unwitting
(and witless) group of teens into
a haunted nunnery. Oakley Stevenson,
who splits her movie-making talents
between acting and costuming,
also made an indelible impression
in The Convent as the rebellious
schoolgirl who purges the original
coven of demonic nuns with fire-bombs
and a shotgun.
The director, the stars and the
music composer of The Gravedancers
gathered to talk about their experiences
on the occasion of the movie's
release on DVD.
Fans
and critics have appreciated how
The Gravedancers seems to bring
back the fun qualities of old
movies like The Haunting or the
original House on Haunted Hill,
being suspenseful and frightening
and playful all at once.
Mike Mendez: We were definitely
kickin’ it Old School, because
the current attitude of industry
movie buyers is like, “the
kids want torture, they want gore
porn, there’s not enough
bloodshed!”
Was
the cast familiar with old-school
horror movies from the 50's and
60's?
Clare Kramer: Sure,
though I’m more familiar
with the 70’s movies, like
Rosemary’s Baby and Poltergeist.
But what struck me about the Gravedancers
script is that it’s not entirely
an in your face horror film. The
psychological aspect is there
to scare the audience into thinking
that it really could happen. The
suspension of disbelief was quite
easy on this one for 90% of the
movie
The
Gravedancers was pitched a few
years before the actual filming,
how was that done?
Mike: Originally there
was a seven-minute presentation
that was two scenes with entirely
different actors. Megahn Perry
played Clare’s part; Jimmy
DeBello who was in Cabin Fever
played Dominic’s part and
Tchéky Karyo was still
there. He’s the only one
who kept the same role. Those
scenes are unfortunately not in
the DVD because of copyright issues
with the music. It worked fantastic
and we got to make the movie because
of it. The original trailer is
on the DVD, and it’s about
three and a half minutes long.
I
remembered Tchéky Karyo
from a James Bond film, and he
plays a very cool character in
The Gravedancers.
Mike: Yeah, and he didn’t
have to do this movie by any means;
it wasn’t like there was
some great paycheck in it for
him or for anybody, for that matter.
He did it because he liked it.
Megahn Perry: He was amazing
to work with. He was really very
-- maybe forgiving is the right
word? -- of the whole experience.
Mike: Yes, very accepting
of the whole filming experience,
it was like, “OK, this sucks…”
(laughing)
Megahn: "I’m
freezing…”
Clare: "I have to
walk a quarter mile to a porta-potty
to go to the bathroom…”
Mike: But I never heard
him complain about any of it,
which was amazing. And his part
in the film really gave some class
to the whole project.
Where
were the working environments
most difficult?
Megahn: Everywhere. Every
set, it was never more than like
40 degrees.
Mike: I think you’re
being kind, I think it was more
like 30.
Couldn’t
you see your own breath in that
freezing cold?
Mike: Oh yeah totally.
We filmed the paranormal investigative
university house in an old office
building that had been abandoned
since 1991 that had no electricity
or running water. It was exciting
when we had fire scenes because
we could huddle around it.
Oakley,
your opening scene sets the scary
tone for the entire movie. Was
it as violent to film that scene
as it appears?
Oakley Stevenson: Oh yeah,
I blacked out during one of the
takes because they threw me without
the proper padding. I got beaten
up, bloodied and bruised. But
we still needed more footage for
the scene, so after getting checked
out, I was back on the set. The
only stunt person in that scene
is at the very last moment you
see.
Mike: Originally we found
a greenhouse and that we thought
we could use, where we were going
to have her crash into the greenhouse,
until we found out it was going
cost like $2000, and that was
out of the question.
Clare,
the scene where you’re hanging
out of a window looked pretty
scary.
Clare: I was hanging off
of the roof and Dominic was holding
me. At one point he lets go, but
I was wearing a harness with a
rope tied to it, so when he let
go, I just clung to the edge of
the roof until they yelled “cut”
and reeled me in like a fish.
Mike: Another questionably
safe scene was when we buried
Dominic.
Clare: Yes, at the end
of the movie when Dominic is buried
in the quicksand type dirt, Tchéky
and I run over and start to dig
him up, but we couldn’t find
him! The panic I was experiencing
was real, and when we finally
brought him out, dirt was coming
out of his mouth.
Mike: It would have been
nice if we could have afforded
air tanks to breathe with.
I can’t imagine what was
going through Dom’s mind,
except 'Mendez I hate you.'
Clare: Dom was a very good
sport, because there were several
things that weren’t the safest,
that being one of them –
he was buried alive.
Mike: Oh my God, there
was one scene with Josie Maran
where the Humvee was coming at
her, and maybe it was movie magic,
but boy did it not feel right.
She was dressed as dead Kira and
the stunt driver had to drive
the Humvee close to her, but she
just gunned it, because there
was a lot of furniture it had
to go over. It drove over and
went flying at her, and we thought
she was dead. The stunt people
who planned it were like, “oh,
that was supposed to happen,”
but Josie and I sure I didn’t
think so. I know it’s supposed
to be scary and we’re supposed
to believe in it, but I had a
near heart attack
Is
it true that someone donated the
Humvee to use in the movie?
Mike: Yeah, when one of
our friends saw someone getting
gas for his Humvee, he just asked
if we could film it for the movie
and we got to use it. We filmed
in Greensboro, North Carolina,
and everyone there was extremely
helpful. While we were casting
for the cemetery caretaker, I
started wondering who this guy
was who kept hanging around the
set, and I thought, hey, let’s
just use him! Oakley was our costumer,
and she tried all these wardrobe
choices for him, but he looked
better in what he originally had
on. So the way you see him in
the movie is the way he always
looked. Literally, he would show
up in exactly the same clothes
every day. No continuity problem
at all.
What
were your reactions to the ghosts
the first time you saw them?
Clare: They were horrific
I thought.
Megahn: I think the first
one that I saw was Josie. And
I was horrified.
Joseph Bishara: I had seen
the sculptures of Judge Langer,
but in real live it was awesome
to see it go from just a tall
skinny guy to a tall skinny guy
who looks fucked up. It took three
or four hours to do the make-up.
Clare: The interesting
thing about when the actors were
in full makeup was that it made
them seem totally anonymous, so
they would seem like a puppet
almost.
Oakley: When Langer was
on the set between takes, he was
essentially naked
Mike: with the Judge Langer
character, we knew we had something
really special when people who
were visiting the set that day
didn’t even believe that
he was a real person. People have
actually wondered if that character
was just really good CG.
Which
scenes presented the greatest
acting challenges for you?
Clare: The thing that was
challenging about this role was
in keeping the suspense gradually
building, and elevating it as
the movie went on, where the character
is experiencing more and more
and she’s unsure of the origin.
Is it in her mind or is it actually
happening?
Megahn: The most challenging
scene for me was in going from
playing a very controlled and
usually sarcastic person to having
to break down and cry when my
character admits to putting everyone
in danger.
Clare: With Megahn in the
office scene where it’s revealed
that Culpepper has ulterior motives,
she was urging me to go ahead
and slap her, but I just said,
“Megahn, I am not slapping
you.” She’s like 80
pounds!
Clare,
in the scene where you and Kira
have a catfight, what was Mike’s
directorial input?
Clare: Josie Maran, playing
the possessed Kira, couldn’t
see out of her prosthetics, but
I remember Mike saying to Josie,
just attack her and Clare will
defend herself. That’s exactly
what we did, with not too much
acting per se. Josie really was
trying to hit me and I was trying
to defend myself and thank goodness
Megahn came and pulled me out
of there.
Megahn: Josie couldn’t
see, so she was really swingin’
at her
Clare: She definitely hit
me a few times, and I told her
after the first few takes to go
for it, hit me, that’ll make
the scene happen. Of course safety
is a concern, you don’t want
to hurt your fellow actor, but
if you hold back physically it
takes the emotion out of the scene.
Mike: Here’s what
I really said: Just make it look
good!
Mike,
what’s your take on the supernatural?
Did your own experiences affect
the story?
Mike: Strange things happen
that we can’t explain, but
believe it or not, I don’t
really believe in the idea of
a disembodied spirit. Strange
things happen in the universe,
but there’s always a scientific
explanation for it. Sometimes
magic and science intersect and
are discovered to be the same
thing -- like at one time fire
was thought to be magic -- and
it’s probably same thing
with ghosts. Something is happening,
something is there, but do I think
it’s a dead person that didn’t
settle and didn’t go? I’m
not so sure about that. |
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