Interview by Mario Dominick
I recently took the time to compile some questions for one of horror and B-moviedom’s finest leading ladies and scream queens, the sweet, lovely and beautiful Brinke Stevens. A frequent model and former Playboy playmate and well known to genre fans for her roles in ’80s classics like The Slumber Party Massacre, Nightmare Sisters, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, and Grandma’s House as well as her frequent collaborations with fellow scream queens like Linnea Quigley and Michelle Bauer, Brinke has gone on to become one the genre’s most respected icons and is continuing to churn out performances in dozens of low budget movies a year. The questions you will read her answers to below covers her work from back in the ’80s up until now. That includes her work with Linnea and Michelle, filmmakers like Fred Olen Ray and David DeCoteau, and much more.
Mario Dominick: Which movie from the 1980s that you’ve done do you consider to be your favorite? That includes ones like THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE, NIGHTMARE SISTERS, SORORITY BABES IN THE SLIMEBALL BOWL-O-RAMA, GRANDMA’S HOUSE, etc.
Brinke Stevens: All of the above! The 1980s was a very special decade, and it truly made my career what it is today. At that time, the low-budget, independent horror films we were making were totally unique. Now, however, Hollywood is remaking so many of those old classics — like, LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, FRIDAY THE 13th, HALLOWEEN, THE HILLS HAVE EYES, and so on. It’s as if they’re terrified of having a new idea, and so they have to bank on “re-imaginings” of the original stuff. My advice is to go rent the old videos… they’re so much fun.
MD: You’ve mentioned the EVIL DEAD films are among your all-time favorite horror movies. Which one in the trilogy do you enjoy the best?
BS: The EVIL DEAD trilogy will always rank among my favorite American films. I like the first two the most (which are very similar, except the second one had a bigger budget). I enjoy them overall because of Bruce Campbell and his very physical comedy — he’s such a nut case! I also like the bizarre camera shots and angles. Lately, I’ve become a big fan of Asian horror films. I just watched “Arang”, a very cool Korean ghost story. It’s weird to me how they turn hair (like long, wet, stringy black hair) into such a horrific element… I mean, what’s up with that?
MD: When did you first become acquainted with Ted Newsom and how did you get the job hosting the 1988 documentary of his MONSTERS & MANIACS?
BS: Ted Newsom and I first met in the early 1980s at a movie screening in Hollywood. Soon after, he taught me how to write screenplays — and we’ve sold a few that we’ve co-written, including TEENAGE EXORCIST. After I hosted MONSTERS & MANIACS, I was also interviewed for his Hammer Horror documentaries. We’re still writing partners and just finished a new thriller script, “The House on Rachel Lane”, which we’re trying to get produced now. Our next project together will be an exciting new SINBAD screenplay.
MD: When was the first time you worked with Fred Olen Ray?
BS: I’ve done so many movies for Fred that I can’t even remember the first one. It might’ve been WARLORDS in the late-80s. I’ve also been in SPIRITS, HAUNTING FEAR, BAD GIRLS FROM MARS, ILLICIT DREAMS 2, OVER THE WIRE, and many more. Those days were so much fun, but times have changed… budgets have shrunk considerably, and distribution is much more difficult now. Fred is still active as a filmmaker, but movies like that just aren’t being made anymore.
MD: I understand your friendship with Linnea Quigley goes many years back. When did you two first become acquainted with Michelle Bauer, leading to the three of you becoming the “big 3” of the low budget ’80s horror scream queens?
BS: In the early 1980s, I would go to movie auditions and frequently run into Linnea and Michelle. For example, we were all “extras” together on THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE. When video technology swept onto the scene in the mid-80s, we were all hired by the same filmmakers (Dave DeCoteau, Fred Olen Ray, Charlie Band, etc). We became good friends and alerted one another to new job opportunities, so we could work together more often. None of us set out to become “Scream Queens” — we just worked as hard as we could back then, and soon the fans themselves gave us that lovely title.
MD: How did you get the part of hosting the SHOCK CINEMA documentaries which feature interviews with people like Fred Olen Ray, J.R. Bookwalter, David DeCoteau, Scott Spiegel, Jeff Burr, Charles Band, etc.? I’m sure that was a lot of fun back in the day.
BS: It was just a natural thing to do at the time, since I already knew all of those people I’d interviewed. I was a co-producer on SHOCK CINEMA in the 1980s, which was my first big foray behind the camera. This year (2009), I’m co-producing my first feature film — which has nothing to do with the horror industry. It’s a Civil War movie about the Kansas-Missouri “slavery”-struggle in the 1860s. I’m very excited to do something completely different.
MD: You’ve worked with filmmaker Jason Paul Collum on several of his films including OCTOBER MOON, NOVEMBER SON, SOMETHING TO SCREAM ABOUT, JULIA WEPT, etc. What’s it been like working with Jason?
BS: A decade ago, Jason sent me a fan letter saying he wanted to move out to Los Angeles (from Wisconsin). I urged him NOT to do it, as LA is such a dreadful place. He came out here anyway and had a lot of success. We worked together on several projects in Hollywood, such as Dave DeCoteau’s THE FRIGHTENING and JR Bookwalter’s SOMETHING TO SCREAM ABOUT. When he moved back to Wisconsin, I was glad to work with him again on the OCTOBER MOON and NOVEMBER SON projects, which have so much “local color” that you don’t find in California. He also has a fabulous old historic home in Racine, WI, that I always love to stay at when I’m shooting in town. Jason is one of my best friends… he’s so in-tune with B-movies and is a wonderful director for us actors.
MD: What has it been like working with filmmaker Chris Watson? You’ve acted in ZOMBIEGEDDON and SLAUGHTER PARTY for him as well as EVIL EVER AFTER which he produced.
BS: I’m proud of Chris, who worked very hard making movies in Kansas before he took the big leap to living out here in Los Angeles. For ZOMBIEGEDDON, he was smart to hire actors he met at local fan conventions. I was impressed that he’d even managed to line up a radio station in Ohio for my scenes, while I was in town doing an appearance. In SLAUGHTER PARTY, he came over to my house and shot me in less than one hour — it was so easy! My role was much bigger in EVIL EVER AFTER (filmed in Los Angeles), and I was thrilled to have Joe Bob Briggs play my husband and Heidi Martinuzzi as my wayward daughter. We’ve forged a good friendship in the meantime — recently, Chris hosted a movie night at an LA theater for “Let the Right One In”, which was attended by other like-minded filmmakers. I was so happy he’d invited me along to see it (… before JJ Abrams soon remakes that awesome foreign film for American audiences. Sigh…)
MD: One of your most recent appearances was in Mike Watt and Amy Lynn Best’s DEMON DIVAS AND THE LANES OF DAMNATION (formerly known as COVENTRY LANES) which features Amy along with Debbie Rochon, Lilith Stabs, Robyn Griggs, Rachelle Williams, etc. What was the shoot like on this one?
BS: Oh, what a joy to shoot with professional filmmakers! They had two cameras, a seasoned crew, extensive shot-lists and most importantly, FOOD. It was an absolute pleasure to work with Mike and Amy. I’m astounded how they dealt with all the myriad details and still made it seem effortless. It’s one of the best times I’ve had on a film-set.
Despite its low budget, “Demon Divas” truly felt like a BIG-budget project. I felt pampered to be provided with my own wardrobe, which was tailor-made for me. I had my own personal make-up artist, to airbrush me into a demoness. Amy had ordered fangs and contact lenses for each of us. You’d never know it wasn’t a multi-million dollar production… somehow they managed to pull it off.
In contrast, I usually provide my own wardrobe and do my own make-up on movies these days. It’s a study in being self-sufficient. In the 1980s and 90s, when independent Hollywood studios made their own films, we actually had caterers and private trailers — but those days are long gone.
MD: What other movies are you currently working on and which ones recently completed should we look for this year?
BS: I launched into 2009 with a new zombie comedy, “George’s Intervention”, shot in L.A. in January. I spent much of February in Kansas City, doing pre-production work on “Friends and Enemies”, a Civil War movie that I will star in and co-produce. In July, I will be a “special guest” at San Diego Comic Con to help celebrate their 40th anniversary.
Last year, I worked on 7 films, including “The Ritual” (playing a serial killer’s mother) and “Demon Divas”, shot in Pittsburgh, PA. I also attended six conventions — and four store-signings for newly released DVDs: “Evil Ever After”, “The Boneyard Collection”, “Blood Scarab” and “Bryan Loves You”. On April 14, “November Son” will be available on Amazon. Later this year, “Crazy Animal” will be distributed by Troma. “Caesar & Otto’s Summer Camp Massacre” can be seen on Netflix starting in Oct.; and “The Web of Darkness” will finally come out on DVD sometime in 2009.
You can visit Brinke online at her official website: www.brinke.com
