So good to hear from my friend Mouncey Ferguson, who produced one of my favorite flicks of the year – Donner Pass. I loved the movie and I’m so happy for the success it has received. Mr. Ferguson was passing along the latest press release from John Kassir – who plays a big role in Donner Pass – which compares and contrasts indie films and big Hollywood movies, in particular Jack The Giant Slayer which Kassir will appear in. Read the interesting release below!
Horror Icon John Kassir Still Killing It in Indies
and Blockbusters Like Jack the Giant Slayer
Character actor and horror icon John Kassir – best known for his role as the Crypt Keeper in the long-running Tales from the Crypt series – has traversed comfortably between big Hollywood blockbusters and indie films throughout his career. This year will be no exception: He stars in the Bryan Singer production of Warner Bros.’ Jack the Giant Slayer and the indie horror film Donner Pass. The key to his success? Versatility, and the willingness to sleep on a hard floor every now and again.
Los Angeles, CA (February 27, 2013): You remember him most for the cackle and maniacal voice of the Crypt Keeper in the long-running Tales from the Crypt series. But character actor John Kassir has deftly crossed between big budget studio projects and indie films during a long, fruitful career.
This year is no different. Kassir will play a pivotal role in the $200-million Jack the Giant Slayer, directed by Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men, Superman Returns), and recently appeared in the independent horror movie, Donner Pass, which had a budget of… well, much less.
Staying active in indies has always been important to Kassir. “The bigger projects pay more, of course,” he said, “but they’re not always as challenging. You don’t have the freedom and variety to take on other kinds of roles and work with other filmmakers.”
Or the opportunity to sleep on the floor, or worse, with your head out the window like he did during the making of Donner Pass.
Donner Pass, which released in 2012 and is currently airing on Showtime, is a thriller that riffs off one of the more macabre chapters in American history – the ominous story of the Donner Party, a group of settlers who got stranded in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the winter of 1846 and resorted to eating their dead to survive. The movie is set in the present day and imagines the cannibalism was no accident – and it’s still ongoing.
The Joys of Indie Filmmaking
Donner Pass was shot on location in the snowy mountains of California and the quarters were cramped. On one particularly cold night, Kassir found himself sleeping in the make-up room. “It was full of solvents as make-up rooms tend to be,” he said. “I had to sleep with my head out the window so I wouldn’t get sick from the smell. But hey, without resistance, there is no art.”
Nonetheless, the experience on the Donner set was well worth it. Kassir got to stretch his chops as a man-eating killer who reached a grisly end by pick ax.
He and make-up artist Ralis Kahn, who once worked for goth rocker Marilyn Manson, had a good time. “You have to do a lot with little time and little budget,” Kassir said. “But we had fun putting together the prosthetics. Hammer in my eye, pick ax in my throat. Had to swallow a lot of fake blood, which didn’t taste very good. I think I added some vomit to the mix.”
“John was a complete pro,” said Donner Pass producer Mouncey Ferguson III. “He’s a horror icon. The rest of the cast gravitated to him. They learned a lot and he kept them laughing.”
“Donner Pass had a young cast, but they were all very good actors, with a great, creative director in Elise Robertson,” said Kassir. “We had fun. I think they enjoyed me running around in the snow, which is not easy. I fell a lot. I’m not sure all the blood was fake!”
A Man of Many Voices – and Faces
Kassir is best known for his role as the Crypt Keeper on HBO’s Tales from the Crypt, which ran for 93 episodes between 1989-1996. The show, which was a little like the Twilight Zone with more horror, was based on the 1950’s comic classic of the same name.
The Crypt Keeper, a puppet with rotting teeth, holes in its mouth, and wisps of hair hanging from an otherwise bare skull, introduced every show. Kassir attacked the character with gusto, coming up with an inspired voice and a laugh that got faster as the show’s budget increased and the animatronics got good enough to keep up with him.
“I tried to play the Crypt Keeper as a typical Rod Serling-Alfred Hitchcock type of host with the delivery of Rodney Dangerfield and the vocal stylings of Margaret Hamilton [the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz],” Kassir said.
It’s not so far off from Jack the Giant Slayer, a $200 million “Jack and the Beanstalk” adventure movie. The main giant has two heads. Kassir plays one of them. The other one, incidentally, is played by Bill Nighy, of Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean fame. The movie, which releases March 1, also stars Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, and Nicholas Hoult.
“It’s a totally different animal than a movie like Donner Pass,” said Kassir. “You have a lot of time to explore, rehearse, work, and get paid. The level of production is quite extraordinary. A lot of the work is motion capture so you’re shooting on a specialty stage. It’s like performing in front of NASA. And it’s so collaborative. Film is a collaborative art. The bigger the budget, the more collaborations you have.”
On the other hand, the indie flicks drive art in different ways. “When you have lots of constraints, you become very creative in your own right,” said Kassir.
Sticking with His Indie Roots
The independent movies remind him of his theater roots. Another one of Kassir’s more notable roles was in the Off-Broadway play Refer Madness, a satirical musical adaptation of a 1936 anti-marijuana propaganda film. Showtime later made a movie out of it, which was a favorite at the Sundance Film Festival, and Kassir starred in that, too (along with Kristen Bell and Neve Campbell).
“We didn’t use real weed in the movie,” Kassir swears. “That wouldn’t have helped anyone’s performance. We experimented a lot and finally settled on an herb that didn’t smell like camel dung and was more pleasant to work with.”
It looks like a big year for Kassir, but he’s already focused on what’s next, auditioning for new projects and trying to find something that’s “more myself” for once.
“I like the fantasy,” Kassir said, “but as you get older you know yourself better.”
He takes pride in the fact that once he committed to acting he’s managed to avoid a “real job.” Whether it’s theater, touring as a comedian for the USO, independent horror flicks, or blockbusters, you “keep working because you’re versatile,” said Kassir.
More info:
John Kassir filmography:
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0440885/
Jack the Giant Slayer:
https://jackthegiantslayer.warnerbros.com/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1351685/
Donner Pass:
https://donnerpassmovie.com/
Photos available:
https://www.donnerpassmovie.com/media/gallery/
