*If there’s one thing that I love more than horror films, it’s animals. I donate to animal welfare/rights charities several times a year, watch documentaries on new animals every year, and refuse to watch them die in horror movies. If there’s anyone who loves animals more than me, it’s Amelia Kinkade. Horror fans will recognize her for playing Angela in the cult franchise, Night of the Demons. Since the movie series ended, Amelia has pursued an extremely noteworthy career as an animal psychic, animal rights activist, teacher, and wildlife conservationist. She has written several best sellers on the subject and she was gracious enough to chat with me with the remnants of WiFi she had while in Africa. As you will read in our interview below, Ms. Kinkade is truly passionate about bettering the lives of all animals (and reptiles and birds, etc), and she still has a very special place in her heart for her fans. Check it all out below!
HorrorSociety: Where does this interview find you now?
Amelia: I’m sitting on a wooden bench in front of a watering hole waiting for the giraffes to come in for a drink because nine giraffes come in every day at dinner time and tip toe around a watering hole full of crocodiles. A family of five elephants will climb up the hillside at my feet and pass so closely I could touch them. The newest member of the family is a tiny baby, belonging to Princess Naughtytusks, the daughter of the famous Queen Wonkeytusks who hit the big-time when National Geographic featured her hob-nobbing with guests in Mfuwe Lodge and actually reaching over their shoulders at the dinner table to sneak a cocktail or a bite of mango ice-cream. When I checked into my lodge in Africa this year, which is very near Mfuwe lodge, Princess Naughtytusks strolled right into the lobby to greet me, bringing her tiny precious baby in tow. I secretly asked Naughtytusks, “If you can hear me, come over here and give me a kiss.”
The entire staff had been frozen in place for 45 minutes. It was one of the most electrifying moments of my life, and I was simply streaming tears of awe and joy. I lead my Sacred Harmony Safaris every year at Kafunta Lodge in the magnificent Luangwa National Park, the single most populated preserve for wild lions of anywhere on Earth. The lions, too, greeted me with glowing smiles, slow blinks, and air kisses and three gigantic boys even trotted up to my truck to greet me the first night I landed. I’m considering making a back-packer version, a less expensive version of my posh safaris, just for my Demons fans called “Amelia’s Magical Mystery Tours.” Stay tuned!
HorrorSociety: Most people will recognize you for having portrayed Angela in Night of the Demons 1, 2, and 3. Why was the aspect of dance in this role so important to you?
Amelia: I went wild and was allowed and even encouraged to go absolutely wild. I’d been trained as a ballerina and modern dancer at Interlochen Arts Academy, the most prestigious high school for the performing arts in the world. When I landed in Tinsel Town, I was pent up and frustrated. I was never really given the opportunity to go utterly wild–the way I really truly was in my apartment every night. So given the opportunity to choreograph these dances, I let all the passionate rebel fire just roar out of me. Now I do it in different ways. I salsa dance, Cha Cha, West Coast Swing, and I even put on my pink cowboy boots and go yahoo and yehaw the night away whenever I get a chance to go out line-dancing.
HorrorSociety: How has playing the role of Angela affected your life today?
Amelia: Last week I launched the most outrageous website ever, and it was created by my dance teacher’s partner in London. Check out Angela-in-the-flesh.com and you’ll see how Angela has been immortalized on the bodies of my fans when you see the page of Angela tattoos gracing my hottest, most hard-core fans!
HorrorSociety: I hear you have a lot going on that you’re preparing to roll out soon. Would like to speak on these projects such as Amelia’s Ark Angel Society and No Horror For Animals?
Amelia: This year I went into the schools to celebrate the launch of my new charity, Amelia’s Ark Angel Society, where I worked with the African kids so that they don’t grow up to be poachers. We danced as elephants, drew elephants, made up plays about elephants who get poached and leave their orphaned babies behind, danced as lions, made up plays about lions getting caught in snares left by illegal poaching. When I first asked a class of 60 kids, “Do you think a baby elephant would miss his mother if his mother got shot by a poacher?” They all said, “No.” But once I had them create a play about a baby elephant whose mother and auntie got murdered by a poacher, and the baby soulfully nosed the girls’ dead bodies–little girls pretending to lie dead on the floor–when I asked them again, “NOW do you think the baby would miss his mother?” They all said, “YES!” So I think it was tremendously successful. And if any of YOU want to come to Zambia in 2015 on one of my safaris, I’ll take YOU out to the schools to talk to the kids too.
I’m also creating the No Horror For Animals campaign to bring all the stars of sci-fi and horror together in order to create charity events for animals! I’ve got new T-shirts, swag, and treats for all the fans who want to sign up for my fan club and help me champion animals. Are YOU an Ark Angel? Come fly in the face of fear and hopelessness with your favorite animal badass. I need all the help I can get.
HorrorSociety: How do you compare your two passions, acting and being an animal psychic, wildlife conservationist, and teacher?
Amelia: I’ll be dancing the day I die, but that wildfire passion is also expressed with every wild creature I meet. My psychic ability to communicate with wild animals is a kind of “dance” too, where I ignore the prejudices and ignorant assumptions about some of my wildest friends–the tigers, lions, leopard, elephants, sharks, cobras, cheetah, bats, wolves, penguins, owls, eagles, show horses, and even tiny house cats and domestic dogs I work with every day. I honor their wildness. I champion their ferocity and ability to defend themselves against the injustices heaped on them by human beings, and it turn, I get the most treasured gift any “wild” thing could ever give me. Trust.
*In our interview, Amelia Kinkade also expressed her desire to do a movie or two in the future. I’m putting the positive energy out there that the idea becomes a reality. I know I’d love to see her horror film come-back. For now, though, I would like to thank her for taking the time to chat with me. I admire her dedication to something she believes in, something I believe in, too! There may be a part two of “Horror Society Chats with Amelia Kinkade” depending on her internet access, but regardless, everyone should follow the links below and help her out with her two new charities.
Amelia’s IMDB Page: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0455637/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Her Official Website: https://www.ameliakinkade.com/ (contains all biographical information, links to her books, photos, appearance schedule, etc)
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmeliaKinkadePresentsAngelasParty
Angela in the Flesh: https://www.angela-in-the-flesh.com/
No Horror For Animals: https://instagram.com/nohorrorforanimals
