“Beauty and the Basement”, Fango Interview Part 1

Michele Morrow @Fangoria.com

New Year’s Eve rang in a feature interview with Fangoria!  What a great way to start off 2010.  Here is a transcript, or Read the entire article on Fangoria.com:

Fangoria scribe Pat Janecwitz goes one on one with the up and coming genre actress, Michele Morrow, in a two part interview being released today and tomorrow on the Fangoria Entertainment website.

From injury to recovery, the actress discusses her newly released slasher flick, BASEMENT JACK as well as her aspirations to be cast in the WARCRAFT movie being directed by Sam Raimi. WARCRAFT is based on the Blizzard Entertainment fantasy novels and video game series.

Although she appeared in mainstream stuff like ALIAS and THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, Washington-born actress Michele Morrow is clearly meant to be a Scream Queen!

With her good natured girl-next-door vibe, you find yourself rooting for her in the just-released BASEMENT JACK (Written by Fango contributor Brian Patrick O’Toole) and hoping she doesn’t become the maniac’s last victim.

Michele Morrow has also been seen tangling with vampires in BLED and screaming, running and fighting in other horror films like SLAUGHTERHOUSE OF THE RISING SUN, as well the upcoming heartfelt comedy, ASHLEY’S ASHES.

One can’t help but notice while at FANGORIA’s TRINITY OF TERRORS in Las Vegas, the actress attracts appreciative stares from passerby. This may be because with her big green eyes, elfin nose and long blonde hair, she looks like a Disney Cartoon princess come to life, but it’s probably because she’s dressed as a cat–in leopard print, with big cat ears and tail.

PAT JANKIEWICZ/FANGORIA: With more than three horror films under your belt, I have to ask–do you like being a Scream Queen?

MICHELE MORROW: I love it. It’s not something I ever assumed I would have fallen into. I was an easily terrified little girl. As a kid, I used to wake my Dad up in the middle of the night to tell him, ‘There’s someone in our basement. I know there is someone in our basement, Dad.’ I would make him go down there and check it out. It kind of plays into this movie I did, BASEMENT JACK, which is about a guy who lives in your basement. I mean, what is scarier than that?

PAT JANKIEWICZ: That was a very impressive segue–subtle yet to the point. I didn’t see it coming!

MICHELE MORROW: Thank you–I try.(Laughter)

PAT JANKIEWICZ: What did you find scary about BASEMENT JACK?

MICHELE MORROW: It’s the Boogeyman–the most classsic nightmare of all… Just the idea that this guy would be living in a dark, cold part of your house; in the closet, under the bed or in your basement. He’s hiding somewhere that you really don’t want to go. There’s something really creepy about that.

When I first got the script, I was staying at a girlfriend’s house up on Wonderland Avenue, of all places (An infamous four person murder spree involving porn star John Holmes took place there in 1981.)

PAT JANKIEWICZ: That’s creepy.

MICHELE MORROW: She has these two dogs who would look out the window and start barking. It turned out they were barking at their own reflections, but I could have sworn there was someone there, so BASEMENT JACK scared me right off the bat.

PAT JANKIEWICZ: You worked with the great Lynn Lowry on BASEMENT…She’s a real Scream Queen, who worked with George Romero and David Cronenberg.

MICHELE MORROW: Wow, yeah Lynn Lowry – she’s beyond talented. I really, really respect her. She is so evil as Mrs. Riley–Lynn’s character makes Basement Jack into who he is. Lynn and I have spoken many times, despite not having had a scene together in the film.  I would dare say she constructed one of the most deeply evil and maniacal performances of all time – one that oddly incites this weird joy inside of me, because I find myself smiling and laughing at how awesome she is in it. Its so thrilling to watch another actress really nail it.

But Lynn translates the most frightening aspect of our film: the fact that she takes great pleasure in her own insanity and torturous tendencies…It’s just chilling to imagine. I mean, she’s just so demented.  Not for a moment do those who watch feel betrayed… you’ll forget she’s an actress and you’ll gladly hop aboard the sick ride she takes. Lynn has been very supportive and encouraging of me, so I’m very lucky to have a role model like her in my life.

PAT JANKIEWICZ: You’re the female lead in BASEMENT JACK (pictured above and below).

MICHELE MORROW: Yep, I’m Karen Cook. Basement Jack slaughtered my family when I was 17 years old. I come home in the middle of the night and find them murdered.

PAT JANKIEWICZ: You sound like you’re happy with it.

MICHELE MORROW: Quality-wise, BASEMENT JACK is the film I am most proud of so far, especially for it’s budget. The director, Michael Shelton loves horror movies and it’s apparent. Brian O’Toole is a huge fan of the genre, which is what makes him such a good writer–he knows what scares people..

PAT JANKIEWICZ: Who do you dream to work with?

MICHELE MORROW: My dream is to be in a Stephen King movie.

PAT JANKIEWICZ: Why a Stephen King movie in particular?

MICHELE MORROW: Mainly because PET SEMATARY ruined my life when I saw it as a kid–it scared me so bad. And let’s not even talk about IT–oh, seeing that, with The Clown–I don’t know if it’s as scary as I remember because I’m afraid to see it again…

PAT JANKIEWICZ: What made BASEMENT JACK stand out for you?

MICHELE MORROW: The role of Karen really spoke to me, because her mission to extinguish this evil once and for all makes her a modern anti-hero. Karen is manipulative and insidious because she seeks justice…..that concept is so twisted to think about. At what point, do you become what you have fought against?

Also, BASEMENT JACK was a different, unique serial killer. I have done a lot of horror films, and this was a really creepy premise.

PAT JANKIEWICZ: What about BLED, Lionsgate release this last year? Did you get to be a Vampire?

MICHELE MORROW: I get turned into a vampire, yeah. That was fun! Who wouldn’t wanna get turned into a vampire? It was only a dream sequence though that my character, Kerra, is dreamed as one.

PAT JANKIEWICZ: Was there any challenges in being a vampire?

MICHELE MORROW: Playing a vampire in the BLED dream sequence was bizarre. I had contacts that covered my entire eyeball – which conceptually, is very very cool, however you can’t see through them very well – everything looks sorta like wearing smudged up, dirty goggles underwater.  Not to mention the scene is ‘vampire sensual’, so I’m grabbing around for a tree branch on set to steady myself and ended up grabbing arms or legs…it was all very awkward being none of us could see a damn thing.

PAT JANKIEWICZ: What about the fangs?

MICHELE MORROW: The fangs were mostly impossible to talk in…so, just a lot of saliva and blindness in general is what I remember. I’m amazed the scene actually translated into something sexy/scary, and possibly the actors physical state added to the oddness of the scene.

PAT JANKIEWICZ: Nudity?

MICHELE MORROW: Yes, but not by me. I’m gonna wait a while before that comes. I’m holding out for the bigger budget movies! (Laughter) BLED was fun. It was a very low budget indie, but the crew was like a family. Everybody loved what they were doing.

PAT JANKIEWICZ: What other horror films?

MICHELE MORROW: I did a movie called THE SILO. I play Jenny Mathews, the all-American girl. Her and three friends decide to go on a camping trip, their car breaks down and horror ensues. We shot it in Kansas, in the middle of nowhere: Concordia, in Cloud County, Kansas. They had a Wal-Mart and one street of stores, but that was it. A very small town. We shot at the bottom of a decommissioned missile silo. It had actually held a nuclear missile there in the 1980s, aimed at Moscow apparently from what I was told.

PAT JANKIEWICZ: Were you worried about any residual radioactivity?

MICHELE MORROW: I was! I was like, ‘Are we sure this is safe…?’ At one point, the other lead, John Allen Phillips, and I went down to the bottom of the silo. Imagine Kansas in the summer, about 105 degrees. We go down about 40 feet and it drops to 45 degrees.  It opened into this huge, circular room and then drops another 100 feet down. Thats where the missile was kept. We were just waiting for the lighting and to entertain ourselves we started making shadow puppets on the wall…. where a nuclear missile used to be kept– and then we realized how totally wrong that was.  Put things into context.

PAT JANKIEWICZ: That silo was your actual shooting location?

MICHELE MORROW: Yeah. It was a hard project, because the conditions were so rough. There were no bathrooms down there. The cast and crew would shoot in The Silo and then we would have to go above ground to get food or go to the bathroom. People were getting sick from the temperature changes. Everyone worked very hard. I’m excited to see the results.

PAT JANKIEWICZ: Tell us about THE SEER!

MICHELE MORROW: THE SEER is an Italian horror film that I shot on the island of Sardinia. I was only one of two Americans in the movie. The rest of the cast was from Romania, Spain, South Africa, Brazil, etc. I play Claire, a girl who happens to be clairvoyant, hence her name. I’m the Seer of the title. My character knows when people will die. I end up going against a group of witches who want my eyes. It’s creepy and will be out in 2010.

PAT JANKIEWICZ: You’re great in horror movies. Is there any other genre you want to try?

MICHELE MORROW:  I grew up on ‘The Epic’ – big epic things like (The Chronicles Of) Narnia and Lord of the Rings. Movies like The Dark Crystal, The Last Unicorn, Willow and The Neverending Story. I was obsessed with Star Wars, and went as Princess Leia no less than five times for Halloween (Laughter).

PAT JANKIEWICZ: So you want to be a Princess Leia type character?

MICHELE MORROW: Yes, definitely.  Although horror was never my original genre of choice, its elements are weaved throughout these tales of magic, dragons, kings and queens. I love stories about the battle of good versus evil. I love stories where the character has to avoid becoming what she’s fighting…

PAT JANKIEWICZ: Is there a character you really want to play?

MICHELE MORROW: Oh yeah–there’s a role coming up that epitomizes that very notion, and I’m praying my horror background will help me land it. Sam Raimi is directing WARCRAFT – based on the video game. Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan) is writing it. Lady Sylvanas Windrunner, Queen of the Undead, is my Karen Cook character times 1,000.

PAT JANKIEWICZ: You know video games? Our readers are gonna love you!

MICHELE MORROW: I know ‘em very well.  I’m a gamer.

PAT JANKIEWICZ: Well, if Sam Raimi looks at your filmography, he’ll see that you made a movie with his brother Ted….(VIDEODOME RENT-O-RAMA)

MICHELE MORROW: Fingers crossed.(Laughs)

NEXT UP: Real horror, broken necks and the perils of low budget filmmaking… Check back tomorrow for Part II of this interview.

Category: Press