News

Lin Shaye: Telling a Story with the Godmother of Horror

Published

7 years ago

October 23, 2016

“A good chat is never time wasted”–Lin Shaye as Elise Rainier

It’s a Thursday afternoon, and I’m waiting for a phone call I never thought I’d receive. Any moment now, Lin Shaye–the Lin Shaye–is about to call. Suddenly, my phone rings and I forget my own name for 2.5 seconds as I fumble to hit Accept.

I manage to stammer out “Hello” and I hear one of the most familiar voices in horror respond, “Hello, Waylon? This is Lin Shaye.”

For the next hour and a half, Lin Shaye, the Godmother of Horror as she has been rightly named, regaled me with stories of her life and career, and I was enthralled from that first hello. The actress known for her over the top characters and her ability slip in and out of every genre believably impressed me with her quick wit, her easy laugh, and a total dedication to the art of acting. This isn’t a star that was made overnight, however. As a matter of fact, it was not a path she initially set out to follow.

“The thing is I never really thought about being a film actress ever,” Shaye began. “From really as far back as I can remember I liked telling stories. I mean, even as a little girl, I liked telling stories.”

Shaye was growing up in Detroit, Michigan and at the time there were very few children her age with whom she could play. Rather than despair at her lack of friends, young Lin’s imagination took over. She would go into her closet and pull out all of her clothes, much to her mother’s chagrin. Before long, she’d have all of her stuffed animals assembled and dressed as different characters in stories that might go on for days. Later, when another girl her age finally moved into her neighborhood, Shaye and her new friend set to work creating their own newspaper. The two girls would draw comic strips and would write news bulletins about the goings on in their families.

“It was pretty intensive,” the actress laughed. “But I honestly think that from the very beginning there was something–whether that is a talent or a need–I was always a storyteller. It sort of naturally segued into the love of theater not even realizing that it was really theater but it was actually telling a story. Acting out a story for other people was the same thing I had done with my dolls.”

But it would still be a while before she embraced her destiny on the stage. After graduating high school, Shaye attended the University of Michigan and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in art history. Still not quite sure where she was headed in life, she headed off to Europe where she spent time working on a kibbutz in Israel before moving across the continent. But it was in England where the real adventure would begin.

Shaye arrived in London two suitcases lighter than when she set out on her journey.

“I had my two suitcases with me. I had ditched the other two along the way because I found out the hard way just how hard it is to hitchhike with four giant suitcases,” she joked. “So here I am in London, sitting at a little counter in Piccadilly Circus. This man sat down next to me and heard me order and he asks, ‘Are you American?’ And I said yes. Then he asks me if I need a job and I said, ‘Sure!’ He explained that he and his associates were poets and were headed to the Edinburgh Festival and needed a secretary. I mean, can you imagine?”

The stranger handed her a piece of paper with a phone number and name on it with instructions to call the number at six o’clock that evening. Shaye headed off to the YWCA, checked into a room, and at the appointed time called the number. The gentleman who answered asked if she could stop by his apartment at noon the next day and she cheerfully agreed.

At this point in her story, she and I are both laughing hysterically. Even more funny was that the offer of a job was totally legit. Lin headed to the address the next day and met Keith Harrison who was, indeed, a poet.

“He looked like Pan. He had a red beard and he looked like he had horns coming out of his head, I swear to God. And he was missing teeth and he was always scratching his beard. And he WAS a poet. He is actually a published poet. And the other gentleman who picked me up, his name was George…G.W. Whiteman who is also a published poet. I mean, these were Oxford graduates and they were actually headed to Edinburgh.”

Shaye agreed to work for the gentlemen for $20 a week and readied herself to travel to Edinburgh where she also met poets and authors the likes of William Burroughs and W.H. Auden before travelling back to London.

She took a second job in a small theatre in the West End in London as prop master to disastrously hilarious results like something out of a campy 80s slasher flick. During one scene of the sketch comedy show, birds were supposed to fall from the sky onto the stage. So, Shaye headed to the local butcher shop and purchased the heads and wings of quail that the shop was going to throw away. She took them back to the theater and attached them to styrofoam bodies.

“But the only thing I forgot is that they were live flesh and so they started to smell bad. I had a big bag full of dead bird parts. And by the fourth night of the run, they said, ‘I think we have to throw these out’ because you could smell them as soon as you entered the theater. So anyway, that was my other job.”

She stayed in London for almost a full year before she ran completely out of money and her parents, beside themselves about their daughter’s predicament, had the police pick her up. She flew home to New York and moved in with her brother, Bob Shaye AKA the man who created New Line Cinema, and it wasn’t long before she found herself on a stage and never looked back.

Click on the next page to read more about how Freddie Kreuger and a bunch of Critters brought the actress onto the screen.

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News

Melissa Barrera Says Her ‘Scream’ Contract Never Included a Third Movie

Published

17 hours ago

April 15, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The Scream franchise has done a major overhaul to its original script for Scream VII after its two main leads departed production. Jenna Ortega who played Tara Carpenter left because she was overly booked and blessed while her co-star Melissa Barrera was fired after making political comments on social media.

But Barrera isn’t regretting any of it. In fact, she is happy where the character arc left off. She played Samantha Carpenter, the latest focus of the Ghostface killer.

Barrera did an exclusive interview with Collider. During their talk, the 33-year-old says she fulfilled her contract and her character Samantha’s arc finished at a good spot, even though it was meant to be a trilogy.

“I feel like the ending of [ Scream VI ] was a very good ending, and so I don’t feel like ‘Ugh, I got left in the middle.’ No, I think people, the fans, were wanting a third movie to continue that arc, and apparently, the plan was a trilogy, even though I was only contracted for two movies.

So, I did my two movies, and I’m fine. I’m good with that. I got two – that’s more than most people get. When you’re on a TV show, and it gets canceled, you can’t harp on things, you gotta move on.

That’s the nature of this industry too, I get excited for the next job, I get excited for the next skin I get to put on. It’s exciting to create a different character. So yeah, I feel good. I did what I set out to do. It was always meant to be two movies for me, ’cause that was my contract, and so everything is perfect.”

The entire production of the original seventh entry has moved on from the Carpenter’s storyline. With a new director and new script, production will resume, including the return of Neve Campbell and Courtney Cox.

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News

Read Reviews For ‘Abigail’ The Latest From Radio Silence

Published

21 hours ago

April 15, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The review embargo has lifted for the vampire horror movie Abigail and the reviews are abundantly positive.

Matt Bettinelli– Olpin and Tyler Gillett of Radio Silence are getting early praise for their latest horror movie which opens on April 19. Unless you’re Barbie or Oppenheimer the name of the game in Hollywood is about what kind of box office numbers you pull on opening weekend and how much they drop thereafter. Abigail could be this year’s sleeper.

Radio Silence is no stranger to opening big, their Scream reboot and sequel packed fans into seats on their respective opening dates. The duo are currently working on another reboot, that of 1981’s Kurt Russel cult favorite Escape From New York.

^Abigail

Now that ticket sales for GodzillaxKong, Dune 2, and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire have gathered patina, Abigail could knock A24’s current powerhouse Civil War from the top spot, especially if ticket buyers base their purchase off reviews. If it is successful, it could be temporary, since Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone’s action comedy The Fall Guy opens on May 3, just two weeks later.

We have gathered pull quotes (good & bad) from some genre critics on Rotten Tomatoes (score for Abigail currently sits at 85%) to give you an indicator of how they are skewing ahead of its release this weekend. First, the good:

“Abigail is a fun, bloody ride. It also has the most lovable ensemble of morally grey characters this year. The film introduces a new favorite monster into the genre and gives her room to take the biggest swings possible. I lived!” — Sharai Bohannon: A Nightmare On Fierce Street Podcast

“The standout is Weir, commanding the screen despite her small stature and effortlessly switching from apparently helpless, terrified child to savage predator with a mordant sense of humor.” — Michael Gingold: Rue Morgue Magazine

“‘Abigail’ sets the bar as the most fun you can have with a horror movie of the year. In other words, “Abigail” is horror on pointe.” — BJ Colangelo: Slashfilm

“In what may become one of the greatest vampire movies of all time, Abigail provides an extremely bloody, fun, humorous & fresh take on the subgenre.” — Jordan Williams: Screen Rant

“Radio Silence have proven themselves as one of the most exciting, and crucially, fun, voices in the horror genre and Abigail takes this to the next level.” — Rosie Fletcher: Den of Geek

Now, the not-so-good:

“It’s not badly made, just uninspired and played out.” — Simon Abrams: RogerEbert.com

A ‘Ready or Not’ redux running on half the steam, this one-location misfire has plenty of parts that work but its namesake isn’t among them.” –Alison Foreman: indieWire

Let us know if you are planning to see Abigail. If or when you do, give us your hot take in the comments.

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Movies

Ernie Hudson To Star In ‘Oswald: Down The Rabbit Hole’

Published

4 days ago

April 12, 2024

Elijah Turner

This is some exciting news! Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters 1984, The Crow 1994) is set to star in the upcoming horror film titled Oswald: Down The Rabbit Hole. Hudson is set to play the character Oswald Jebediah Coleman who is a brilliant animator that is locked away in a terrifying magical prison. No release date has been announced yet. Check out the announcement trailer and more about the film below.

ANNOUNCEMENT TRAILER FOR OSWALD: DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

The film follows the story of “Art and some of his closest friends as they help track down his long-lost family lineage. When they find and explore his Great-Grandpa Oswald’s abandoned home, they encounter a magical TV that teleports them to a place lost in time, shrouded by dark Hollywood Magic. The group finds that they are not alone when they discover Oswald’s come-to-life cartoon Rabbit, a dark entity that decides their souls are it’s for the taking. Art and his friends must work together to escape their magical prison before the Rabbit gets to them first.”

First Look Image at Oswald: Down the Rabbit Hole

Ernie Hudson stated that “I am excited to work with everyone on this production. It’s an incredibly creative and smart project.”

Director Stewart also added “I had a very specific vision for Oswald’s character and knew I wanted Ernie for this role from the start, as I’ve always admired iconic cinematic legacy. Ernie is going to bring Oswald’s unique and vengeful spirit to life in the best way possible.”

Lilton Stewart III and Lucinda Bruce are teaming up to write and direct the film. It stars actors Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters 1984, The Crow 1994), Topher Hall (Single Drunk Female 2022), and Yasha Rayzberg (A Rainbow in the Dark 2021). Mana Animation Studio is helping produce the animation, Tandem Post House for post-production, and VFX supervisor Bob Homami is also helping. The budget for the film currently sits at $4.5M.

Official Teaser Poster for Oswald: Down the Rabbit Hole

This is one of many classic childhood stories that are being turned into horror films. This list includes Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2, Bambi: The Reckoning, Mickey’s Mouse Trap, The Return of Steamboat Willie, and many more. Are you more interested in the film now that Ernie Hudson is attached to star in it? Let us know in the comments below.

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