To Play and Slay
By Craig W. Chrissinger
Being part of a horror movie is not the same old routine for most actors. That's especially true on the set of a bloodsucker film being directed by horror veteran John Carpenter. For the cast of VAMPIRES, even reading the daily shooting schedule is full of adventure-they never know exactly when it might be time to be buried alive, or have their heads torn off.
"When the master vampire, Valek, comes after us, there's a big fight in a motel room and I get decapitated," says Tommy Rosales, a seasoned stunt actor who portrays Ortega, one of the movies' vampire slayers. "It's pretty scary to see your head duplicated. I looked at it just the other day, and it's pretty wicked."
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa's character, David Deyo, meets a similar fate in the crucial battle scene between the hunters and the lead ghoul. For now, the stunt actor is just glad to be a part of the production. "I always feel like, 'I can't believe they're paying me to do this' on films, but here I feel like a little kid on Halloween. How many jobs do you get to do that on? I'm having a really good time. It's exciting, and I wish I could stick around as Deyo a little longer."
In VAMPIRES, Rosales and Tagawa are part of Team Crow, a Vatican-sponsored group of mercenaries led by Jack Crow (James Woods) who set out to destroy any vampires they can find. During the course of the story, loosely based on John Steakley's novel VAMPIRE$, it is revealed that the Catholic Church accidentally created the first vampire, Valek (Thomas Ian Griffith), and thus has a stake in the outcome of this struggle between good and evil.
On the night side of the battle line, stunt actor Troy Robinson, playing one of Valek's followers, acknowledges that these bloodsuckers are not nice people. "There are seven or eight of us, the masters, and we have superhuman strength and powers to leap, throw people and just kill people," he says. "We're a mean group who go around and slash up a bunch of monks, tear the heads off and stuff like that. Pretty much your basic vampire killing machines.
Robinson, who is helping stunt coordinator Jeff Imada prepare some action sequences, is examining the rope that will be used to pull him out of an old-fashioned jail's elevator during a confrontation with Woods and Tim Guinee (playing Father Adam). This scene comes toward the end of the movie," he explains. "Katrina (Sheryl Lee) is tied up outside in the jeep, since she's turning into a vampire. It's just Crow, Montoya (Daniel Baldwin) and Father Adam coming to get us all. They're going to have their hands full. They already had some trouble with our goons in a farmhouse, and now they're really pushing their luck."
A few days later, the scene where a number of Team Crow perish is being filmed on a realistic-looking motel set built inside Garson Studios in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Griffith, a veteran of extensive action from such films as KULL THE CONQUERER and EXCESSIVE FORCE remembers his reaction to the carnage. "When you read it on the page, it's completely different than acting it out," he says. "You're just doing it and you're into it. At one point, I stopped and looked around. I thought 'Oh, my God.' There was blood everywhere and mass destruction. It was unbelievable, even though I had been doing it all. You don't think about that stuff when you're acting. You have to step back for a second to see it. This film is really hardcore, but it's put together with real style and in a very cool manner."
While Team Crow suffers in this motel sequence, it was no picnic for the vampire actors who were buried alive for a scene in which Valek and his followers take refuge from the hunters in a dry riverbed. "I wasn't happy that day, I'll tell you that," admits Griffith. "I'm a little claustrophobic, and they told us we'd be buried. We were only down a foot, but you have no idea how heavy a foot of dirt is. When it's up to your neck, you're thinking, 'I can't breathe.' And then they cover your face and are timing the sequence before you can come up. I thought, 'You're Valek. Don't let it bother you.' But I couldn't breathe, and it was a bizarre situation.
"Thank God I'm the master vampire and I got to come up first," Griffith continues. "Everyone else had to wait. When we did it, we did the master shot first and then my close-up coming out of the ground. I didn't have to do it anymore, so I watched them shooting the other vampires. That was a tough day, although I hear it looks great. Troy wasn't happy that day either; he was one of the last people up."
Robinson remembers the sequence well. "We actually dug holes about two feet deep in this riverbed, and we all had to lie in them," he says. "We had these boxes that just barely covered our faces. When the box closed, it literally sat on my nose. Then they covered us with peat moss and dirt. My face was covered when they finished with my body, so I only had a little oxygen in the box. I had to be real calm. If I was claustrophobic, forget it.
"I'm not claustrophobic, but I still had a pretty hard time staying under the dirt," Robinson continues. "I started breathing the same air over and over, plus we were shooting day for night and the sun was beating down on us. So, I was breathing my own air, the sand was getting hot and they were taking forever to call my number to rise up. They started with Valek, and I was number six after him-second from the last. When I got up, I had contacts in my eyes, and I felt like a zombie. I was so focused on what my deal was and waiting for orders to do whatever. So, I was staring into one spot, dirt and grit was blowing in my eyes and I was trying not to move and be real serious until they yelled "Cut." And then we tried to get the dirt out of our eyes. It drove me nuts."
While the scene was complicated, the actual mechanism of the face-covering boxes was relatively simple to rig. "It's a regular box with one side cut out, so your neck is outside it, "Explains Robinson. "The flaps are over your face, so when you push up they open up and you pull your head out. The boxes are nailed into the ground so they don't come up with you. The fun part is that when the flaps open as you push up, all the dirt kind of caves in on your face. It goes up your nose, and in your ears and mouth."
Despite such difficulties, many of the actors are pleased to be part of a film with action and stunt work. Waiting in his trailer to be called to the set, Baldwin, who portrays Crow's right-hand man Montoya, fondly remembers one such sequence. "I have this crossbow, and Crow is on a crucifix and the vampires are about to kill him," Baldwin explains. "I ride in, reach out of the jeep, shoot the crossbow while I'm driving and make this miraculous shot, hitting the top of the crucifix. Then I snap the cable onto the jeep on the move, and it tears the crucifix out of the ground, dragging Crow to safety. Well, I thought it would be really interesting if I were to tear back the roof of this convertible jeep at 30 or 40 miles per hour and let go of the steering wheel while I stood up in the driver's seat. That would be a great image. They were a little worried about it from a stunt perspective, but we did several takes of me doing that, and it worked out great.
"Now we cut to a close shot of Montoya shooting the crossbow, along with another camera following where the arrow goes," Baldwin says. "I had never fired this crossbow, so I had them set up a plank of wood and I practiced the shot. I did pretty well and told them that I could hit the crucifix. They said, 'You think you can actually hit the thing while you're standing and trying to drive the jeep?' I replied that I could, and the first thing out of Carpenter's mouth was, 'A hundred bucks says you don't hit it.' And we were on. So, first shot I took, I hit the thing. Boom! Then I said, 'Anyone want to go double or nothing?' Second shot, again right in the middle. Wham!"
Guinee, who also briefly appears in this year's other high-profile vampire film, BLADE, has a similar reaction to his stunt work. "It's a ball to do a movie like this one," he says. "One of the things that's cool about acting is that you remember those movies that excited you as a kid. Every once in a while, you get to do those things. I got to jump over a saloon bar, and it was just so cool. I've done a whole bunch of action. Jeff Imada has let me do all my own stunts, and I like getting kicked around and bruised."
Tagawa also enjoys the action. "We're doing the fighting and all kinds of stuff, which is fun," says the veteran of MORTAL KOMBAT, THE PHANTOM and LICENSE TO KILL, among others. "I'm not used to a role quite this size because usually I play bad guys. One of the big reasons to come and do VAMPIRES was to be with John Carpenter. He's the first director I ever worked with, as an extra on BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA. That was my only job as an extra, so I thought it would be nice to work with him again.
"Carpenter's films are always interesting." Tagawa continues. "They are 'his' films. They are director films and not really actor films. When I heard that James Woods was going to be in it, I thought that was a really intriguing choice. Carpenter doesn't usually choose real name actors. He finds someone to fill the role that he wants, and Woods is typically not a vampire slayer. So I knew it would be interesting, and I haven't been disappointed. There's a chemistry here."
Carpenter's involvement drew many of the cast to VAMPIRES, including Griffith. "He's such a good director," the actor says. "He doesn't talk a lot. On the set, he'd say, 'Let's have a rehearsal,: and he'd just see what you brought to the table. That's a great way to work, because you can really go for it and try different things. Even though Valek is archetypal in this film and an omnipotent figure, I still had to work on the simple things that draw people in. John's a very specific director. He knows his stuff and calls every last shot. He has a wealth of experience, and that comes across."
The screenplay, written by Don Jakoby with rewrites by the director, was another contributing factor for Griffith to sign on. "It's all in the script," he says. "We started off with a good story. Carpenter gave the vampires a good background and a history, so it's not a cartoony, lighthearted thing. Valek has been around 600 years, and he's on a mission to find the cross that will allow him to walk in the light. James Woods and the slayers have to stop me before I do that. I was able to specifically work off the script and what John envisioned. It was all there. He created this whole world in New Mexico and why we're there. Everything has a reason."
Griffith also enjoyed working with the rest of the VAMPIRES ensemble. "James is just a fine actor, and there's some great stuff between our characters," he says. "We hit it off, and he was real open and had strong ideas. He listened to everything I had to say and we came up with some real fun stuff. Across the board, everyone was terrific. Maximillian Schell (as Team Crow's Vatican contact) was a real pro, and Sheryl Lee was great. They really pulled together a fine cast."
VAMPIRES gave Baldwin, who was part of TV's HOMICIDE for three years, the chance to collaborate with the director of one of his favorite films. "I really loved STARMAN; it had some of the best work Jeff Bridges has ever done," Baldwin says, "It's a very interesting film because there wasn't that much action for Carpenter and this genre. Of course, HALLOWEEN was wonderful, and Jamie Lee Curtis is a good friend of mine. I've also liked several others of his, but particularly STARMAN. Although I've seen it more than 25 times, I'll still watch it if it's on.
"After meeting Carpenter, I knew he was a good guy and we were on the same page as to how to portray Montoya." Baldwin continues. "He's very kicked back, but I've learned that even if you have a good idea, John likes to be asked. He does not like to be told. Presentation is important to him, and he's careful to present his direction in a caring, easy way."
While not currently a genre fan, Baldwin remembers that he and his now-famous brothers were once quite interested in the genre. "I was very much into horror movies as a kid," he recalls. "I started acting, although not professionally, in Long Island in 1966 with my brother Alec. We asked my dad if we could use his 8mm camera to make movies. We would go to the golf course and sell iced tea for five cents a glass until we made enough to buy a roll of film. We made a series of movies call "Joe Cool," where Alec played 'Joe Cool'. In these movies, several other kids and I died 25 times or so. I'd raid my mother's closet, put on another wig and another outfit, and grab a handful of ketchup. Alec would shoot me and I'd splatter the ketchup on myself. One of the last movies we did was a monster movie, and we had done Frankenstein and the Wolf Man before.
"But most horror never seemed to have a lot of story, and that's what bothered me about them," he says. "Of course, there are some which are very good and scary, and others that are campy and stupid. But I have yet to see one which really got me into the story. VAMPIRES does have a very interesting plot, because the vampires have a goal. They're not there to just feed on people, and that's a most significant difference."
For Griffith, the mere subject matter was enough to make the film intriguing. "I'm personally drawn to these films." He says. "I love this stuff, and I've always loved anything to do with vampires. As soon as I heard they were doing this film, I was like, 'Yes, get me in there, please.' It's fun as an actor to get to do something you've enjoyed for a long time. Valek is the ultimate vampire-in fact, he's the first one ever. There's so much freedom in playing Valek because he defines what vampires are. He can do anything, since he's the first.
"Villains are always fun," he continues. "The characters I play in KULL and VAMPIRES are so different. I'm such the leading man that getting these character roles is great. As an actor, I love to mix it up."
Rosales, who has done stunt acting for 27 years in films ranging from CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES to THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK, agrees. "It's intense," he says. "You just let your imagination flow, and feel for the part. I always used to watch these kinds of movies growing up. I'd watch anything and everything. I lived in Texas and just like all the other kids, we'd send in our dollar for pictures and information on all kinds of movies."
Robinson, whose recent credits include FLUBBER and DESPERATE MEASURES, has similar memories. "I guess that most kids like things like creature features, but they don't like them because of the resulting nightmares. I liked watching them, and I'm constantly doing something on this film. It has been a great experience."
For Guinee, who has shot on location throughout the world, the lure of the bloodsucker is strong. After all, it brought him to BLADE and VAMPIRES within a short time. "I loved these kinds of movies when I was a kid," he says. "People keep asking me why Americans are so fascinated by vampires. Well, I was thinking this morning that it isn't just Americans. These movies clearly sell very well in Europe and Asia. This film is cool, and John Carpenter isn't shooting your typical vampire movie. It's a very strong action picture. I'm just so happy to have done both these films. And if there was a sequel to VAMPIRES made with Carpenter involved, I'd do it in a minute. It has been a gas doing this."
