Interview with Kris Gilpin of Deep Red

Howdy everyone! Crankenstien here again, doning the skinned carcass of Mike Wallace and doing my journalistic impression. Today I am interviewing another esteemed member of the Deep Red magazine crew, Mr. Kris Gilpin, the man with the spectacles and the awesome handlebar mustache! He wrote many informative articles, reviews and got to hang with horror film celebrities for DR and personal heroes like the great Monte Hellman (pictured below). Later on he ventured into the world of children's cartoons as an editor, check out his IMDB page here.He will also be included in the Xerox Ferox book by John Szpunar.Be sure to support this amazing book and all Deep Red alumni by purchasing a copy. 

Kris and Monte Hellman

1.How did you meet Chas Balun?

I can't exactly remember, but I believe I mailed him some old interviews, told him I loved Deep Red and all but begged him to let me in. He said, "Sure!" (he was an incredibly nice soul!) & that was it.

Kris with Schlockmeister: Larry Buchanan

2.What are some of the worst films you had to review for Deep Red?

 I had to check the old issues to remember them! I did see a unique play in L.A. once, Frankenstein: Playing with Fire, which I did review for DR. It was an interesting but OK play, too much talk and the scariest moment was when a character walked to a door in silence and, when he touched the knob, a huge scream came over the theater's sound system, scaring the shit out of everyone. I reviewed Autopsy for him, which was a fun, sick "Shit Flick", plus it starred Mimsy Farmer, who I always thought was lovely. & I did Nightflyers, too, which I cannot even remember now! I said it pretty much sucked though, at least it had the lovely Catherine Mary Stewart & the gorgeous Lisa Blount in it. & I said Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night 2 was bad, but Michael Ironside was in it. Chuck Vincent, who made porn, made If Looks Could Kill, an attempt at an R-thriller, I thought it sucked (so to speak) and Jaime Gillis (puke) & beauty Veronica Hart were in it. 

Mimsy Farmer in Autopsy

I reviewed The Killing Time, with Beau Bridges & Keifer Sutherland, I said it was just OK, which is why I can't remember that one now. I got Deathstalker II, too, a weak Jim Wynorski (I never liked his stuff very much) flick, John La Zar (Beyond the Valley of the Dolls's Z-Man) was the bad guy here & it had the gorgeous Monique Gabrielle in it, too. 

Z-man in Death Stalker 2

I reviewed Natural Enemies with Hal Holbrook, can't recall it (duh, guess I'm gettin' old now), I said it was a good idea but basically all talk, with an orgy scene in the middle of it & a cameo by Funhouse's pretty Elizabeth Berridge. & Steve Railsback's Blue Monkey was a forgettable monster movie. Buster and Billie was an above-average rape/revenge film, with Robert Englund in a small part. The Curse was actor David Keith's first directorial effort, a campy contamination flick with lots of maggots in it. The Rosary Murders with beauty Belinda Bauer was a bland thing. Katt Shea Ruben's Stripped to Kill was a sexy little number (lots of skin, little blood) with Kay Lenz in it. The Mind Snatchers was a good brain-manipulation thriller with a wonderful, introverted Christopher Walken & an extroverted Ronny Cox. Hunter's Blood was a worthy, good but talky Deliverance rip-off, with a rednecky Clu Gulager & some good bloodletting. Gator Bait is, of course, a sleaze classick with adorable, sexy Claudia Jennings & I was always happy to see Larry Buchanan regular Bill Thurman show up in any movie, too, this one had a shocking shotgun-to-a-female-crotch scene which caused disgusted walkouts in its day. And Night Force was a shitty Richard Lynch "thriller," a waste of time.

Claudia "Gatorbait" Jennings

3. I read your interview with Tiffany Bolling, which was great! What did you think of The Candy Snatchers?

 Thank you, so glad you like my interview (it's also online now at TempleofSchlock.Com). I loved Candy Snatchers, I thought it was great, funny, sexy, stupid sleaze. Tiffany (who was very sweet & lovely to meet in person) didn't like any of her nudie films by that time though I told her that was a fave B-movie of mine. We're both Christians & we exchanged Christmas cards for a couple years after our talk. Growing up in Florida (& fucking hating it!), the Miami Herald dogged the film out of course & I always remembered the nasty blurb above their review: "Candy Snatchers: Deaf Mute Has Best Lines!" HA!!

Candy Snatchers mute kid

4. I was exposed to The Hunting Party through the Deep Red catalog, what are some lesser known genre films that gore fans should know about?

 I wasn't interested in Hunting Party for some reason when it first opened, though I love Westerns & again, the blurb in the Miami Herald simply stated disgustedly, "Hunting Party: Blood Orgy" so I ran out to it & couldn't believe it, a great "Shit Western" with Candy Bergin (who gets her crotch shotgunned out!), Oliver Reed & Gene Hackman as a good prick. The flick's idea of comic relief (which I've always hated in a dramatic film!) was to have Reed slurp peaches into his mouth like a kid, as Candy giggles (!). Brains blown out, it was fun shit!

Hackman taking names and blowing out crotches

   Other "semi-rare" sleaze (& I use that term in my most beloved, affectionate, respectable way possible!) include these K.G. faves: Possession, Cook Thief His Wife and Her Lover, A Better Tomorrow II, The Killer, Hard-Boiled (with maybe the greatest, 45-minute shootout climax ever on film!), Black Magic Rites (great, sexy Italian sleaze!), Caligula (the only film to feature Sir John Gielgud--& a close-up blow job!!), Dogtooth and Klown (great, twisted Eurosleaze), Forbidden World, Going Places (a fave French-sleaze road film!), El Topo, Santa Sangre, the original Humanoids from the Deep, Perdita Durango (hopefully uncut), 1900, Rolling Thunder, the original Straw Dogs, Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (the atmosphere constantly drips with sleaze!), Super, Tokyo Gore Police, Suicide Club (a fave), Machine Girl, The Woman, A Zed & 2 Naughts, my fave Euro zombiefest: Zombie Holocaust, Branded to Kill, Salo, Spirits of the Dead (the Toby Dammit section), The Addiction, Blood for Dracula, Flesh for Frankenstein, Brain That Wouldn't Die, Cutthroats Nine, Combat Shock, Dust Devil (love it!), Deranged, Doom Generation (esp. uncut), Female Yakuza Tale, Heavy Traffic, Hickey & Boggs, The Mad Bomber (a fave rave!!), Sonny Boy, Stacy, The Devils, Crimes of Passion (Tony Perkins's sleaziest part ever!), Up!, Supervixen, Cherry Harry and Raquel,  La Grande Bouffe, Aguirre the Wrath of God, Sonatine, Tale of Two Sisters, The Untold Story, Visitor Q, Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, Desperate Living, Fireworks, Violent Cop, Boiling Point & You Light up My Life (O, I kid, I kid!).

Overrated? someone had to say it!

5.I heard in an interview that you think Fulci is very overrated, what in your opinion are his top five worst films?

 I actually haven't seen a ton of Fulci, but what I've seen feel the same way to me: great gore, sloppy scripts & overrated, they're fun "Shit Flicks", but not great filmmaking. The best horrormeisters in my humble opinion are good with direction/FX/story/actors/editing, etc., the whole whole. But of course it's only my opinion, which doesn't (& shouldn't) mean shit to anyone on earth but me.

Please! for fuck's sake, turn off that Whitney Houston Song!

6. I heard that you were close with Nicholas Worth, please talk about him.

 I was working in the Universal Film Shipping dept. & I walked in one day & the boss was talking/laughing with this friendly big guy & I thought, "NO!" & when they took a breath I said, "Nicholas Worth?!" He & the boss smiled that I knew his name (& NW was a Christian), and as time went on, he was happy to talk to me for some fanzines, and we became close friends, he'd always say, "Call me Uncle Nick!" & every time I saw him would always ask how my ex-wife Mary was doing. I asked him once in an interview, "What do you say to the people who give you shit for being a Christian and a bad guy in films?" And his voice would raise & he'd say, "God has granted my prayers and made me an actor, and if I play a bad guy and have to kill and cuss, I'll be the best bad guy I can be, and my naysayers can kiss my ass!" ;-) he was a great, very sweet, fun bear of a guy (like Chas Balun) & everyone will wanna get 2013's Xerox Ferox book to read Uncle Nick's hilarious comment about Whitney Houston's screeching "And I Will Always Love You" song ;-)! & if you wanna see/hear an aged (& sadly thinner) Nick Worth as himself, watch his interview in the special features of Scorpion Releasing's (Katarina's Nightmare Theater) Don't Answer the Phone Remastered Edition DVD.

the adorable bloodthirsty electric knife wielding Lynn Lowry

7. I like your interview with Lynn Lowry (in The DR Horror Handbook) where she mentions; an actress in "I Drink Your Blood" who fluffs up her pubes, what is she talking about, do you recall?

Thanks again, buddy! I was pissed because the only actresses I couldn't meet in public to talk with were Lowry & the ethereally beautiful Rainbeaux/Cheryl Smith, who looked like an angel, what a sad, tragic life and death she had to lead! She also signed her questions to me with little smiley faces on the pieces of papers we mailed to each other, whatta sweetheart ;-)! Anyway, I don't recall which actress Lynn was talking about, but checking Mr. Skin, it would seem to be Iris Brooks, who also appeared in the sexy underground comedy with Buck Henry, Is There Sex After Death?, and Streisand's Up the Sandbox.