Heather Langenkamp has battled her share of nightmarish creatures. Now, she makes them. After starring as Nancy Thompson in Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street series, the actress now operates AFX Studio with her husband, David Anderson. The California-based make-up effects studio has designed and manufactured award-winning make-up and creature effects for films and TV shows like American Horror Story and The Cabin in the Woods.
A Nightmare on Elm Street turns 40 this year, and halloween recently had it’s 40th anniversary, so i was wondering what you think it is about these little horror films that could that have such staying power and resonant with audiences after four decades. You’re a big part of that history.
You know, i wish i could figure it out because then i would try to exploit that knowledge and do another one. [Laughs] people keep trying all the time. Both of the movies—even though they have these really evil killers in them—on their surface, they’re very innocent and mundane locales with really average kids and teenagers. We all can just immediately identify with the people that are in these movies. And, you know, these tropes of the slut, the smart girl…all of that… people enjoy analyzing that kind of thing and talking about it. Nancy Thompson or they are Laurie Strode.
Along with Jamie Lee Curtis, i would argue that you are one of the original scream queens of the ’70s and ’80s. How do you feel about that title? How do you think ten-year-old heather would react if you told her that one day she’d grow up to be a scream queen and horror icon?
That’s such a really good question. Well, when i talked to wes craven about who was nancy and what does nancy represent, he was very clear that all the teenagers in a nightmare on elm street are all just one teenager. But they’re broken up into four characters because it’s all the four different aspects of ourselves that work against us as we’re trying to face something really scary in our lives.
When he told me that, it really occurred to me that he’s so right in that you can kind of see yourself in all of the characters so well. He just wrote the characters so realistically that i don’t know if the “final girl” and the “scream queen” [label] has much meaning to me anymore. I look on it in a much broader sense.
term “final girl”, that it doesn’t seem to be descriptive enough. I think it needed to be a little more global about the spirit of youth and how, as the youth are trying to forge their way in a world their grownup parents have all f**ked up, how are they gonna get through knowing that the parents have just destroyed all their peace and comfort and reality that
ers] without taking her action. And i think a lot of it had to do with the fact that we were smack dab in the middle of the women’s liberation movement. He had a daughter who was at that very impressionable age where you have to give them a lot of positive messages about their identity to make them grow up strong
You run AFX studio with your husband david. How has your role in the company changed from your early days with it to now?
My involvement started back in 2000 when my career as an actor had kind of stalled. I had been in wes craven’s new nightmare, but after that nothing really happened. Like, i thought for sure i’d be getting opportunities to play more parts, but it was just a struggle.
Whether i had a boy child or a girl child, i would expect them all to act like nancy. I would hope that they would all act like nancy or be as courageous as laurie strode. And that’s why i just hope by using the
I think that goes back to the writing, too, because when you were talking about some of nancy’s actions in the film, she’s very much an active character who takes charge of her own destiny.
She goes for it. It was unique. Wes craven wanted to create a character that was not falling down and being weak and being at the mercy [of oth-
My husband had a chance to go to canada with dawn of the dead. [David said] there is a role for you in the company if you want to help manage the budgets and help me hire all this personnel and keep track of the budgets. That’s basically the biggest job when you’re running a show. You can’t let your budget just go crazy. So it really requires someone on a daily basis. I love that kind of work. My brain loves to solve puzzles. So, we got up to canada and i took on a role as kind of an office coordinator, manager of budgets. It worked out really well. typical horror
You’ve worked in afx, you’ve had a lot of success in horror films—and now the midnight club and the life of chuck—so what would be the next big goal for you, either acting or effects-wise, that would make you really happy?
Well, I’ve been really focusing on restarting my acting career. Since 2018, I’ve been solely focused on kind of revising it from the grave, basically. [laughs] I mean, there was really nothing going on until Mike Flanagan picked me up and dusted me off and got me in one of his shows. I mean, I really didn’t have much to show. I had some small independent films that I had done over the years, but nothing that any body would have seen. Most of them were very small films. So, this really gave me an opportunity with some material now, new represen tion, and getting a publicist. Hopefully, in Life of Chuck, I hope I’m not cut out of it. And these
things will accumulate and then I’ll get my momentum and hopefully the ball will start rolling downhill. And yet, when you finally see it on screen, you’re just like, “Oh my gosh, that is so horrifying.” We really enjoyed working on that show. We had such a great crew.
You can tell that from season to season, the tone and the effects are very similar in setting up that joint world, so that’s really nice that it’s the same company, for the most part.
Now Vincent Van Dyke does the show since the middle of 1984. We kind of politely bowed out. I think
I was gonna mention The Life of Chuck, I’m wondering what your experience was with the material and on set, and are you able to share who you’re playing in the film?
Yeah, I’m not able to tell you who I play, but I can tell you the story is so challenging to tell. The minute I read the script, I knew that Mike had done the perfect job bringing it to life. It’s magical and mysterious and very metaphysical and has a universal message for all of us.
“The Final Girl is boyish, in a word. JusT as The
is noT Fully masculine, she is noT Fully Feminine — noT, in any case, Feminine in The ways oF her Friends h and oTher physical The oTher Girls.” Gender in The modern
By: Cherie Priest
Summer iS almoSt upon uS! time to Sit by a pool with a fruity drink and read the moSt horrifying novel you can find. ah, relaxation and total terror! here iS a liSt of 10 new horror bookS releaSing thiS Summer (or already recently releaSed) that are Sure to pleaSe.
slime
By: Fernanda Trías
In a city ravaged by a mysterious plague, a woman tries to understand why her world is falling apart.
horror movie
By: Paul Tremblay
my darlinG dreadFul ThinG
By: Johanna van Veen
Roos Beckman has a spirit companion only she can see.
In June 1993, a group of young guerilla filmmakers spent four weeks making Horror Movie, a notorious, disturbing, art-house horror flick.
i was a TeenaGe slasher
By: Stephen Graham Jones
Another great slasher take from the author of The Only Good Indians and My Heart is a Chainsaw.
craFT: sTories i wroTe For The devil
By: Ananda Lima
Fun new horror anthology with some twisted, surreal tales!
The eyes are The besT ParT
By: Monkia Kim
A great twist on serial killer tropes.
you like iT darker
By: Stephen King
A magnificent new collection of twelve stories that delve into the darker part of life—both metaphorical and literal.
The black Girl survives in This one
By: Multiple authors Another wonderful horror anthology. This one is YA, but still packs a hard horror punch.
bury your Gays
By: Chuck Tingle
Haunted by his past, Misha must risk his entire future―before the horrors from the silver screen find a way to bury him for good.
Our Interview with the Vampire Season 2 recaps conclude with episode 8, “And That’s The End Of It. There’s Nothing Else.” Beware: spoilers below!
in the present, Louis (Jacob Anderson) and Armand (Assad Zaman) are at opposite ends of a long table as they continue to give an interview to journalist Daniel (Eric Bogosian).
Louis (Jacob Anderson) says while he was entombed in his coffin beneath the Théâtre des Vampires, he could feel that Claudia (Delainey Hayles) was dead – and couldn’t feel his hand or back, but could feel his heart pumping slower. If he’d had enough energy in the coffin, he’d have used it to set his clothes on fire and burn himself to death.
Armand says that Santiago, the new coven master (Ben Daniels), who is now in charge of the Théâtre des Vampires, punished him for swaying the audience to banish rather than outright kill Louis. While Louis is starving, the Théâtre returns to its old formats and plays. In the present, Daniel asks if Armand knew Louis would burn down the Théâtre. Armand says no, but he could sense Louis’ fatalism. Daniel wants to know how Louis could be sure Armand wouldn’t betray him again.
Louis said there were thirteen vampires in the coven, and one of him; thus, he assumed he’d die either way. Daniel also wants to know why Armand didn’t warn the coven. Armand says his feelings for the coven members were complicated, but he felt he
was nothing if he wasn’t with Louis. Louis narrates as we see his destruction of the Théâtre. He kills the coven vampires: six by fire, two by blade, and one by a combination of the two. Four escape—two out the front and two through the sewers. Louis has rigged the motorbike shared by Estelle (Esme Appleton) and Celeste (Suzanne Andrade) so that it explodes while they’re riding it (and arguing over who set the fire; they don’t suspect Louis).
Louis communicates telepathically with Santiago, who is in the sewers. Louis says he’s broken up with Armand over the deaths of Claudia and Madeleine. Santiago insists that he and not Armand orchestrated the killings and tells Louis that he defiled their ashes. In return, Louis mocks Santiago, from physical endowment to unfortunate stage career to begging to
be made into a vampire. When Santiago makes his move, Louis decapitates him. The thirteenth vampire, playwright Sam (Christopher Geary), escaped and is now a DJ (and, it turns out, a Talamasca operative). In the present, Louis says that Santiago’s immediate willingness to desert his coven made him unworthy. After killing Santiago, all rage and madness exited Louis’ body – and nothing replaced it. Lestat says he came here to contemplate why he does what he does. Louis asks about Lestat burning his daughter (Claudia) alive and rehearsing a play about it.
Lestat starts to talk about the Great Law. Louis says that Lestat followed no law. L ouis announces that he’s come to kill Lestat. Armand, begging
Louis to come home, appears ready to help. Lestat says that he has the blood of Magnus in him; he has the blood of Akasha in him. Louis doesn’t know who Akasha is, and Lestat says that fact alone means that Louis can’t kill him.
Lestat would have to be willing, and he’s not in the mood. Finally, Daniel has a copy of the Trial script with Armand’s handwritten notes. Louis has not seen this before. Louis was supposed to die; Lestat, not Armand, planted the psychic suggestion that saved Louis. Louis says he came to thank Lestat for the gift that he denied. It is the part of him that can learn to be honest. Lestat is moved. They discuss Louis’
suicide attempt in 1973. Lestat confesses he can’t get Claudia out of his mind and knows Louis has the same problem. By now, they are both weeping. Louis says it’s not on Lestat. Louis made Lestat turn Claudia, saving her from one fire so that she would burn a half-century later. Lestat says that Claudia looked at him at the end, like a child looking at her father. Louis interrupts Lestat by embracing him.
it’s good to see Claudia get her emotional due from both her fathers and to see Lestat and Louis reconcile, which gives us hope that Louis will show up in Season 3. It can be argued that Louis does let Lestat off a bit too completely for Claudia’s death, seeing that Lestat could have refused to participate, issued a warning, or even performed a direct rescue.For that matter, what exactly was Armand going for? In all instances, he banks on Lestat not telling the truth, which is quite a gamble. But we do get to see Louis embrace his full power and identity, and after our journey with him, it feels like a fitting victory.
DON’T is a powerful word. It’s one of the first commands we’re taught as kids, keeping us from sticking our tiny fingers into electrical sockets, or playing with knives. The word’s power is drilled into us from early childhood, which is probably why it’s the first word in so many hit song titles from the 1950’s and 60’s. But it wasn’t until the early 70’s that horror movies start ed harnessing the innate power of DON’T. Drive-ins and grindhouses were flooded with DON’T movies. And here’s why…
The roots of DON’T movies traces back to Boston based film distributor Hallmark Releasing Corporation. But DON’T confuse them with those purveyors of greeting cards and saccharine Christmas movies. Hallmark was a down and dirty exploitation film distributor headed by Steve Minasian—a name that’s going to pop up a lot in this article. Hallmark’s founders owned over a hundred drive in’s and hardtop theaters across the USA, meaning they could guarantee producers a hundred first and second run dates for any film they distributed. It also meant they could pocket both the distributor and exhibitor fees, minus the percentage they begrudgingly paid to the film’s producers. But Hallmark wasn’t just a collective of theater owners—these guys were marketing geniuses!
Hallmark first struck gold with the German acquisition Mark
of the Devil, utilizing a brilliant advertising gimmick—offering patrons vomit bags. This had already been done by HG Lewis for Blood Feast, but Hallmark added to the ballyhoo by rating the film V, for violence. Mark made a small fortune, a percentage of which had to be paid to the film’s producers. Someone in Hallmark’s boardroom must have looked down at the company check book and said, “Why don’t we start making our own pictures? Then we don’t have to pay these damn producers a percentage!” Then he threw his pen across the room and spitefully overcharged Mark’s producers a thousand bucks for printing barf bags… because that’s what film distributors do! But his idea had merit.
At that time many independent films were financed by distributors who owned theaters. Traditionally a film distributor has a 50% revenue split with the exhibitor, after which that distributor must pay roughly 30% to the film’s producers, diluting their profits even further. But outright own-
ership of a low budget, exploitable film would allow them to pocket 100% of the ticket fees from their own theaters, plus popcorn! For a company like Hallmark that owned a hundred venues that meant big money! In 1971 Hallmark boldly invested $90,000 with Sean Cunningham to produce The Sex Crime of the Century. This low budget film would have sunk unnoticed had it not been for Hallmark’s savvy marketing. Their first flash of brilliance was dumping the godawful original title for the more ambig, Last House on the Left. Then they added the brilliant catch phrases ‘Can a movie go too far?’ and ‘To avoid fainting keep repeating, it’s only a movie, it’s only a movie.’
Last House earned a fortune, with Hallmark pocketing virtually every dime. American International Pictures picked up the rights for non-Hallmark owned theaters, but the boys from Beantown got a healthy cut of that too. Last House on the Left. Ironically Don’t Open the Window is, hands down, the best of the DON’T films, even if it was never meant to have that title.
which scary movie TroPe are you? your asTroloGy sun siGn says whaT role you Play in liFe, so why noT on The biG screen also? wheTher you’re a sinisTer-yeT-TorTured scorPio or sTubborn-as-adeaTh-senTence Taurus, you deserve To be a sTar. or aT leasT To noT GeT killed in The FirsT Five minuTes.
Aries - the one Who unleAshed the demoniC ForCe
You’re not actually an idiot, but you do get bored easily and that makes for impulsive decisions.
Taurus - The Skeptic
You’re nobody’s fool, Taurus, and that’s exactly why you refuse to leap on the bandwagon without solid proof.
Gemini - The Creepy Child
Like the church-going blond kid who murders puppies in his spare time, you have an eerie gift for seeming completely innocent when you’re up to no good.
Cancer - The Blood-Spattered Babysitter
You only got into this whole babysitting thing because some girl told you there’d be free snacks. Then the creepy phone calls started. Then the electricity got cut.
Leo - The Doomed Hero
In life, you may get tired of winning, but in horror flick-land, your bold, forces-of-good-over-evil style smacks of suicidal hubris.
Virgo - The Heroic Minimum-Wage Employee
Neither sleet, nor hail, nor an army of the undead can keep you from going to work. You’re happiest when you’re on the clock, attending to your duties, and logical enough not to take mass hysteria seriously.
Libra - The Final Girl
Audiences underestimate you, Libra. Maybe that’s because your cleavage isn’t exploding from your shirt (in the first scene, anyway) and your muscles are understated.But it takes more than brawn to fight a villain.
Scorpio - The Possessed Teenager
You might be semi-evil, but unlike Geminis, you have the decency to feel tortured about it. Everything can be going along so nicely – making straight A’s, dating the quarterback – when flames shoot out of your eyes.
Sagittarius - The Monologuing Villain
Your horror movie character deserves a coined phrase of his own: villainsplaining.
Capricorn - The Senior Citizen
Your horror movie counterpart is the old guy who goes around glowering, mumbling and informing the main characters what a bad idea it is to go to that haunted town
Aquarius - The Ghost
With your talent for shocking others and for ghosting on lovers, friends, and whole past identities, the role is a natural fit.
Pisces - The Touched Child Naysayers call you crazy and bullies throw stones, but the audience believes in your special gift.
