Stuart Brazell is a South Carolina native has worked with Director Richard Poche on various films including “Amped” and the upcoming “Rescuing Rufus.” She has also worked for AMC (American Movie Channel), as the host of their Oscar coverage and “Date Night.” Today, Stuart is here to talk about her new film “Crimson,” in which she co-stars with Erika Smith.

1) Tell us about yourself and how you got into acting?

From the age of three I craved the spotlight, I used to make my dad
follow me around with the video camera while I performed all sorts of
different acts, this included riding my tricycle into the garage wall.

I grew up on the stage- I LOVE musical theater! My first role was a
munchkin in "The Wizard of Oz" when I was 6 and I've been hooked ever
since.

2) Which actors or actresses influenced you enough to become an actress?

Oh gosh, my favorite actress is Meryl Streep- she has had a truly
amazing career! I just rented one of her earlier movies, Kramer vs.
Kramer with Dustin Hoffman the other day and was blown away by her
performance.

3) Now, onto Crimson, which is available at retail stores now. How did you become involved in this project?

This is the second film I've worked on with Richard Poche. We made
"Amped" back in 2004 and I had a blast working with him. So of course
when he offered me the role of Sammi I said hell yeah!

4) Tell us about the film and your character Sammi.

"Crimson" is your total campy hot vampire chick movie. Sammi was fun to play because she's a very strong character who is good at heart and battling the evil inside her. I love the action scenes and I love kicking ass!

5) One of things that I noticed in the film was the fact that the
film was pretty much an all female cast. What was it like on the set with
each of your co-stars?

All the girls rocked! We had the BEST time! I loved working with
Elizabeth Diprinzio again- she has become one of my closest friends in
Los Angeles.

6) What was your best moment that you had on the set of Crimson?

OOOOh- the last night of shooting, we had been going strong and it was
3 am and Elizabeth and I were delirious! We finally wrapped and Rich
was just shooting us hanging out and being complete idiots. It's on
the blooper reel.

7) What was it like working with director Richard Poche?

Richard Poche is fantastic! He's so calm and collected and always
makes the best of situations- he always finds a way to make it work.
But then again I'm great to work with too- haha!

8) I noticed in your bio on the Crimson website that you hosted a
program on American Movie Channel called "Date Night." What was it like working there and what are your favorite date movies?

"Date Night" was SO much fun! Everyone at AMC is such a pro!

I think a comedy is always a great date movie, keeps things light and
stress free. Unless of course you're looking to snuggle up and get
some action, then go thriller all the way!

9) Any upcoming projects that you are involved in that you wish to
share with the readers of FilmArcade.net?

I'm looking forward to reporting on the red carpet for the ESPY awards!

10) What advice would you give to any actresses that are looking to break into the film industry?

Don't get discouraged and just work, work, work- something will break!

I want to thank you for your time and good luck with Crimson, which is in stores now from Passion River and on your future projects.

Crimson is in stores now. For my review of the film, you can go to: http://www.filmarcade.net/2008/06/reviews-from-horror-chamber-crimson.html

You also check out my interview with her fellow co-star Erika Smith at: http://www.filmarcade.net/2008/07/10-questions-with-erika-smith.html

Also, you can visit the film’s website at http://www.crimsonthemovie.com

In the next edition of Ten Questions, I will be talking to Director Roger A. Scheck about his latest film “Nobody Loves Alice”

My name is Anthony Thurber and that’s Ten Questions.

Erika Smith is an actress that burst onto the underground film scene in 2003. She first caught my attention in 2004’s “Bite Me!” as a clumsy burlesque dancer. Since then, she has co-stared with Misty Mundae (aka. Erin Brown) in “Sinful”, “Shock-O Rama,” and “Splatter Beach,” along with appearances most recently in "Skinned Alive" (aka. "Eat Your Heart Out") and "Bachelor Party 2." Today, she is here today to talk about her new film “Crimson” which will be released this Tuesday from Passion River Entertainment.


1) Tell us about yourself and how you got into acting?


I wanted to be an actress since I was about 12. I saw the film "Gone With The Wind" and was blown away, pardon the pun. I just wanted to be a part of things like that, that were so moving and glamorous. I also had a dreamy obsession with New York City as a teenager and was fascinated with the artists and writers and musicians who had made it a scene in the past. I wanted to be involved in all that so I eventually moved here and went to music school and acting school and just started auditioning for stuff.



2) I’ve noticed that you've been in some very good horror films from
Shock-O-Rama Cinema such as Bite Me, Shock-O-Rama and Sinful. Which of these films are you most proud of?


I've always had a special place in my heart for "Bite Me!" It was the first film I did with Shock-o-rama and I worked really hard on it. I like my dance sequence.



3) Now, onto Crimson, which will be available at retail stores on July 8th. These are also some of the same questions that I recently asked your fellow co-star Stuart Brazell. How did you become involved in this project?


I had worked with the director, Richard Poche, on another project called "The Wanderer." He emailed me about a year after that and asked if I would do "Crimson," sent me the script and asked me to play Rachel.



4) Tell us about the film and your character Rachel.


It's about a dorm of nursing students who become caught up with a couple girls who are running from a vampire cult. Rachel is the leader of the cult and she is out to get those girls and bring them back into the fold. She's got that thing going on that head vampires always seem to have in movies where she's ultra confident and has a lot of witty one-liners. It was a fun role for me to play because she doesn't care about normal every day things like being polite and caring about people, so I got to just let loose and be really driven and out there.



5) One of things that I noticed in the film was the fact that the film was pretty much an all female cast. What was it like on the set with each of your co-stars?


Most of my scenes were with Jade, and she and I became friends on set. She read my palm and taught me how to read palms. The rest of the girls I actually didn't work with that much, but we all kinda got goofy and overtired towards the end. I remember trying to film that scene where I'm threatening to kill Elizabeth's character and trying to get all those big vampirific words and sentences out and Stuart and I just cracking up. I actually had to use the fact that we were working with one camera and plan my giggles and line flubs around times when I knew the camera wasn't on me and we could just edit it out, because we were doing a lot of the dialogue separately anyway, and having it dubbed in later, for sound reasons. Richard was a good sport.



6) What was your best moment that you had on the set of Crimson?


I liked wearing the vampire teeth and dripping fake blood around my mouth, it made me feel fierce.

7) What was it like working with Director Richard Pooche on the set?

Richard is so easy going and has a great, dry sense of humor. He also made sure all the actors were really well taken care of and that he wasn't demanding too much of us.



8) I also noticed that recently, you were in Skinned Alive (aka Eat Your Heart Out), which I had to privilege to review for this site. The film arrives on DVD on August 26th. What are your thoughts about that film and also the fact that it was picked up by Lionsgate?


Joshua Nelson wrote me that great monologue I have in the film and that was so much fun to do. I think there are a lot of great performances and it's got a kind of bittersweet message to it that's put across in a really twisted way. I didn't know that Lionsgate picked it up, that's great! I hope a lot of people see it.



9) Any upcoming projects that you are involved in that you wish to share with the readers of FilmArcade.net?


I believe "The Soulkiller" is coming out soon, and I just shot a small part in "The Wrestler," which is not a horror film, but that will be out early next year. I've been talking to Greg Lamberson about starring in the sequel to "Slime City," which should shoot next spring. I am also developing my own television pilot, which I've written and am helping to produce, we should be shooting that sometime this summer.



10) What advice would you give to any actress that is looking to break into the film industry?


Choose something else!!! No, if it's your dream, you have to go for it. Just realize that it's a business like anything else, you have to pay your dues, and it takes a long time to build a career. Try to enjoy every bit of the process.



I want to thank you for your time and good luck with Crimson, which hits DVD shelves on July 8th from Passion River and with your future projects.


Thanks!

Crimson hits DVD shelves this Tuesday. To read my review of the film, you can go to: http://www.filmarcade.net/2008/06/reviews-from-horror-chamber-crimson.html

Also, you can visit the film’s website at http://www.crimsonthemovie.com

In the next edition of Ten Questions, I will have an interview with another actress from “Crimson”.

Until then, my name is Anthony Thurber and that's Ten Questions.

Welcome to Reviews from the Horror Chamber. I am your chamber keeper, Anthony Thurber. I would love to rant about something but yours truly is currently nursing an ankle sprain, so here are my reviews for this week’s edition.

Crimson
Year: 2008
Director: Richard Poche'
Stars: Erika Smith, Stuart Brazell, Elizabeth Di Prinzio
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Poche Pictures
Running Time: 67 Mins
Review Rating: 4 Stars
Official Website: http://www.crimsonthemovie.com/

Crimson is about a young woman named Sammi (Stuart Brazell), who is on the run from murderous vampire, Rachel (Erika Smith), in the middle of the night, after she destroyed Rachel’s coven of vampires. She is bruised and left for dead when a group of young female nursing students find her. The group decides to take her back to their sorority house to get medical attention. Soon they discover that their good deed turns into trouble when they find out that Sammi is on the run from Rachel. Rachel is willing to kill everyone in her path to exact her revenge on Sammi.

Crimson is a very dark and well-acted vampire film. I have to give credit to director Richard Poche’ for not this turning this film into a campy T & A fest, which could have easily been. He does that by focusing on directing the action, which was all right and also had a decent amount of gore that would satisfy vampire fans. But what makes this film good was his direction of the actresses, since this is pretty much an all female cast here. I thought the actresses did a fine job with their performances. Erika Smith is an actress that I’ve pretty much followed back to her first films, Bite Me and The Sexy Adventures of Van Helsing (Both film available from Alternative Cinema) back in 2004. It's amazing that she continues to have these good performances (Sinful being her best film to date). She was very good this time playing the main villain, as she was seductive and sinister here. The film also had some good supporting performances from Stuart Brazell and Elizabeth Di Prinzio, which helped made this film entertaining.

The screenplay from Daniel Chant and Mark Grant was very good, along with acting. I liked how the writers decided to make the female characters strong, instead of treating them like other female characters that are often seen in low budget horror films. The writers do that by having some of the characters in some sought of personal conflict throughout the film, like being on the run or drug addiction or alcoholism. It helps make the characters strong and makes them conflicted instead of being used for some sort of exploitation. They also do a good job developing the story and the characters that are in it, as it contributed to the film’s success.

Crimson puts the vamp back in vampire with its story and very good acting.

To purchase this film, you can go to: http://www.crimsonthemovie.com/purchase.html. Please also note that the film has been picked up by Passion River for distribution. The film will be out on July 8th.

DVD Extras:

Behind the Scenes

Blood Oath
Year: 2008
Director: David Buchert
Stars: Natalie Hart, Roger Horn, Katie Vaughn
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Albatross Films
Running Time: 78Mins
Review Rating: 4 Stars
Official Website: http://www.albatrossfilm.com/

Blood Oath is about a couple that is looking to have a healthy child. Their attempts to have one of their own failed. All hopes to have a child failed, until they meet a mysterious woman who offers them an offspring, but for a price. Now, the child is all grown up and roams around the woods, killing anyone who enter it’s home. Soon a group of friends, deicide to spend the weekend to seek out this urban myth by visiting that house. But their weekend of fun goes south, when the offspring starts to terrorize them, as they soon will by preying for their death unless they find a way to kill her. Tina Krause (Witchouse 3: Demon Fire, The Recovered) and Tiffany Shepis (Nightmare Man, Nymph)

There are many slasher films that tend to follow the same formula, with hot scantly- clad babes and over the top gore, but there are a few that try to separate themselves from the typical boring formula film by adding things to it. This is one of them. Blood Oath is a bloody scary slasher film. Director David Buchert direction was good. He does a good job making sure that the shots are down pat, especially with the killing scenes, as they were scary and the gore was, in your face. It was one of those films that the over the top gore really helped the film, as the scenes were directed very well. It made the film fun and scary. The acting in this film was pretty good. Buchert does a good job directing the actor’s performances, as they came off as characters that are terrified, instead of stupid people that you would find in movies like One Missed Call (aka One and ½ Missed Hours of My Life) and Cruel World (with the world’s most annoying horror villain).

The screenplay written by David M. Smith was very good. His script does a good job in developing this mysterious killer and the people that are in her path. I liked, how the main characters weren’t those cookie-cutter characters that you find in some of the stupidest slasher films. The kill sequences in the film were written very well, as the buildup was good and came out of nowhere at times, which helps the film bring out some tense moments. Smith also does a good job bringing some psychological elements to the film, which helped with the film’s twist, which made the film more enjoyable.

Blood Oath is a very gory horror film that brings out the scares and blood.

Lights, Camera, Dead
Year: 2008
Director: Tim Reaper
Stars: Wes Reid, Amy Lollo, J.C. Lira
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: White Lightning Productions
Running Time: 77 Mins
Review Rating: 3.5 Stars
Official Website: http://www.lightscameradead.com/

Lights, Camera, Dead is about a pair of filmmakers, who are looking to shot their own feature length horror film. The pair of filmmakers encountered many problems, from an awful audition process to shooting the actually film where the cast and crew were disinterested and bitchy with them, to the final editing process. Soon the filmmakers snap, as they gather the cast and crew for world premiere of their film at an isolated farmhouse in order to try to finish the rest of their film, by killing the cast and crew that didn’t appreciate their film, in the first place.

Lights, Camera, Dead is the horror genre’s version of “Living In Oblivion”. First time feature director, Tim Reaper does a good job taking a look at what is like to make one of these ultra low budget films in a dark and humorous way. He also does a very good job with the direction of the actors, as there was chemistry with each of the actors, especially with Reid and Lira characters. Their chemistry with each other, is one of the film’s highlights, as everytime they were on screen together, the film was entertaining.

The screenplay written by Tim and Monica Reaper was all right for the most part. One of the main reasons this is a good film was the fact that the dark humor was dead on. One example of this was the first ten minutes of the film when the story was focusing the horrible auditions. They did that because that’s one of the pitfalls of low budget filmmaking. I liked how they also how they told the story in chronological order, which helped the story of the film be interesting. The humor was funny. If there was one major problem with this, it was the fact that none of the deaths felt scary. Maybe, they weren’t trying to achieve as they let the dark humor be the focus, so I won’t speculate any further.

If your looking for scares, then this is not the film for you, but if you are looking for a film with dark humor and a good amount of blood, then you’ll like this film, just like me.

If you’re a filmmaker and interested in having your horror film reviewed in the horror chamber, you can reach the Chamber Keeper himself at horrorchamber@filmarcade.net or if you have any film in any genres that you want Film Arcade to review, send us an email at screeners@filmarcade.net.

Also, don’t forget to add the official myspace home of Reviews From the Horror Chamber at http://www.myspace.com/reviewsfromthehorchamber.

Until next week, have a frightening day.