Interview with a Zombie

Greg Cipes is a young actor who is bound to make a big impression in the much-anticipated HBO series, Deadwood, set to air with 13 episodes in 2004. Set in 1876, beginning two weeks after Custer's Last Stand, the hour-long drama tells the story of justice and injustice in the lawless town of Deadwood. It will incorporate both historical and fictional characters, and in it Cipes plays Miles Anderson, a shady character who robs from the whores and gives to… his sister? It all sounds very complicated. However, Deadwood is sure to be a mini-treat to horror-loving fans of the Chucky doll, as Brad Dourif also co-stars.

Cipes sat down with Horror.com to talk about his horror pedigree in the films Ring of Darkness, Broken Lizard's Club Dread, and Inhabited (don't worry, we won't go into the horror of his guest-spot on The Gilmore Girls TV series).

Staci Layne Wilson: Despite the promising title, Deadwood doesn't have a horror theme, does it?

Greg Cipes: No. Deadwood is just raw, uncut Old West. It's got the same producer as NYPD Blue, so it really pulls the guts out [of the genre]. There is a little supernatural, in that they show the Native American spiritualism and stuff like that.

SLW: What's the concept?

GC: It's the lawless town of Deadwood back in the 1870s. My character comes in, me and my little sister. We want to be husband and wife, and we're, like, thieves, robbing whorehouses and killing people. It comes on in March [2004], after The Sopranos is done.

SLW: So, tell me about Ring of Darkness.

GC: Ring of Darkness is like a current-day Lost Boys with zombies instead of vampires. And basically they tie in the music industry as well. It's a band that's been around throughout the ages. They're zombies. And they re-recruit their members if something goes wrong and make these zombie hit-bands, like if the Beatles were zombies, and The Beach Boys, and even back to the Mozart days.

Greg Cipes and company from "Ring of Darkness".

SLW: I wouldn't mind seeing The Backstreet Boys disappear.

GC: Well, that's what the current-day band in the movies is like -- The Backstreet Boys. They're the ones who get kidnapped and killed. I play Gordo. I'm the Justin Timberlake type character. My part starts during a 2004 tour party, the tour is sold out, but I've had it. I want to leave. We're on a private island in the Caribbean and I'm trying to escape. They all wind up killing me.

SLW: But that's not the end of you, I'm sure. What do these zombie boys look like?

CG: I look totally normal in the band, but underneath [I'm dead]. It's all just makeup [when I'm onstage with the band]. And then the skin falls off and it's just corroded zombie nastiness. It was hours of makeup for the actors. It's cool. It's the most disgusting thing, and I was thinking: Is that me?

SLW: What was your zombie experience like?

GC: It's fun to be a zombie! Also, I'm in the music industry so I thought it would be funny to pretend I'm in a boy band, for once. I get to do all the dancing and the lip-synching.

SLW: Have you done any other horror movies?

GC: I just finished another horror movie last year. It's called "Inhabited" and it stars Malcolm MacDowell. It's about a family that moves into this house, which winds up being inhabited by these demon faerie trolls. They're like five or six inches tall and there's millions of them. They were brought over from Norway, or some crazy European country, back in the day. [Europeans: Send your letters directly to Greg -- slw]

They live underground and they're trying to kill us. Malcolm MacDowell plays the psychiatrist for our family, who basically doesn't believe what's going on. These things are trying to kill us, and they wind up trapping us inside the house. We're trying to get out, and they catch the house on fire, and you know, these little trolls are tying me to the bed and it's thousands of five-inch trolls chasing us around. It's a family horror film. A kid can watch it. You'll laugh when you watch this.

SLW: You're all over the horror genre lately, aren't you?

GC: Yeah. I have another horror film coming out, called Club Dread, which will be in theaters in February. It's from [comedy ensemble] Broken Lizard. Basically with this one, you're gonna be laughing your ass off while girls get their heads cut off. Bill Paxton plays a Jimmy Buffet type character. He owns this island called Pleasure Island, and kids from all over the world come there to party and there winds up being a killer on the island. You don't know who it is. It's pretty brutal, but it's hilarious as well.

SLW: What kind of horror really scares you?

GC: There's one that really stuck in my head, and I had nightmares about it for years. It's called Grandma's House. There's this one scene where Grandma [Ida Lee, who debuted in a short called Rollercoaster to Hell] stabbing the neighbor like a million times in the chest on the front porch. It's called Grandma's House. It was made in the 80s. Freddy really spooked me out as a kid, too.

SLW: What do you think will be your most memorable scene from Ring of Darkness?

GC: When I'm being chased down the beach by all the demons, which are actually guys from the boy band. They surround me, and I tell them I don't need them, I'm going to go solo, and then they attack me.

SLW: How does one become a zombie?

GC: The zombies become undead by ritual. You have to do a ritual -- they can make you do it, or you can consensually do it. It's all fire and blood. You have to drink the blood. No longer do you have the positive vibe going through your body. It's all negative and basically, you're dead. The only thing keeping you alive is the evil inside of you.

SLW: Is there any way to redeem yourself?

GC: Naw, you're gone!