411 Movies Interview: Tiffany Shepis of Nightmare Man Posted by Tony Farinella on 03.21.2008
411's Tony Farinella sits down with the scream queen for an exclusive interview!
Tiffany Shepis is a horror hottie. Yes, that's horror hottie. In her career, she has worked on over fifty horror projects. You think this girl loves the horror genre? That's putting it mildly. In my interview with Tiffany, we talked about her new film, Nightmare Man, which is now available on DVD. We also discussed a lot of interesting topics in the horror genre.
TONY: In your career, you have been involved in so many horror films, and your resume just keeps growing. How do you keep it interesting and how do you not become complacent?
Tiffany Shepis: Well, it is a little hard sometimes, I have to admit, because I do such a wide variety of movies. Some where we have no budget, some where we have a few million to do it, and it gets a little difficult sometimes, because occasionally I walk on a set, and they're just out of film school and they know nothing, and I'm sitting there setting up lights myself, because I know the shot's going to look terrible. But, for the most part, because I do get to work on such a wide variety of stuff and I get to work with different people each time, 95 percent of the time, these kids are so passionate about what they're doing that it makes it hard to not be interested. Whether it comes out good or bad, they have such a passion for it and they're so excited about it, that, in turn, it brings back your excitement. I remember the time when I was 15 and I was on my first movie, and I just loved being on set. I mean, I was there every day, even when I didn't have to be. And it kind of brings that back for you, so that's pretty cool.
TONY: As you look back on Nightmare Man as a finished product, what are your final thoughts on the film?
Tiffany Shepis: Overall, the finished product, I love it. I think it's a fun little ride. I think if you go into it knowing it's kind of a fun popcorn movie, it's not a movie that's gonna scare you to death, you know what I mean? Overall, I wish, like always, we had more money for it, so we could have upped the bar with the special effects and things like that. We shot this movie in just under two weeks, so it's hard, it's hard work. I wish we had more money and more time, but overall I think Rolfe did a great job with it. I think it's a fun little ride, and I think if you're a fan of my stuff, you'll love it, because it's not one where I get naked, run, and die ...it's definitely my movie, and I get to play from straight to finish, and you get to see a very big arch: Going from normal chick to crazy chick to whatever, so I think it's a fun one.
TONY: On the bonus features, we get to see some very funny behind-the-scenes stuff. When you're working on a low budget film like Nightmare Man, how important is it to have fun?
Tiffany Shepis: Well, you have to. Think about it, even if it's just twelve days, you're living with these people. For the most part, you're living in the same house, working 18 hours a day with these people, so you have to have a good time. We were shooting all nights on this movie, so we would wrap at 6am, the sun's coming up, so how do you go to sleep at 6am? What do you do? You sit around, you have a beer, and you play cards. And it's really important, which is why I thought it was really fun to capture that in the behind-the-scenes stuff. I did that for a movie called The Hazing, which is another Rolfe movie I did, and I did a 10-minute Tiffany Cam, and the fans really, really loved it, because it gives you the sense of what it's actually like to be on set. And you see that we actually have a good time, we love being there, and it's not just all work. And I think it's important for people to see that, because it makes you feel a little bit more like you're there. Since people loved the first one, I decided to do a little more extended one on Nightmare Man, which I think turned out pretty fun.
TONY: When you go back and watch one of your films on DVD, like Nightmare Man, what's it like?
Tiffany Shepis: Well, you always are gonna critique yourself. As a woman, I'm like, "Man, I really need to do more sit-ups before taking my clothes off." (laughs) It's usually more like that for me. But, yeah, you go back and watch it again, because you're so close to home with it when you're shooting it, obviously, so you go back and see what you could have done differently, you see what you really like about it. And what I did like about Nightmare Man, for me, it was a really fun little ride, and, like I said, if you can go into not looking to be scared out of your mind and you can go into it like you were watching Evil Dead or Fright Night or something like that and have fun with it, I think it will hold up for years to come. Especially for people who don't get super impressed by all the Hollywood glitz and glamor of multi-million dollar movies with big explosions and things like that. I think it has some fun little twists and turns, so, for me, it's held up.
TONY: What's your most vivid memory from shooting this film?
Tiffany Shepis: It had to be the naked demon rape at the end. It's on top of a mountain, it's ten degrees, it's four in the morning, and we have to get the shot, because the sun's coming up. And if the cold wasn't enough, they put on these wind fans to simulate wind and demon stuff, and I have wires connected to me to rip clothes off and I have rocks in my back. As horrible of an experience as it was, I think that scene really came out cool. And that was probably the only moment of the movie where I was hating Rolfe Kanefsky, the director. I was like, "God damn you! These rocks and this damn mountain. I just wanna go home!" As horrible as it was to shoot that, that was probably my most fun on the set, because I knew if the scene came out properly, it was going to be pretty cool. And I was right, because it's one of my favorite scenes in the movie. And it was hard to do, especially when you're talking about movies that have no budget. And if you look at it from that standpoint, I think people would be slightly impressed with the way we pulled that off.
TONY: As a horror actress, how much fun is it to work on a horror film in a safe environment? I mean, you get to kill people, run around naked, and really go all out.
Tiffany Shepis: As much as I love horror movies, I mean, I grew up as a fan of the genre, of course it's still a job, and of course I don't go around really stabbing people or getting killed. And I don't wanna have real blood put me on; I'm not that weirdo that goes to weird fetish clubs. (laughs) But it's a job that's not necessarily the most glamorous job. I have these girls that e-mail me all the time that wanna get in horror movies, because they think it's a great stepping stone, which it has become. However, you have to remember that, for the most part, you're not in the big fancy trailer, you are covered in blood in the most undesirable of locations imaginable, and sometimes with real maggots and weird things. And it's uncomfortable, so you have to really have a love for the genre in order to do it. Is the money in it good for me now? Yes. Do I make a living at it? Absolutely. But you have to love what you do to be there. Like I said, you're on eighteen-hour days, and if you're not having a good time doing that, then it's a tough spot.
TONY: Talk to me a little bit about the pride that you take in your role as scream queen. I mean, when someone sees your name in the credits, they know that you are going to give it your all.
Tiffany Shepis: I take big pride in it. If I sit down at a table at a convention and a fan comes up and wants to buy my picture with my autograph on it or buy my DVD, that's pretty cool. I mean, how do you not show some respect back to them and put something in your craft? I mean, I've made some really bad movies. But the fact that the fans are so loyal and keep coming back, and they keep coming back no matter what. And in almost all my films, the one thing that I can pride myself on saying is that even if the movie sucks, almost every review says, "But Tiffany was really great." And that's cool to me. It means I did my job, and it's not my fault that the movie didn't come out right. And sometimes it's not even in the filmmakers' fault, sometimes it has to do with money or it has to do with not having the right outlets for it. But at least I can say that I did my part. I'm not gonna show up somewhere where most of the time I have these kids that are fans, they live in Iowa or Virgina, and they're flying me out because they've followed my work for the last ten years and not know my shit. That would be terrible. You gotta be on your game, and I like to try to bring something a little extra to it. Because these kids that make horror films, for the most part, they're so passionate about what they do, and it's hard for you not to be passionate along with them.
TONY: At the moment, we have a number of very talented horror directors, from James Wan to Adam Green to Eli Roth to Darren Lynn Bousman. I'm sure it's hard to pick just one director, but, as a horror actress, who do you point to and say, "I wanna work with him?"
Tiffany Shepis: I really, really would love to work with Adam Green. Adam did a great job with Hatchet, and I was so impressed with the marketing campaign they did to get that movie out there. And he's a friend. I mean, pretty much everybody in the genre knows each other and we all hang out with the same crew, but I'd love to work on something with him, because he knows his shit and he's a horror fan at heart. I'd love to work with James Gunn again, who did Tromeo and Juliet, which was my first movie. He also did Slither. I just worked on a untitled web-series with him, which is supposed to be pretty cool, but I'd love to work on a big horror feature with him. But, I mean, all those guys. Everybody that's coming out right now is pretty good, and the cool thing about it is they're horror fans. They're not kids that are going, "Yeah, I just wanna make a quick buck making The Grudge 9." They're horror fans at heart, and Joe Lynch came out of the Troma world making Wrong Turn 2. And these kids know their shit, which is a lot of fun. It's basically hanging out with other geeks who love the same thing you love.
TONY: Why do you think gore and sex are always associated with each other in horror films?
Tiffany Shepis: I think it gives you a little break, especially in movies that are more of the scary, scary ones. You need a little bit of a break from something, and what's the best break? T and A. And the origin of the genre, most of our demographic was 13-year-old boys to 25-year-old men that live in their mother's basements that sit around on a Friday night because they're not going to the social and they're gonna watch horror films. Now, the tables have kind of turned, and there's more chick fans, which is really, really cool. And the thing that I found out about that, they love the T and A too, because it's fun. I mean, you're not as scared, and you get to watch pretty girls. I dunno. I couldn't actually tell you why they go hand-in-hand, but they always have. And the formula works.
TONY: Why do you think horror films get such a bad rap from mainstream critics?
Tiffany Shepis: I think it's because most of the big mainstream reviewers are not fans. They're fans of the weird Sundance movie, because it's artsy and cool, and they're fans of the big budget romantic comedies. And if you're not a fan of the genre, how can you review a horror film? Especially one that doesn't have that big of a budget, it doesn't have the big explosions, and it doesn't have the big names to hold your interest. So I think that's kind of a problem. I mean, there are a few reviewers that we kind of try to pinpoint when we're going to the big newspapers that are horror fans and loved Evil Dead 2. But it's like talking to a hardcore horror fan and saying, "You know, don't you wanna go see the new Julia Roberts romantic comedy?" But they don't get the respect that they should, because what some of these guys pull off with just a million dollars and no marketing behind them really needs to be recognized. I pinpoint Hatchet as one, because what they did with the Hatchet Army was just ridiculous: Getting all these people involved and all the fans involved for no money at all, it was just through some websites. And Nightmare Man kind of did the same thing. I mean, just grass roots marketing and got people out to the theaters to see it. Before we had After Dark that picked us up, we were running it on our own and got reviews from everywhere from the New York Times down the line. Whether good or bad, we got them, and that's pretty cool.
TONY: Because you have worked on so many horror films, do you know right away if a horror film is going to be something special, or do you have to wait it out?
Tiffany Shepis: You have to wait, because what I find cool, maybe you don't, and sometimes we're shooting something on set and I'm going, "Wow, this is gonna be genius. This is gonna be awesome." Then I see it on the monitor or I see it after the fact, and it really wasn't as genius as I thought. Or vice versa. I just shot a movie a few weeks back in West Virgina, and they were shooting this scene where my thumb gets cut off, and I'm going, "Guys, this is not gonna work. It looks so lame. What are we making here?" I'm not being a jerk, but I'm telling them, "Guys, this is not gonna work." And they're like, "Trust me." And I'm like, "OK, I've done fifty movies, but I'll trust you. Sure." Not that I'm this cocky ass, but I've been around enough sets. However, I watched the monitor, I see the final footage, and it's awesome! So, you never know, because it's hard to step away from stuff. I just did a movie called Bonnie & Clyde vs. Dracula, and it's as fun as the title sounds, actually, and I was on the set and we're shooting, and I go, "Wow, this movie could be really cool." And as it turns out, that one is. So, you never know.
TONY: I know you communicate a lot with your fans on MySpace, which is always a good thing in the horror community. That being said, sometimes people can take advantage of that. Personally, how do you manage the Internet?
Tiffany Shepis: Mine has become fairly easy that way, because I am pretty accessible online. I do frequently update my message board on my website, I do frequently go to MySpace, so people don't tend to get very mad at me and they tend to respect the boundaries of it. I get the occasional people that will bitch me out on MySpace, because I haven't responded to their 97th MySpace comment. And I just lay it down, "Hey, I'm busy. I don't sit on my computer all day. If I did, I wouldn't be making the movies that you guys love to watch." So, they're pretty respectful of stuff. There's always one crazy in the bunch that takes something too far. I had a little bit of trouble on MySpace a while back, because I do use it as a promotional tool. I mean, what other way can you send out 5,000 mass e-mails at once? So I don't friend request anybody, but they request me and I just hit accept. Why shouldn't the whole world know about Nightmare Man or whatever I have coming out? And I accepted some guy who apparently was some weirdo racist freak. And I didn't know that I accepted him, because I hit accept on everything, and I got all these weird e-mails like, "Yeah, you down with this Klan?" And I'm like," What!?" So, I literally had to go through my ten thousand friends to find this one kook. So there are problems with the Internet that way.
TONY: Where do you see the horror genre in five to ten years?
Tiffany Shepis: Monster movies. Monster movies are the next big thing in the next two years, for sure. Cloverfield did good, The Mist did great. We need movies like that. I think they're gonna start coming out on a lower budget too, and there are so many good effects artists coming out now that I think that's our new trend. Five to ten years, I'm not sure. It's becoming like a woman empowered genre now, which is very, very strange to see that happen. Like I said, my demographic was 13-year-old boys, and now I'm getting more and more women e-mailing me every day, "Oh, man, I love the way you kicked Ted Bundy's ass in that movie." I think we're gonna start seeing a lot more female horror directors that are really, really good. I think the demographic is really going the other way, where we're gonna have a lot of young chicks coming out that really love the genre. So I think we're on a woman turn.
TONY: : It seems like these days we see many mainstream actors who refuse to acknowledge the horror genre. And it's a shame, because so many actors got their start in the horror genre. Even if you branch out and do other films, will you always stay true to your horror roots?
Tiffany Shepis: Absolutely. You see, I'm different, though, because I love what I do. I love horror movies, I love watching horror movies, and I love watching the ones I'm in, good or bad. So I'm a little bit different on that front, but I don't think I would ever knock what started me out. There's no other genre where you can make movies that aren't big blockbuster hits and have ten thousand fans on MySpace and have people come up and buy your junk at a convention. There's no romantic comedy convention that you can go to for low-budget romantic comedies. I think it's irresponsible, actually, of actors that made their start in a film and refuse to acknowledge it. I think it's very uncool. I don't know Reese Witherspoon by any means, but she did a movie called Freeway for a guy named Matthew Bright. Now, Matthew Bright was a crazy director, I worked with him on Ted Bundy, but he gave her her start. That was her breakout movie, and she was great in it with Kiefer Sutherland. And she refuses to talk about. And I just think, "Wow, because you won an Academy Award, you can't talk about that movie?" Which she was great in. I think it's a lot of fun, it's a cult movie, but she refuses to talk about it. And I think it's shitty.
TONY: What do you do in your downtime? Where is your safe haven?
Tiffany Shepis: Besides the bar? (laughs) I have a three-year-old at home, so my house is my safe haven. It used to be my house was covered with chainsaws and horror movie memorabilia, and now it's covered with My Little Pony and pink things that make you wanna throw up. So I can turn off my job when I go home, trust me. (laughs)
