Horror cinema has seen many grace the screen through history, and one of the genre’s leading ladies is Barbara Crampton. A talented actress with a passion for the art form, Crampton began her journey in film during the early ’80s with roles in television series such as Days of our Lives, before going onto capturing Horror fans in the 1985 film Re-Animator. From here, starring in other genre favorites including 1986’s From Beyond and 1989’s Puppet Master, Crampton has sustained a prolific standing into the new millennium with roles in 2011’s You’re Next, among others.
Still building on a lengthy resume, Crampton has diversified in recent years, turning producing with such films including 2016’s Beyond the Gate and 2021’s Jakob’s Wife. Fast forward to current times, Crampton now is the producer and co-star in the exciting Horror flick Suitable Flesh. Inspired by the H.P. Lovecraft story The Thing on the Doorstep, the new feature is a wild ride that old school Horror fans will eat up. Proud of the work, Crampton recently sat down to chat about Suitable Flesh, her career in Horror, plans for the future, plus more.
Cryptic Rock – You have been involved in film now for quite a few decades. A part of many films and television projects through the years, briefly tell us, how would you describe your career in entertainment to this point?
Barbara Crampton – Putting one foot in front of the other. Finally, understanding that working in film is the long game. There’s a lot of ups and downs. There are periods of time when you’re working a lot and there’s great celebration. Then there are periods of time where you don’t work at all for months or sometimes a few years. Just knowing that you have to stick in the game to look back on a career and say – “Oh, wow, I’ve done 80 projects or so.” It’s a very fickle business. You’re always looking for the next job. (Laughs) I would say that’s a realistic way of looking at it.
On the other hand, I would say that I didn’t know that I was going to be in the Horror genre for as long as I have been. I’m very proud to be in the genre. I love it more than any other genre, ever. Even watching movies, I prefer to watch Horror movies more than anything else. I just think that it’s the best way to tell a story; because we all live in fear. I have a really good friend of mine who’s a psychologist who said, “Most of the time we make decisions based on fear, not on love.” I think that Horror movies get to the heart of what people are actually all about and what drives them.
I really appreciate the Horror genre for that. I think as much as you know I’ve given to the Horror genre; it’s given a lot back to me.
Cryptic Rock – Yes, definitely. You have done quite a lot of Horror films through the years too. You mentioned how you do love the genre; you love watching it and you love participating in it creatively. You also said you did not expect to be involved in it as long as you have.
Obviously, you started with films like 1985’s Re-Animator. It then snowballed from there with all the projects you were involved in through the years. So, all this said, was Horror something that initially had a love for, or has that developed through the years?
Barbara Crampton – Yes. I developed it over the years. I wasn’t one of these people that started watching Horror movies when I was six, seven, or eight with my parents. I wanted to be an actress. That was my initial reason for getting into acting, going to college, getting a degree in theater, moving to New York, working in theater, and then moving to Los Angeles and auditioning.
I was fortunate enough to get cast in Re-Animator after the girl who initially had the part dropped out. Due to the nature of the subject matter, she didn’t want to participate. I think that part began my career and my love of Horror. I didn’t even know who Lovecraft was when I did Re-Animator. Subsequently, I got hired to do From Beyond (1986) and then Castle Freak (1995) with Stuart Gordon.
I did a lot of other things as well. However, it wasn’t until I took a break to raise my family, and the phone wasn’t ringing anyway, so it didn’t matter at that time in my life. It wasn’t until I worked on You’re Next (2011), and I was called to do that movie that I realized, “Oh, this is what I do. I’m a Horror movie actress.” People know me for that and they like me for that. This is really my home, and these are my people. I think it was a love for the genre that I developed over time, for sure.
Cryptic Rock – That all makes sense. You mentioned Lovecraft and you have worked on several H.P. Lovecraft inspired films; including this most recent project, Suitable Flesh. In this film, you not only star in it, but you also produce it. What is also interesting to see is that you are working with the talented Screenplay Writer Dennis Palio; who worked on several other films including Re-Animator and From Beyond. How did Suitable Flesh come about for you?
Barbara Crampton – When Stewart Gordon passed away a few years ago, I was on some zoom calls with Dennis Paoli. We went to some celebrations of Stuart’s life and he was around in my life again. So, I said to him, “I’ve been producing for a couple of years, and I was wondering if you had anything lying on the shelf that you and Stewart maybe wanted to do and couldn’t get off the ground.” He said, “Well, I have this one that I think you might like.” He sent me this script for what was called The Thing on the Doorstep; which is based on the story by Lovecraft and uses the exact same name. That is the same movie that we actually produced, Suitable Flesh; we just changed the name. I read it, and I immediately fell in love with it.
It was during the height of Covid. Nobody was meeting anybody. We were all at home. I sent it to my producing partners at AMP films that I had worked with on Jakob’s Wife (2021). I wanted to see if they liked it as much as I did, and they did!
Then we set about trying to find a director. I really thought that Joe Lynch and his sensibilities for film and just the tone of his movies was similar to a little bit of Stuart Gordon. He was really my first choice; although I talked to maybe five different directors. From the get-go, Joe read it, loved it, and came back within a couple of days and said, “I would love to do this. I just want to be able to switch the gender of the main protagonist to female.” We talked to Dennis about it, and he said, “Well, let me have a couple of days to think about it.”
Dennis then came up with something that I think really worked. It wasn’t just changing the lines from one gender to the other. It was really impactful and changed it for the full weight of what that change meant. Then we just went about trying to cast the lead, look for the money… and that all takes time. It finally came to fruition and we premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last year.
Cryptic Rock – It is great it all came together, because the film is very fun. As you mentioned, it has a similar feel as a Stuart Gordon film. He mixed the horrific and the gore with elements of comedy. That is a good balance to have in Horror, and that is what really works as well in this film.
Barbara Crampton – I think everybody really likes Horror and Comedy. It is probably the most difficult thing you can do in Horror! (Laughs) Americans love their Horror to have a little Comedy. I don’t know why we keep doing it, because it’s such a tricky balance.
I feel like the Horror has to come first and then the Comedy second. That is unless you’re leaning with something like Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010); then you know you’re all-out Comedy. For me, I think the Horror has to be there first. We talked a lot about that and grounding the film as much as we could. We talked about making it real and personal for all of the players and then adding in the humor later.
Cryptic Rock – Right, and it works. You mentioned the lead; which is Heather Graham. You and Heather Graham play exceptionally well off each other really well. What was it like working with Heather side by side with her?
Barbara Crampton – As far as working with Heather Graham, she’s terrific; in a word, wonderful. We had reached out to a couple of other people before her, I will say, but I’m just so glad that she said yes; because she was the right person for the role.
When she got back to us, she said, “This is the best thing that I’ve been offered in years. I love this role, and I really want to do this.” It was her excitement that really got us and the financers all very jazzed for the movie. Everybody was so happy. We met her on Zoom, and she was just really gung-ho from the very beginning.
Heather’s been around a while. I think this is a very meaty part for her. She gets to have a whole range of emotions. She’s just wonderful to work with and so supportive. On the set, she was just one of the guys hanging out; just really an easy going, lovely person. I can’t say enough nice things about her. We all love her so much.
Cryptic Rock – Those good feelings definitely shine through in the film, because it seems like the chemistry was very good. You two played exceptionally well off one another too.
Barbara Crampton – Thank you. Yeah, it’s funny because when you’re working with somebody like that… there were only a few scenes where our characters could establish that they were long-time colleagues and friends. We both knew that we had to make those scenes count. We tried to do that as much as possible.
We’re really only in a few scenes together in the beginning where we really have to establish that we’re very connected. I just think she’s an open person also. She’s a very open, giving performer. I hope I am that way as well. I do think we worked well off one another.
Cryptic Rock – Most certainly. Seeing that you have done as much acting as you have through the years, can we expect you to get more involved in producing like you have more recently?
Barbara Crampton – Yeah. Oh, definitely. I’m working with this company, AMP Films, that I’ve been working with on a few projects. We have some other things lined up. I’m always reading and looking for new material. I’m not always wanting to do things that only feature me or have me in the movie at all. I just really love a good story. I definitely want to do more producing in the future.
Cryptic Rock – That is good to hear. Having different outlets of creativity is a blessing. As someone who has developed a taste and love for Horror through the years, what are some of your favorites?
Barbara Crampton – Well, they switch around a little bit sometimes depending on the mood I’m in, or switch around from year to year. I’ve always loved The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) though. I’d say that’s my favorite; because it’s really viscerally very scary and there’s no blood in it. It’s just all based on the performances. I’m very actor-driven. All the performers sell that movie so well. I was friendly with Gunnar Hansen when he was alive. I just really admire that movie for the budget it was made for and how it was shot on 16 mm film. It feels like a documentary, like it’s really happening; the gritty feel of it. That’s probably my favorite of all time. I also love The Shining (1980) and Rosemary’s Baby (1968).
Some new favorites that I really like, I would give a call out to a movie that not a lot of people know. It’s called Cold Fish (2010). That’s on my list. I love the new Evil Dead movie, the last one that they did, Evil Dead Rise (2023). That was amazing. I love Hereditary (2018) too. I could go on, that would be another interview talking about all my favorite movies.
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