I N T E R V I E W S
King Fowley - Deceased
"King Of The Living Dead"
Our Halloween interview with the outspoken King Fowley vocalist For Deceased/October 31!
By: Eric Compton | Published: Friday, October 31, 2003
 Since Halloween is upon us once again, we thought it would be cool to talk to the ultimate Halloween madman, King Fowley. Lets face it, nobody on the planet has more knowledge of horror movies than you King. You could probably tell me the color of Jamie Lee Curtis' panties underneath those tight bell-bottom jeans, right?
Well, since she was born with a dick and had it 'surgically removed' at birth, they are probably fruit of the looms :) But that's Nigel's 'world' not mine! Haha even though she/he/it was hot in that dance scene in 'True Lies'! Wow! We've really started off 'scary' in this interview. Chicks with dicks and 'True Lies' film mention! eeeeek :)
Okay, lets start this horror movie discussion off in grand fashion. What is the scariest flick of all time and why?
Well, to me it's, drum role please............... THE EXORCIST! YEP, AFTER ALL THE BILLION AND ONE 'HORROR' FILMS I'VE SEEN, AFTER ALL THE 'ODD' TITLES ON THE SHELVES COVERING MY HOUSE AND ATTIC. IT'S STILL 'THE EXORCIST'!
Why? Maybe it's the childhod rememberence! Maybe it's the always 'intriguing' good versus evil stuff! Maybe it's just that damn brilliant soundtrack work of Mike Oldfield on 'tubular bells'! (which by the way he's just re-recorded for 2003!). The film, though made in 'hollywood'! is indeed not all that Hollywood! From the 'taboo' child horror of the 70's to the even more filthy and disgusting 'turn for the worse' pretty much everyone in the film gets to grasp hold of the 'aura' of the scenes! The lighting! The pacing! It's all there! Beyond eerie to me! When the preist pulls up and the light from the window shines! Now that's brilliance! Yep, I wish I could sit here and say that some little film from Belgium called 'Blood Sacrifice', or some 'lost' gem in Italy called 'Souls Without Meaning' really outdid an 'obvious' choice (please note these are 'made up' movie titles that to my knowledge don't actually exist haha) so people would have something to 'search out' for. But at the end of the day to me, the 'scariest movie of all-time' is sitting at your local Blockbuster or Best-Buy for purchase! See it again and again! It delivers!
"It seems horror is on the rise again, in a good way and i think people are realizing we want to be scared! Really scared! Reallly Reallly scared! " --King
Looking back at your childhood, what got you so interested in horror movies? What's the first horror movie you can remember watching? The first horror movie I can honestly remember watching was an old flick called The Children, where these kids got fried by radiation and then started killing off all the adults. The scariest thing about it was there black fingernails. Remember that one King?
Of course! The school bus going down the dirt road with the polluted clouds in the air! The children all with that 'stare' to them! Greta the 'good old lady' seeing them outside her window and feeling relieved that the children are 'safe'! What an end she met! :) and the closing 'breast feeding' scene! Too much! Haha, speaking of 'The Children', it just played last weekend in NJ at the exumed almost weekly 'Horror Night' theatre presentations along with 'Gates Of Hell' and 'Return Of The Living Dead'! Great stuff! Love the 80's genre of horror film! I'm actually going this Friday to it for 'Maniac', 'Massacre At Central High', and the always over the top 'Nightmare In A Damaged Brain'! Hell Yeah!
As for my 'first movie', it was indeed 'Night Of The Living Dead'! in 1974 at age 5 1/2. I remember sitting there watching it on Saturday night's local 'creature feature' TV show! It was so 'murky'; and dark and that damn lightning in the cemetery scenario! That 'fire' in it! Weirddddddd, froze my brain into horror for life! 'They're coming to get you Kingsley' ...and thankfully they did! :)
My Mom got me into these flicks! She always told me growing up how her and my Dad, then boyfriend/girlfriend, would go every night of the weekend to see such then classics as '2000 Maniacs', 'Blood Feast', 'Flesh Eaters', and 'Whatever Happened To Baby Jane'! My Mom also told me I was probably conceived in the back seat of 'Dads car' during 'Rosemary's Baby'! I guess they figured out the ending long before the credits ran! Haha so it was 'normal' for the Fowley family to pack into Mom's car all 3 nights of the weekend and see 'Don't Go In The House', 'Maniac', 'Dr. Butcher', 'House That Dripped Blood', and those 'type' of films through the late 70's and most of the 80's!
When I was a kid I remember watching movies like Friday The 13th, Hellnight, and Halloween and not being able to go to sleep without a night light on. Were you the type of kid that watched horror movies and then refused to sleep without a light on?
Probably! Hard to say! My mind is/was and probably always will be just totally morbid and beyond 'imaginative'! I dream up scenario's and 'visuals' that really send me to the madness point of view! Stuff like old ladies in rocking chairs up in trees outside my bedroom window! Funeral processions going on in my back yard at 2 a.m, with MY body laying in the coffin! All the while the house filling up with the creepiest 'funeral music' at ungoldly volume levels, making any chance to think straight impossible! Man I fuck with myself! But i deep down, LOVE IT! :)
Did your parents mind you watching all that "trash"?
Well, as the #3 question answer tells ya', not at all! My Mom was always really supportive and right there with me to keep me in check and remove fiction from fact etc.! She even let me see the more 'raunchy' films as a 11-12 year old kid like 'Mothers Day', 'Last House On The Left' etc. My Mom was the greatest Mom ever! Passive yes! But always a damn good parent all around! She let her children live and learn somewhat! My Dad passed away from cancer when I was 5 so he wasn't really involved 'growing up'! My Mom said i'm just like him. So he probably would of been right there to laugh, scream, yell along to 'Dawn Of The Dead' with us!
Horror movies are a genre that really has no comparison. Westerns stay the same. Love stories stay the same. Action movies continue the same type of trend that they've been on for years. Horror really isn't like that at all. It has all sorts of twists and turns through the years. From the silent movies like Nosferatu all the way through the ever popular Slasher era. In your opinion, what makes horror movies stay fresh and creative for decades? What is the contributing factor?
To me it's 'imagination'! You've just gotta have it! Any 'turn from the norm' is ideal to me in horror films! I like the 'nightmare' scenarios! The 'there are no rules' angles are great! It makes you feel otherworldly and for me it lets me 'escape' this world and fall into the 'nightmare' on hand! I also prefer horror flms where it's 'unknown' actors' mainly cuz when i see 'famliar' faces acting a role it makes me say 'hey that's jonny depp playing that guy' etc. etc. It hurts the 'getting lost in it all'! creativity and a knack for fear is a director and writers chore. A great screenplay and dilalogue can do wonders when you luckily get to work with gifted actors! Brian depalma did this soooo well in the late 70's classic 'Carrie'! The pacing was brilliant! The odds and ends he puts into all his films really make me take notice! His brilliant 'Dressed To Kill ' film is a tour de force of mental and sexual repression! That last 'shower scene' is brilliant! Horror will thrive only when they play to scare the audience 100%! not just 'get them to buy the ticket' and then deliver a half-assed movie!
Of the various genres of horror (vampires, slashers, zombies, etc.), what do you think has stayed the most creative?
Well all have their greats... 'Night Of The Living Dead', 'Dawn Of The Dead', 'Let Sleeping Corpses Lie', and 'Zombie' for zombies! 'Halloween', 'Friday the 13th', 'My Bloody Valentine' and 'Maniac' for slashers! 'Dracula 1979', 'Vampyres', 'Nosferatu' and 'Dracula's Great Loves' for vampires! As well as turkeys like 'Zombie Lake', 'Oasis Of The Zombies', 'Night School', 'The Boogeyman 2', 'Vampires' and 'Dracula's Daughter'! Creativity to me has lasted in all of them somewhat! Zombies may have the 'one up' right now as I fucking loved last year's '28 Days Later'! though 'Wrong Turn', maybe not totally 'slasher' but a damn good film for this day in age of 'multiplex' horror films keeps that genre moving forward a bit! As for vampires I aint the biggest fan of the latest batch of film! For me the Hammer 60's/70's vampire films had a look and 'charm' that was all their own!
Which era of horror do you prefer? For me its a toss up of between early 80s slash flicks and Hammer stuff.
Well to me I love alot of films from lots of eras! Probably the 70's was the 'scariest' stuff! You had 'The Exorcist', 'Lets Scare Jessica To Death', 'Burnt Offerings', 'Halloween', 'Phantasm', 'Let Sleeping Corpses Lie', 'Shivers', 'Dont Be Afraid Of The Dark', 'Rabid' etc. All great 70's shock productions with that '70s filmstock' look to them! Love that washed out color of 'Don't Look In The Basement'! But the 80's 'horror craze' produced sooooooo many wonderful films that i adored seeing in the theatre growing up and still cherish for my 'childhood times'!! Films like 'Humongous', 'Madman', 'Happy Birthday To Me', 'The Dark', 'Cannibal Apocalypse', 'Friday the 13th', 'Mausoleum', 'Mother's Day', 'Terror Train', 'It Came Without Warning', 'Humanoids From The Deep', 'Return Of The Living Dead', 'The Fifth Floor', 'City Of The Walking Dead' etc. All 'great' to me and a zillion more as well!
It has indeed slowed down in the 90's/2000's etc for me! Alot of the films got too 'slick' and not very intense, and stupid! Who really needs to see 'Leprechauns In The Hood'? Or 'Jack Frost'? Haha though some genuine classics to me have been made over the last decade! From 'Session 9', 'Blair Witch', 'Ginger Snaps', 'The Others', 'Dellamorte Dellamore' and 'Fraility', to the always booming Asian horror attack of 'Audition', 'Ringu', and the 'Guinea Pig' series! It seems horror is on the rise again, in a good way and i think people are realizing we want to be scared! Really scared! Reallly Reallly scared! So hopefully a few directors will get it right and put it on film for us to 'think about' for years to come!
What would you pinpoint as your favorite type of horror? Slasher, Zombie, Haunted House, Mutant Animal, etc?
Anything that twists the brain! I could name 'Jacobs Ladder' to 'Phantasm' to 'Johnnys Got His Gun' to 'Suspiria' to 'Jaws' to 'The Changeling' to 'Night Of The Living Dead' to 'Last Broadcast' and switch genres repeatedly! I just love a good crafted story with some true 'weirdness' backline to it!
Which horror director do you feel has made the biggest impact on the industry?
Well Hitchcock has owned horror since 'Psycho'! A lot of playing off his characteristics! There's the 'obvious' greats like Argento, Romero, Carpenter, DePalma, (who all have classics, and sadly a few turds too under their belts!) to the lesser knowns like Lucio Fulci, Mario and Lamberto Bava, and Jess Franco, who are cherished and make a big impact on a lot of us horror fanatics never the less! Lots of 'one off' directors too! A million 'directors' in horror! Some great, a lot not so great! I still say Hitchcock! :)
Who is the ultimate "scream queen"?
Looks wise? I go with Soledad Miranda! She's just got a 'look' to her i find adorable! Spooky yet sexy too! Popularity wise? We are back to chicks with dicks in Jamie Lee Curtis (haha), or Linda Blair, and the always well-known and cool Linnea Quigley! Anyone still want to see her dance naked on a tombstone? ME ME ME. There's always Brinke Stevens for some of ya!
Acting wise....I lovvvvvvvvvvve Nancy Allen in the DePalma films she did, especially 'Blow Out'! I love Barbara Steele in about anything she's done! But the ultimate 'scream queen' to me is easily... KAREN BLACK! a+++++++++++++++++++++
What is the sexiest horror movie?
For me there's quite a few 'classics', mainly the 'lesbian vampire' films! :)~ 'Vampyres' is awesome! 'Dracula's Great Loves' is too! As is the delectable 'Vampyre Lesbos'! I'll say 'Vampyres' for me! From the over the top violence, to the just down right 'sexiness' of the two female vampires! wowwwwwwwwwwwww
Okay, to keep things nice and short, I'm gonna list some short answer questions here. I'm gonna name a director or actor/actress and you tell me your favorite work by them.
George Romero-'The Crazies'! Very underrated film! Really cool and made right between his bigger budgeted films took over!!!
Lon Chaney-'Phantom Of The Opera'! Brilliance! Tthough I haven't seen it in years! :(
John Carpenter-'The Thing'! though 'Halloween' is mandatory as well! 'The Thing' is pure nightmarish! Amazing film! Watch it every time it's on TV!
Bela Lugosi-'Dracula' of course!!!! He is the 'Count'! Though his 'pull the strings' scene for Ed Wood was genuine!
Lucio Fulci-'City Of The Living Dead'/a.k.a Gates Of Hell'! It's just so morbid! Amazing flick! Gotta make a note to 'Zombie' as well! He did a great with about all of his films!
Dario Argenta-For me, 'Tenebrae'! but yet again, 'Suspiria' is right there too! But 'Tenebrae' is just too damn intense! So 'Tenebrae' for me!!!
Wes Craven-'Last House On The Left'! Pure disgust and filth! Even the 'comedy' scenes can't stop this fucking 'after-nam' film from making you feel molested! LOVE IT!!!! I guess I should mention Sean 'Friday the 13th' Cunningham as well, since the films half his too! :)
Vincent Price-Damnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn! Impossible! I loved him in 'Shock' to 'Last Man On Earth' to 'House On Haunted Hill' to 'Dr. Phibes' and about 100+ more! Sorry, can't pick one! He is the Godddddddddddd!
Terrence Fisher-Hammer directing God! He's got that 'horror knack' that so little have in directing! Amazing stuff! For me his best work is...'Dracula Has Risen From The Grave'!!! It all fell into place there for me :)
Roger Corman (Best Work He Has Produced)-Inside the 'horror' genre.. 'Humanoids From The Deep'! Love this over the top sci-fi horror freakshow flick! Outside of horror, gotta go with 'Rock N Roll High School'!
Dan Curtis-'Burnt Offerings'! One of my fave horror films ever! And you can't mention Dan Curtis and not mention 'Trilogy Of Terror', or the doll with the hideous spirit will get me! :)
Christopher Lee-He's right there with Vincent Price! 'Satanic Rites Of Dracula' is great! 'The Wicker Man', 'Horror Express' is outstanding! He's great in all of his work too! Still is going strong! Another Goddddddddd
Peter Cushing-Put him with Lee and Price! Haha loved him as the 'elderly old man' in the 'Tales From The Crypt' 70's film. As the always creepy guy in 'Shock Waves', and him working with Christopher Lee in 'Horror Express' as well! Goddddddddddddddddd
Barbara Steele-This classic wild women of wingo wango! 'Black Sunday' is indeed her best! Though 'Nightmare Castle' aint just whistling dixie either! LOVEEEEEEE her! Amazing actress! Her small role in 'Shiver's is kick-ass too!
Donald Pleasence-Dr. Sam Loomis huh!? Well, he's another legend! He's obviously great and most known for the 'Halloween' series. But i'm gonna have to add in a few titles i loved him in too... 'The Mutations','Escape From New York' and 'Alone In The Dark'! R.I.P doctor!
What is the one VHS only movie right now that deserves a DVD release above all the others? I'm going with Night Of The Creeps. Also, how many horror films do you have in your mighty collection?
Man there's a lot I'd love to have on dvd with commentary/extras on! Of course 'Night Of The Creeps' would be great with both endings I'd assume and a photo gallery of the gorgeous Jill Whilow playing with her 'creep 'wouldn't hurt either! :) The #1 on my book would be 'Let's Scare Jessica To Death' probably! But there's tons more! Here's 20 other titles in horror I can think of off the top of my head! 'Mausoleum', 'Mortuary','Johnnys Got His Gun', 'The Godsend', 'Screams Of A Winter Night', 'Till Death', 'Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark', 'Curtains', 'Scarecrows', 'American Gothic', 'Deadtime Stories', 'Humongous', 'The Uncanny', 'Tales From The Crypt', 'The Pack', 'The Fifth Floor', 'Chillers', 'Video Dead', 'Sasquatch', and 'Funeral Home'! I'm sure in time most will come out. I hope with full-on 'extras'! that really makes it for me! Learn all the facts on the flicks etc. How many hororr flicks do i have? I'd say about 4-5000!!
Have you ever tried to write a horror script or tried out for a horror film? That ugly mug has to land you a good spot! Maybe you could play the madman in "Raping Duff's Muff".
Haha the 'Lizzy Borden/Maguire Murders'! Hehe underage sex and overage lust! Haha I can see the add for it now... 'you're about to expire lizzy mcguire'! Let's call Disney!!! :) Actually I'm talking with a friend in California who's a freakkkk for Deceased music/lyrics for many many years. He's done two short films with some great great ideas and 'cleverness' to them! One was kinda 'artsy' and one was pure black comedy! Both were really well put together! He wants to try his hand at pure 'horror' on a good size budget soon, and asked me if I 'acted'! I told him I act like a fool all the time !:) I actually was really good in drama class in high school etc.! I'd like to do some creepy horror stuff for sure, why not?! This ugly mug needs a coaster! :)
What horror film do you wish you could have been a part of (writer,cast,star,director,etc.)?
'Phantasm'! Love the 'vibe' to this classic film! Loved to have played Reggie! :) Great flick! It would be nice to have bled french's mustard! :)
What is your favorite death scene on film? What is the goriest scene you've seen on film?
I think my favorite death scene has got to be quint in 'Jaws'! You care sooo much for that guy after their stories and friendships grow throughout their attempts to kill the shark! And then the shark just tears him to bits! Watching that look of death, blood, and shock overtake him is just pure HORROR!
The 'goriest scene' is hard to say! The 'splitting apart' scene in 'Demonia' was pretty damn good!
As was the 'stomach soup' scene in 'Gates Of Hell'! And I lovvvvvved the gore scene in the now 'lost' version of 'Jason Goes To Hell' where they split the girl in half that's riding her boyfriends 'thang' during sex! That was too brilliant! Jason Voorhee's just splits her in half with the machete! Graphic as fuck! Had it on a directors 'preview' tape! but it's missing somehow! :( Hell, let's not forget the 'head bursts' in 'Dawn Of The Dead', or 'Scanners' either! Classics!
Do you think films like Wrong Turn are taking horror movies in the right direction, or is this just another start of a "Scream/I Know What You Did" trend like the mid-90s?
Hard to say! I prefer them to the 'Screams' and 'Urban Legends' that's for sure! Much more 'brutal' and intense! That's always better for me! 'Wrong Turn' was a right turn as far as 'fixing' the state of multiplex horror films intensity! Great seeing mutilation on the big screen! That 'table scene' was terrific!!!!
Are you looking forward to the remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre?
Yes, actually I am! For some reason I get a good vibe to it! It seems to have attached enough of the orginal ideas and 'aura' to make it interesting and I truly feel the people making it care about it living up to a good level of honesty that the classic 70's flick had! Don't know if Marilyn Burns will ever be topped for 'insane lady screaming in a chair made of bones' role, but I guess we'll see! I know I'll see it in a few days from now! Not when it first comes out though. Too many 'losers' in the audience to truly 'enjoy it'! I've also noticed there's tonsss of 'horror remakes' in the works! This may be the new 'trend' you were asking about! Who knows???????
What do you have planned this Halloween?
October 31 is playing on Halloween in Columbus, Ohio! Should be fun as Hell, we'll have a great show for this one!!! Working on 'ghoul punch' for the legions :) If i wasn't playing I'd probably be out spooking the kids and looking for dirty witches to grope and mangle! :)
Well you can't escape without bringing us up to date on your bands October 31 and Deceased. What do you have going on with those bands right now?
Both bands are rocking out and doing what needs to be done! Deceased is currently working on the longggggg overdue new LP 'As The Weird Travel On' in our jam spot! It'll be our first for Thrash Corner records since our leaving Relapse Records. We are off the live/gigs circuit for some time still but we'll come back on the live front stronger and wilder then ever in mid-2004! We just finished the track 'Torn Apart By Werewolves' for our side of the split EP with Nunslaugher due out on Metal War records in the near future! Also a bunch of CDs and vinyl release soon! Visit the websites www.upthetombstones.com and www.deceasedmetal.com for up to the minute news! :)
As for October 31 we are playing out a bunch and will be playing Delaware this weekend of the 18th of October! Then it's off to Ohio for Halloween weekend with two shows in Cleveland and Columbus on the 30th and 31st! We'll soon hibernate and continue work on our new record 'No Survivors!', due out April 2004! Then a German tour with Witchburner and Vortex should follow tha, as well as festival gigs in the states and who knows what else! http://truemetal.org/october31/ is the site!!!! METAL
I want to hear "Torn Apart By Werewolves", how do I get it?
Hang in there! We'll record it in the near future and then it'll be out there for all the legions! Right now it's only on a rehersal tape with me on drums and no vocals! Give it about 2 months bro! :) Thanks.
Alright Kingy man, thanks for your time. What do you have to say to the metalheads and horror freaks out there??
Don't go to Blockbuster for much horror stuff! HAHAHAHA they aint got jack shit really! Dig through the internet for classic horror films! 'Lost' films! 'New' films! Delve damnit delve! Inform yourself! ALWAYS stay on top of your game! Keep it wild and ALIVE! Take care of yourself, and scare the HELLLLLL outta someone on Halloween! Much thanks Eric for the interview!! It was my pleasure! Let's all scare jessica to death!!!! :)
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ALL INTERVIEWS FOR: DECEASED
| INTERVIEW |
INTERVIEWER |
DATE |
TAGLINE |
| King Fowley | Eric Compton, Josh Greer | 6/9/2017 | "No Happy Endings in this Tale" | | King Fowley | Josh Greer | 3/4/2004 | "Music Done By Us for Us" | | King Fowley | Eric Compton | 10/31/2003 | "King Of The Living Dead" | ALL REVIEWS FOR: DECEASEDCurrently no reviews.
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