INTERVIEW: Bill Moseley on his latest movie and his many horror fans

Bill Moseley has become one of the most recognizable names in the horror movie genre. From House of 1,000 Corpses to The Devil’s Rejects and now Chiller’s new original TV movie Dead Souls, the actor is a modern-day Boris Karloff, one of the first people to be considered for unsettling monster roles.

In Dead Souls, which premieres Friday, Oct. 12 at 9 p.m. on the horror TV channel, an 18-year-old returns to his family’s old homestead in Maine to find some dark secrets about his ancestry.

Recently, Hollywood Soapbox took part in a conference call with Moseley and a variety of journalists. Questions and answers have been slightly edited.

You’ve really become a horror legend, you know, with so many great titles under your belt. Do you yourself like the genre? Do you like watching horror movies?

Yes. That’s a great question. And if I were to say no that would really make me out to be an idiot. I actually — yes, I’m horror through and through.

I grew up with a Halloween-friendly family and, you know, one of the biggest scares of my life was my young adult days watching the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre on a double bill with Enter the Dragon and Boston’s Combat Zone one Sunday afternoon and it changed my life. …

I’ve always been a horror guy. In college I read a horror film series called Things that Go Bump in the Night. And so I guess that’s always been in my blood.

And how does Dead Souls compare to your other projects? Was it fun to work on?

You know, Dead Souls is cool because, you know, one of the things that I love to do and don’t really do very much of and that is supernatural films. And, you know, the book, you know, by Michael Laimo and, you know, John Doolan’s script were very, very cool. …

It’s kind of a thriller, it’s a whodunit in a way. You know, there certainly are horrific elements. The farm where we shot it in Connecticut actually had kind of a haunted history to it.

So it was spooky and appropriately creepy and loads of fun to do.

You’re certainly a big name on the horror convention circuit. I was wondering, do you like going to the conventions? And normally when people come up to the table what are they sort of remembering from your career?

I do like to go to the conventions. One of the things that, you know, that I like to do is to actually mix with the fans. Not all actors like to do that. But I don’t mind, you know, letting them kick my tires so to speak. …

I would have to say that the top three or four requests are Devil’s Rejects, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, House of 1,000 Corpses and Repo! The Genetic Opera are kind of neck and neck. And then of course, Tom Savini’s color remake of Night of the Living Dead. …

I’m sure that when Dead Souls comes out Oct. 12, you know, I’m going up to something called Rock and Shock in the middle of the month so just a couple of days later I’ll be up in Worcester, Mass. So I’m sure there’ll be, you know, a lot of people excited about Dead Souls.

And then I’m doing another one in Orlando, Fla., called Spooky Empire at the end of October. So, you know, I enjoy it. I like traveling. I feel — sometimes I feel like the Willy Loman of the horror circuit.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Dead Souls premieres Friday, Oct. 12 at 9 p.m. on Chiller.