Marv Blauvelt

Marv Blauvelt: On the Run with Horror’s Latest Marathon Man. By Brian Kirst

Marv Blauvelt burst onto the horror scene with an aggressively appealing role in the sweaty horror opus Beef: You Are What You Eat a couple of years ago and he hasn’t stopped since. With a role in Alan Rowe Kelly’s much anticipated Don’t Look in the Basement in the pipeline, the talented and friendly Blauvelt is currently gearing up to release the grue strewn Sculpture (which he co-wrote and appears in) about a beautiful woman with a nasty way with her art work. The busy Blauvelt has multiple other horrific credits to his name and despite his hectic schedule, he recently jogged over to the computer to answer some questions for the blood hungry readers of Horror Society. What a  good (n’ grizzly) guy!

Brian: Who were your first performing influences – Schwarzenegger doing it nasty as the Terminator – Spielberg riding the wave of Jaws – Stallone ‘rambo-ing’ Crenna all night long?

Marv: Believe it or not, I was not really influenced by the big budget action stars like Stallone and Schwarzenegger….I was influenced more by classic horror actors like Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Ingrid Pitt…Oliver Reed’s performance in THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF influenced me a lot as did any of the Spanish Paul Naschy werewolf films (can you tell my IDEAL role would be to play a werewolf?)…and also iconic characters like Jason Voorhees, Michael Meyers, and Leather face….in my opinion, those characters are VERY testosterone driven!       

Brian: How did you become involved in your first horror film, Beef?

Marv: I was a competitive bodybuilder for 10 years and my photos have appeared in a lot of fitness magazines and web-sites…a web-site that I am on (www.northamericanbodies.com) sent out a casting call for BEEF….since the film combined my 2 interests (Bodybuilding and Horror) I knew I had to audition….my audition was shot in the mid-west and sent to the producer (Pete Jacelone) in New Jersey, and I really did not expect to get an offer…but about 1 week later Pete called me and offered me the role of Professor Vincent Daniels…I guess the rest is history!

Brian: Sure is! – What was the most exciting aspect of Beef for you?

Marv: Well, it was my first acting role, so I was pretty nervous…but I think the character I played was the most interesting character in the movie…a psychotic, cannibalistic, bodybuilding doctor (think Hannibal Lecter on steroids!)…I still have a lot of people who remember me in that evil role!

Brian: What was your inspiration for the story of Sculpture? It seems there may be a bit of Bucket of Blood going on there. (Dick Miller away!)

Marv: Yeah, a bit BUCKET OF BLOOD, but really, more Lucky McGee’s MAY….SCULPTURE was written by Pete Jacelone, Paul (Beef) Quintero, Trevor Wright and myself….we knew we wanted Raine Brown in the lead, so she was included in the writing process which took about 6 weeks….I think the film will appeal to a very wide audience…the story is about a female artist (Raine Brown) who was abused by her father (me) and returns home for his funeral.  She decides to stay and help her brother (Dustin Kerns) run her fathers gym and is also asked to do an art exhibit for a New York art gallery opening (run by the INCREDIBLE Alan Rowe Kelly!)….BUT disturbing memories of her abusive past start haunting her and she psychotically spirals out of control, using muscular men from the gym to achieve “Artistic Perfection”…we have assembled a great cast of Indie Horror actors (Raine Brown, Misty Mundae, Susan Adrienson, Alan Rowe Kelly, Jeff Dylan Graham to name a few) and accomplished bodybuilders/fitness models (David Gilke, Austin Dossey, Jeremy Mulkey, Max Wettstien)…the story is VERY disturbing and loaded with buckets of blood and gore….horror fans who like there horror covered in gallons of crimson will LOVE this film!       

Brian: Awesome! If you could sculpt one thing in the world what would it be?  – A favorite dog? – A representation of the perfect screenplay?

Marv: My daughter Aubrie…but I would not chop her up and use her parts, like Raine does to her victims in the movie!

Brian: Well, that just about makes you Father of the Year! – Was there a moment (or element) that was most frustrating for you on the set of Sculpture? (IE- Lack of time…).

Marv: Actually, the shoot was very enjoyable and the cast and crew all became friends (and we still keep in contact with each other…and even suggest each other to other film-makers for there projects.)…SCULPTURE was a 13 day shoot in New Jersey, so we worked ALOT of long hours, often to the early morning hours….So I would sleep for about 6 hours in the morning…get up and get a one hour work-out in at the gym, and be on the set from about 2 PM to about 2 or 3 AM….needless to say, my sleep patterns really got screwed up!  

Brian: Yikes! – You get to go all heroic in the upcoming The Green Monster. Can you lay a little law force on us and tell us about that project?

THE GREEN MONSTER was written by my friend, the incredibly talented Trevor Wright (who worked on SCULPTURE and just finished an AMAZING script with me called STRONGER THAN DEATH)…THE GREEN MONSTER is a throw-back to quirky 80’s movies like MOTEL HELL or BLOOD DINER…the story is about a middle age couple from Louisiana who run a convenient store in the poor side of Boston…and also practice Black Magic and Cannibalism using teen-agers from the rich side of town in there practice….I play a southern sheriff who is a real SOB!!  (I seem to play SOB’s well!)….the movie is DEFINATELY Unique and fun and should be released this summer.      

Brian: You appear in the remake of the cult classic Don’t Look in the Basement (you are too cool for my school, now!) – Can you tell us a little about your involvement in that?

Marv: Well, I am NOT that cool (I am actually a big geek!)…Alan Rowe Kelly and Anthony Sumner approached me about playing “Dan, the telephone repair-man” and sent me the new script…WHICH I LOVED!! (And, of course, Dan is written like a pure SOB!)…Like SCULPTURE, the cast that has been assembled is INCREDIBLY talented and I am flattered to be a part of it….and I would do ANY role for the AWESOME film-makers, Alan Rowe Kelly and Anthony Sumner!…They hope to shoot the film in Southern Indiana in fall of this year, but are still looking for financing. (So if anyone would like to finance/produce this INCREDIBLE project, please contact Alan Rowe Kelly).  

Brian: We’ve taken our vitamins – so feel free to give us a little Terror Overload! Tell us all about this cool sounding project!

Marv: TERROR OVERLOAD: TALES FROM SATAN’S TRUCK STOP was a very cool project….I met director Jason Stephenson at the Chicago FANGORIA convention in 2007. I was there promoting BEEF and he was there promoting his zombie flick DOOMED TO CONSUME (which I LOVE!)…we became friends and I asked him to keep me in mind for a role in one of his next projects…TERROR OVERLOAD is a 3 story anthology with a wrap around story, and the film should be WAY over-the-top with blood, sleaze and exploitation but done in a FUN way! I am the lead in the second story (LOT LIZARD) and play a cocky truck-driver (yet again, another real SOB!) who picks up the wrong girls at a sleazy tavern off the beaten path….let’s just say, that when my character gets what is coming to him, the audience will cheer!!!…my friend, Ari Lehman (Jason from the first FRIDAY THE 13TH) is the lead in the third story MONGO CHUPA which looks outrageous!

Brian: Cool. Lastly, any words of advice (IE: Never increase the weight on your reps when a killer is haunting the gym) or future projects that you’d like to tell us about. And thanks – this has gotten us all totally pumped up!!!

Marv: I get asked fitness advice ALL the time…I will just say that the gym is DEFINATELY no place for a chainsaw…enough said! Well, along with DON’T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT, I will be shooting an anthology for director Anthony Sumner called SLICES OF LIFE in Chicago (I am in the wrap-around-story).  I just accepted the male lead in the Holiday-legend themed horror film KRAMPUS (Raine Brown is the female lead) that is scheduled to shoot in Texas.  And along with Trevor Wright, we are trying to get our baby off the ground (STRONGER THAN DEATH) and are also seeking financing to (hopefully) shoot this summer in Indiana….we have some VERY talented people who fell in love with the script and want to be part of the film (Raine, David Gilke, Jeff Dylan Graham, Justin Alvarez, Susan Adrienson, Parrish Randell, and Alan Rowe Kelly, who will also direct, just to name a few!)…the story is tragic and compelling with a supernatural twist on drug addiction (think REQUIEM FOR A DREAM with a horror slant!)…I am also playing a cop in the Dark-rider productions film LETHAL OBSESSION which is about a serial killer who murders women with kinky fetishes and shoots this spring!…AND there is also talk of a BEEF sequel that revolves around my character… This year, I became one of the producers of the HOT HUNKS OF HORROR calendar (with my friend, Andy Rose) which proceeds go to the LYNN SAGE FOUNDATION for breast cancer research…the calendar features 12 of the hottest Indie male actors working today and can be purchased at www.lulu.com (just type in HOT HUNKS OF HORROR)…since we are doing it to help in the fight against Breast cancer, we hope to do it every year!…Thanks so much for your interest in me…I am VERY glad I could help PUMP-YOU-UP!!!