Interview: The Ladies of "The Evil Dead"
Ryan chats with Betsy, Ellen and Sarah better known as Ladies of the Evil Dead.
Living-Dead.com: I know that during the production of a motion picture, certain scenes become favorites of the people who acted in it. What scene or scenes in 'Evil Dead' are your gals favorites, whether it be for sentimental purposes, or for the simple fact that it looked great on screen?
Ladies: There are only a few scenes in which we appear all together before we take on a "possessed life of our own": the car scene, which was shot during the first few days upon our arrival in Tennessee, long before we started freezing our fannies off every night and we still looked at least human, and the card-playing scene - a real classic. Linda really is dumb enough to think she has ESP, Shelly is dumb enough to make Linda think she has ESP, and then there's Cheryl, who just couldn't mind her own business, turns around to play with us, and ruins the evening for all of us.
Living-Dead.com: Question for Ellen: During the scene when Linda and Shelly are messing around with the playing cards and you begin reciting the exact same cards, how was the levitation scene done? That scene really freaked me out as a kid, and has managed to stay with me till this day.
Ladies: They put me on what has now been affectionately named the "Ellievator". Basically they attached me to a harness which was attached to the end of a telephone pole. The pole went out the window so they could basically see-saw me up into the air - not too comfortable, but it worked!
Living-Dead.com: It's obvious by the location of the filming in 'Evil Dead', that is was indeed a very secluded location. What kind of experience, (you all being the beautiful and elegant ladies you are), was it to give up the luxuries of a warm bath and soft bed, during production of 'Evil Dead'?
Ladies: Thanks for the "beautiful and elegant"! We really did have to give up warm baths and soft beds, however! The first one back to the house usually got all the hot water, so you were very lucky if you were the first one out of the car and up the stairs after a long, cold night of shooting at the cabin or worse, in the woods. And Sarah, being the savvy one and thinking ahead, would sometimes sneak into the tub and have a nice hot bath in the middle of the day, just before we trudged off to the set. But a soft bed, never. We took turns between twin beds and an army cot.
Living-Dead.com: Question for Betsy: Your strange, off the wall, horrorfying screams during your on-screen possession seemed to never end! How the heck did you manage to scream so loud for such a long period of time!? Was this scripted, or something you just add libbed once the production started?
Ladies: Well, some people say it was because I was a singer and I had great lung capacity. OK, not really. But I figured, if I really screamed loud and made the film crew cringe when I did the babydoll laugh, I wouldn't have to do it over and over too many times. The possession with the babydoll-like features wasn't scripted; it actually took on a life of it's own once we started to rehearse the scene one night - Sam liked the laugh, and it took off from there.
Living-Dead.com: It seems as if the Internet age has redefined everyone's love for the horror genre. With the concept of Movie Fan sites and the such, how does it feel to be labeled 'Cult' icons? Do you gals accept this role with honors or reluctance?
Ladies: We are happy and surprised to have a following of such great fans who are so well-versed in the horror genre. And yes, we can admit that we are "horribly honored".
Living-Dead.com: Question for Sarah: When you became possessed, and decided to drive a pencil in Linda's ankle, I never looked at a #2 pencil the same again! It also looked as if all your make-up weighed about 20 lbs! Just how uncomfortable was it to wear all this makeup during filming? Did it hinder your head movements? Did you have a problem with it coming off?
Ladies: It's funny, because you're not the first person to refer to my jabbing of the ankle scene. However, it wasn't me who did that, it was Cheryl. Remember she's the one who's an artist in the beginning; remember that lovely picture she draws of the Book of the Dead? The make-up was much worse than I had imagined it would be. I really hated it and found it so distracting when acting. At the time, I was very claustrophobic and was fearful of not being able to breathe. I don't know whether you can tell, but my face had several different looks throughout the shoot. In fact each time we shot I looked different. There wasn't a clear concept of my character's possession except that we knew we needed a lot of blood and gore. Most of my monster work was the first to be shot and I think much was refined by the time the other ladies were developing their look. The best part was removing it; my face was numb so I just didn't care how it felt coming off.
Living-Dead.com: After reading up on you gals a while back, I couldn't help but recognize your disdain for the white contact lenses you had to wear to get that 'possessed' affect. How the hell did you see through those things? Do you ever dig them out of your 'souvenir' box and terrorize unsuspecting friends or family members?
Ladies: It's funny you should ask about those "Tupperware lids" or "coffee cup saucers" as we affectionately call them. They were really uncomfortable to wear, and we couldn't see through them at all! We could only wear them for a few minutes at a time, because air could not circulate through them, and they were just as painful to pop out as they were to put in. Betsy distinctly remembers showing up at a family dinner one night and scaring the daylights out of everyone there. So watch out...someday, when you least suspect it...
Living-Dead.com: Question for Sarah: I heard through the proverbial 'grapevine' that you have an idea for a film, which may star the Ladies if the Evil Dead. Can you elaborate a little further on this?
Ladies: Well, I don't want to give too much away, but I'll tell you this: 3 horror film icons get older, they haven't seen each other in oh, 25 years, they discover that similar things had happened to them emotionally during the shoot of their movie, bringing them closer to each other. But some things, they learned were different. They had to go back to the cabin to see!
Living-Dead.com: Question for Betsy: You probably knew this question was coming, BUT, how does it feel to have been engaged in the first onscreen kiss with everybody's favorite Demon slaying son of a gun, Bruce Campbell? ?
Ladies: GIrls, trust me on this one...eat your heart out. I just wish Bruce had given me matching earrings to go with that tacky necklace he had just given me in the scene ... who knows what would have happened next.....
Living-Dead.com: Question for Ellen: I know you have probably heard a lot about this subject, but I'm going to ask it anyway... But how can one actually rehearse getting raped by a tree? Did you come up with your 'escape' scene during production, or did you do things behind the scenes to get ready for it?
Ladies: One can never really rehearse being raped by a tree - it's something that has to come naturally and I guess I just had that special talent! No behind-the-scenes preparation was necessary - I just had to run for my life and scream bloody murder, which wasn't too hard because it was about 30 degrees and I was in my nightie so I had to do something to keep warm!
Living-Dead.com: Ladies,in one word, describe what kind of overall experience it was to be part of 'Evil Dead'.
Ladies: Memorable
Living-Dead.com: I want to thank you gals from me, and behalf on everyone at Living-Dead.com. We all appreciate your time, and wish you gals the best in life. We hope to see all three of you in future projects!
