Horror icon Bill Moseley discusses his latest film The Possession Experiment
Veteran actor Bill Moseley needs little introduction. He’s one of a handful of fan favorite horror icons who is always working and always manages to elevate whatever project he’s attached to. The man who played Chop Top in Tobe Hooper’s demented 1986 sequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 and the dreaded hillbilly killer Otis in Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects is a real renaissance man. He writes, composes and performs music speaks at conventions and events around the world and of course performs in cinema of every sort.
His latest flick is writer/director Scott B. Hansen’s theological shocker The Possession Experiment, out today on VOD, On Demand and DVD from Momentum Pictures.
The film tells the story of Brandon (Chris Minor), who has always been drawn to the supernatural. When asked to pick a topic to base his final world theology class project on, he decides to explore the dark world of exorcisms. Teamed up with three classmates, the group investigates a multiple homicide that they eventually discover was an exorcism gone horribly wrong. Brandon becomes obsessed with the event, and in a strange turn of events, decides the only way to research this topic is to undergo an exorcism himself.
We caught up with Moseley to discuss the film and find out what else is going on in his always fascinating world.
CS: How do you explain the recent swell in theological horror movies? It seems that after the success of The Exorcist, there was a spike and then the genre went to sleep. It’s wide awake now. Why?
Bill Moseley: Well, the easy answer is that these are particularly scary times, godless times; it’s easier on one’s cosmology to see things depicted in the sharp contrast of good versus evil, the Church versus the Devil. In movies, the answer to most questions is money, so someone must’ve made a killing recently with an exorcism movie. They’re cheap to make relative to a Marvel megamovie- and they strike a common bass note kinda like metal music, Harley hogs, tats and black leather. Funny, too, because lately it looks like God isn’t always winning these battles- climate keeps changing, ISIS keeps blowing shit up, if it isn’t Ebola it’s Zika. Ai yai yai! It’d be nice to exorcise the fucking planet, right?! Short of that, these movies make perfect sense.
CS: You’ve been at this for so long and it’s clear that people go looking for you. Do you even need to audition anymore?
Moseley: I wish I’d reached the point in my career where I no longer have to audition, especially as auditions have not been my strong suit- although I am getting better at self-taping and “phoning it in.” For me the magic comes when someone says they want me, when I can just concentrate on playing the part, when I’m in makeup and wardrobe, on the set, have fellows actors to interact with. BTW, I did not audition for Choptop, Otis, Johnny (Night of the Living Dead) or Luigi Largo (Repo! The Genetic Opera) – thank you, Tobe Hooper, Rob Zombie, Tom Savini and Darren Lynn Bousman! For The Possession Experiment, Mary Dixon and Scott Hansen had me in mind, hired me and put me to work. That’s the way I like, and that’s the way I do my best!
CS: You have released a few albums, sometimes appear on other people’s albums and it’s well know what a “music guy” you are. Do you try to find projects where you can marry your two worlds?
Moseley: Director Tim Sullivan used a Spider Mountain song over the end credit crawl of his 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams. Written by Rani Sharone (Stolen Babies) & me, it was a little banjo ditty called “Lord, Let Me Help You Decide” (who on earth should live and who should die). Mike Watt used a Cornbugs song, “Spot the Psycho,” in his The Splatter Movie. Of course, musically speaking, I got to sing and dance in Darren Bousman’s Repo!, not to mention his The Devil’s Carnival parts 1 & 2. I love making music, have an EP dropping 1/20/17 from Housecore Records called “Bill & Phil: Songs of Darkness & Despair,” a 6-song collaboration with Pantera/Down/Superjoint front man Phil Anselmo.
CS: The Possession Experiment sees you working with a first time director, Scott Hansen. How was that?
Moseley: I had a great time working with Scott. I found out months after shooting my scene that The Possession Experiment was Scott’s feature directorial debut, and I must confess, that came as quite a surprise. He was cool, calm, collected, had a great crew and knew what he wanted and how to communicate it. I’d work with him again and writer/producer Mary Dixon in a Virginia Beach minute!
CS: Why the heck aren’t you directing anything?
Moseley: Probably because I’m so filled with showing up as an actor, I don’t have the extra appetite or energy to work the night shift. Maybe that will change someday, but for now, I’m happy just treading the boards.
The Possession Experiment is out now on VOD, On Demand and DVD. Check out the exclusive clip below.