A FILTHY CHAT WITH GEORGE STOVER
By Jenn Dlugos

George Stover is perhaps most known for his bit roles in many of the early John Waters films. However, he’s also been in practically every freaking modern B-movie known to man. Hollyweird Webzine caught up with George via Internet and chatted about all things Waters and filthy.

 

Hollyweird: What made you decide to go into acting?

 

George Stover: Well, when I was growing up, I loved watching movies. Especially horror and science-fiction movies. But I never had any particular desire to pursue acting until I was in college. Even though I majored in math, I decided to take a few drama courses and I appeared in my first play, which was a Christmas pageant. After graduation, I continued acting in plays, appearing in several productions around town. But my heart wasn't in stage work. I wanted to be in the movies.

 

HW: How did you hook up with John Waters?

 

GS: I first became acquainted with John when we were both in the eighth grade. We were in homeroom together at the beginning and end of each school day. I remember that on Monday mornings we would often discuss the episode of The Twilight Zone that had aired on network television the previous Friday evening.

 

The years went by and we lost touch, but I would occasionally read articles in the newspaper about a local filmmaker named John Waters. However, I wasn't even sure if it was the same person I knew back in the eighth grade. Well, one day I read an article in which John said he had trouble finding actors to play "normal" people like parents and school teachers and so forth, because all of his friends had purple hair or weighed 300 pounds or whatever. So I tracked him down and sent him my photo and resume. His casting agent, Pat Moran, called and cast me in the movie they were about to make at the time, which was FEMALE TROUBLE. It wasn't until I saw John Waters in person at a meeting before the shoot that I recognized him to be the same person I'd known years earlier.

 

HW: What is John like to work with?

 

GS: John's very easy to work with. I've never seen him lose his temper and I've never noticed any tension on the set of one of his movies. He's always prepared and it's evident that he knows exactly what shots he wants to capture on film.

 

HW: Do you have any particularly funny or humorous memories working on FEMALE TROUBLE?

 

GS: I can't think of anything too funny. I recall that when our entourage of cars passed through the prison gates, the guards searched the trunk of each vehicle. But I can't remember if that was on the way in--to make sure we didn't have any contraband, or if it was on the way out--to make sure we didn't steal anything or help a prisoner to escape! We filmed in an empty cell block, however, so we never came in contact with any of the real prisoners. At the time, the warden was on the young side and I think he was a fan of John's movies. I also remember Divine calling me "Father" on the set.

 

HW: I've heard many horror/humorous stories about the working conditions of DESPERATE LIVING, basically how far the location was from any sign of life. Do you have any you could share?

 

GS: I'm sure you're referring to the scenes shot in Mortville. Yes, I'd heard that the set was built out in the country a pretty far distance from Baltimore City, and that all the extras were taken there by bus. In that way, they couldn't run away or leave the set very conveniently if they didn't like the long work day and tiring working conditions. However, I never got to visit the Mortville set. My scenes were all shot at the home of John's parents. Personally, I didn't experience any difficulties with the working conditions. Except for the usual waiting around hour after hour. But that's typical on most movie sets.

 

HW: Do you have a favorite John Waters film?

 

GS: Well, considering that FEMALE TROUBLE was the first movie in which I had a speaking part, that film is certainly one of my favorites. On the other hand, DESPERATE LIVING is the John Waters movie in which my role is the largest. So, for that reason, DESPERATE LIVING also has to be one of my favorites. However, if I had never been cast in any John's movies in the first place, I would say that HAIRSPRAY would have to be my favorite.

 

HW: Did you know Divine very well?

 

GS: No, not much at all. He was one year ahead of me at Towson Senior High School, but I was never even aware of him during those years. Divine was nice to me on the set of FEMALE TROUBLE, but we never kept in touch after that and I don't think our paths ever crossed again until POLYESTER was about to start shooting. Divine is buried within walking distance from my home and I've often gone to the cemetery to pay my respects. After my photo was published in the book MY SON DIVINE, I wrote Divine's mother a note and sent her a picture of me with Divine and she wrote back and thanked me.

 

HW: Do you still keep in touch with John?

 

GS: Not so much on the phone or in person. But I'm still on John's Christmas card list and I send him copies of my movies each birthday as they are released on DVD. He always thanks me by way of a post card and he also recently sent me a photocopy of a reference to Bosley Gravel--my character in DESPERATE LIVING--that was in a New York paper. His assistant called me earlier this year and told me that there were two tickets being held in my name at The Senator Theatre here in Baltimore where the restored version of FEMALE TROUBLE was playing for a week. John also forwarded my phone number to the publisher of the book MY SON DIVINE, since the publisher needed to contact me about permission to print a photo of me and Divine from FEMALE TROUBLE.

 

HW: THE ALIEN FACTOR was a very originally conceived film, even for being low budget. Why don't you tell our readers a little bit about what the movie was about, and how you got the part?

 

GS: Well, the story concerns a spaceship containing several specimens of extraterrestrial life that escape after the spaceship crashes near a small town. There was an article about me in the local newspaper in 1972 pertaining to a fanzine I published at the time. Don Dohler read the article and contacted me and told me his plans for publishing a magazine, which turned out to be Cinemagic. We became good friends and both realized we had the same goal of wanting to make movies. Eventually, Don decided to shoot a science-fiction movie in 16 mm and he rounded up as many people as he could to help---all working for free--and THE ALIEN FACTOR was the result. At the time, STAR WARS had already been a big hit and TV syndicators were hungry for more science-fiction product. Gold Key Entertainment released the movie to television and THE ALIEN FACTOR received quite a bit of publicity. One of the monsters even appeared on the cover of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND magazine. The film was just released earlier this year on DVD by Retromedia Entertainment and the disc includes bloopers and an extensive still gallery. A review of the DVD appears in the December, 2002 issue of Video Watchdog magazine.

 

HW: Wasn't NIGHTBEAST kind of an update on ALIEN FACTOR?

 

GS: It was sort of a semi-sequel. Several of the characters remained the same and were portrayed by the same actors. However, the plots had no connection to one another. Sort of like two episodes of the TV series KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER in which there was a different monster every week, but no reference at all to the monster in the previous episode. Troma now owns the rights to NIGHTBEAST and even though they've released it on video overseas, they haven't released it in the United States yet, for whatever reason.

 

HW: The Internet Movie Database has you credited in the documentary FLESH AND BLOOD: A HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR, which I'm quite envious of, since I'm a Hammer completist...owning ALL of their films, even the never-in- print, obscure ones. What exactly did you contribute?

 

GS: Hmmm, I'd completely forgotten about my contribution to that project. I think all I did was make available to the producer, Ted Newsom, one or two Hammer trailers that he must have needed at the time. I know that I never left Baltimore to work on that documentary, however.

 

HW: Many of us horror fans might be interested to know that you were in the movie DRACULA'S WIDOW which was directed by Francis Ford Coppola's nephew. What was he like to work with?

 

GS: Chris Coppola--who is the brother of Nicholas Cage--was very mild mannered and kind. He was a joy to work for. A very nice person. That movie was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina. It was supposed to be released in theaters but after the bankruptcy of the film's producer, which was the DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group Inc., the movie was just released in the United States on video and cable. However, it must have been released to theaters in some countries overseas because I recently purchased a Turkish one sheet and set of lobby cards from the film on eBay. I had a small part as "Bob" the coroner who shows up at the scene of a grisly murder.

 

HW: You were also in other B-horror movies like SLEEPY HOLLOW HIGH and BLOOD MASSACRE. What attracts you to doing these film projects?

 

GS: Well, when independent producers are working with low-budgets, they are often attracted to science-fiction and horror films. These are two of the few types of movies that can be made without name stars and on low budgets and can still generally be counted on to make money. If I had only made low-budget romantic comedies or "relationship movies" here in Baltimore, you probably wouldn't have even heard of me and I wouldn't be doing this interview now because such films are the "kiss of death" and would probably never have even been released. It always bothers me when I run into somebody who has an itch to make a movie and it's a story about relationships or teenage angst or some such topic. Without higher budgets and famous stars, such projects are almost doomed to financial failure. But throughout the history of motion pictures, monster movies have almost always sold.

However, I'm proud to say that I've branched out a little bit in the last few years. I play a newspaper executive in the children's movie OPERATION DALMATIAN: PAWS AND CLAWS RESCUERS, directed by Kevin Summerfield who had previously directed SLEEPY HOLLOW HIGH. Kevin recently cast me in MAX MAGICIAN AND THE LEGEND OF THE RINGS. I only have one line of dialogue, but the film is being widely distributed in Wal-Marts across the country and should get a lot of exposure. And a combination martial arts-crime movie called THE STRIKE was released on DVD this past summer. I play a television executive in a scene in that movie. It was filmed in Atlanta and was directed by Donald Farmer.

 

HW: Pretty recently you were in ATTACK OF THE 60 FOOT CENTERFOLD. Howdid you get the part in this film?

 

GS: The director, Fred Olen Ray, is a friend of mine and he'd seen the Don Dohler movies I'd been in. I was one of only a handful of actors Fred has ever brought in from the East Coast to be in one of his movies. I had a lot of fun working on that project. Believe it or not, a set of trading cards was even made from that film! Occasionally, they show up on eBay.

 

HW: Recently, you were in a movie called HARVESTERS which sounds like it has a wonderfully hysterical premise. Why don't you tell our readers a little bit about the film and what it was like to work on it?

 

GS: The movie concerns a family who makes its living by murdering people and harvesting their body parts. There's a home invasion and this family is held hostage by a gang of thugs...but then the tables are turned and the plot thickens...and so does the blood! Making HARVESTERS was a lot of fun, but there was a great deal of physical work for me to do in this one. I had to do a lot of running through the woods, and climbing on rocks, and I even had to get drenched in a river during the cold month of September. The film is in release on DVD and VHS by Key East Entertainment of Hollywood Florida. It was directed by Joe Ripple and written, produced, photographed and edited by Don Dohler. It was the first movie produced by a new company formed by Joe and Don called Timewarp Films. If anyone would like to check out some photos from the movie, they can go to www.timewarpfilms.com. HARVESTERS is also reviewed in the December, 2002 issue of Video Watchdog.

 

HW: Also, why don't you tell our readers a little bit about STAKES which is now out on DVD.

 

GS: STAKES was the second feature produced by Timewarp Films. It's a rather unique vampire story that combines both horror and science fiction. The plot deals with some vampires who invade Earth from a parallel world. I play a priest who tries to exterminate these vampires before they infect the people of Earth and take over our planet. I play a priest who tries to exterminate these vampires before they infect the people of Earth and take over our planet. The STAKES DVD contains a documentary, bloopers, and two trailers.

 

HW: You were also the editor of Black Oracle and Cinemacabre. Why don't you tell us a little bit about those publications.

GS: I published those magazines years ago--along with my partners John Parnum and Steve Vertlieb---before desktop publishing was commonplace. It was a very rewarding experience, but it was a lot of hard work and I never made any money at it. I figured that since I had my own magazine, however, I might as well promote my acting career. So I frequently ran reviews of some of my movies. After a total of ten issues of Black Oracle and seven issues of Cinemacabre, I threw in the towel. Magazines can be very expensive to have printed, and editing and doing layouts without the benefit of a computer was extremely time consuming.

 

HW: What else are you working on now?

GS: I just filmed a scene as a Peeping Tom type of character in a movie called VAMPIRE SISTERS which is also from Timewarp Films. After that, I'm not sure what my next project will be. But something will undoubtedly come along, sooner or later. I'm looking forward to my movies FIEND and ALIEN RAMPAGE being released on DVD in 2003 by Retromedia Entertainment.

 

HW: What advice would you give to people trying to get into the cult film industry?

 

GS: Just be persistent and hang in there. Sometimes, it takes years. A person has to do a lot of self promotion and be able to withstand a lot of rejection. But it's important never to give up. Sooner or later, and with the passing of time, many of the movies that were once frowned upon become accepted and are seen by more and more people. And if you work in enough of these low-budget movies over a long enough period of time, a person can become a "cult" personality.

 

Thanks George for taking the time out of your trash film schedule to talk about us! You’ve had a very interesting career and we always look forward to talking to those in the interview. Best of luck in the future!