(conducted by Devin Kelly)

 From humble beginnings and an ever growing and passionate love affair with all manner of cinema big and small that began at a very early age, developing into something much more special today, Steve Warren throughout his life has always exhibited the desire to be involved in film. Now, in the post-success of perhaps his most noted and discussed role as 'Ivan' - the head of a human flesh curing clan in one of this year's most popular independent horror releases, SCARCE - Steve takes some time to join us at Cinema Nocturna to candidly discuss movies, life, and one of the biggest, blood-drenched hits of his career.

And now without further delay...

CINEMA NOCTURNA:  Who were your biggest acting influences as a young man growing up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania?

STEVE WARREN:  I never thought of it that way.  I related to actors around my own age like Bobby Driscoll in Treasure Island and Brandon De Wilde in Shane and Blue Denim.  I wasn’t big on Brando and the Method, though when I saw James Dean in Rebel without a Cause I couldn’t wait to become a fucked-up teenager.  Burt Lancaster was a favorite but he was so physical and I was so not, I was never going to be him.  I wanted to sing like Howard Keel too, but if I’d thought about it, the actor I most resembled at the time – wooden, speaking in a monotone – was Jack Webb of Dragnet fame.

In horror Vincent Price was The Man and you could say he was the influence that carried over into my actual career all these years later…although I can’t quite picture him playing Ivan in SCARCE.  I met him once and he was a real gentleman.

CN: What one film related moment truly first captured your imagination or left you awestruck from the vast world of cinema?

STEVE WARREN:  I’m a first impressions guy.  I stepped into the campus radio station as a freshman, felt at home and stayed in radio for almost 20 years.  The first time I worked on a real movie set as an extra I got the same feeling and kept going back for ten years before I even thought about working as a principal.

So in the same way, the first time I saw a movie got me hooked on movies for life.  I was five and my parents took me to a double feature.  (Do I have to explain to your readers under 30 what double features were?  It was like jumping screens at a multiplex except they showed both pictures in the same auditorium.)  I don’t remember the specific titles but there was a Tarzan movie and a Blondie movie.  Sorry it wasn’t Frankenstein and Dracula.  I saw them a couple years later.

CN: Was the acting field one that Steve Warren had always wanted to venture into as your desired pursuit of happiness?

STEVE WARREN:  Once I was hooked on movies I knew I wanted to be a movie star when I grew up.  I didn’t realize how long it would take me to grow up.  I did theater in high school and college, transitioned into tech work when I realized I sucked at acting, then settled for reviewing film and theater for a long time.  I guess I’m a lesson in never giving up on your dream, even though I did.

CN: What was the first acting gig you landed?

STEVE WARREN:  That would be a third grade production of “The Nutcracker.”  I was a soldier.

CN: Of course, the majority of this interview will be centered on one of your more recent projects – the low-budget cannibalistic horror opus, SCARCE (2008), which you shot with young upstart Canadian filmmakers in small town Ontario in the unforgiving winter of 2007. Directors Jesse T. Cook and John Geddes are clearly longtime horror fanatics, avidly seeking out favorite splatter classics for years. How about yourself when it comes to the horror genre? Does Steve Warren count himself among the legions of terror flick buffs?

STEVE WARREN:  I’ve always had eclectic tastes.  Sure, I loved sci-fi and horror as a kid, but I also loved Westerns, musicals, comedies and dramas.  I think I’m a pacifist today because I saw the original Day the Earth Stood Still at an impressionable age.

CN: How were you first approached about the idea of appearing in SCARCE and what did you initially think of the premise?

STEVE WARREN:  It was one of those one-in-a-million things.  A few weeks before Cook and Geddes were to start shooting, ACTRA, the Canadian actors’ union, went on strike and they lost their two leads.  They advertised on Craigslist for “villainous hicks.”  I e-mailed my headshot and resume like I do all the time for stuff.  You’d have to ask them why they looked at my picture and said, “That’s our Ivan!”  I’m not sure I should be flattered but I’m certainly glad.

Anyway, they called, we talked a little.  They told me the plot of SCARCE in a few sentences and I said one of the dumbest things I’ve said in my life: “That sounds like Wolf Creek.”  Fortunately they weren’t offended.  I think Geddes said something like, “Yeah, it’s like Wolf Creek, but with snow.”

I told them to send me a script.  When I read it I fell in love with Ivan’s monologue about how he became a cannibal.  That sold me, and two weeks later I was in Canada.

CN: Were you keen on the idea of shooting in blistering temperatures in the dead of a harsh Canadian winter? Had you been to Canada prior?

STEVE WARREN:  I’d been to Montreal and Quebec as a child, Vancouver for Expo and Toronto a couple of times, including a church conference during a record July heat wave.

Growing up in Pennsylvania and going to Penn State, which is in the mountains, probably within a hundred miles of Ivan and Wade’s cabin, I’d seen my share of snow, but nothing to prepare me for Collingwood in February, where the temperature didn’t go above freezing the first three and a half weeks I was there.  Fortunately the forecasts were all in Celsius and I only speak Fahrenheit, so I didn’t know how cold it was.

But this was a chance to realize my movie star dream.  I would have walked through fire to do it.  Come to think of it I would rather have walked through fire.

CN: What were your first impressions of directors Jesse Cook and John Geddes?

STEVE WARREN:  They sounded nice on the phone but I’ve worked for a lot of filmmakers who sounded nice, some who could even fake it in auditions and negotiations.  No, seriously, I like most of the people I’ve worked with in this business.  There’s a very short list of the ones I’d rather not work with again, and no one on SCARCE made that list.

By the time Cook and Geddes met me at the Toronto airport I was too tired to form an impression.  I’d shot a scene in Atlanta that morning for an outrageous comedy, something I had to squeeze in before I left town for a month.  It was an interesting coincidence because I’d been cast in it the same day as SCARCE, it was also the work of a pair of twenty something filmmakers and both scripts included the phrase “…on fire tonight.”

Since most indie filmmakers in Atlanta work with pocket change I was impressed that Geddes and Cook had spent a year raising a decent budget before they started filming, but I always remain skeptical until the first check clears.

We had a couple of hours to get acquainted on the ride to Collingwood and there was still nothing about them that sent up red flags; nor was there anything to indicate how much I would come to love those guys over the next four weeks.

Or if you want a short answer, I noticed they addressed everybody by their last names and said “fuck” a lot.

CN: The film is very similar in tone to other horror pictures, such as THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974), in which young people are menaced in a rural environment by human psychopaths who happen to eat flesh. What did you want to bring to the part of ‘Ivan’ that perhaps those other killers in similar films didn’t have?

STEVE WARREN:  Other than my good looks and natural charm?  I didn’t think about it in those terms.  The differences were in the script and I just tried to give the directors – who were also the writers - what they wanted.  I’m not very analytical.  I try to deliver what I see in the script and tweak it if the director asks me to.

One idea I came up with for SCARCE is that Ivan would become less of a hick once his true colors were revealed.  He just crackers it up to put his victims at ease by letting them feel intellectually superior.  I ran it by Cook and Geddes and they agreed to let me try it.

CN: In your opinion, what do you think it truly takes to bring forth realism in a horror picture?

STEVE WARREN:  Who wants realism in a horror picture?  If I want horrible reality I’ll watch the news.  I’m looking for a good fantasy with realistic effects that make it look like bad shit is really happening.  Horror is Laurence Olivier with a dental drill in Marathon Man or Orson Welles with a badge in Touch of Evil.  Of the new school of video “realism” I hated The Blair Witch Project but admired Cloverfield a lot.

CN: From a make-up effects standpoint, for a lower-budgeted offering, the work in SCARCE was outstanding. In particular, your transformation into Ivan had you looking ever the extra seedy, yellow-toothed, cannibal hayseed. How long did make-up take to apply each day and how did you feel about the overall result?

STEVE WARREN:  Plan A was to have a dentist, who was also an investor in the film, make a customized latex thingy that would fit over my real teeth; but it turned out I couldn’t talk with that in place.  Plan B was to have the FX guys, the Gore Brothers (a.k.a. Jay and Jeff Derushie) and their protégée, Gore Sister Charis Chattell, paint my teeth every morning and touch them up periodically during the day, especially after I ate someone – er, something.  Once we got the routine down it didn’t take very long.  Someone had an adjustable shaver so I could keep myself at about four days’ worth of stubble.

I like the result.  It only bothers me when people think I wasn’t wearing makeup.

CN: Cook and Geddes were not only SCARCE’s ever committed directors, but also (along with Thomas Webb) two of likely the most hardcore dedicated co-stars you’ve ever worked with. From running through snow drifts up past their waists in nothing but boxer shorts and t-shirts, to putting fierce dedication into making their vision a reality - putting their creative efforts on the screen and selling it to those hunting for a gritty exploitation horror outing with a strong taste of the grimy vibe of yesteryear. What are your thoughts on the beyond amazing efforts of these rising makers of the movie macabre and their futures in the genre?

STEVE WARREN:  I can’t praise those guys highly enough.  I dropped out of the Army’s officer training program because I realized I couldn’t order anyone to do anything I wouldn’t do myself.  Geddes and Cook are the gold standard (or whatever’s worth anything these days) when it comes to getting down in the trenches with the troops, and they always looked after everyone else before themselves.  Besides them, Webb was the only one with more than one barefoot scene in the snow.  Cook also got his fiancée to do a snow scene – and she married him after that!  If he never wins an Oscar or a Juno, his Leigh will be prize enough.

It wasn’t just the snow but the dungeon scenes, Geddes and Webb hanging like slabs of beef for hours on end and Cook sitting in that gibbet.  And while they’re going through all that they’re also directing and dealing with a thousand production details.

Webb’s a great guy – except for his cigarette habit – and a good actor.  As for Cook and Geddes, let’s just say I’ve got a lot of love and respect for them.  I’ve still got to negotiate with them for their next projects and if they realized what I would do for them they could lower their budget for actors and hookers.

I don’t think either of them will work exclusively in horror, although I imagine they’ll come back to it from time to time.  Their interests are diverse and I think they’ll want to explore other genres as well, and I don’t see why they shouldn’t succeed at whatever they try.

CN: Much of your dialogue as Ivan was exceptionally well written and entertaining, with a sick twist of black humor to it. Your delivery is the major and main reason, along with the film’s premise, as to why a lot of this darkly fun material worked. As an actor, do you find it easier to be scary or funny? Oh and by the way – where can I get a case of Malarkey?

STEVE WARREN:  If you stop by the cabin we can hook you up with all the Malarkey you can drink, but you’d better drink fast.

Scary and funny are two things that come naturally to me.  I developed my sense of humor as a kid as a defense mechanism because I couldn’t fight and I wasn’t scary enough then.

I sometimes bring more humor to a role than was intended, but I can tone it down if the director doesn’t like it.  I recently did a picture called Special Affects where I rewrote a straight little speech into what’s practically a stand-up comedy routine aimed at film buffs.  I’d like to do more comedy but I like horror with touches of comedy.  In SCARCE I was lucky that Ivan has most of the best lines.  I just hope I did them justice.

CN: Your co-meat eaters – Chris Warrilow as ‘The Slob’ and Gary Fischer in the role of ‘Wade’ were equally grotesque and disturbed, and I believe their presence, as well as yours, are huge reasons as to why fans have already formed a seemingly cult like response around the film. The villains are so gruesome in SCARCE they become sickly likeable. Would you agree that there’s a morbid side to society that likes to root for the despicable, creepy bad guy? What are your memories of time spent on set with Warrilow and Fischer – decked out as nasty flesh fiends?

STEVE WARREN:  Well, morbidity drives the genre.  Most people would rather watch death than do it.  The characters’ popularity is up to the filmmakers.  If they create a killing machine with no personality – maybe a virus, or a shark – as a villain, the audience will root for the hero.   If they give the villain some kind of twisted appeal, and cast the right actor, he or she will be the audience’s favorite.

I didn’t have a lot of scenes with Chris, but as you saw in the film he makes a strong impact fast.  He was also our gun wrangler, so I asked him if he was an actor who wrangles guns or a gun wrangler who acts.  Turns out he’s a craftsman by profession.  He made the gibbet in the dungeon.

As for Gary, we roomed together for most of the shoot so we didn’t hang out together that much on the set.  We got along well but I’m sure we both had habits that got on each other’s nerves.  He’s one of those people who keep the TV on all the time for background noise, while I’d rather listen to music.  But I think we’d be friends if we lived in the same city.

CN: One small detail that stood out are the scenes where Ivan is washing his hands, often times before or after the preparation and consumption of some type of meat. The sound effects are so effective during these moments, these scenes have become notoriously cringe-inducing. Do you think that some horror directors of today have become too dependant on explicitly realistic gore and the art of the sound effect and the idea that “less is more” is lost?

STEVE WARREN:  One of my favorite horror scenes is in the Val Lewton-Jacques Tourneur Cat People, where the sound of a bus scared more crap out of me than all the blood in all the Halloweens.  That sound effect worked because it wasn’t something being overused in every movie you saw.

Younger generations have been conditioned to expect to be grossed out.  If the pendulum ever swings back the other way my Karo syrup stock is going to drop like a motherfucker.

CN: What was the hardest aspect for you of filming SCARCE and what’s been your biggest challenge to overcome thus far as an actor in general?

STEVE WARREN:  Cook and Geddes made fun of my trouble walking on snow and ice, but I did fine in my own shoes.  It’s those cheap-ass boots they got for Ivan that had no traction, and I accused them of greasing the soles every night to make it harder for me.  Actually I adjusted to the weather easier than I thought I would, I guess because the Canadian people were so warm.

One of the most gratifying things to me, getting serious about acting as late as I did, has been constantly surprising myself with my ability to meet challenges – memorizing, hitting marks, speaking in accents; even some physical stuff that I couldn’t do as me but can do as a character.But as any actor will tell you, the biggest challenge is getting cast.  It was a lifetime of personal rejection that prepared me for this career.

CN: It certainly must have been a thrill for you and the rest of the cast and crew when the film was picked up for distribution by Anchor Bay Entertainment – established heavyweights, especially in the horror DVD market. How does it feel to have your name cast as the star of a now well circulated horror picture that’s played various festivals – including Cannes – and landed a great deal that’ll see it get ample coverage and recognition in various markets? Oh, and more importantly, it seems to be widely accepted by the open horror public as definitely one of the better new little backwoods, bloody winter sleepers to hit the genre in some time.

STEVE WARREN:  Well, we’re not in a league with the Saws and Screams yet, but I’ve worked on so many films that never saw the light of day – some were never finished, others never sold – that it’s always a relief to see the finished product get out there.  In the case of SCARCE the premiere was at the Bloor Cinema in Toronto, and it was one of the greatest nights of my life.

I had my rock star moment there after the movie, when Geddes and Cook went up to the stage and then called me up.  Over 500 people were cheering and I grabbed the mic and said, “In the States, when a villain does a good job we don’t cheer – we boo.  You Canadians are too fucking polite!”  And of course they booed.

Getting picked up by Anchor Bay was awesome.  I get shivers thinking of the great films we’ll be rubbing shoulders with in their catalogue.  Now Koch Entertainment has it for the U.S., coming out April 14, and they’re not too shabby either.

I’ve got a friend in Thailand looking out for a bootleg copy.  When we get pirated we’ll know we’ve made it!

CN: Let fans know how they can pick up Anchor Bay’s SCARCE widescreen presentation special edition with bonus features as a sweet gift for the Christmas 2008 holiday season. I’ve got my copy, and I must say Anchor Bay went all out with a really gorgeous case and slip cover. Subtle, but very nice and effective.

STEVE WARREN:  I think you’ve just told them.  Thanks, Devin.  The check’s in the mail.

CN: What else is currently on the horizon in the film world for Steve Warren? I see you’ve got a part in another, even more recent cannibalism-based horror tale shot in Georgia, called LYNCH MOB (2008). What can you tell us about that film?

STEVE WARREN: That was actually shot before SCARCE and we had a cast and crew screening last spring.  I don’t know why it’s taking so long to find distribution, because it’s good.  I went to a reading of the script and liked it so much I really fought for a part.

Lynch Mob is a horror comedy about a mob snitch (played by Michael Cole, who’s terrific in a Peter Lorre way) placed by witness protection in a small Georgia town where the dozen or so inhabitants – I’m one of them – have been under a curse since the Civil War.  We can’t age or die and we eat outsiders who pass through.  I get killed four or five times but usually recover.

I recently did my first Western, The Gunfighters’ Last Stand, playing an aging gunfighter.  In Special Affects I’m an over-the-hill director, a relic of the old Hollywood who’s reduced to making low-budget horror movies.  A young woman hired to do special effects isn’t very good at it so she kills people for real to get the shots.

The principal photography for that one was done in about three days, but I just shot my last scene for Game Over, which has been dragging on for over two years.  I’m a mad scientist trying to harness the brain power of natural telepaths, but unfortunately their heads keep exploding.  Emmanuel Lewis of “Webster” fame is the little big boss of the company I work for.

Maybe the most horrifying film I’ve worked on is a documentary, An Inconvenient Tax, about the problems with U.S. taxes and some possible solutions.  I play Uncle Sam in some scenes to break up the talking heads.

These are all independent films so there’s no telling when – or if – you’ll get to see them.

CN: Without saying too much, would you have preferred they had left room for you to reprise your role as Ivan somewhere down the line?

STEVE WARREN:  If you’re alluding to the possibility of Ivan meeting with an unfortunate accident before the end of SCARCE, I can only say death has never kept a horror villain from returning if there was a demand for a sequel.

When we were freezing we joked about SCARCE 2: IVAN GOES TO HAWAII, but there was also talk about a prequel showing Ivan and Wade in their younger days.  I guess they’d have to use the software they used on Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in X-Men: The Last Stand, unless they went with younger actors.

CN: What do you feel the horror genre may be lacking in this day and age that it once had, especially during its heyday in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s?

STEVE WARREN:  You’re so young.  What about the heydays of the ‘20s with Murnau and Lon Chaney; the ‘30s with James Whale, King Kong, Karloff and Lugosi; the ‘40s with Val Lewton; the ‘50s with Godzilla and other atomic mutants, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and early Roger Corman?

There are occasional slow periods but another Carpenter or Craven or Romero or Roth or Cook and Geddes will always come along and get things moving again.  Each era has its classics and its aficionados of whatever it brings.  There will always be those who say the last wave was better – like Burt Lancaster in Atlantic City talking about how the Atlantic used to be an ocean.  I hope I’ll always stay open to whatever new trends come along.

CN: Is there anything you’d like to let folks know that they possibly aren’t aware of about Steve Warren?

STEVE WARREN:  How about, I still don’t have a cell phone?  I think they’re responsible for an incredible amount of rudeness, antisocial behavior and bad driving.

CN: In closing Steve, what’s your vision of an ideal world look like in say...oh...fifteen years?

STEVE WARREN:  If the U.S. election had gone the other way I’d have said we’d be lucky to have a world in 15 years.  We’re not out of the woods yet, but whatever the world looks like in 15 years I hope I’m still here to see it.

From all of us here at the Nocturnal headquarters for everything cult, horror and beyond – as well as our readers - it has truly been a pleasure corresponding, and more specifically being able to have the privilege to have you take time out, Mr. Warren, to do this for Cinema Nocturna. It most genuinely has been both a treat and incredibly interesting. Once again, thanks a million, Steve Warren!

Cinema Nocturna's Review of SCARCE

2008 @ CINEMA NOCTURNA