Emily Booth ('GoreZone Movie Massacre', 'Evil Aliens', 'Doghouse')

Emily Booth, British TV presenter (‘host’, if you’re American) and actress (Evil Aliens, Doghouse, Pervirella), is unleashing a new horror hosting personality for the U.K. horror magazine GoreZone DVD series called Emily Booth’s GoreZone Movie Massacre, in which she’ll give us a very funny show. If you’ve ever seen her as the title character in the crazy fantasy/horror film Pervirella, you’ll understand her unique brand of humor that she describes as "silly impressions and a heavy dose of slapstick". She brings that, and a love of horror films, to her Princess of the Demons character.

"We’re definitely tongue-in-cheek, so for my character I’m tapping into my most cheeky self to bring camp comedy into it. We’re not highbrow; we’re not the bloody culture show – its all about having fun with the beloved genre – sex, horror and comedy – all essential parts of life..."

"The show is called Emily Booth’s GoreZone Movie Massacre, so its my job to introduce the free feature film on the DVD, but I also interject throughout the film with my dry sardonic and demonic comments – usually enjoying the gore or ripping the piss out of it – in a fun way of course as I’m kind of massacring the movie and hopefully saying what people at home are thinking."

(© Copyright GoreZone Magazine 2010)

Emily Booth’s GoreZone Movie Massacre is the brainchild of Bryn Hammond, filmmaker and editor of the U.K.'s GoreZone Magazine, and Emily herself. Contemplating how little horror there is on U.K. television, they decided to make their own horror host series.

"Bryn and I are very excitable, creative types who both love horror. We both feel that even though it’s such a fun genre with a massive following, there isn’t much in terms of TV and conventions supporting it or representing it. Unfortunately, compared to America, there just aren’t any horror shows or naughty, cheeky things on TV anymore – and we’ve never had an Elvria-esque show. Personally I’ve always wanted to get my own show off the ground, I’ve made my own TV pilots, I’ve pitched to TV channels but it’s been hard to get anything commissioned. It’s the climate we’re in, which is very sad for us creative types.

When I spoke to Bryn about my ideas– he loved the concept. He came up with the format and structure of the show and then I got my developing hat out and built on the synopsis."

Emily’s character is a Demon Princess – who begins as a Dorothy/Wizard of Oz-like character wearing red sparkly shoes who accidentally kills the reigning Demon Queen (on whom she lands) when she is whisked away to the Underworld. Instead of trying to get home, Emily thinks being Demon Queen herself wouldn’t be so bad and decides to stay.

"It all sparked from the costume that Bryn had sent over for me as an option," she explains. "He asked me if I liked it and the first thing I said when I saw the red glittery shoes was 'I’m going to look like a dark Dorothy!' Bryn jumped on that and took it further and made it part of my back story – just with a more adult edge to it! I love the back story – the idea of going to hell and finding that it’s actually kind of fun! My shoes are fab – very naughty and covered in sequins."

Emily as the Princess of Demons
(© Copyright GoreZone Magazine 2010)

The first two episodes of Emily Booth’s GoreZone Movie Massacre are complete and will be available free to anyone with a GoreZone Magazine subscription. Both were shot at a supposedly haunted castle in Kent, during freezing weather, notes Booth, "especially for me wearing fishnets and a black lacy mini dress. For some reason," she adds, "as we were shooting in Henry the 8th bedroom, there was a huge life size statue of him and I suggested I have a little naughty fun with him on camera... I leave the rest up to your imagination!"

"We’re getting more stylish and ambitious with the content," she reveals. "Episode three will introduce animatronic puppets, think Jim Henson. I even get a zombie pet dog... for the first two episodes I’m just dissecting the feature film, then you’ve got all the extras and trailers etc. But over the coming months I’ll be doing more in the way of interviews and on-set visits. There’s talk of interviews with Grace Jones, Robert Englund and I can’t wait to do the on-set reports. For Episode One, Universal Pictures provided us with an on set report they did in-house on the new The Wolfman, so there’s going to be a lot of exciting stuff to tackle."

Emily’s demon make up "takes a good hour or two to put on (you can read about the SFX side of it in GoreZone issue 52.)"

But despite this, she loves "wearing prosthetic make up and have done a lot for my film roles – namely Doghouse with Danny Dyer – the make-up literally helps transform you both physically but also psychologically. You start acting completely different when you get the make-up on. I personally don’t see how I look sexy in the Demon make-up, as I think I look horrific, but some blokes on the GoreZone forum have said its really sexy. Hmmmm. don’t get it! Nasty and scary, yes But sexy...?"

In make-up, with Bryn Hammond, co-creator of the series
(© Copyright GoreZone Magazine 2010)

A lot more goes in to making something 'funny' like Movie Massacre. "It is quite hard actually," says Booth. "You either have to have a fabulously written script – tuned to your humor, or, you work with a director who lets you be yourself so you don’t mind making a tit out of yourself and have the confidence to ad lib!"

Like Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, Emily Booth’s GoreZone Movie Massacre is very much about having a sense of humor – something that beautiful women are not always encouraged to do by standards of modern media.

"There are funny females," concurs Booth, "but to be brutally honest, it seems like women who learnt to be funny did so to overcome something, or stand out in their own way. Take a look at the Marilyn Monroe persona: she played funny to appeal to both women and men. Men would want to jump her bones while women would not find her threatening because she was a dumb blonde. I guess it’s just rare to be funny and attractive? I’m not sure; men often just want a woman to be attractive and that’s enough for them – you know what they’re like – they can’t concentrate on more than one thing – to be funny AND attractive? That's just going to give them brain-melt!

To be honest I hope we will make future episodes even funnier – with more tightly written scripts and we’re even hoping to do some comedy sketches and use props more. When we start filming again we will have a comedy writer on set and we will have a couple of segments in similar in tone to the UK smash channel four show 'Smack the pony'."

Her character is also getting a comic strip in GoreZone Magazine. "It will tell my back story before I get crowned Princess of the dark. It will be very Viz in style and really bring a new side to the show... We have even talked of transforming me into a pull string doll with my show taglines. The first doll is looking at an October 2010 release. It’s all in early stages at the moment."

GoreZone Magazine has an instant audience by giving away the show to its readers on a DVD with the magazine – so its not on TV – but it will still reach a dedicated fan base and 80,000+ GoreZone Magazine UK buyers.

Emily has a long relationship with GoreZone, having written guest columns, guest edited, and appeared in the magazine numerous times. She hosts the GoreZone Film Festival.

"They have so much going on too so its all really exciting, she says. "It feels like we’re a team! Well actually we are, were a real family. Everything feels exciting with them and they get stuff done – they don’t just talk about it – they make things happen and provide a real fun buzz around this fantastic genre… But I also have a genuine passion for the genre too and I’m incredibly open and honest – so that helps keep it real and personal."

Emily will also appear in a new film - not horror, but frightening nonetheless.

"I’ve just been signed up to work on the film Brutal. It's not horror or fantasy or anything! But it is dark – I play a teacher in a deprived urban school trying to make a difference. But bad things happen to her as she gets caught up in gang culture. I really wanted to do an edgy gritty role to prove myself as a serious actress, not just a comedy horror actress."

Like any modern woman who loves horror, Emily Booth feels the same way we do at Pretty/Scary about nudity – male and female, in horror films.

"I do like to see the odd horror that includes male nudity – men can be just as vulnerable. The straight male audience just needs to get over their own insecurities when it comes to looking at male nudity! I think if you're happy sexually, then it shouldn’t really matter if it’s male or female nudity on show.

Also – and I do find this argument a tough one – as I do consider myself a feminist and think it’s a shame that the word itself has become negative – but I have to say – when it comes to horror, and being scared, the themes of sex, death, animalism, survival, nudity and vulnerability are all intertwined... It would be naïve to think that nudity shouldn’t exist in horror. I just say lets make it a bit more equal! There are certainly a lot more horny female fans out there than there used to be."

Emily Booth’s GoreZone Movie Massacre is available monthly FREE with every issue of GoreZone Magazine (starting from Issue 52 on sale January 14th 2010) on sale worldwide, including through Barnes and Noble, Virgin Megastores, Blockbusters, HMV, Borders, FPI, Forbidden Planet & Best Buy.

The first DVD will include the feature film The Summer of the Massacre, as well as the trailers for Tony, Feast II, Long Weekend, and The Wolfman. Included will be the Universal behind-the-scenes of The Wolfman.

Find out more about Emily Booth & GoreZone Magazine:

www.emilybooth.net
www.gorezone.co.uk