Barbara Crampton
Horror’s First Lady on ’80s sexploitation, Stuart Gordon and her new film, Sacrifice…
In the ’80s and ’90s, Barbara Crampton became a cult hero, starring in Body Double, Chopping Mall, Puppet Master and Stuart Gordon’s H.P. Lovecraft adaps Re-Animator, From Beyond and Castle Freak. Recent horror movies such as You’re Next, We Are Still Here and Beyond The Gates have renewed her horror icon status. And now she’s at it again, as a cult leader in Sacrifice…
Your character in Sacrifice must have been fun to play…
Very much. I’ve never played a head of a cult before, [laughs] and I love folk horror – The Wicker Man is one of my favourite films.
Why do you think folk horror is now so in vogue?
Because we’ve really come to understand how tribal we are. There are so many different factions. The left wing and right wing – especially in [the United States] – and also religious affiliations. We thought there was going to be this explosion of a global society, but it doesn’t feel like that. It feels very fractured. So trying to understand why people become part of a group, or part of a cult.
Sacrifice taps into H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythology. Are you a fan?
I was fortunate enough to work on the movies Stuart [Gordon] directed, and I’ve really come to appreciate the foundation Lovecraft gave to them. There’s a theme of cosmic horror that runs through a lot of Lovecraft’s stories, and the feeling there’s so much in the world we don’t understand. We, as miniscule human beings, try to control our world, but really it’s impossible. And that feeling is also persistent in our culture now. Who knew a pandemic was going to happen?
How much did Re-Animator change your life?
It didn’t. At that time, even though it was critically acclaimed and the average film-watcher loved that movie, it hadn’t developed the cult status it has now. So while it was a groundbreaking movie and people like Pauline Kael and Roger Ebert talked about it, it didn’t really do anything for me until much later.
There’s a lot of nudity in it, and the infamous scene of the decapitated head. How do you feel about that scene now?
It was definitely exploitative. I think there was a certain vulnerability that female characters had in the ’80s. There was an unveiling, if you will, of vulnerability, in an emotional, mental and physical way. That’s how women were written. I think we’re a little more thoughtful about those things now, as storytelling has evolved. Also, sensibilities of what we want to see on screen have evolved. That’s a positive thing, especially for women.
You’ve been cast in a new wave of horror films. Is it because the directors grew up watching your ’80s work?
I think so. Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett [director and writer of You’re Next] had grown up on the films I made, and when they were looking for a matriarch for You’re Next, they asked Stuart Gordon if I would be interested. Stuart said, “No, she’s retired, she has a family.” But I wasn’t retired – I just wasn’t getting any roles! Thank goodness, Simon thought, ‘You know, I’ll just give her a call…’ Then You’re Next did so well, and it turned into another round of my career.
The ’80s were a golden period for horror. Do you think today’s films compare to those?
The nice thing is that we’re marrying genres now. We’ve seen that with Jordan Peele’s films, and with Ari Aster’s Hereditary and Midsommar. Guillermo del Toro does fantasy and horror and love stories. I think that’s given us another playing field to work on. In the ’80s, there was an explosion of practical effects and outlandish things, but now the horror genre is really growing and maturing into something every movie lover can enjoy. JG
ETA | 15 MARCH / SACRIFICE COMES OUT ON DIGITAL LATER THIS MONTH.
‘THERE WAS A VULNERABILITY THAT FEMALE CHARACTERS HAD IN THE ’80S’