Gruemonkey interviews Michael Merchant (Night of Something Strange)!!
Hello Grue-Lings,
We are very excited to bring you all a interview with Michael Merchant.
Michael Merchant is an American actor who was born in Poquoson Virginia. Though he is the owner of Night force video, and is a game consultant for Game Stop, he is best known for playing roles in Night of Something Strange (2016) She Kills (2016), Empire State of the dead (2016) and Amityville Death House. Here is our interview with Michael Merchant:
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GRUEMONKEY: I see you are in quite a few horror films. What are some of your favorite horror films and why?
MICHAEL: Oh man there are so many! This is a random 5 that you can find on Tubi, Shudder, Netflix, or Prime that I enjoy a lot.
1. Nightbreed – it is such a cool world, I also love the mask Dr. Decker wears!
2. The Ninth Gate – There is something oddly fascinating to me about it. Cults, the devil, old books. I have always wanted a replica of the book so bad!
3. Black Death – Sean Bean in medieval times as knight on a journey to kill a necromancer. Also stars Eddie Redmayne before he really took off and you could tell he was going to make it watching this film. Love the characters.
4. Event Horizon – Space horror! I’ve always really liked Sam Neill movies since I was a kid like Jurassic Park, Merlin, In The Mouth of Madness (bonus horror movie!). I just really enjoy the atmosphere of the spaceship and the kills are pretty cool.
5. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer – It’s a very interesting look into the world of a serial killer. It just feels like you stumbled on a tape you shouldn’t be watching sometimes.
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GRUEMONKEY: Can you tell us about the Hi-8 horror film that you were involved in?
MICHAEL: Sure! It’s a shot-on-video style anthology done by some of the indie legends of SOV. There are 8 shorts and the one I worked on was an homage to Escape From New York. My character was basically Romero, so I had a version of his classic line and then got killed pretty quickly. Its a pretty funny short, starring Wes Reid as Mongoose (Snake) who is trying to escape a nursing home with his Nanna during a zombie apocalypse. The other shorts are pretty wild too!
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GRUEMONKEY: Tell us about your character Aric in Amityville Death House and your thoughts on being involved in the series of numerous Amityville films?
MICHAEL: (Laughs) oh man Amityville Death House. That movie was something else to film! It was directed by Mark Polonia (another SoV legend, check out Feeders 1 & 2), we filmed it over like 4 days in the middle of a polar vortex. It was a ton of fun but cold as hell! Aric is basically that annoying jerk boyfriend, which is a role I tend to get for some reason… (Laughs). Being involved with the Amityville series is pretty cool, I definitely never thought I would be a part of any series like that growing up. I’d really love to work with Mark again but preferably in the spring or summer months (Laughs)!
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GRUEMONKEY: She Kills is a homage to the Grindhouse/exploitation films from the 1970’s. Have you ever watched those kind of films and what do you think of them and if She Kills did a good job to pay homage to them?
MICHAEL: One of my favorite movies of all time is Rolling Thunder. I’m a big fan of revenge. I would say I’ve seen more grindhouse films than exploitation but I have seen my fair share especially in preparation for She Kills. I personally think She Kills did a good job capturing the look and feel of the genre. I know Ron Bonk is a huge fan and wanted to pay homage to a lot of his favorites, complete with rough cuts, mistakes such as the boom and crew being captured on film, and using obvious stock footage. A lot of the characters are super over the top and there is tons of violence!
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GRUEMONKEY: Empire State of the Dead is about a bad zombie outbreak. What would you do to survive if a zombie outbreak happened?
MICHAEL: Hmm, turn on Youtube and watch “The Slingshot Channel” to get some ideas on some homemade zombie killing weapons, grab my machete and mask from filming Johnny Z and try and hold out as long as I can in my house with all the food I stockpiled for the current quarantine and play the Nintendo Switch as long as I could (Laughs).
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GRUEMONKEY: Tell us about your character in Night of Something Strange and what the film is about?
MICHAEL: I was Freddy in NoSS, a jock douchebag who only cares about one thing, having sex. Of course that is the worst motivation for a character in a movie about a sexually transmitted zombie virus. The film is probably the grossest and violent film I have been a part of and it was an amazing experience… can’t wait to do the sequel!
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GRUEMONKEY: I watched the film, crazy film. It was good and I loved your performance. You really play the typical oversexed sexy jock who you want to see die (laughs). You did it so well. I loved it. How did you prepare to portray such a character as Freddy in Night of Something Strange?
MICHAEL: Thank you! Honestly, I just thought about my bullies from back in middle and high school. Shout out to them for the inspiration (Laughs).
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GRUEMONKEY: What was your favorite kill from Night of Something Strange?
MICHAEL: I’d have to say when Cornelius kills his wife at the start of the film. I was so shocked the first time I saw it!
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GRUEMONKEY: Favorite moment or scene involving your character from Night of Something Strange?
MICHAEL: Outside of being stuck (Laughs) which I think is everyone’s for my character. I’d say when we had to film the scene behind the dumpster and having the condom drop on my face. Jonathan had to drop that thing on my face about 50 times because we couldn’t stop laughing. It was probably around 3 am so we were a little crazy by that point.
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GRUEMONKEY: Any funny or cool behind the scenes stories you can share with us from Night of Something Strange?
MICHAEL: Well we basically lived at the motel set for the entire time filming so everyone was really close with each other by the end. It was just so much fun every night basically filming till sunrise and sleeping in late to film again all night. It was like a really really long party. Also for the movie, I got to do some of the special effects work, for instance, I was the voice and controller of the talking vagina monster that attacks Dirk in the motel room and I got to slap him with the tongue a bunch of times. There was never a dull moment!
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GRUEMONKEY: What a funny crazy off the top film that House Shark is (laughs). How was your experience working on set for House Shark?
MICHAEL: It was absolutely Ron Bonkers! The set was also his house which we stayed at during filming so we would just film all the time and hang out and have tons of fun coming up with stuff for the movie. It was a very collaborative effort for us because we are all really good friends and this was like our 4th movie working together, so it was a great time as well! Another fun fact that most people don’t know is that 90% of the time I was the House Shark. It was so cool get to hop in the suit and basically pretend to be Godzilla.
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GRUEMONKEY: I see Johnny Z is currently filming and you play Johnny. Can you tell us anything about the film and your character?
MICHAEL: Yes! Johnny Z is actually done filming and is in post right now but should actually be done sometime soon to travel the festival circuit whenever life goes back to mostly normal again. The film is very different from anything Jonathan Straiton has ever done. It has the horror elements of course, but it’s pretty serious and dramatic. It’s got some fantastic martial arts action and an amazing cast such as Felix Cortes, Jason Delgado, Ellie Church, and David McMahon (just to name a few).
It is about a half human, half zombie named Johnny who, under the guidance of a martial arts master, seeks vengeance on the evil corporation that created him.
Felix, a Grand Master of Filipino Martial Arts, actually trained me behind the scenes in Kali for the movie so that I could do all my own fight scenes and stunts, it was such a humbling experience and I will always be thankful for his guidance.
I honestly think it’s the most impressive film Jonathan has created and I really hope everyone loves it as much as we all do.
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GRUEMONKEY: Anything else you want to discuss or promote?
MICHAEL: You can find me on social media, usually under the name ActorMichaelMerchant, I usually respond to everyone! Also being a huge gamer, I stream on Twitch under the same name.
Lastly, please show support for the independent film community, all of us are just everyday people usually spending every penny we have to bring a vision to life. Even just sharing info online about an indie film you love helps them out so much and we love you for it!
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SPEED ROUND:
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CELEBRITY CRUSH: Jennifer Connelly, she was my first crush ever since The Rocketeer!
Guilty Pleasure TV Series and Movie you are currently watching during Isolation? I actually haven’t been watching much TV lately just a lot of Youtube about random stuff, mainly gaming. Channels like Claic Yuzolt, AOJ, and Memology101. For my movie: Dagon… I fall asleep to it every night. I need help.
Who is Currently on your Playlist? Marc Rebillet, Between The Buried and Me, and Culture Beat.
Hidden Talent or Something fans might not know about you? I am double jointed in my left thumb and I’m addicted to video games… just beat Final Fantasy 7 Remake (Amazing!).
Favorite Karaoke Song? Only two songs I’ve sung karaoke are Bad To The Bone and A Whole New World.
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