The best thing about Twitter is that it offers you a chance to chat with folks you've admired for a big chunk of your horror-loving life on a level playing field. You both have 140 characters to say what you have to say, and unlike at a convention, you're not being rushed along so that the other fans can get their time in with their hero as well.  So it was a surreal delight for me to be tweeting about watching SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT III (read the Fango Flashback here), only to have Bill Moseley himself reply back a few minutes later.  I couldn't help but ask him about the movie a bit, but then realized that his recollections deserved a better venue than my Twitter feed, so just for you guys, I got him to answer a few questions about his experience working on the film.  Enjoy!

FANGORIA: Obviously it's been a while, but do you remember how you got involved with SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT III?  Did you have to audition?

BILL MOSELEY: I did have to audition, for Johanna Ray. Ricky Caldwell has precious few lines, so it was a look director Monte Hellman was looking for, and I guess I had it!

FANG: I assume you didn't want to emulate Eric Freeman's performance as Ricky, but had you seen the previous entries?

MOSELEY: I did some research on the SILENT NIGHT series—back then it was videotape. Monte encouraged me to "make it my own."

FANG: What was your first reaction to the headgear you'd have to wear through the film?

MOSELEY: I got a head mold at Greg Cannom's SFX shop, had no idea what I'd be wearing until Day One of shooting. It was a crazy contraption, looked like a clear plastic salad bowl with a rubber brain inside awash in orange "brain juice." It also sported a mechanism in the back with blinking colored lights. I struggled with the headgear throughout the filming, posted a piece of paper on the mirror in my trailer that exhorted, "Outshine the brain cap!"

FANG: What happened to that headgear?

MOSELEY: I took the brain cap home with me, but producer Richard Gladstein called me up and demanded I return it. I'm guessing it's now somewhere in the bowels of his garage.

FANG: According to the IMDb, SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT III was shot in Dallas, but there's a shot of you clearly on the 101 freeway here in Los Angeles. Was it both?  Is the IMDb just—gasp!—wrong?

MOSELEY: IMDB is dead wrong. We shot it here in Los Angeles, Thousand Oaks and Piru (granny's house up in the orange groves).

FANG: Speaking of Texas, we're about to see you return to the Sawyer family... what was that experience like?

MOSELEY: It was a hot good time, hot because we shot my scenes outside Bossier City, Louisiana. The average temperature for the five days I shot was 104 with 90+% humidity! Plus, I was wearing extra padding which wicked up my profuse sweating and by day's end, added another 10 pounds to my Cook costume. But I had my moments of looking across the room of the Sawyer house and seeing Gunnar Hansen and the chicken in the bird cage and John Dugan dolled up as Grandpa, and I had some beautiful flashback moments (not 'Nam flashbacks, mind you) that this was where it all began. Warmed the cocktails of my heart. Thought about the late, great Jim Siedow, the irrepressible Ed Neal, Franklin (the late, great Paul Partain) screaming "Salleeeeee." Gave me shivers and a deep gratitude for what the Saw has done for me!

FANG: Besides TCM3D, what's next for you?

MOSELEY: I just finished shooting a feature on Long Island, NY, with Kane Hodder called OLD 37, about two fucked up brothers who drive an old blood-crusted ambulance, find out where the fresh accidents are by tuning into police band radio and getting there before the real ambulance. I won't tell you what we do, but suffice it to say, our ambulance has a wood chipper in back!

I also worked on an indie feature called BIG TOP EVIL directed by Sean Haitz. The film's shot entirely in Sarasota, FL—the home of all things circus—and I had a ball playing evil circus owner Mr. Kharver!

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MOVIES/TV - Fearful Features