Bill Moseley is one of the most recognized faces in the horror industry, having been in over 120 films including the iconic ‘Chop-Top’ Sawyer in Tobe Hooper’s THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 and Otis in Rob Zombie’s HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES and THE DEVIL’S REJECTS. In his latest film, THE POSSESSION EXPERIMENT, we see Moseley as a character very unlike those that he’s played in the past: a Catholic priest.
Shannon McGrew: Hi Bill! Thank you so much for speaking with me today. For those not familiar with your latest role in THE POSSESSION EXPERIMENT can you tell us a little bit about it?
Bill Moseley: Yes, my character, Father Mark Campbell, has been brought in to exorcise a demon that’s been possession a young married woman, who clearly hasn’t been herself lately (laughs). Having gone through all the protocols, the Church has officially authorized me to come in with my assistant to perform an exorcism since evidence of a demonic possession has been verified. An exorcism can take days, weeks, sometimes months, so when we see myself and my assistance you can probably assume it’s been a few weeks into this. For Father Mark, it’s kind of like rolling up his sleeves with the mentality of “here we go again” and reciting the same prayers and incantations with his crucifix and holy water. What I loved about Father Mark was that he has absolute faith that eventually the power of good will prevail over the power of evil, it’s just a matter of time and diligence. But then something goes wrong, the Devil pulls a little trick. The restraints that are keeping this woman down snap and she begins to levitate and all of a sudden everybody gets panicky and as the saying goes “all Hell breaks loose”.
SM: What initially interested you in this role and did you do any type of specific research to get into the mindset of Father Mark?
BM: Does Wikipedia count (laughs)? My biggest influence was Max von Sydow from THE EXORCIST. Doing a role that consists of an exorcism, I’m reminded that the whole ordeal is a long plotting process, a marathon not a sprint. You show up, not all charged up to take on the Devil, but basically just another day at the office. The foundation is the faith that I’m on the right side of things, I’m an instrument of God and good and I’m going to win this battle eventually. I loved the fact that it was a competition, it’s really like the Bears vs. the Packers, only there’s this moment when your faith is completely shattered and you realize that you aren’t winning anymore. You get this sense that it’s only a matter of time before the Devil decides to hightail it. Then all of a sudden it’s like wow, not only did the Devil decide to turn the tables, now the Devil is winning emphatically (laughs). Then of course there’s my sex scene which I’ll leave at that so to titillate people, we don’t want to spoil too much.
SM: Since the film clearly centers around exorcisms, what are your thoughts on them? I know for me they scare the shit out of me, so I’m always interested to know if they affect other people like they do me.
BM: Exorcisms, to me, are very peculiar. I’ve certainly seen a lot of possessed people in my days, whether they were under the influence of drugs or alcohol or mental illness. There’s a lot of different forms of “possession” that can be very frightening. I think the hardest part of the possession, of anyone being possessed in any way shape or form is when they appear to be one thing and yet something else is going on and there really is no way to communicate or contact to say “hey, stop, what are you dong”. There’s no dialogue and you just know that they are going to get you. That’s what really scared me, to tell you the truth, that attitude or that mind set, or lack there of, about the original THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. I remember seeing that movie, I was fresh out of college, hippy and spiritual with maybe a little bit of LSD in there. When I saw THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE I was shocked because there are these people that eat other people. I remember the girl at the dinner table and all of the brothers mocking her and just thinking, oh my God these are people and even if you gave the most spiritual effort they would just mock you and eat you. So I think that’s really the scariest part, the idea that possession means they are completely cut off from the human heart and all they have in mind is doing some really evil shit to you.
SM: You’ve done so many films within the horror genre and you’ve become quite a horror icon yourself, so what is it about this genre that you love so much?
BM: First of all, it’s fun to play, I think that’s first and foremost; ever since I did THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 back in 1986, wow, it’s the 30th anniversary this year! That was so much fun. It was a lot of work, long hours, etc but it was so much fun to have my head shaved and a little plate and my teeth and claw hammer. I’ve been on a lot of non-horror sets as well and it’s fun but making a horror film is a special kind of fun and I always try to bring a little humor to my character. I find making a horror movie fun and that’s why I like to do it so much.
SM: So what can fans look forward to from you in the future?
BM: I have a movie coming out one of these days from Australia. I did a movie with an Australian director named Christopher Lee Sun called CHARLIE’S FARM with Kane Hodder and now I’ve gone back to Australia and have done a movie called BOAR which is about a giant wild pig in the outback that runs around killing people. They call it the “Jaws on land” and that was so much fun, I can’t wait to see it.
SM: Well as always, thank you so much for speaking with us and we wish you nothing but continued success.
THE POSSESSION EXPERIMENT, is available starting today, on VOD, Digital HD and DVD from Momentum Pictures.
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