TWS Week of Horror Day 4: John Migliore [Interview]

I will admit, I was not entirely familiar with the career of John Migliore, but I was soon to realize that was quite the error to have made, because he is a wonderful and talented person. I became interested in a little film called Frankenpimp, and managed to get some words from the great Tony Watt about it a couple of years ago. I later realized that John played a big role in Tony’s world, and I became interested. And then we went away for 15 months. But, hey, we’re back! And I am very happy to have Mr. Migliore grace these digital pages. He’s a hell of a nice guy, a gifted artists, and has probably portrayed a zombie more than anyone else in the business!

So please enjoy a few words with the great John Migliore! Enjoy!

You have done a lot of work with our old friend, Tony Watt, even portraying a Tony “Tex” Watt character as well as your infamous Johnny Ghoulash character. How did you come to know Mr. Watt? And what do you think it is that makes you guys such a good team?

I met Tony after applying for a role in Frankenpimp’s Revenge: The Romeo and Juliet Massacre. That movie is finally going to be completed this year. After that, I did a bunch of episodes of Kount Kracula’s Review Showcase for him and a small part in Nosferatu vs. Father Pipecock and Sister Funk. My role in Frankenpimp’s Revenge was filmed after all of that. I think we work well together because we’re both really aware of what we expect the final product to be. Tony loves cheesy films, Troma in particular, and wants his stuff to have a similar tone. That’s easy for me to get behind since I love those kinds of movies too. Also, we have a friendly rivalry which allows us to take shots at each other and have a good time with it. My role as the “real” Tony Watt in Frankenpimp’s Revenge is not very flattering, but it is pretty funny!

While it really goes without saying, since it has been said a bit before, but I have to say it: You are like the ultimate zombie performer! You’ve portrayed a zombie in everything from big budget Romero remakes, to smaller indie horror projects. What do you think it is that has gravitated you to take on these roles? Is it purely coincidence?

It started off as a coincidence. I was doing background acting at the time and it just so happened that four zombie films were shot near my home: Dawn of the Dead, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Land of the Dead and Survival of the Dead. You can see me in all of them, but I’m particularly proud of my scene in Survival of the Dead. After that, I saw that Famous Monsters of Filmland was making a comeback and had a convention going on to celebrate. They had a big reunion of people who had been zombies in Romero movies that were appearing at the show. I wrote them and told them who I was, and they invited me to be a guest of the convention! I had a great time, especially meeting people like Jim Krut, Mike Christopher, Leonard A. Lies, Sharon Ceccatti, and Bill Hinzman. After that, I thought about the lucky accident that had happened to me. I thought maybe I could do a zombie movie now and again and do a lot of conventions. What happened instead was a few conventions here and there and a lot of zombie movies!

I became very intrigued looking through your long list of credits to come across a little film called, Raiders of The Lost Shark. I will admit, I had not heard of this one. Could you tell us a bit about this project? The title alone seems clever and entertaining!

That one was a lot of fun to work on! The shark can actually fly in the movie! I played a deputy who worked with a sheriff that was a little too lazy to bother checking up on the reports of a shark devouring locals. It’s a funny shark spoof, put together by Canadian director, Brett Kelly. I had worked with Brett before on other films, like My Fair Zombie, Spyfall, Homicycle and most recently, Ghastlies. It’s always great to work on another one of his films.

When you look back on your career in the world of horror, what would you say you are most proud of?

Hmm. That’s a tough one. I tore a man in two and ate him in Survival of the Dead. There’s nothing much bigger than that! On the other hand, I got to play several minor characters in Return to Nuke ‘Em High: Volume One, which was a high point for me. So awesome to be on set with Lloyd Kaufman and see all the wild behind the scenes shenanigans. One scene I was in was completely outrageous! You’ll have to wait until Volume Two for that one. I’m thrilled with most of the projects that I’ve had the good fortune to be part of like Matt Cloude’s Night of the Living Dead: Genesis, John Johnson’s Plan 9, all of Brett’s films, Black Fawn Films and so much more.

So what is next for you? Any work we can expect to see you premiering in the near future?

I’m currently preparing for my role in Brian Lutes’ Blue Skies on Mars. It’s a dramatic role, like my role in his last film, Prisoners of Time. I just recently completed my scenes for Mike Trebilcock’s new short film, Chewed. I’m sure that one will be a gory crowd pleaser! There’s some other interesting horror stuff coming up, but it’s a little too soon to let the cat out of the bag, unfortunately. I have a secret project from my own production company, Survival Zombie Films that I’m just bursting to talk about! Soon…

Do you have any exciting plans for this coming Halloween?

I find October is usually a busy month for me! I’ll be appearing at KW Darkcon in Kitchener on October 1st. I’ll also be at Mall of the Dead in Chatham on October 8th where I think I will be showing one of my films. As for the 31st itself, I like to stay home, watch horror movies and give out candy to the kids who have the guts to come to my door!

What is your favorite scary movie?

There’s so many to choose from and you have to know that I try to watch them all! It’s tough to narrow it down. I’d say The Shining and The Legend of Hell House are my favourite supernatural films. The original Texas Chain Saw Massacre is still the best masked slasher film. The Exorcist is my favourite possession film of all time. Oh, man! I could just sit here and list movies all day!

What was the last thing that made you smile?

Strangely enough, it was American Pie 2! I hadn’t seen it in years and remembered not liking it all that much the first time, but I enjoyed it more when I saw it again recently.

Thanks so much for the interview!