Editorials
Looking Back at Horror Icon Bill Moseley’s 10 Most Memorable Roles
From the get-go, Bill Moseley proved to be a scene-stealer. With 126 acting credits and counting, the actor has dedicated much of his extensive career to horror. Which means, to our fortune, no shortage of unforgettable characters. Whether it’s a small cameo or a major role, from eccentric to flat out terrifying, Moseley gives it his all every single time.
3 From Hell marks the return of one of Moseley’s most well-regarded characters, so it only makes sense to celebrate by looking back at his most memorable roles so far.
Johnnie – Night of the Living Dead
Moseley often plays morally dubious types, but in this underrated 1990 remake by Tom Savini, he plays nice guy Johnnie. You know, the one who gets to utter the famous line, “They’re coming to get you, Barbara!” Sure, he spends most of his screen time taunting his creeped out sister, but that’s sibling love. When she gets attacked by the first zombie, before anyone is aware there’s a zombie infestation happening, Johnnie rushes to her defense without hesitation. He’s a dependable brother, right until the end.
Officer Ray – The Convent
When pesky college kids try to break into an abandoned and closed off convent, Officers Starkey (Coolio) and Ray catch them and force the kids to turn right back around. Not before plucking a joint off one of the kids and partaking after they’ve left, of course. It might be another cameo spot for Moseley, but it’s another shining example of his comedic chops. He gets to play off of the equally humorous Coolio, amplifying the entertainment factor.
The Magician – The Devil’s Carnival/Alleluia! The Devil’s Carnival
In these Darren Lynn Bousman directed horror musicals, Moseley played demon accomplice and carnie The Magician. The Magician is pretty childlike and peculiar, and throws a bit of a tantrum when the Ticket-Keeper doesn’t select him for an “act.” Shame on the Ticket-Keeper, because The Magician is fun to watch. Unless you’re selected to be his assistant, anyway.
Deadite Captain – Army of Darkness
It’s Ash vs Evil Ash (both Bruce Campbell) in the third act battle of this threequel. Ash leads the frontlines of defense for Team Human while Evil Ash unites and unleashes the Army of Darkness upon them. Any strong leader needs a right-hand man, and for Evil Ash that’s the Deadite Captain. And this Deadite Captain means business, barking out orders like, “Welcome back to the land of the livin’. Now pick up a shovel and get digging!”
Ricky Caldwell – Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!
A continuation of Part 2, Moseley takes over the role previously played by Eric “Garbage Day” Freeman. The Santa Claus Killer had been shot down by police and left comatose for years, with a dome affixed over his skull to keep his brains from spilling out. When a doctor uses a blind clairvoyant girl to communicate with Ricky, he wakes from his coma and stalks her. It’s an even stranger sequel than its predecessor, but it’s even weirder in that the brain damage aspect means Moseley plays Ricky in a lowkey way that’s very different from a lot of the characters he plays. Just quiet stalking menace.
Luigi Largo – Repo! The Genetic Opera
In this horror musical, Moseley plays the eldest of the Largo siblings. Often at odds with his father and antagonistic with his siblings, Luigi is arguably the most unstable of the bunch. And certainly, the most violent. He revels in pain and gore, especially inflicting it upon others. Who plays unstable and uninhibited monsters better than Moseley? Bonus: He gets to sing a lot.
Crazy Max – “Holliston”
At Crazy Max’s Discount Store, he’s always trying to wrangle the best deals for his customers! Appearing in 5 episodes, most notably “The Christmas Special,” Crazy Max was a scene-stealer thanks to Moseley’s outlandish and hysterical performance. The accent, the energy, the mannerisms. I miss Holliston, but I also really miss Crazy Max. He earned his moniker.
Otis Driftwood – House 1000 Corpses
The most depraved member of the Firefly clan, Otis is an albino with red eyes and white hair who considers himself an artist. One that likes to mutilate victims and turn them into freakshow art exhibits for Captain Spaulding’s roadside attraction. He also likes to wear the skin of his victims as well. Here, Moseley plays Otis as boisterous and manic, like a theatric preacher delivering a sermon to his flock.
Otis Driftwood – The Devil’s Rejects
I know. This is considered cheating. But hear me out: The Devil’s Rejects is a very different film from its predecessor, and so is the Firefly family. Rob Zombie toned down the cartoonish elements of House in favor of something grittier and more realistic, and Moseley shifted gears accordingly. This Otis is rugged and no longer albino at all. He’s more feral and calculating than before, too, making his depraved proclivities even more disturbing than they already were. It may be the same character, but in many ways, Moseley created something entirely different. Think two sides of the same, warped coin.
Chop Top Sawyer – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
The older brother of Leatherface, Chop Top is a deranged Vietnam vet with a metal plate grafted onto his skull. One that he can’t stop picking. He’s also a bit of a hippie, contributing to one over the top character played to perfection by Moseley in his second ever acting role. From his introductory scene crashing Stretch’s radio station, he grabbed horror fans by the collar and never let go. Dog will hunt, after all.
From child-eating witches to village-burning dragons, fairy tales have always had a foot in the horror genre. That’s why it makes sense that, for every The Hobbit and The Chronicles of Narnia, there are also darker and more adult-oriented stories about magical worlds inhabited by ravenous monsters and cruel villains.
Funnily enough, these sinister tales were precisely the ones that I gravitated towards back when I was a kid, and I was reminded of this while watching Netflix’s recently released I Am Frankelda, Mexico’s first ever feature-length stop-motion animation and one hell of an entertaining parable about the intersection between fiction and reality.
In honor of this special kind of horror-adjacent fairy tale, today I’d like to share this list recommending six Dark Fantasy films that horror fans might enjoy.
For the purposes of this list, we’ll be defining Dark Fantasy as fantastical stories that don’t shy away from the more macabre elements that fuel classic fairy tales. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own grim favorites if you think we missed a particularly thrilling one.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
6. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
I’m fascinated by bizarre attempts at blockbuster filmmaking – especially when the resulting movies are somehow still fun despite their corporate-mandated origins. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is precisely one of these strangely compelling studio projects, as this surprisingly successful action-thriller boasts a lot of heart (and tongue-in-cheek humor) for a CGI-heavy creature feature.
Directed by Dead Snow’s Tommy Wirkola, Witch Hunters re-frames the classic fairy tale as an origin story for a duo of badass monster-slayers. Of course, it’s the flick’s anachronistic aesthetic and overall visual flair that make it stand out from other action-horror endeavors from around the same time.
5. The Wolf House (2018)
Made in the tradition of faux cursed films in the same vein as Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made, the eerie backstory to 2018’s Chilean animated flick The Wolf House (La Casa Lobo in the original Spanish) already makes it a nightmarish experience before the flick even really begins.
After all, the movie is presented to us as a faux propaganda film produced by the leader of a death cult (heavily inspired by the real life Colonia Dignidad), with this hybrid animated feature using complex movie magic to simulate a single uninterrupted shot as it tells the story of a lazy young girl who runs away from an isolated colony and encounters a creepy old house in the woods.
4. The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Out of all the Monty Python alumni, Terry Gilliam has had the most interesting career outside of the original comedy group. From fascinating canceled projects (such as his scrapped adaptation of Watchmen) to dystopian parodies that feel more relevant by the minute (1985’s Brazil), even his “lesser” films are still intriguing in their own way.
2005’s The Brothers Grimm is one such project, with this peculiar movie attempting to combine the comedian-turned-filmmaker’s unique visual style with a more blockbuster-oriented plot reimagining the titular brothers as con-artists rather than mere writers. The end result isn’t exactly a masterpiece, but it’s still a legitimately fun ride with plenty of memorable monsters and wonderful performances by both the late, great Heath Ledger and Matt Damon.
3. Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic (2010)
2010’s Dante’s Inferno game may have a reputation as something of an unapologetic God of War clone, but I’d argue that the now-obscure game was aesthetically unique enough to deserve a bigger fanbase. However, while the title remains trapped on the seventh console generation, its highly underrated anime adaptation is a lot easier to get a hold of!
Animated by 6 different studios in order to make the 9 circles of hell feel unique from each other, this may not be a completely faithful adaptation of Dante Alighieri’s poem, but it’s still one heck of a great (not to mention gory) time that I’d highly recommend to fans of Netflix’s take on Castlevania.
2. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009)
My personal favorite entry in the Underworld franchise, Rise of the Lycans, is a highly ambitious prequel that actually works better if you haven’t had the story spoiled to you by the previous Underworld films.
While the rest of the series features plenty of urban fantasy elements as the movies combine machine guns and modern environments with gothic storytelling, Patrick Tatopoulos’ prequel fully embraces its fantastical origins and tells a classic tale about a doomed romance between a werewolf and a vampire amid a medieval uprising.
And the best part is that we get a lot more Michael Sheen as the fan-favorite Lucian.
1. Solomon Kane (2011)
One of my personal favorite movies on this list, MJ Basset’s criminally underseen adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s other iconic warrior is thoroughly steeped in horror ambience and features plenty of memorable monsters. However, it’s also a classic origin story for a swashbuckling hero that wouldn’t feel out of place in a tabletop RPG.
While I’ve already written about how the film deftly combines both horror and fantasy elements without breaking the bank, I’ll never pass up an opportunity to recommend the bizarre movie where James Purefoy expertly plays a puritan John Wick.
It’s just too bad that we never got the other films in this intended trilogy.
You must be logged in to post a comment.