Interviews
Felissa Rose on ‘Camp Twilight,’ ‘Terrifier 2’ and the Return of the ‘Sleepaway Camp’ Franchise [Interview]
Horror icon Felissa Rose is incredibly busy. From performing in and producing films to appearances at conventions, she has managed to stay active and safe during this tumultuous year.
With her latest film Camp Twilight now available on demand, Felissa took some time to have a heartfelt conversation with us about the future of Sleepaway Camp, the making of Camp Twilight, her upcoming projects, and what her life in horror has meant to her.
She also reveals her all-time favorite horror flick! Read on…
What can you tell us about the Camp Twilight process?
An interesting one there. From the very beginning it was super fun because Rick Finkelstein, who I absolutely love and adore, he owns Entertainment Factory, and I had done a bunch of movies with him. I love Rick and his wife Karen, it’s a real family affair. They said, “Hey, let’s go to Florida and make this camp movie.” And they had the structure of a script. And then myself and [Brandon Amelotte] who directed it, he and I sort of took the script and peppered it with ideas. I, you know, always want to make a camp movie, like without a doubt; say camp to me, I’m there. Then I thought let’s really use teenagers and let’s give it an interesting beginning and end. So, we were kind of peppering it with our thoughts even though some of the script was there. So, that’s the only thing that is strange; we were kind of adding on to a script that we had been given. So, there was a lot of working and reworking. We were trying our best to make it fluid and understandable, yet interesting. You know, if you’re gonna make a film hopefully it can be something interesting and always fun. For me, if it’s gonna be a camp movie, let it be silly and fun.
Well, the name is there. It has to be campy a little bit, right?
Exactly! And we just had a good time. You know, we were a whole bunch of friends that flew out to Florida. All my best friends were there, you know, Dave Sheridan, Vernon Wells, the whole cast, the crew, an amazing group. So, we had a good time. We partied a lot at night. It was a lot of wine. At night we would all sit in the hotel lobby and just drink cases of wine. To me, if it’s not fun, why do it. You know, anything in life should bring you joy.
Was there anything particularly challenging about the shoot?
I think maybe if there was anything challenging, and I like a good challenge, is we were working with real teenagers, like sixteen and seventeen. So, they would say like, “Oh, we have a spin-the-bottle make-out scene.” So, Brandon would say like, “Come on Felissa, let’s like talk to them about it.” Because I remember even when I made Sleepaway Camp, I was really thirteen, and I had a big make-out scene. It’s hard when you’re an adult. I still get weird when I have to do love scenes in movies.
‘Camp Twilight’
How did all the teenagers do?
They were so sweet. Not only were they so adorable and kind, but they were helpful in kind of improvising the language; Brandon and I were like, “Well, we’re old. We don’t know what this means.” I’d say, “Well what can you call my character,” they’d say “Extra.” Those scenes with the kids are just fantastic because they’re great, they’re super talented and they really worked hard at, you know, giving their all and having fun.
The movie is out now, so I don’t feel like it’s a spoiler, but did you enjoy playing the villain? How much influence did you have on that decision?
It had already been written where that particular woman had some stuff going on, but it was really Brandon. I love Brandon Amelotte. He’s such a talented person in so many aspects. He’s been the first AD on sets that I’ve been on, the producer, the writer, the director, the editor. He’s just a fantastic person. He really wrote it because I wanted to be able to play it. Although he would send it and we would go back and forth, it was easier for me to kind of read it, if that makes sense, rather than—you know, so I could process it. Then as the actor, I really have to say that I had the best time that night when I shot that scene at the end. I think it’s now, because I’m in my fifties, that I want to be challenged. Like I just said, I’m playing this kind of witchy character, in Victor Crowley I got to play a real character. I got to play a five-hundred-pound character in Garlic and Gunpowder. I feel like I want to challenge myself and so, this particular woman had a lot of layers and I wanted to get emotional. You know, you purge, and I wanted to go there.
How much on Camp Twilight, or just in general, is usually improvised for you?
You know, I would say ninety percent of all the work I’ve done is all scripted. I’m on a shoot right now and I’m really respectful of the writer, so I try to give him verbatim. I don’t ever try to stray unless you have that conversation prior and it’s sort of, you know, that doesn’t feel right, maybe try that way. But most of the time we’re really—again even with Victor Crowley or Camp Dread, and a number of the films I’ve worked with Harrison Smith, we try to stick with what’s on the page. It’s easier for me. Like, I work with Dave Sheridan a lot and he’s just so great at improvisation that a lot of what he does tends to veer in that direction, but that’s his specialty.
Are there any Easter eggs that may have gone unnoticed on an initial viewing?
My name is “Ms. Bloom” and I named myself after John Bloom who is Joe Bob Briggs.
You are incredibly busy. I saw you have a ton of stuff listed in pre-production or filming currently. How are you handling so many projects?
I know everyone is busy. My priority will always be my family. In fact, sadly today I had another interview scheduled and my kids needed me to go take them to get stuff for their sports, so I had to sadly reschedule and change that. So, they’re always number one above and beyond. They’re the loves of my life. I watch them every day and my mind is blown because I’m so enamored by these little people and watching them now grow into big people. They take my breath away. I’m in love. Being a mom is the greatest gift that ever happened to me. It’s a beautiful thing. But then with work, I love work. I’m definitely a workaholic. I thrive and I’m inspired by going, going, going. I just try to work it out. There are times when it gets a little wonky when I’ll have a shoot and I said yes to a convention. So, I just try, like everyone else to just juggle and work. And just take a breath in the moment and have conversations with you that just feed my soul. Because these are the moments that I say, “Ok. That was magnificent.”
So, what are you working on now?
I’m on a film called Sorority of the Damned and I’m obsessed with the script. I love it. My good friend who’s a good friend of Harrison Smith’s, Roy Knyrim and Joe Davison from Stranger Things are co-directing, and Joe is the star of the film. I’m fortunately playing a really cool character. When you read a script, it’s always exciting to look at what’s on the page and get all excited about creating something that you haven’t before. That just drives me wild when I can do something different. So, I’m on that and then I go to a movie I’m producing and acting in called Times Up with my amazing friends Damian Maffei and L.C. Holt and Corey Norman, who’s directing, and Hannah Fierman and Dave Sheridan. And we’re all in this together. And then I go into Stream with the people that did Terrifier 2.
What role do you play in Terrifier 2?
I play a teacher in Terrifier 2. I have a cameo and I loved my part. Damien [Leone] gave me something really juicy to do and it was just really fun for me. And David [Howard Thornton] is just extraordinary. He’s one of the most iconic characters of our time. He gives a performance like no other.
‘Sleepaway Camp’
What can you tell us about a potential Sleepaway Camp reboot?
I will say this, because there’s been so much looming around the Sleepaway Camp universe for so long. Will they remake it? Will there be another sequel? I know that something’s in the works. I don’t even really know exactly how it will be, but I can tell you that definitely like—we just had our 37th anniversary—I would love to say that, mark my words, by the 40th, something will be out. Now, if they ever consulted with me, I would love to see a prequel to the Sleepaway Camp world. Because this is one of those movies that is driven by the circumstances that happens in the beginning of the film. And I would love to understand who is Aunt Martha? What happened to her in creating all that she did with Angela and Ricky? Why didn’t Angela go to camp with Ricky the other summer? With all of this, I would love to see a prequel. I would love to make the prequel. So, definitely we haven’t seen the end of Sleepaway Camp.
What about the possibility of it moving to a streaming platform?
I had heard something like that, but only from reading about it. I’m always skeptical because I haven’t heard about it from the close sources like the director or producer. Certainly, anything would be great, because for me it’s my whole life. It gave me a life. Sleepaway Camp gave me a life. That’s the truth. It sounds weird when I say that, but I married my husband because he was the—I didn’t marry him because he was the number one fan, but I married him and he was the biggest fan of the movie. We always joke, like these kids are here because of a cheesy movie from the 80s. Like, I was hugging my son the other day and I looked at my husband and I was like, do you realize that if Sleepaway Camp had never happened, this child would not be here? And my son is looking at me like, what? But it’s true. We met because he came to the set of Return to Sleepaway Camp almost eighteen years ago and we met because he was this crazy fan of Sleepaway Camp. And when he was twelve, he said “I’m gonna marry Felissa Rose. I’m gonna meet Felissa and I’m gonna marry her and we’re gonna have kids.” Talk about manifesting your reality.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone fulfilling their dreams more than him.
I’m like, restraining order—[laughs] no.
As such a horror icon, what has kept you interested in horror for so long?
Everything. Probably always going back to the people that I work with. I was always such a fan, now getting to meet, just—knowing Barbara Crampton. I still get cuckoos when her name pops up on my phone. Or Adrienne Barbeau. It’s definitely like being a fan, and then getting to work in this genre, lights my soul on fire with happiness. I just love horror scripts. I love producing horror because the elements are so exciting and electric from the special effects to all the—it’s just profound for me. It just really rocks my world from the storytelling to the character creations to the amazing people that I get to eat, sleep, and breathe with. There’s nothing like it. I just can’t say enough about how much I love it. I wish I could hug the entire community at one time.
What are some contemporary horror films and directors you like?
I love Joe Lynch. I love Mayhem. I love Adam Green. I was a huge fan of the Hatchet franchise.
What is next for you?
Maybe a comic book. A bunch of fun films, fun horror movies that I’m going to act in and produce, and conventions.
What is your all-time favorite horror movie?
Ok. So, my favorite, favorite horror movie of all time is the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It’s, to me, the epitome of a horror movie classic; sentimental to me, being young and having seen it. Marilyn Burns being the epitome of the scream queen; beautiful, organic performance. Everything about it checks all the boxes for me. I mean, I have a million favorites, but I’m in love with that one.
Felissa Rose is slated to make appearances in a number of upcoming films, and with any luck, we might get something new from the Sleepaway Camp universe in the next few years...
For now, you can rent her latest movie Camp Twilight on demand right now.
Interviews
Paul Tremblay on Fighting AI with Horror in New Novel ‘Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep’
Paul Tremblay didn’t start his writing career believing he’d be battling machines over the sanctity of his job, but like so many writers of his generation, the battle found him. In the years since Large Language Models (LLMs) and neural networks started gaining traction as an advertised shortcut to creativity, Tremblay has been active in lawsuits to prevent the use of his works in training AI models, and he’s found that, with each new project, he has to consider the possibility that some LLM, somewhere, is going to latch on to what he’s creating.
“Now I feel like I’m thinking about, ‘Man, how am I going to write things that would be really hard or impossible for an AI to replicate?’,” Tremblay told me, speaking by Zoom from his home in Massachusetts. “Maybe some of that is ego. I’m sure every writer thinks, ‘Oh, an AI could never write what I write.’ Yes, I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t part of the thought process.”
While that’s something Tremblay might consider with any new work at this point in his career, the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of A Head Full of Ghosts, The Cabin at the End of the World, and many other novels and short stories tackled it in a more direct way with his latest book. Inspired by Philip K. Dick, Harlan Ellison, and the quirky humor of the Coen Brothers, Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep is Tremblay’s attempt at a sci-fi-horror mash-up that’s both darkly funny and existentially nightmarish. It’s also, in his own words, a screed against the movement by AI companies to supplant human artists.
“I didn’t want to make it too didactic, but no, I playfully described this book as an anti-AI screed,” he said. “This book, in particular, was driven by anger and frustration, for sure. Not every book is going to be driven that way.“
Despite the emotions that fueled it, Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep does not read like a screed. Instead, wielding offbeat humor and tech concepts that feel both lived-in and frighteningly tactile, the book lays out tandem narratives all building to the same conclusion, each of them exploring our relationship to machine learning in a different way. One of these narratives belongs to Julia, a former gaming streamer looking for a new challenge in life, who gets a call from a California tech company with an interesting offer.
Paul Tremblay in documentary series “First Word on Horror”
The company has, it seems, implanted some new technology in a brain-dead middle-aged man which will, in theory, allow them to pilot the man’s body through a rudimentary, still-developing system of controls. Julia, with her gaming background, would be the pilot, in her own way just as much a test subject as the human vegetable she’s controlling.
Julia is a Gen Z streamer with an omnivorous pop culture appetite, inspired by Tremblay’s own adult children, who riffs on The Big Lebowski constantly and calls her strange new meat puppet “Bernie” in reference to Weekend at Bernie’s. Her wide frame of reference, and her interest in art and stories far beyond video games, is in part informed by Tremblay’s own experiences with Gen Z, and in part a response to AI companies who scrape art and culture as a means of consuming it for reference without really experiencing a story.
“I know that one of the arguments that OpenAI and other tech companies are trying to make is like, ‘Hey, you writers, you artists, you take pop culture, you take your influences, and you create something. That’s just the same thing that the bots are doing.’ And it’s just not,” Tremblay said. “I wanted to have Julia have her outlook informed by all this pop culture, and I wanted to make that feel really human as a way to show how inhuman the AI is.”
The other side of the story belongs to “Bernie,” who’s addressed in his point-of-view chapters as “You.” In these chapters, the technology in Bernie’s body starts to flicker images through his seemingly dead brain, delivering half-remembered imagery and perspective in a nod to the “hallucinations” of an AI model groping for understanding it can never reach. These chapters in particular show off Tremblay’s flair for formalist shake-ups, and echo the kind of hyperstimulated writing that Dick and Ellison made so influential.
“I think it was more just the general Philip K. Dick feeling of ‘The world is so strange,'” Tremblay said. “He’s a lot funnier, I think, than maybe a lot of people credit him. That’s definitely what I was thinking of when writing the book.“
Bernie’s chapters embody the strangeness of Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep, presenting imagery that’s at times puzzling, at times eerily filmic, and always unnerving. They also mirror Julia’s own journey in fascinating ways as the odd couple – the Gen Z gamer and the middle-aged vegetable – traverse the United States, and the tech in Bernie’s body wakes up to the possibilities of using his flesh for its own purposes. It’s a compelling narrative technique, but it presented some new writing challenges for Tremblay.
“I quickly realized I couldn’t write this book the same way I have in the past,” he said. “By that, I mean all my other novels I had written in the order in which it was presented, even things that are nonlinear, which is most of them. I knew I couldn’t do that in this book. It’s not a spoiler, but hopefully the readers figure out pretty early that the Bernie chapters are a little bit of a preview of the next chapter from Julia, what’s actually happening with Julia. It’s all refracted from him.”
Mary Roach’s Stiff
Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep began with a simple image, inspired by Tremblay’s reading of Mary Roach‘s book chronicling the history of our treatment of corpses, Stiff. As he read, Tremblay imagined a body sitting on an airplane, remote-controlled by someone else. At the time, it was a “silly what-if” concept, filed away in his head. Years later, when he became an author suing a tech company to keep AI from scraping his work for ideas, it started to feel frighteningly plausible, taking the “silly what-if” into the territory of a high-concept horror show about what happens when we try to exploit and commodify uniquely human aspects of consciousness.
“It stuck with me,” Tremblay said of that what-if imagery. “And then a few years later, when I was a part of the case suing OpenAI on behalf of writers, that what-if suddenly didn’t seem as silly. The more I learned about how that corporation operates and without really any sort of ethical thought to anything, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m going to play with that. That’s actually happening.”
So, what if someone actually in favor of generative AI picks up Tremblay’s self-described “anti-AI screed?” He hopes that, at the very least, he’s made the ride enjoyable in a distinctly human way that might begin to reshape the conversation.
“I think that was another reason why I wanted to have the humor,” Tremblay said. “If people are reading this book who aren’t on the side of like, ‘Hey, LLMs taking authors’ books is bad,’ maybe if they read something that’s cut with some humor, that maybe they’ll be more easily swayed.”
Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep is now in bookstores everywhere.
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