In select cities – NYC, LA, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Philadelphia, Miami, Boston, Detroit, Houston & Baltimore – today, May 10th is Anchor Bay’s No One Lives, an insanely bloody slasher from Midnight Meat Train‘sRyuhei Kitamura.

Yesterday I hopped on the phone with one of the film’s stars, Brodus Clay, who also happens to be a wildly successful WWE wrestler. We talked about his role in the film, his love of practical effects and how film work compares to wrestling.

“A ruthless criminal gang takes a young couple hostage and goes to ground in an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. When the captive girl is killed, the tables are unexpectedly turned. The gang finds themselves outsmarted by an urbane and seasoned killer determined to ensure that no one lives.” The film also stars Luke Evans, Lee Tergesen, Adelaide Clemens, Laura Ramsey, Lindsey Shaw, America Olivo, Beau Knapp and Derek Magyar.

Head inside for the interview!

So tell us a little bit about your character.

Ethan, you have to get in depth into who Ethan is. Ethan is Hoag’s [Lee Tergesen] little brother. He’s a good brother, but a horrible human being. He’s prone to violence, very disrespectful to women and just all around not a good guy. He’s a criminal who does the bidding of his brother. He’s the muscle, his brother’s not a very imposing guy but with Ethan behind him he suddenly is imposing. He’s 2nd in command of this gang that basically terrorizes this small town down south. He’s instrumental in unleashing the serial killer in the movie.

A group of bad guys cross and pick on the wrong bad guy, someone who’s more of a bad guy than they are.

The film is pretty brutal, what’s some of the craziest stuff you saw on set?

The amount of blood that is used in the movie is unreal. The makeup guys are phenomenal because they make their own blood. That was one thing about this movie that I was really honored to be a part of, it was done “in film” like a traditional movie and no CGI. It’s all done by the makeup department which, when it comes to a horror movie, is key. That’s what I think makes it real. When you can actually see it. The amount of energy and effort that went into that is just amazing.

The handcuff piece that went into my mouth was built and put together, there was a lot of ingenuity and creativity. At the end of the day the star of a horror movie is the horror movie, not necessarily the people.

Were you familiar with Ryûhei Kitamura’s work before signing on?

Oh yeah. Godzilla: Final Wars is one of my favorite movies. On my first movie, to work with a director of that quality and that vision and ability to teach, he was an amazing guy. I was spoiled the first time out to work with such an artist. He paints a tapestry of death and destruction and people getting killed like no other. I was really impressed, he never took the easy way out. At the end of the day we’re going to surprise a lot of people with the creativity of these deaths.

How is it making the leap from WWE into film? You’re used to performing in arenas and here the camera’s like 6 inches from your face.

You know what? A lot of people don’t realize that in the WWE the camera is like 6 inches from you too and it’s live, too. The WWE isn’t just somebody being in the ring, it’s the other stuff too – the intangibles – that prepare you for a movie. With the WWE there’s no re-take. With movies you get more time to develop the character in that particular instance. In a movie, with all the takes and shots and lighting, the process is just a lot longer. And there’s more of an opportunity to go back and fix and tweak things.