Interview: Adrienne King (Friday the 13th) – 10.26.10

Hello acolytes, how are all of you feeling? Terrible I hope! It is I, your liege The Black Saint back with another interview from the Creation “Weekend Of Horror” held last weekend in LA. Seeing as we’re getting ever closer to Samhain (Halloween for those who aren’t as ancient as I am) I’m trying to get all the rest of my interviews up this week so I can enjoy this coming Sunday. I have such plans for all of the little kiddies who dare to knock on the door to my Mausoleum. Believe it or not there’s always a few that just don’t realize how f*cked they are once I answer. For me they’re the sweets…so juicy & tender. And those who I don’t make a snack out of or feed to my pets become my slaves. My personal acolytes who handle the more mundane features of day to day living so I don’t have to. Throwing out the trash (the bad trash, there is good trash you know), getting the mail, feeding my pets, etc..etc. They hate it & I love it! And once I have em’, they’re mine til I don’t need em’ anymore. Then I gotta let them go & that usually means letting them go off of a cliff or something of that nature. But enough of my plans for now. Here for your perusal is an interview with the one & only Adrienne King! Star of “Friday The 13th” & “Friday the 13th Part 2”. Well maybe not the star of part 2 but she had a great scene in it….

TBS: Hello to everyone who keeps up with Horrornews.net & the musings of The Black Saint. I’m pleased to say that I’m sitting with the Beautiful Adrienne King who starred in “Friday The 13th”. How are you today Miss King?

AK: I’m doing wonderfully, thank you for asking.

TBS: Let’s get started with the first question: What’s the fondest memory you have of making “Friday The 13th”?

AK: My fondest memory would probably be when we first started the film & it was still warm & sunny & all of us were together for the first time. Myself, Kevin Bacon, Mary Crosby, Mark Nelson, Jeanine Taylor and the others. We had a great time together, we were all in our 20’s & we were all so excited about working together. Even though it was such a low budgeted film & we didn’t even know if it would even be completed or not! At that point we still had money so it was really great, The sun was still shining and we really got to know each other well & it really felt like being away at summer camp. And I think that comes across in the film.

TBS: When you say that was when you still had money do you mean that the production ran out of money at some point?

AK: Two times we closed down over the weekend while they tried to get funds to make payroll (Laughs)!

TBS: Was this your first film?

AK: It was my first major role in a film. I was a background dancer in “Saturday Night Fever” & “Hair”. I did extra work in little independent movies, sometimes I got a line or two to say. But “Friday” was the first time I had anything resembling a starring role in a film. It was pretty exciting for everyone there.

TBS: Did you know when you read the script & you were told you got the part, did you realize how violent the film was going to be? I mean “Friday The 13th” really got the Horror ball rolling again. So I wonder if all of the onscreen violence was actually in the script?

AK: The script was actually being written as we were shooting (Laughs). Of course they had the basic plot line down & there were some scenes that had been written already. The shower scene was written already. Actually all of the girls used that scene for their auditions because it was basically the only monologue any female character had in the movie. So we all kind of saw sprinklings of what was going to happen. But there was no way we could’ve anticipated Tom Savini’s magic & what was actually on the page and what was on the screen was incredibly different. You know you can say it but when you see it on the big screen it’s a whole lot different. You know what they say about one picture equaling a thousand words…in this case it was worth a thousand screams!

TBS: Most definitely. I remember seeing it on it’s original release with my dad & a friend of mine. And when we all got to what we thought was the end of the film, we got that scene. That famous final scene & I can remember the entire theatre as a group just lifting up 2 feet in the air! Did you guys think you were going to get that reaction when you filmed it?

AK: Totally & I’ll tell you why. I got to go to a screening of the film with the studio heads in NY. I think it was at Magno where it was being screened.

TBS: I’ve been to quite a few screenings at Magno.

AK: I had asked Sean Cunningham if I could bring my mom to see it and I could see the Paramount guys in the back talking to Sean And I thought “This will be great” because it was my mom’s first time seeing it & it was in the Wintertime when we had this screening and my mom started to put on her coat at the end when I’m sitting in the canoe because she thought it was over. I told her “Mom, sit down for a sec” & she did. And she let out a scream and jumped four feet in the air & I swear I turned around and I saw handshakes taking place all over in the back of the room. So something had happened there & I figured this was gonna wow everybody when they see it.

TBS: Did you think it was going to be the financial success that it was?

AK: Not a clue, not a clue. But I think that had a lot to do with the brilliance of Frank Mancuso & Paramount. Frank was head of distribution at the time and I don’t think a horror movie had ever opened as wide as ours did. It was something in the range of 1300 screens. And they spent a lot of money on the prints and advertising as well. I think the budget for the film was about $750,000, I’m pretty sure it was under a million, and I know that they spent $6.5 million on prints & advertising.

TBS: That’s a lot! But they made it back in spades. Hell, they’re still making tons of money on that film.

AK: Yeah, it’s a billion dollar franchise now.

TBS: Did you think people would still be talking about it years later?

AK: Not a clue.

TBS: What did you think of the remake?

AK: I’ve haven’t seen it completely. I’ve seen scenes of it here & there & I met the cast last year at the Boston Rock N’ Shock weekend and they seemed like very nice people. I thought it was fun & frivolous & I don’t think it got into the characters as much as the first one. But I think what’s redeeming about it for me was that it brought “Friday The 13th” to a brand new audience and there’s nothing wrong with that!

TBS: No. I agree that it brought Jason to a brand new audience & I know they’ve already greenlit a sequel.

AK: Really?

TBS: Yeah, I believe it set a record for an opening weekend for any Horror film ever. Even if it did drop off 80-90% in it’s second weekend it made so much in it’s first weekend it was a no brainer to start preparing a sequel.

AK: I don’t believe that since it fell off so much in it’s second weekend they understand how important the fans are & how important word of mouth is as well. The original opened in the Summer do you remember that? And it just kept going & going all summer long. It had legs. I would hope that if they are actually going to do a second one that they’d pay more attention to character development this time around. I felt the film was kind of lacking in that department.

TBS: When you came back for part 2, what did you think about how they offed you in the first 5 minutes of that film? Was that something you wanted?

AK: Are you aware that I had a stalker between parts 1 & 2? I had a really bad stalker & it went on for over a year. And that’s why when part 2 came up I definitely wanted to be there because I was the only thread to the first one So I wanted to be there for Sean (Cunningham) & for the series but I definitely had a hard time because of the stalker because it wasn’t taken seriously in the 80’s at all until Rebecca Schafer was murdered in 86′. I had some really nasty stuff going on back then. And the cops & the FBI told me that when something actually happened to me.. physically then they would do something. So it was actually written as a nightmare in a nightmare and you never see Alice dead. You never see blood. You never see her dead body & that way they got what they needed. Which was Jason, since his mother was the killer in the first one. They needed a villain. And they got a great one.

TBS: I had no idea about a stalker. I’m so sorry to hear that, how was it resolved if I can ask?

AK: Oh it was resolved about a year or so later. He was caught but that was after I had experienced a great amount of emotional stress to the point that I didn’t do another on camera film. I went into voice over work. My first on camera film since part 2 was about 2 years ago for a film called “Walking Distance” and I hope that comes out soon. It has a wonderful, wonderful script.

TBS: Well I’m not going to linger on that subject anymore..

AK: If you go to my website I kind of touch on it a little bit.

TBS: I’ll be sure to mention your website when I type this up. Are you doing anything currently? Is anything planned?

AK: Well are you on Facebook at all? I only ask because I have about 2000 friends on Facebook.

TBS: No, I’m not on Facebook. I don’t think I’m interesting enough to be on Facebook.

AK: I totally doubt that! But I moved up to Oregon about 6 years ago and totally got into a whole other world with my art & also wine. So I’ve partnered up with the oldest & finest winery in Southern Oregon called Valley View Winery and they also are heavy “Friday The 13th” fans.

TBS: (Noticing the wine bottles on her table) Are these really the labels on the bottles?

AK: Yes, that’s my artwork.

TBS: That’s unbelievable!

AK: Yes. As you can see it’s Alice in her canoe. And I have 3 Varietals right now & this week we’re releasing our latest and it is called “Survivor Cera” and it’s so delicious. The one great thing about being in Oregon is that we don’t have all of the taxes or overhead that California has so we can sell the wine for a reasonable price. My bottles of wine are only $20 dollars and in California they would be $40 dollars.

TBS: Are they available all over the country?

AK: Actually, believe it or not I’m selling the wine here as well. I’m taking orders here because California is in such a bad state. It’s against the law here to sell it at functions like this. We haven’t even marketed it yet but the best way to get it is to order it online at Valleyviewwinery.com or you could call me at the 1 800 number at the Valley view winery. I have a Chardonnay which is delicious & there is a beautiful poster that was actually the front page of a newspaper article & what we did was I got a Jason mask which was signed by all of the Jason’s that Kane Hodder gave to me. And the photographer took a picture of me through the eye of the mask & all of the signatures & it’s such a cool photo & the title of the piece was “Blood, Death & Wine”. And I had a poster made from it because it is so cool. It’s a 12 by 18 poster & I’m signing them for free if you order 4 or more bottles of our wine. And like I said there’s no tax in Oregon so the only extra is the shipping & that’s a minimal cost.

TBS: I would buy some but I don’t think I’d be able to bring it back to NY with me.

AK: Are you from NY? That’s where I’m from originally.

TBS: Where?

AK: I was born in Brooklyn and I grew up in Long Island. And I lived in a whole bunch of apartments but I ended up in a rent controlled apartment on 86th & Madison Ave.

TBS: Rent controlled? On 86th & Madison? Why’d you leave?

AK: Trust me, I didn’t want to but my husband was in post production & his company needed him out here in LA. So we moved in 94′. But we live in a beautiful place now & I’m so happy where we are.

TBS: If the sequel to the remake comes to pass would you do a cameo? As a matter of fact were you offered a cameo in the sequel?

AK: They got in touch with me & Betsy Palmer and then they kind of decided at the 13th hour that they wanted everyone to be original characters. The director wanted to make it his own film & that’s cool but it would’ve been fun to do a little cameo or something. I think it would’ve been fun for me, Ari (The first Jason) & Betsy to do a scene together. Like the one in the diner. You know being waitresses in the diner or something to that effect.

TBS: I met Ari last year & he is a madman! I actually have a picture of him groping my daughter…

AK: Really? He’s a great guy.

TBS: Yeah he was very cool.

AK: Yeah, he’s all into Heavy Metal now.

TBS: Yeah, he was all decked out in his metal gear. Great guy! And my daughter loved it….

AK: Yeah he’s a ladies man. He signs everything “The First Jason” & he does well.

TBS: Well, I just want to thank you for your time & telling your fans about your life since you first met Jason Voorhees…..

AK: The pleasure was all mine.

If any of my acolytes want to order some of Adrienne’s wine. You can order it online at Valleyviewwinery.com. The labels are fantastic & it’s all her original art. Order 4 bottles & get the signed poster as well. It’s an awesome picture. You can also visit her at her website www.adrienneking.com or at www.officialfridaythe13th.com Both sites are well worth the visit.

So there you are, another great star that The Saint mesmerized with his piercing glare & his probing questions. I had her eating out of the palm of my hand…Actually she was a wonderfully pleasant person to talk with & we actually talked a lot more than is actually here in the interview but it was about our lives & things we had in common. None of your business in other words….

So until tomorrow, remember to wash between your toes (it can get nasty in there), always obey your parents (you only get 2 of em’), & of course…say your prayers before you go to bed. But don’t forget who you’re praying to….ME!!!

The Black Saint