A: As a child I had a wild imagination and was fascinated by the monster that could be hiding in my closet and the serial killer who just may be waiting for me under my bed. Eventually the things that scared me…mainly death, turned into an obsession. I would rent all of the horror movies I could find and read creepy old books I would find in my grandmother’s decrepit library. One book that sticks out was called BURIED ALIVE. I had vivid nightmares for years. I hated being scared but at the same time was so intrigued that I couldn’t help but overload my brain with these atrocities. I eventually started writing little stories of my own and then borrowing my father’s camera to capture some of my visions on video.

          As I grew my taste for horror evolved and I was looking for new ways to express myself artistically. In 1999 I created a persona named Countess Bathoria who symbolized my love of erotica, darkness, blood and violence. Almost overnight, the character and the website became very popular. There are a lot of fans who share my love of the genre, and soon my website was gaining over 100,000 hits a day. It wasn’t long afterwards that I was asked to play a vampire in a local independent film.

          From a very young age I remember begging and pleading with my parents to send me to acting school but they wouldn’t budge. So I basically used sheer passion and determination to make my dreams come true.

          A: CBGPS is Robomonkey Production’s third film comprised of seven shorts by some of underground horrors most notorious directors including Jimmyo Burril (CHAINSAW SALLY), Mike Watt ( THE RESURRECTION GAME), Justin Powers (POT ZOMBIES), Steve Villeneuve (UNDER THE SCARES), Kevin Woodhouse (ORDER OF ONE) and newcomer Jan Pivon. I also contribute a short to the madness.

          My acting role is Countess Bathoria, host of the spook show. I appear before every short to introduce it and to commit some heinous homicidal behavior. The introductions are themselves short films, giving insight into the creepy and perverted world of the Countess. Many of my fans have read “Bathoria’s Tale”, which is a fable in the style of a Hammer film. The story introduced my character to the world, and explained her wicked roots and bloodlust.

          Countess Bathoria is the illegitimate daughter of the infamous Blood Countess Erzebeth Bathory, who tortured and killed hundreds of young women and bathed in their virgin blood.

          As a child Bathoria was locked in segregation within an abandoned and secluded wing of Castle Csejthe with her only friend by her side, a doll named Gretchen. The tale continues into CB’s transformation from an innocent girl to a bloodthirsty anti-hero.

          Keeping true to the tale, Gretchen is The Countess’ sidekick in CBGYPS.

          The audience will find themselves questioning CB’s sanity as she talks to the doll and treats her as though she is alive. Are they a bloodthirsty duo or a madwoman and her hallucination?

          I would love to make a feature length film based on CB, and I know that the fans want one too. CBGYPS gives us a taste of the character and her dark and sinister ways. I feel that CB is unlike Elvira, Vampira, and other female horror hosts and icons. I tried to give fans something they have never seen before.

          A: This is no sell-out, mainstream, tasteful, respectful film. Each filmmaker had his own vision for the common plot line, which involves a toxic zombie release. There is horror, gore, action, kung-fu, splatter, sex, and rock and roll.

          This film was like my baby. A deformed, mutant monster baby, of course. Like the one in “It’s Alive”. The idea had been brewing in my infected cranium for a long time and I just knew I had to make the film. I’ve been re-shooting some of the intro segments and adding final touches. I’m just about ready to give birth to CBGYPS. Of course, we will save the afterbirth to cut back on catering costs for our next film.

          A: The whole project was a difficult task and I was involved every step of the way. From concept to producing and finally post, I basically did the work of 12 crew members.

          The film consists of seven short films, one of which I directed. I’m also responsible for the wrap-around story that frames each short film. I picked the other filmmakers because they all had unique artistic visions, but their films had to fit within the parameters of the theme. So my first task was coordinating with them to make sure that their film would be consistent and fit snugly in the project as a whole. This was a challenge considering we all lived in different states and in some cases a different country.

          Ed Wood’s films had bigger budgets than we did, which also added to the challenge but we were all very dedicated to the project. Each filmmaker worked very hard on their short and because of budgetary restrictions we were forced to innovate, to come up with and execute different ideas and effects. “Necessity is the mother of invention,” as the saying goes.

          I also lost all of my footage more than once and had transformers blow up outside of my editing space.

          Then, as if there weren’t enough challenges, when the original film debuted at the Fantasia Film Festival, someone called in a bomb threat. That night proved something to me about my fans and horror junkies in general…

          After being evacuated from the building and not told if we’d be allowed back in, everyone waiting outside for an hour until the building was swept and cleared. The fans were so loyal that the vast majority of them actually waited to come back and see the rest of the film. We were terrified everyone would leave, and they didn’t. The bomb scare was one of the low points of making the film but having the fans wait outside to finish watching our monstrosity was definitely a high point. I knew we had made something that people wanted to see, because they ignored the possible bomb in the building to finish the film. I want to thank all those horror fans who waited and got to see the rest of the film.

          A: The moment that writer, David L Tamarin, handed me the finished script that consisted of my intro segments. I knew nothing would stop me!

          A: I had the rare opportunity of playing the epitome of all evil…. Lucifer!!!!! This was probably one of my favorite roles to date! The director allowed me to take risks with the character, the make up was bad-ass and I had the power to point at women and make them menstruate. Unfortunately I don’t have that power in the real life. Reality can be a let down compared to the world of filmmaking. So I can’t cause spontaneous menstruation in my personal life. Other than that it was a wonderful experience.

          A: I’m one of a group of five urban explorers who enter a haunted building. My character is a rebel but a bit of mystery. She is as tough as railroad spikes, slightly psychotic, a cutter, extremely cynical and has relationship issues.

          The film was shot in the Buffalo Central Terminal, a long abandoned, asbestos-filled art deco monstrosity built in 1929 that is reported to be haunted for real! Urban exploration is one of my favorite pastimes so this was a dream location!

          The best part of the shoot was the amazing amount of asbestos in the building, and knowing that I was literally dying for art. We were restricted to just the first few floors. The floors underground were ice cold and we had to use space heaters.

          A: This film was also shot in Buffalo NY. It was Sean Michael Argo’s first undertaking as a director, and is extremely ambitious. FTOB presents a secret supernatural world that exists just beneath the surface of our everyday awareness. A world filled with danger and wonder at every turn, kept safe by enforcers like the character I play, Lilith Noir. She is part private investigator and part sorceress. Witchcraft, Guns, and the Occult…never a dull day in the twilight city called Fable!

          A: OOO is Robomonkey’s second production and was just released through Chemical Burn Entertainment. Braemar Entertainment co-produced this homage to Japanese action legend Sonny Chiba, and it has a seventies Grindhouse road-flick feel to it. My sometimes co-star Jason Cavalier plays the title role and I play an assassin named Dynamite. My main job was behind the camera as director of photography. As usual it has more action, bullets, fights and blood than you’d expect for a film with a limited budget.

          A: Robomonkey is trying to raise money for our fourth feature film entitled DEATH HOUSE DOLLS. It will be an action exploitation horror fest that takes place in an all female prison. Of course there will be many twists and turns along the way!

          I’ll also be joining evil forces with filmmaker Sean Michael Argo on two projects this year.

          The first of his unique visions is called SINEATERS and I’ll be bringing the character of The Grim Lady to life. In the story, each sineater has a ‘grim’ that walks beside them, a demon in their heads as it were, the voice in their heads that is the conglomeration of all the evil they have consumed. If their grim becomes too powerful, then it will begin to manifest more physically and completely in their lives. The Grim Lady is Vaughn’s (lead, Tim O’Hearn) inner demon.... She speaks to him as if a real live woman, and he doesn't seem able to tell the difference, so lost is he in his own darkness. She is alluring, ruthless, and totally evil! The film will also star horror icon Debbie Rochon.

          DEATHMATCH will be the second of Argo’s films and I’ll be playing Whiskey Jack. She is a cross between a circus ringmaster, an evil clown and a Roman Editor (officiator at gladiator games). I’ll be wearing a corset, sexy boots, top hat, wild body & face paint, and gripping a whip or scepter. Whiskey Jack is the “Warden of Mecca”, the person who runs “Deathmatch” which is the gladiator arena that is this insane post-apocalyptic society's prime form of both entertainment and law enforcement…very much a trial by combat kind of situation.

          Early this year, genre favorite, Robert Noel Gifford will be releasing THE GREATEST WOMEN OF HORROR AND SCI-FI DVD. It was an honor to be a part of this project and I’ll be working with Robert again later this year on his dark creation, FRAGMENTS OF SHADOW. I’ll be playing the lead Vampire named Raven.

          I’m also very excited about being cast in the talented Mudd Miller’s CANNIBAL HOOKERS 3D. Jason Hughes wrote the script for this genre-bending gore-fest that will ooze with sleaze and 3D elements!

          I do have other projects in the works so be sure to check out my website periodically for all of the tasty updates. www.melanthablackthorne.com

          A: Yes, definitely! To name a few, Takashi Miike, Adam Green, Rodrigo Gudiño, Julien Maury & Alexandre Bustillo, Robert Rodriguez, Sam Rami, Peter Jackson, Darren Aronofsky and José Mojica Marins (Coffin Joe).

          I actually had the opportunity to work with Coffin Joe but had to turn it down. He offered me a role in two of his upcoming film projects but I would have had to skewer my breasts or fuck a turtle. He was completely serious.

          What I do with a turtle in my private life is no one’s business. And though I would really have loved to work with him, I appreciate my breasts, and so do my fans and I couldn’t skewer them, so I had to turn down both roles.

          Sam Raimi, Peter Jackson and Robert Rodriquez started making the type of low-budget but in-your-face type films that we at Robmonkey Productions are known for.

          Raimi showed us in THE EVIL DEAD that he could create a legendary cinematic experience with a low budget. He had enthusiasm, great ideas, and he didn’t ever try to tone down the film. You can see the movie and tell it was a labor of love. He started out small and is now making Hollywood blockbusters like SPIDERMAN. Impressive to say the least!

          After making such low-budget twisted classics as BAD TASTE and MEET THE FEEBLES, he went on to make, for a small budget by Hollywood standards, the film DEAD-ALIVE which just so happens to be one of the most original, sick, bizarre, and ultraviolent films ever made. Now he’s making blockbusters like LORD OF THE RINGS and KING KONG.

          Robert Rodriguez’s film “EL MARIACHI” was a huge influence. With a budget of under $6,000 he made a kick-ass film full of action, romance, off-beat characters, and a wildly original style. His later films like SIN CITY and PLANET TERROR from GRINDHOUSE showed the same daring vision. He’s got his own style, and he doesn’t compromise.

          These guys are a great inspiration to me because they were able to make incredibly exciting films with practically nothing and look at them now. Hollywood recognizes true talent, no matter what the budget of the film is, which is how talented and eccentric film-makers gain fame with no-budget films.

          A: There are a couple of things, but first I read the script. Every good movie starts with a story. If the character intrigues me it’s usually a good sign. I commit to productions that I know I’ll have fun working on and try to surround myself with people who are passionate about their art. Ambitious projects from people with a vision.

          A: I collect weapons. My shop is pretty impressive. We have everything from throwing stars to explosives to knives and a whole lot more. I could kill a man 1,000 different ways in it. I’m not at the 1,000 body count yet but a lot of blood has been spilled in the weapons shop.

          A: The last horror movie I watched was Adam Green’s FROZEN I thought to myself….Finally! A director with new ideas and a talent to keep you hooked using only one location and few special effects. He’s on his way to the top of horror greatness!

          One of my favorite horror films of all time is a French gem called À L'INTÉRIEUR. It’s a must see for any horror fan!

          A: My pleasure, it was fun. Thanks for supporting the dark arts!