I had the chance to ask Thor van Ligen a couple of questions through e-mail and he was more than happy to answer them.
0: What is your favorite horror movie?
It's funny, but I'm not really into horror movies. Too many late night scare fests when I was younger I guess. I remember enjoying the Friday the 13th movies (though some of them were downright terrible).
1: How did you get involved in this film?
There was an ad for an open audition in the local newspaper (The Signal) for the role of Jesse. I tried out, and the casting director said I'd make a better bully (Billy) than I would the little kid that gets beat up. So I kept auditioning and eventually got the part.
2: Do you keep contact with anyone from the movie?
Sadly, no. I saw Michael Kenworthy (Jesse) about 7 years ago when I was attending Cal State Northridge (CSUN), but that is it.
3: Did you ever feel frightened on set by the zombies?
No, they were all really nice guys before they put their makeup on. It was interesting to see when Kenny Myers and the gang were going to cook up for their next zombie.
4: What was the brains you ate made of?
Raw cookie dough--and I use the term loosely--with boysenberry pancake syrup on them (at least the ones I got to eat). They were TERRIBLE. If you look at the scene where I chomp into one, you can tell I'm about to BARF!!
5: The film was recently released on DVD and you are a DVD reviewer now. What is your opinion on the new disc?
The disc is what you would expect for a movie of this budget. It is "budget" itself. I wrote a full review (http://www.theboxset.com/review.php?id=252), and I hope/think I was pretty fair. The new soundtrack got a lot of bad press (deservedly), but other than that it was nice to see it make it to DVD.
6: A fourth entry is currently in the making. Do you have any involvment in that film?
Nope. They haven't called me back. :-)
7: Do you meet pepole who recognize you from the film?
I did for a while after the movie was made. Now I just get emails from the occasional ROTLD2 fan through www.theboxset.com.
8: What is your opnion on the other two films in the trilogy?
The first one was pretty decent. I watched it as "research" for my role as Billy. I never bothered nor will I bother with any future installments.
9: Anything else you want to add?
It was a blast to make the movies nearly 16 years ago, and it is funny to see it still has some sort of following today. Thanks for the email.
