Really Scary: Tell us about the experience of filming Murder-Set-Pieces.

Sven Garrett: It was tough in that most days lasted 14 hours and, of course, we had all the interruptions from the police, problems with the Barracuda, problems with some of the other actors such as them not being able to remember their lines or freaking out when they realized what the film was about and quitting, props being destroyed by the police because they weren’t sure if they were “real” or not. Not to mention all the post production problems with the film labs. But at the same time, it was a lot of fun because Nick was so professional, he would listen to suggestions from the actors, I could talk to him as a friend – we hung out together a lot, having breakfast at 3 am and discussing things we could do with the film and my character.

Even the child actors were great. Jade Risser and I would have pillow fights in the house between takes and Amber Richards, who played the little girl in the playground bathroom (and was SUCH a trouper!), she and her sister Katie, who played Megan, Jade’s friend, they were all really into doing the movie and being the best actor they could be. And their parents were on the set - Jade’s mom played one of the salon customers and Katie and Amber’s dad played the father swinging Katie. Even the upsetting scene with the baby in the crib who I pick up – she was the daughter of Brendan Flynt, Nick’s DP, and her real mother was the German woman The Photographer had just been fighting with and had killed.

Sven Garrett as The Photographer in Murder - Set - Pieces

SG: Sure. One I can think of was when they were shooting me bench-pressing and Nick wanted it “really intense”. But it was 4 in the morning and all I had eaten was a slice of pizza, an apple and some cottage cheese but Nick wanted all the weight they could put on the dumbbells and I asked him just how tight this shot was going to be, because if it was going to be an extremely tight shot, I could just ACT like I was pressing a lot of weight. I was exhausted!

And working with Tony Todd was very funny, as I seem to recall that he came up with a lot of those “jobs” he was looking at in the newspaper. I mean, an elephant cage cleaner?? He was so great.

And we had this awesome car, the Barracuda, but the damn thing wouldn’t run half the time. The oil pan was busted at one point but we kept driving it without oil, it needed a new engine, the engine that was in it was so loud that in order to hear my dialogue, they had to resort to towing the car and then the power steering and power brakes wouldn’t work as the engine was off and I was afraid I was going to run right into the back of the tow car. The budget didn’t allow for a trailer for the car.

Sven Garrett and co-star Valerie Baber

RS: I have to ask about one brief scene, actually the only scene that really made me flinch, and that was the blood in the blender scene. What was that you were really drinking?

SG: That was a mixture of Karo syrup, food coloring and bananas for texture. I must have ingested so many calories that day, with having to drink all that sugar more than a few times!

RS: And the scene with The Photographer munching on the torso - how “tasty” was that?

SG: Not tasty at all. Toe Tag made that out of latex and foam and they had hidden a blood bladder in there that I was supposed to bite. But I thought that as the “body” looked like it had been frozen plus it was missing its arms and legs, the blood would have drained out a long time ago so I made a point to avoid hitting that blood as that would have been unrealistic. And the shot worked.

Sven Garrett and co-star Jade Risser

SG: None at all. The fans have been great - the people who have actually seen the film in its limited release and recognize me on the street always come up and talk about how much they enjoyed the movie. It’s the critics who have been so negative. And poor Nick has had to take the brunt of it all because he wrote, produced and directed the film. But it’s just a FILM!! I am not at all like The Photographer and Nick is not some sick, woman-hating psycho.

RS: Speaking of all the bad press Nick Palumbo has been getting, as someone who knows him and has worked with him, what positive things can you tell us that might make people think differently of him.

SG: As a friend and co-worker of Nick Palumbo’s, I can sincerely say that he treated everyone on that film with the utmost respect. He made sure the actors were comfortable with some of the more intense scenes. He talked to the child actors and calmed them down if they got scared or upset. He is a very honest person, he has never lied to me and I consider him probably one of only five people in the world that I truly trust. Plus, he really loves his family and will go out of his way to help friends out. All this bullshit in the media about him is just that. Bullshit. Plus, he knows absolutely EVERYTHING about horror movies - I would never try to play a horror movie Trivial Pursuit game with him! He told ME stuff about German horror I didn’t even know.

RS: Speaking of horror movies, then, do you have any favorites?

SG: It’s funny you ask that because I’ve been in two horror movies now and I’m possibly going to be starring in a mainstream horror film soon where I play the killer but I’m not a huge fan. I enjoy action pictures more. But if I had to name a few that have affected me, I would definitely say The Exorcist, the one with all the additional footage, any horror movie with Christopher Lee - he really scared me as a kid. He is incredible - the man is 83 and still has it!! And I did love the old black and white Universal horror movies with Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. Also anything with Vincent Price!

RS: What did you think of Las Vegas, given you were there nearly four months shooting?

SG: Honestly, with working 14+ hour days, I didn’t get to actually tour the city and take in any sites. When I had a day off, I slept. But it is a beautiful city until you get off the Strip and then it’s very seedy and dangerous. I actually had people knocking on my hotel room door trying to sell me crack. It could get scary but with people thinking we were actually making a snuff movie, we had enough police around us anyway to protect us when they weren’t arresting Nick or the Toe Tag guys. It was insane!

RS: Was it difficult handling the nudity the film required?

SG: Not for the actresses - most of them were adult film stars or strippers anyway although there were always robes handy between takes. I discussed with Nick just how graphic my shots were going to be and while there were a couple of full frontal shots and one semi-side, I’m not sure they made the final cut. And I did keep a towel on between takes - I’m not one to walk around stark naked in front of a bunch of strangers. And there is one little trick I’m happy you caught as I came up with it. It’s after one of the rapes and when the sound guys were working on the film, I was in there with them, eating a watermelon, and the sound I made eating that watermelon was very similar to the sound that, if you listen closely for it, you hear immediately after the rape is over. People will know what I’m talking about - that’s cool you caught that. Nick was surprised and pleased by that little contribution of mine…and the watermelon (laughs).

RS: You went to the Fangoria Convention recently with Nick Palumbo. What was that like?

SG: It was great! I was “attacked” by a few fans that had seen the film and recognized me even though my hair is shorter now. Poor Nick, the director, just stood off to the side but I think he preferred it that way. We got to meet a lot of great people like Rob Zombie and Tobe Hooper, who actually gave us some time to talk to him as we walked him to his car. We networked and talked to folks about merchandising. I think Nick and I were supposed to have a booth there but something got screwed up but it was still a lot of fun!

RS: What would you like to say to the readers who may have doubts about Murder-Set-Pieces due to all the negative publicity that’s been floating around?

SG: Don’t judge the film - take time to think about the message it has. This film is about reality. We didn’t set out to just make a movie showing people getting killed. The Photographer is out there. Think about that little girl and her brother in Idaho recently - that guy who took them and killed their family is just a version of The Photographer. Only we didn’t actually SEE what that guy did to that family and those kids. This movie SHOWS what monsters like that actually do. You have to be careful and you can’t be too trusting nowadays, which is unfortunate. But that is the world we live in now.