Trip Out On This: Interview With Kyle Holman (2002)

By James Hendsbee

Kyle Holman is one amazing guy and it was really cool talking with him. He was nice enough to allow me to interview him at his home, in which Kyle and I talked about his awesome camp experience. Snowboy was definately one of the cooler characters of SC3, and Kyle opens up about his past performance, and his cool present ones.
 

James Hendsbee: Tell me a bit about yourself.

Kyle Holman: Since my father is a professional magician and entertainer, I grew up on the stage. My first play was at age 6, and I did a lot of drama in high school. I did community theatre and summerstock in college. As you can tell, I did my share of acting. Later on, I auditioned for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and was accepted. I worked as an actor in New York for a few years. After Sleepaway, I moved back home and started getting work in other films and commercials here in the South. I got married in 1991 to my beautiful wife Tara. We recently celebrated our 9th anniversary.

James: Teenage Wasteland was your first full length movie. Did you like watching the crew work?

Kyle: Very much. Michael A. Simpson, Bill Mills, and Jerry Pece kept things calm and low. The gaffer was the only loud guy. He was quite funny. It was neat watching them work. For instance, a lot of the time the D.P needed this, this, and this for lighting to work. The camera needed this, this, and that for that to happen. It was like solving a puzzle. Michael wasn't too concerned. He was very calm. This left a huge impression on me. Obviously SC2 went this smooth. This was all routine though; the crew had already been filming for several weeks before.

James: How did you get involved with SC3, and what type of experience was it?

Kyle: SC3 was a fantastic experience. I had just moved back home to Birmingham from New York. I kind of burned out of theatre and wanted to get into film. I hooked up with an agent in Atlanta, (four hour drive from Birmingham). It was the first job my agent sent me up for. He just wanted me to get my feet wet with an audition. He seemed surprised when I got the part. It would be my first full length film. By the time SC3 started shooting, the crew was in a groove and operated like a well oiled machine.

James: What did you know about SC3 when your agent told you about the film?

Kyle: Nothing really. My agent told me to try out for the part of Tony. I was interested after they started casting, so I went to my local video store and rented the first film. I watched it with the girl I was dating, and I was like, " I don't know if I want to do the part now. " I called back my agent and told him I was not impressed. He told me I didn't understand. They practically bought the rights, different people were handling the film, and were using a good idea for a springboard. My agent told me they had a new idea, and it was way ahead of the 80s. Pumped up with all this tongue and cheek. So I went with it. I'm glad I did.

James: You tried out for Tony?

Kyle: Yes, I originally tried out for that part. I had just finished a run of Joseph & The Technicolor Dreamcoat and had dyed my hair blond. The director felt Joseph needed to be very different in appearance from the other brothers. Well, that did it! Anyway, when the casting people for Sleepaway saw me with blond hair they asked me to read for Snowboy and I got the part. I remember my agent was hacked that it was a different part than what he set me up for but I was pumped! I've always liked the odd characters. Needless to say I'm not represented by that agent now.

James: Were you confident you got the role?

Kyle: Not really. When I was asked to do Tony, it was going to be cool. But when they asked me to play Snowboy, I was like 'Oh yeah, I'd much rather do that.' I like to play the characters that are different from what I am. As I said, my agent was mad, but I was like 'Look, I'll play whatever they want me to play. I don't care.'

James: What was it like auditioning for the film?

Kyle: I drove over to the Shay Griffin Agency. I went into an office and just stood infront of a little video camera and read a couple of scenes from the script. There were several people in the room. I can't remember who now.

James: Was there any requirements for your part?

Kyle: Not for Snowboy. When I tried for Tony, I think they wanted a kind of Puerto Rican accent. Right before I did the run of Joseph & The Technicolor Dreamcoat, I did another play modeling a Spanish character with an outrageous accent. So, when I tried for Tony, I used that accent. It was kind of goofy sounding.... I was just in the middle of finishing this comedy. When I was asked to read for Snowboy, I was all for it. They never asked me to do anything weird when standing infront of the camera auditioning. I'm not sure if they did, but it would have been cool if they saved the audition tapes.

James: How was the character Snowboy described to you?

Kyle: Snowboy was supposed to be a gang rat from Chicago. He spraypainted a lot heavier. He was supposed to be always running around. When I started to practice for the part, I was spraying all these cardboard boxes, doing all these crazy symbols. In the film, we didn't focus too much on the spraypaint. Michael liked my dyed blond hair with black eyebrows. I had lived with a guy from Chicago so I tried to remember how he talked. Snowboy was a silly, little gang member.... not really tough. Into big mischief. That's Snowboy for you!

James: Did you guys hang out at the camp?

Kyle: We sure did, when waiting to shoot. It was cold a lot of the time, so the crew had hooked up a bunch of heaters here and there. In one of the cabins they had a huge furnice, which gave out hot air. It looked like it was out of the `60s. There were heaters in the dining hall also. I liked Camp Younts. It was very cool, and very life like. It was out in the middle of nowhere. It was a real camp. There wasn't anywhere really to walk to, and the road to get there was hellish. The camp was a couple miles off the main road. It was a real ordeal to get there. The camp was thick into the woods. It was an older camp, and had a nice feel to it.

James: Did the crew ever build sets during SC3?

Kyle: No, they had all the sets completed before we got there. The crew was reusing parts from the Unhappy Campers set. I also remember they would take a few shots of the sets before they actually rolled the actual takes. That way, they knew how to light the sets before they filmed (and to make sure lighting was done properly and that they didn't over-light, etc.) They were thinking ahead and were very professional. I think it only took the crew 2.5-3 weeks to finish Teenage Wasteland. They powered right through that film.

James: Did you ever wander the woods at night?

Kyle: No way. It was creepy going through them. You could always hear noises throughout the camp (since it was so close to the water); it sounded like creatures were running around. Very swampy sounding, and you could always hear fog noises. The camp had a reputation of being haunted, so everyone would talk about that. Another creepy place was up the hill, where they shot the newsreporter scene. You got into trees and you didn't go up there.

James: Did Michael tell you guys anything when you arrived on set?

Kyle: Not really. The crew was already shooting, so we were just more talent to arrive on set. I think Michael cast who he did because he liked something in their audition. Like they could actually act the part easy and have the part down pact. I don't think he looked at exactly what the script said, but he saw something unique in our auditions. Michael would say to people, "well, try to do a little more of that" or, "hold off a little." So he basically let the personalities of the cast shine through. It probably made his job a lot easier.

Jerry Pece really rangled everyone. He was very involved with the shoot. "Stand right here," or, "You're doing this now" was what he told everyone. Jerry was very involved with the cast members. You really got your money's worth with Jerry. When they found Jerry for Elvis' Grave, he was incredible and whipped that thing into shape. One time he commented to me about his job; how he was supposed to take all the screaming and yelling, to ensure that all the cast members would never get mad at each other and hold grudges. There wasn't any yelling anyway, but he basically told me that if you're going to be mad at anyone, get mad at him. He could shrug it off his shoulders no problem.

James: What can you remember about the hotel everyone stayed at?

Kyle: When we got up in the morning, we would all go downstairs. We would just stare at each other and goof off, waiting for the shoot to start. Cast members would tell a story, or whatever. I think we got offered a cracker and coffee, complements of the hotel. I remember there was a McDonalds near by, so a van would pick people up and transport them. I had my Trooper, so I would go everywhere in that. I remember one time it rained real bad and the van got stuck. I had a wicked 4 wheel drive, so I never had any problems.

James: Was it hard getting into the camp?

Kyle: Yes, you had to turn off one exit, so there was only one way in. It was a quick little drive, but it was really rocky, muddy, and there was all these dips. You were happy when you finally made it. The conditions on the road were bad because there was bull dozers ripping up the road. You couldn't go back to the hotel-- or at least you didn't want to because of conditions. It was kind of like ok, we're here. Everyone was ready to go back to the hotel when they were finished their scenes, and everyone made sure they made the trip back.

James: What is Michael J. Pollard like?

Kyle: Michael is very cool. I remember his death was changed around also; like mine, it never happened. He is very neat and extremely funny; he has this awesome look on his face. I remember he would get away from his P.A. "Where's Michael?" He ditched her again. He was gone again, just like that. I tried to stay out of his way, and I never said anything to him. I wanted to ask him questions about his roles in Bonnie & Clyde, Star Trek, and others. I waited until he was comfortable with me and approached me first.

James: And it was cool on set?

Kyle: Yeah, it was a great set to work on. There was no yelling or attitude on set from anyone. I credit Michael Simpson for that. He was very laid back and always relaxed. He was very easy to talk to and made everyone, no matter how large or small their part, feel important on the shoot. It kind of spoiled me. The next couple of sets I worked on weren't like that at all.

James: What is director Michael A. Simpson like?

Kyle: He is an awesome guy. I'm not kidding around, either. He is one of the best directors there is. If a problem occurred, he would quickly think of a solution, recuperate, and continue on. I've worked with lots of directors in my career, and it's too bad all directors don't operate like he does. Michael was always nice to everyone on set. He was a real pro.

James: Were you cold when filming the SC3?

Kyle: As Snowboy I got to wear my leather jacket most of the time so I did OK. Everything I wore in the film was really mine except for the camp New Horizons shirt (which I still have). It was cold late at night, and early in the morning. It only got bad if you were in the shade so we stood around in the sun as much as we could. I have since gave my leather jacket to my friend a few years back.

James: What did you do when you weren't filming?

Kyle: We were way out in the middle of nowhere. I had a great little remote control 4 wheel drive truck. I buzzed that thing all over the place. One day I finished up early, so Michael J. Pollard, Valerie, and I went into Atlanta to Buckhead Mall and messed around for a few hours. As soon as we got into the mall, Pollard disappeared. Valerie and I spent most of the time trying to find him. A couple of hours later we found him in a shoe store, examing a shoe. He was a really neat guy. Very quiet and funny. Other than that I just hung out at the hotel and watched television. However, I was only on set for 2 weeks, and we did a lot of filming in that amount of time. I don't think there was any parties. We were all working hard, and were pretty tired at the end of the day. We just went back to the hotel and crashed. We had no time to lay about.

James: Did you hang out with anyone?

Kyle: I pretty much kept to myself. I tried to watch and learn as much as I could. I loved watching Michael Simpson and Jerry Pece work. After all, it was my first "real" film and I had never seen how the "core team" operated. To this day, it's still one of the smoothest sets I've worked on. So smooth in fact ... when we had to fire the A.D on Elvis' Grave, I told the producer to find Jerry Pece. He came into the project in the final days of shooting and he never missed a beat! I did hang out with Valerie Hartman. She was in Sleepaway II and really liked working with Michael, so she stuck around as a P.A on Sleepaway III. I also kept a close eye on Dudley, the camera AC. He was quite a character.

Shad Leach, the prop master, was also someone I followed around a good bit. He was a great guy. I trusted him a great deal. Of course, I hung around with Bill "Splat" Johnson. I've been a makeup nut since my first theatre experience. I've always been the type to hang out with the crew as opposed to the actors. There was a really cool mix of people on this set.

James: Tell me about one of the crew members you enjoyed watching.

Kyle: I liked watching Dudley, the camera AC, go to work. He was a really nice guy. Dudley was always near the camera. You could always find him sitting on his stool, waiting to film. He really respected his job on set. I had done AC for a company in Atlanta. Since then, I really respected how well he worked, and how well he really knew his job. Here's an example of what I mean. I remember one time someone questioned him. "Are you sure the focal length is 6 feet?" Well, Dudley just smirked, jumped off the stool, put the measuring tape to the camera, and measured the distance. "Yup, 6 feet." Dudley had a great eye. He was an all around nice guy. No attitude on set.

James: Do you have any trivia about SC3?

Kyle: I was around when they shot the lawn mover scene, where they ran over Lilly's head. I had a good time watching that scene. When the crew told everyone they were shooting it, everyone backed off. I didn't. The shot was pretty nasty. I have no idea how the shot looked through the camera lens. The whole crew was like "Awhhh, that's gross." They put something in the melon. It was cool because they rigged a wig on the thing and turned it back and forth. It was supposed to be Lilly! It was pretty funny to watch. When the lawn mover ran down the melon, guts went everywhere. Very nasty looking shot. It's a shame they cut out that death. It was well thought out. In the script, pieces of Lilly's head and heaps of blood was supposed to fly from the lawn mover.

James: What was the dining hall like?

Kyle: It was a cool place to shoot in. All the lights were focussed near the entrance. If you came in, you were looking through a jungle. There was tables, stands, lights hanging from above. They were even applying jell on the windows so if the sun moved around, it wouldn't affect the shot. It was definately the most intense set up for the technical aspect. To get to the end of the dining hall, you had to snake your way through all the equipment. Near the exit, it was extremely dark. It was quite the sight. I remember saying to myself, "Wow! This is the best place in the world!"

James: Did you ever visit the 'Splat' shack?

Kyle: Yes, I loved that place! It was wicked to look in. Bill positioned everything in the whole place perfectly. He would present a body on a bunk, a head on the table. It was weird, no ones benefit, but his own. There was pieces and parts from part 2 all over the place.

James: Did they try to push the clock as much as they could?

Kyle: Sure. A lot of the time they would shoot until midnight, maybe later. You can go overtime, past overtime, and double overtime on a movie set. The last thing they want is to go over the budget, so they had to watch the clock. I remember one time, when they were shooting Peter's death, the generator that was hooked up to the trucks was having problems. So I think they packed it in early that one time. They were just having a bit of technical trouble that one time.

James: What types of props did you see for the film?

Kyle: I saw a lot of the props used for both films. It was neat because they gave Splat his own cabin for all his make-up and fake heads. There was a bunch of weird stuff in there. I remember I was holding Jill Terashita's fake head, and I told Bill that he did a great job on it. The only time I saw Bill get upset was when they wanted to put his skeletons in the burning tent. I think he said 'look, these skeletons aren't in your budget. You can pay me for them, if you want.' These skeletons were his own props to make the films better. He didn't have to use them. So he was just like, 'No way. You burn 'em, you buy 'em.' Those skeletons are expensive.

James: Were the scenes ever gorier or bloodier?

Kyle: Sometimes. I remember when Peter died, a lot of blood went all over me, but when I watch the film, there wasn't a lot. All the fake blood dried fast, and it all got in my hair -- it's the worst feeling. So, although I know there was a lot more in that scene, most, if not all scenes turn out that way. It's how the camera picks it up and translates it on to film.

James: Even the crew was doing music shows!

Kyle: Yeah. They would set up and jam in the big Dining Hall. There was a huge fireplace, where they kept all their drums, keyboards, and every other musical instrument you could think of. They would all hang out, and just jam all night long. They would play tunes for everyone, and they were fantastic. I actually heard that Pamela's brother Bruce came down and jammed with them all night once. That's what I heard from them.

James: There were people interviewing cast members, right?

Kyle: Yes, everyone was interested with Pamela. I remember when we were filming the scene where all the campers line up to talk to that reporter, in-between shots we would all just goof off. At the time, People magazine was interviewing Pamela. Suddenly a reporter waved me over. "Sorry to interrupt you. I don't mean to get you out of character, I just wanted to ask you a few questions. " I was like, "No, that's ok. Not a problem." At the time, I actually didn't know who Pamela's brother was. Well, I was being asked questions like who I was, where I was from, stuff like that. After about two minutes, they started asking about Pamela. "What's it like working with Pamela?" I replied, "Fun." I had not actually talked very much with Pamela at all until later in the shoot. She was extremely busy. "Does her brother affect the way Pamela works?" he asked. "Who's her brother?" I said. The guy just laughed at my response. He thought it was a joke I had made.

A little later I was sitting around, and I told the crew about what happened. I asked who her brother was. "Are you nuts?" one replied. They told me and I was shocked. I had no idea that her brother was Bruce Springsteen.

James: But you did talk with Pamela later on, right?

Kyle: Yeah. I enjoyed my few conversations with her. I had talked with her only when I introduced myself to her. When I was going to be killed, I talked with her most. She was super nice, no attitude what so ever. I could tell she was comfortable with the crew because she had already worked with them on SC2: Unhappy Campers. She was very friendly. I kind of tease people, not being mean or anything. I said a few things to her, and she dished it right back! She is very charming, and I got along very well with her.

James: You spent a good time with Valerie. What is she like?

Kyle: Valerie was very smart. She wasn't like most actresses. I liked her, and we hanged out a lot together. I remember when the dailies came back from SC2, everyone was gathering around, watching them. There was a scene where Valerie has sex near a tree in the forest. I was like "OH MY GOD! You never told me you did this!" She was very comfortable with her body. She was excited how well they turned out. I can tell you she was very proud. Valerie is a great girl. We weren't like dating, but we did talk about all kinds of things. I knew she could get other acting jobs easily. I believe she was trying to get away from acting, and get more involved in the production end of things. I remember she was well organized. She was real cute, too.

James: I bet if you hung around with Valerie, you knew a bit about the production end of things?

Kyle: Yes. One time I remember we were hanging out and the door to the production office was open. We went in together and they actually had the trailer for part 2 done. I didn't even know Valerie was in part 2.... but I soon learned that a LOT of her was in Unhappy Campers.

I remember we also watched the dailies of Teenage Wasteland. No color was done, like they transferred all the negatives to film. All the scenes were a bit longer because when I had watched them nothing was cut together. So we watched it in the production office, and they had a real huge screen to watch them. It was really raw footage, done with a single light transfer. The audio was pretty raw also. It was cool seeing all the footage.

James: I've talked with Daryl Wilcher a good deal. He told me he heard there was a scene when someone got bashed in the head with a hammer, but it looked fake. However, when the dailies came back ... it looked real. He heard this from a crew member. Do you know anything about this?

Kyle: First off, I'd like to say that Daryl was very friendly on set, and was very easy to talk to. I really enjoyed talking with him. I know he'll be reading this interview and I wish him the best of luck. I know he visited the 'Splat' shack also. Daryl was very nice and cool. We would goof off together, just hanging out. He had that cool knife for the fight scene, and he would always flick it around, making it look real natural. We both liked make-up for movies, and were interested how things happened. Now, I do remember seeing a fake hammer, a fake axe, fake knives, and a fake screwdriver! I didn't see the hammer or screwdriver in a shot, but I wouldn't dismiss the fact they were used for something. Daryl, we'll talk soon.

James: Did anything unfortunate happen while filming SC3?

Kyle: Right before SC3 was scheduled to shoot, I bought a brand new white Isuzu Trooper. Well, one day, we were shooting at night, and it was pretty late. I was going back to the Holiday Inn. Right off exit 3, I drove half a mile down the road. A deer ran out of the bush and unfortunately was hit. The deer went flying and was hit on the right side quarter panel of my Trooper.

The next day I told some of the crew and cast. Kim Wall, who played Cindy, just freaked right out. She couldn't take it. I had to tell her I was only joking around, and I just had a little accident. The deer had lived, I patted him, and helped him on his way.

I had no problem getting the blood off the car, but when the deer hit the side, it left a huge dent. I kept my car for several years after the film wrapped, until I sold it. I tried several times to remove the dent. I had no luck.

James: Anything unusual happen while working on the film?

Kyle: I thought it was quite weird to scream the title of the show, "Teenage Wasteland." I was thinking why does it have to be me, but of course, someone had to do it. It was one of my lines in the script, so I just went with it.

James: I bet you watched some scenes while you were waiting to shoot some of your own.

Kyle: Yes. The first scene I watched film was when the newscaster pulled up in the red Ferrari. I never saw the death take place, but I did see the car pull up, the diologue, and the car door open. I remember they were quite concerned to keep the fake blood off the car. It was extremely expensive. Michael was the one who pulled the car into position for each shot. I think he had a lot of fun with that car. The crew said they needed the car over there. So Michael would jump in and fly over to that spot. Michael needed to be very careful with the Ferrari. It costed a fortune to rent. The newscaster did a fantastic job with her character. I think she might have been a real one. If not sure though. If she wasn't, she did a really good job making her character look real.

James: I heard a few of the kids were underage. Did this affect anything?

Kyle: Correct. Jarrett Beal, the guy who played Peter, was only 16 or 17 the time SC3 filmed. Now, whenever language or nudity was involved, Jarrett had to split. A rep from the state was there to make sure everything was handled properly. He was this odd, little guy in his tie and suit. That's it. Well, when nudity or language did come up, the rep was like, "All underage off set." Then Jarrett had to leave. I think he may have been a bit embarrassed. Jarrett didn't like missing stuff. I could tell he was disappointed. All of the cast were between 20-23. I believe Haynes Brooke, who played Bobby, was the oldest from the cast. I believe I was 21 when I shot SC3. Jarrett was the only one from SC3 who was underage. I think there was more from SC2.

James: I heard there was some school going on during the shoot. Is that a fair statement?

Kyle: Yeah, Jarrett had a tutor that came on set everyday. I remember he did a bit of work in the text book, and his tutor would help him out. I think he was the only one that did school work during that film. He couldn't really hang out because he was missing school when he wasn't shooting, so he would go off and do his work. He wasn't there a lot of the time when filming.

James: Near the start of the film, the whole gang drives up to the apartment, waiting to pick up Maria. However, Angela hops a ride to Camp New Horizons. It appears that the actual cast members were in the van. Were you in the van?

Kyle: Actually no. That scene was shot at the last day of filming. At the time, I was the designer of a haunted house down in Alabama. It was Halloween, the biggest day of the year. I invited Valerie Hartman to come along with me back to Alabama. She agreed. We both missed the wrap-up party, but we both had a great time anyway. I took Valerie back stage, and showed her everything. That night, 2500 people came. It was a great night.

James: Could you tell me about the 'fight scene' between Riff and Tony?

Kyle: It was a fun scene, and the fight scene looked good. Before that part of the scene, I really didn't do too much, neither did Jill. So we were going to try to get in there. They did the fight scene very quick. The guy who played Barney actually helped co-ordinate that fight scene. The table they land on was rigged, but those two really slammed that thing hard. Jill and I were determined to stay there for as long as possible to make it look real. The crew was like, "Don't be brave, get out of there quick." We were like, "Nahh." We tried to stay close to the table until last possible second. We had to get in on it. It was like a game of chicken, seeing how close we could get (without getting hurt). Right before they hit the table, I split. Watch the scene and you'll understand this better. You can't see Jill right beside me, but believe me, she was there.

James: Your death was changed.

Kyle: Right. The original script called for my face to be set on fire with a can of spray paint and a lighter, but was scrapped right before the shot. I never rehearsed my death scene, we were going to shoot it at the spree of moment. Well, when we were supposed to shoot that scene, we were running out of time. They wanted me to stick around Saturday, to finish that scene. When I returned, I was told we would try the death scene a different way. They said, "Lets just use the 'Phoebe Stick'." I guess that means they used the same fake stick for her death too.

They told me that I would have to be hit with this fake stick. Well, Shad Leach, who helped with the props for the third film, was really good at making these types of weapons. He made that axe with wood alone. He polished that thing very good. The axe looked awesome. Well, I figured Shad knew what he was doing around these props, and requested for him to hit me. I trusted him. I just knew he would do it hard enough to look good and not hurt me at the same time.

James: What happened next?

Kyle: We were ready to fly. I liked Shad. He was quiet, and an intense guy. He agreed to do it. The blood you see on my forehead was accomplished by an opening, found near the tip of the branch. A condom was filled with blood, and tied just so it would be ready to go. While the cameras were getting ready, we would rehearse where I was going to be hit. It was important that Shad did everything precise, making sure he didn't hit me in the temple, eye, or nose. I told him to give me a good, hard whack across the forehead. I wasn't concerned if it stunned me for a moment. We were under pressure, and all I wanted was a solid, realistic hit. Well, we finally did it, and everything went perfect. It is really bad to be nervous on movie shoots, and that's the last thing you want to be. In the end, everything worked out great. We only shot my death once.

James: Was fishing on the dock a neat scene?

Kyle: Yeah. I added a bit of the diologue to that scene that wasn't in the script. When asked "What day is it?" I came up with Saturday, the 14th. Michael was cool with it. It makes fun of the whole 'pond by the lake', which mocks Friday The 13th.

James: Since Peter was in your "camping" group, did you see his death take place?

Kyle: Yes, they filmed it all in a master shot. Peter was underage, so he wasn't even there when he shot his own death. I'm pretty sure he was local from Atlanta. The scene was calling for all these master shots, and Bill had rigged some eyes, a nose, and upper lip on a hanging rig for me to look over at. That's what the camera focussed up on when the head blew.

I remember they pulled out these huge fuses from these smoke bombs, and they did 3 or 4 takes of lighting the fuse. Pamela lite the fuse, because I think they wanted to show it was really her lighting it.

They also used this metal arm for that scene. The metal arm was the arm of a C stand. It's just a piece of grip equipment used for rigging on the set. It was sticking just below frame with a little clamp, a bunch of grip tape and some sand bags to hold the rig in place. C stands are kinda of like the old tonka toys. You can use them for all sorts of things.

James: Then the explosion came.

Kyle: Yes, it was really loud. Bill used a lot of latex condoms for effects during the shoot because once you squeezed that thing at breaking point, it would just blow everywhere. They did the explosion in one take. After that, I pretty much was laying around for a while, when they were putting the head into position. After that, they just rolled a few takes of me freaking out and we were finished.

James: At that point in the film, Angela then drags you into the tent.

Kyle: Yeah, we were out in the woods, at I believe 9:30 - 10:00 pm. We had a small crew there, because it was getting real cold. Michael and Jerry Pece were around, but all the cast members besides myself all went back to the hotel. I was in this sleeping bag, but even then I was still cold. I was also wearing all this blood for a long time. I think we packed it in at that point.

But I remember on the last day of my shooting, we did all the dragging. We had to recreate the blood splatter. It wasn't difficult, but the camera never got a good shot of it anyway. Crew was holding these polaroids, painting up all over my face, trying to create the blood effect. All this fake blood was getting in my hair.

They had a good set up for tent scene, making a tiny slash in one side of the tent, enough room for the camera to see in. The crew was outside and this grip, with his handlebar mustache (it looked like something out of the 1920s) , ended up dragging me in the tent because there was basically no room for Pamela to do it. And Jarrett or Michael J. Pollard weren't in the tent with me, either. That Stacie Lambert with no shirt was. I think they had a fake leg or two in the tent with us. Of course, Michael, Jerry and Dudley were outside, looking through the camera lens.

James: The tent is set on fire. How was that done?

Kyle: Before they tourched it, they dumped some flammable material on it. I don't think it was gasoline, but kerosene, so the flames would all be colored. When they filmed it, they shot the scene with no audio. In the final cut, you can hear a scream... but it wasn't me. Someone else added that audio in! I guess it was supposed to be Snowboy, because all the other characters were killed. When they reworked the scene, I was told Snowboy was just knocked out. I was off in the distance when they shot it, but I remember seeing a huge flash of light when the torch made contact with the tent. I know they only torched that one tent.

James: You guys used a real fish for the dock scene, right?

Kyle: Yes. I remember Jarrett was thrilled to do it. He was having a real good time. I could tell Jarrett was very straight laced -- he was well raised and well mannered. Jarrett was real polite, so I think he liked to be bad that one time. He was real quiet during the shoot, and he couldn't wait to blow those fish. The fishing scene took about 3-4 hours to do. We did 4-5 takes blowing up fish, and then were done. They rigged that mask to come up from the lake and around the time part 2 had not been edited together, so they were explaining what happened to us. And before the cameras were rolling, Jarrett was like 'come on, let's do it!'

James: You had some cool shades also.

Kyle: Yeah, they gave me 2 or 3 pairs for the shoot and I still have them. I'll send you a pair and you can put a picture of them up on your site. The dining hall scene was easy to do. Besides, it was the first day that all the cast members were all together in a scene and there at the same time. That scene had a long set up, so we were sitting around a lot. We also shot the scene before we enter the dining hall (when we are standing around outside and Peter throws some firecrackers at Angela). I was sitting on the coke machine, and it was already there when I came to the camp. They were doing intense lighting, so they would black out the windows. They were doing a lot of dolly moves during that scene.

James: Did you get your face molded for that scene where you get hit in the head with the branch?

Kyle: No, we wanted the scene to look real, so we stayed away from that sort of thing.

James: Did they ever change cameras during scenes?

Kyle: Sure. I remember for the fight scene, the crew used regular and high speed cameras. The high speed ones were hand held, and the camera man would put it on his shoulder. When you watch the film, the high speed camera used the film a lot faster, so the shots looked grainier, and the lighting is different. The high speed cameras were loud, sounded like a skill saw. I think for a roll of film you could get 7 minutes of rough footage, but these high speed cameras could only handle 1.5-2 minutes of footage, then they had to be reloaded with new tapes.

James: Do you remember any of your scenes being cut down?

Kyle: In a few scenes that is true. I know when I was spraypainting Angela's tent, right around then, some diologue was cut, before and after I said "Party All Night... Teenage Wasteland!" I also remember that Michael had me stand near a few trees, and we took various shots of me spraying the trees. I remember they wanted me to just stand near a few trees, and spray for just a few seconds. That was all it took. I know some of the spraypaint shots were cut away, and never put into film. I thought it would have been really funny if every 5 minutes Snowboy was spraying buildings, or whatever. I was kind of disappointed. If my alternate death was shot and put into the film, it would have made a lot more sense. It was going to be a really funny scene.

James: Do you remember any scenes that were longer when filmed?

Kyle: I remember the scene in the dining hall had a lot of takes. When Herman was being introduced, and when they were talking, they shot lots of different angles throughout the scene. They did a lot of shots over for that scene. After that, everything was really smooth. They were clipping along like crazy. It was a neat place to shoot.

James: What were your favorite scenes to shoot?

Kyle: I liked running around the tent, doing the spraypaint shots. I really dislike saying the title of films. I kind of freak out -- but I ignored it so I got through good. It was fun doing the dock scene because it was just Pamela, Jarrett, and I having fun. It was cool shooting the night scenes, even if it was cold.

James: Could you tell me a bit about the cast members and what they were like during the shoot?

Kyle: Haynes Brooke really stayed in character for the shoot, and so did Jill Terashita. Haynes was probably the maturist of the whole cast. Jill was really sweet. Haynes was actually a really nice guy. I never really got to know Kim Wall very good.

James: Have you ever seen any of the cast members since?

Kyle: No, but someone who I really enjoyed talking with was Bill Johnson. When I worked at Dill Productions, we did hire "Splat" for a job. I haven't seen him since. We stayed in contact a few years after SC3 wrapped, but eventually lost contact. In the future, we'll have a good telephone conversation. I'm sure of that. I haven't seen any cast members face to face, but several years ago, I was watching television, just flipping channels and saw Stacie Lambert and Jill Terashita on the same show! I was shocked. They pretty much looked the same, but I can't remember what show they were on. They were always hanging around together on the set. Jill was real cute! I did my best to flirt with the both of them, but they seemed to be more interested in each other!

James: Can you remember anything about that pond?

Kyle: The dock was a hard place to get to. At the time, construction was going under development to tear Camp Younts down. All the actors and crew had to go around the construction. Because of construction, the whole area was very muddy. Road construction was going on at the time also. Everyone got kind of dirty trying to shoot in that area. It was a pain to prep that. There was one real bad place close to the pond, so we all had to walk a huge distance around it.

James: Can you tell me about the whole food issue.

Kyle: There were these two trailers next to each other, probably 15-20 feet was between them. A huge mosquito net covered the gap like a big tent. They had the oven in one of the trailers, where they cooked all the food. You should have seen the rig this one guy had -- he had painted all these cartoon characters on the side. The cast members could always hang around this area, and munch on grapes, etc. whenever they wanted. They served 2 meals daily on set, lunch and dinner. The crew would quickly eat first, before the actors because they had to get back to work and set up for more shots. Then the actors went through. It was pretty cool because I remember you'd go through a line, down one side of the table and you'd end up back outside. It was pretty much a huge buffet line. If the sun was out, most people would eat outside.

James: Can you find any bloopers through SC3?

Kyle: I can spot a continuity error found early in the film, involving the scene in downtown Atlanta. If you notice Maria walking down the road, she has a blue and orange bag. Well, as Angela guns her down in the garbage truck, she clearly drops her bags and runs for her life down the alley. Well, Angela kills her, but after she dumps Maria into the truck, crushing her body, the bags reappear, and Angela throws them into the truck. The fact she drops the bag far away from the alley, and everything happens so quick, there's no way she could have got the bag that fast. That's one I can spot. There are probably more.

James: What seemed to be the hip thing on set when filming Sleepaway III.

Kyle: No surprise at all, it was Michael Simpson's next film, Fast Food. Everyone was talking about this film. It was quite the story. I think Michael used a bit of the crew and cast members from the Sleepaway sequels. I hoped to impress Michael while filming SC3.... I really wanted in on Fast Food. I'm happy I did Elvis' Grave though.

James: Tell us about the Camp New Horizons shirt.

Kyle: They were made specifically for the film. Actually, I believe I got an extra shirt. The one with the sleeves cut off was used for the whole film. The extra one was given to me if fake blood got on the original. I also got my ear pierced for the first time, for filming SC3. It was one of those ankh earrings. No one wore them back in the 80s. Now, everyone is buying them. I still have the original earring and have been wearing it on and off over the past two years.

James: Did you guys use real spraypaint to spray the trees and tents?

Kyle: No, we used florescent hair spray so it wouldn't harm the trees. The hair spray was water removable so all the crazy symbols I did washed away when it rained. I remember when I held down the trigger of the spray, it was really cold. I got freeze burn on the end of my finger and it really hurt. I remember they also covered the bottle with gaffers tape.

James: Do you still have your Sleepaway Camp III script?

Kyle: Yeah. It's around here somewhere. I've pulled it out a few times over the years. It's interesting you mention the script. There was a few scenes that were slightly different, but from what I've read in your interviews with Michael and Bill, you have nailed most of the major changes.

James: But there were others, right?

Kyle: Yes, but nothing too major. I remember when all the campers line up to be interviewed by that television reporter, the script called for all these different clothes for everyone to wear. Most of them were pretty accurate to the movie, but I remember in the script, I was supposed to wear a Grateful Dead t-shirt, and a "Foreign Legion" hat. It also said Snowboy sports a tattoo of a skull on his bicep. But that type of stuff was really unnessary to the film. Most of the clothes already suited the character, so these few "accessories" weren't that important. Michael was cool with what everyone wore. The character Snowboy was supposed to be aged 16.

Now that I think about it, according to the script, Maria was supposed to be smashed into a brick wall into the alley. I never saw that scene film, but maybe they wanted to smash her body into those boxes because they wanted to keep the truck away from the wall. The dump truck was going at an extremely fast speed. But I don't know the exact reason why they didn't plow her into the wall. Maybe it was too hard to pull off, so they reworked it, or maybe it was a safety hazzard. Your guess is as good as mine.

I remember when Barney was going to die, the script called for 6 bullets. In the film, I think there was only 2 bullets fired. I think most of these scenes I mentioned are changes, but really, all of them were reworked or changed appropriately, and they all worked well when the crew filmed those scenes.

James: When I watch SC3, there is supposed to be all these drawings on the walls that are gross (in the girls' cabin). However, you can't really see what these drawing are. Could you shed some light on this.

Kyle: There was supposed to be messages scrawled on the walls such as, "THE ANGEL OF DEATH MUST DIE," and, "THE KILLER COUNSELOR SLEPT HERE." Also on the walls are crude pictures of Angela supposedly killing people. I don't know if this "chicken scratch" was ever put on the walls.

James: Wow, you just told a lot of info about the script!

Kyle: Well, I have a good memory of that shoot and the script. All the actors had to know the script well, because when we were shooting scenes, it was crucial everyone kept going.

James: What an awesome bike you have. [Refering to Kyle's own Bike that James saw]

Kyle: Thanks. It started out as a Honda Shadow Spirit, but I replaced the engine, gave it new street tags, handle bars..... pretty much fixed it up. I ride it all the time. I even have this awesome trophy when I won 'best of show' at a competition. The guy who painted it is an excellent artist. He did an excellent job.

James: You know a good bit about magic?

Kyle: Ever since I was a child I have been into magic. My brother is a magician, and so is my father. When he was already booked up, and he was being hired for other shows, I would do stuff like birthday parties all by myself. My dad's nickname was 'Cousin Cliff', so I was known as 'Cousin Cliff's son!' My father even had his own television show. My mother and father just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, so we threw them a huge party. My father still does some events, but we're trying to get him to slow down.

James: So everyone knows, what have you been up to nowadays?

Kyle: For a while I trained in Atlanta on Panavision and Ariflex cameras and worked as a camera AC for a production company. Then I moved to editing on an AVID (at the same company). Currently I work at a recording studio as editor/producer in the commercial/post production suite. I keep my acting bug fed as voice talent in the radio commercial throughout the southeast. I've done voices for all sorts of cartoon characters. I love it! I could stand in a voiceover booth for hours. I've always enjoyed working behind the scenes.

James: Have you done any other plays or films?

Kyle: Too many to count. I just finished another run of Joseph & The Technicolor Dreamcoat (the 3rd in my career). This time I'm playing Pharoah (much more fun than Joseph). In terms of films, shortly after Sleepaway III, I was casted in the lead role of a wild horror comedy musical Elvis' Grave. It's about an Elvis impersonator so determined to be number one, he goes about killing all the other Elvis impersonators that get in his way. It's really wild. Unfortunately it's still not released. It's premiered and ran for three weeks with great numbers. Several companies were bidding on it for distribution when the Graceland estate stepped in and threatened a lawsuit against the production company. However, the writer and director is currently working on a web site to promote it. So, we'll see what happens.

James: Wasn't there a soundtrack released for that film?

Kyle: That's right. I actually have several of the original soundtracks that were sold in stores. It's great music, produced at Polly Music Studios here in Alabama by Marc Philips. Marc was hot in the late 70s and early 80s with "HOTEL" and then "SPLIT THE DARK." "HOTEL" opened for a lot of the major bands around the country and made it into the top 100 on the Billboard charts. "SPLIT THE DARK" won the first ever MTV basement tapes by a huge margin. I was a big fan. It was my first time to work in a recording studio as a singer and who knew that ten years later after they relocated and changed their name I'd be working there. Marc is now my boss!

James: What's going on for you now?

Kyle: I had a juicy part in a "short" called Dear In The Crosshairs. It's a nice little film playing the film festivals around the country. It won an award in the New York Film Festival. In post production right now is another "short" Apogee, a science fiction piece set in a lunar colony. I play the psychotic nut that starts killing people. I love it!

James: Slain is one of the best ideas I've ever heard. How did it come about?

Kyle: The first time I met Paul was at the JCEE's Haunted House in 1987. He volunteered as a monster. I designed for them for a few years. I was unable to work with them when I was shooting SleepAway and Paul became the President of the house that year. Paul was, in my opinion the last good President they had. It was in the early 90s when it became more of a beer party. People just didn't care anymore. We all just sort of fizzled out and lost touch. Then in 1998 Paul started up his haunted house with about 1800 dollars. I went out to see what he had going and it felt like old times. He invited me to join on as art director and special EFX. The rest is becoming history... this year we raised a little over 90,000 dollars... all for charity!

James: How does the charity aspect work?

Kyle: Usually we phone them up and say if you can send 4-5 people during the week to come down to work down at the house, then they can earn money for their charity. One of the guys is just hooked on it. We set him up with the chainsaw, and he really enjoyed it. We have 3 new charities this year. Some of the money goes to children's charities for Christmas time. We give to Family Love Forever And Always which is a support group. These people who came down were great. They worked their butts off. We also give money to Moody Toys For Kids, Kid One Transport, Shelby County Special Olympics, and others.

James: I bet some big stuff is coming next year?

Kyle: Definately. A few nights ago a man from Missouri passed through our haunted house. His name is John Gradwohol, an effects designer/make-up artist. He's also into design and fabrication of creatures, props, and special effects . He seemed to be a great guy with lots of theatre and some film experience. His wife was with him and she is a lighting designer and scenic artist. I talked with them most of the night and they both seemed very interested in what we were doing with our haunted house. They also had some killer ideas. We'll see what happens next year! We'll probably get some of his magic happening.

Paul and I have most recently set our eyes on buying a huge plantation mansion here in the south. The problem is moving something like that, so we might save the front and side frames and get into reconstructing it. There is some spooky houses down in the south. We have a reputation of being serious. Instead of animatronics, we got into major detail and use live actors. Overall, we are trying to get bigger and badder. We want to see how big we can get. It's all charity.

James: How was the last night over at your haunted house?

Kyle: It rained the final night. We were expecting 800 people to show, but only 220 entered. It was raining the entire time, but we had a great year. A little over 14 000 people showed up. I'm sure we'll get ranked #1 again this year.

James: Have you seen Sleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers?

Kyle: Yeah, I have seen it and to be honest, I love both sequels. I'd like to show the whole SC series up at our haunted house on our big television while all the people are waiting in line. I'd have to get permission first. We always screen old, old B-Films like The Blob. I love the whole SC series. They don't make films like that anymore. They have that whole sense of humor to them, but the genre is so different now. Everyone was talking about Hill House recently, but who cares? I'm not into all these digital effects. I dug the first Nightmare On Elm Street, but not all the sequels. The first had that raw edge to it. For sci-fi, I really enjoy Logan's Run.

James: What is your opinion of SC3, and how do your friends feel about it?

Kyle: I love the film! I had a blast working on it. It will always hold a special place in my heart because it was my "break" into film work. It's tongue and cheek horror at it's best. As far as my friends.... I'll put it to you this way -- I'm the designer and art director for a haunted house here in Alabama. A lot of the monsters enjoy running through the house yelling "PARTY ALL NIGHT... TEENAGE WASTELAND!" They seem to get a kick out of it.

James: Have you ever tried to get back to the camp, after all these years?

Kyle: I tried one time, but the road to the camp didn't exist. I recall they were developing all the land around the area and a sub-division of homes was created. Near the dock, they were bull dozing the roads, and gobs of mud to the pier were all over the place.

James: Can you briefly tell where Camp Younts was?

Kyle: Sure. Just follow this map. It will tell you everything you need to know. From Alabama, go I-20 East. Take exit # 2 (Waco). At the top of the exit, turn right and go about 500 yards. The camp entrance was on the left. It was a horrible dirt road. Lots of twists, turns, and ruts. Even in my 4WD it was rough. It's probably not there now.
 

A huge big thanks to Kyle Holman. All the fans appreciate it. Thanks for always taking the time to talk. We'll do it again!