Jim Krut is
best known for his roles as the helicopter zombie from one of
the most memorable scenes in Dawn of the Dead! Besides Dawn he
has done some other horror movies & some theatre acting as
well! He also tries to attend a few horror conventions a year
to meet with the fans. I had the pleasure of meeting Jim
previously & he's one of my favorites! If you get a chance to
meet him do so!
1. What was
your favorite thing to dress up as for Halloween in childhood?
Cowboy. I had
the holster, belt, hat, six-shooter (not real), and may even
have had pointy-toed boots. The Halloween parades in our small
town of Mount Union, Pennsylvania were thrilling, scary, loud,
and filled with creatures you wouldn't find on the street any
other day of the year. I wanted to know more about those
strange creatures, and march along with them. Maybe, in some
odd way, today I am marching along with them. Even after all
of these years, I try not to miss one of those parades.
#2 What is
your favorite horror movie past and present?
I have so
many favorite horror films, including Dracula, Frankenstein,
The Mummy, The Thing, Them, and The Creature from the Black
Lagoon.
#3 Who are
your favorite horror movie actors/actresses?
I was always
fascinated by Boris Karloff, and by Bela Lugosi's exotic
accent. Many well-known horror actors today are actually
hidden behind masks, so we become afraid of their mask, rather
than by the twisted humanity within. Sure, Frankenstein had a
bit of makeup, but you could still see the facial movements
and read the expression. Tony Todd was frightening in The
Candy Man, and Ken Foree is a great fun guy with a lot of
versatility, although they don't always do horror. Anthony
Hopkins is just totally creepy in films like "Silence of the
Lambs" yet is completely different and warmly engaging in
other films.
#4 Is there
any particular monster that fascinates you?
I'd always
been fascinated by "The Creature from the Black Lagoon"
because of its human-like form and characteristics and because
I'd never seen anything else like it. It always seemed like
the Creature got a raw deal.
5. You've
been in quite a few horror movies. Which one was your favorite
& why?
I would have
to say Dawn of the Dead is my favorite horror film. That's
partly because I had such a great and fun role in it, and I
had a lot of friends who were involved with the film, but
because it is also led to other films, convention appearances
and lots of new friendships. My role as Helicopter Zombie has
been identified by the Bravo Network as one of the top 100
moments in horror movie history. That may be more of a tribute
to Tom Savini for creating the character and the role, but am
certainly happy with it! My favorite film role, aside from
Helicopter Zombie, was that of the evil Dr. Mitchell in "Deadlands
2: Trapped." The director, Gary Ugarek, gave me lots of reign
with the role and was a joy to work with!
#6 Who did
you idolize as a child?
There weren’t
many children that I idolized! Unless, of course, you mean who
did I idolize when I was a child? I thought Superman was
pretty cool. One cloudy day, I looked up and thought I
actually saw a man flying. When I tried to point him out to my
friends, he disappeared into the clouds and did not reappear.
They probably thought I was nuts. I thought they were missing
out on the opportunity of a lifetime to see Superman.
#7 Going to
conventions you have met a lot of famous people, who is your
favorite?
At a Chiller
Theater convention a couple years ago, I finally had a chance
to meet Ricou Browning, who played the Creature from the Black
Lagoon in all of the underwater shots. Talk about my boyhood
thrills being realized! At the same show, I was absolutely
thrilled to meet Marina Sirtis, who played counselor Troi in
Star Trek. She has a great magnetism and warmth. They not only
made my day, they made my year!
#8 What has
been your favorite horror convention that you've been a guest
at?
The first
convention I ever attended was Cinema Wasteland in Cleveland.
That will always have a particular fondness for me, since I
got to meet several other actors from Dawn of the Dead for the
first time in 20 years. Ken and Pam Kish, the convention
promoters, were just so warm, gracious and welcoming that it
made the convention a real pleasure. Meeting the fans, who had
come from all over the United States and internationally, I
was just stunned. It marked a turning point in my life and I
always enjoy Cinema Wasteland. Last year, Horrorfind came to
Gettysburg and it was only a 10-minute drive! You gotta love
that, too!
#9 Who was
your favorite director to work with?
George
Romero. Partly because he had the experience and a larger
vision of what film making was about, but also because he's
just such a great and talented guy. He's my ideal of what a
director should be. He knows what he's doing and obviously
enjoys the fun and humor in what he's doing.
#10 What made
you get into acting?
I had acted
in plays since grade school. There I played Abraham Lincoln
and had to recite the Gettysburg Address. It's odd that more
than 40 years later I would end up in Gettysburg. In
Pittsburgh, I worked with the Pittsburgh Laboratory Theatre,
and another performing company called The Ironclad Agreement.
The first gave me an appreciation for theater as both a
physical and vocal discipline. The second gave me an
appreciation for the characters we portrayed, as well as the
extensive traveling we did both in the United States and
internationally. Being on the road so much, however, was
pretty wearing. After a few years, and once I was married, I
left Pittsburgh and it was several years before I acted again.
#11 What do
you feel makes a good horror movie?
Some of my
favorite horror films are actually those by Alfred Hitchcock.
When you think of films like Psycho and The Birds, there is an
ongoing suspense that is rarely achieved today. There seemed
to be less of a dwelling on screen of the violence, action,
and car chases, than of the mental and psychic uncertainty and
tension. Since we all deal with our own mental conflicts more
than with actual violence on a daily basis, I believe that
those creations of mental and psychic tensions reach a wider
audience and affect it more deeply.
#12 What
horror movie character was your favorite to play & why?
I never got
to play Dracula in a movie, but I got to play Dracula in two
different theatrical productions. One was in Huntingdon,
Pennsylvania with the Carriage House Experimental Theater,
more than 30 years ago. About six years ago I did the same
character with Gettysburg Stage. The character can be played
so differently, even within the confines of the same script.
As you get a little older, you can appreciate different
aspects of the character. Your life experiences certainly help
with that, but different directors and fellow actors also can
affect some of the choices you make in regard to the
character. I loved the vocal work and accent which helped to
flesh out the character of Dracula. Personally, I also like
that Dracula didn't have so many lines. While it made
memorization easier, I feel it also had a greater impact on
the audience when Count Dracula did speak.
#13 Any
current projects?
There's a
film I was supposed to be involved with in Baltimore in the
spring, but the production schedule has slipped on it. I'm
looking forward to the Saturday Nightmares convention in New
Jersey, which is the first weekend in June. I'm taking a
little time off from some other involvements, but I hope to do
a few other conventions this year, and possibly another film
or so. I'm also involved with Community Media, the regional
public, education and government television station that has
been based in Gettysburg, and this is a challenging year for
the station. The studio has just moved to New Oxford,
Pennsylvania, and there is some exciting new programming on
the horizon. We also worked with a similar station in Erie,
Pa. to run a series of horror films that they produce.
I'll always
be grateful to Tom Savini, who cast me as the Helicopter
Zombie in Dawn of the Dead. Tom and I had gone to college
together and worked in live theater, and it's been fascinating
to watch his career and accomplishments grow.
I really enjoy doing
convention appearances. I don't do so many that it seems like
a drudge or a business. The fans invigorate me. What's not to
like? I know how I felt about Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi as
icons of film horror, and how much I would have loved to meet
them. Meeting Ricou Browning was a huge thrill for me. If I
can be present to offer that same connection to one of the
greatest horror movies of all time, Dawn of the Dead, and pass
along some of that love and thrill of meeting someone "from my
favorite scene" then it's truly a shared joy.