Bobbi Sue Luther of new horror film 'Laid To Rest'

By Superheidi on July 13th, 2008

Interviews

Bobbi Sue Hall in 'Laid to Rest' Bobbi Sue Hall, nee Bobbi Sue Luther, is one of those women you want to hate; she’s incredibly gorgeous, sweet, smart, friendly, and good at everything. So while you want to hate her, it’s really hard to. In fact, what you end up wanting to do is interview her about her first producing role on a horror movie called Laid To Rest, in which she also stars. Bobbi Sue played the sexy green dancer on Star Trek’s most recent TV incarnation Enterprise, and just before Laid To Rest she appeared in Lena Heady’s directorial short Sophisticates. She’s also got her own charity called Cuties For Canines, and who doesn’t love Canines!!! Laid to Rest is the “story of a girl who wakes up in a coffin and has no idea who she is, or how she got there,” says Bobbi. Bobbi was kind enough to share her experiences as actress and producer on this horrifying movie that we should all expect to see out next year from Anchor Bay. Read on for more Bobbi Sue…

Bobbi Sue plays The Girl, who never has another name in the movie, because she doesn’t know who she is. “Suffering form temporary amnesia, she tries to escape the technologically inclined serial killer who put here there and in the course of one night in a very secluded southern town with the help of a few helpful people she enlists along the way tries to stay alive until the cops come.”

Bobbi Sue plays 'The Girl', who suffers from amnesia and (eek!) wakes up in a casket

The amazing Lena Headey (300, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) co-stars in the movie.

“Lena is awesomely cool!!” says Bobbi. “Seriously talented and unbelievably supportive of the independent film making... She is a HUGE fan of the genre and after seeing Lightning Bug (Bobbi Sue’s husband Rob Hall’s first film) was ready to come out to Maryland and play “movie” with us. She was so great to work with both on and off the screen. She is a filmmaker herself and just finished directing a short called The Sophisticates. I had the honor of acting in that as well just before I left for Laid To Rest. As an actress, she know what the entire process feels like so she knew when I was incredibly vulnerable on both projects and was so supportive and kind to me. It was great working with her.”

Bobbi Sue opposite Lena Headey in 'Laid To Rest'

Rob Hall is a special effects artist and film director. His directorial debut, Lightning Bug, starred the ever-amazing Ashley Laurence (Hellraiser). Bobbi Sue and Rob decided to make Laid To Rest together with Rob as director and Bobbi Sue as producer.

“With My background in producing music videos, I was eager to produce my first feature, plus the added benefit of being hands-on allows you to completely monitor the creative process step by step. I knew that my involvement was imperative to appropriately execute Rob’s story as no one was closer to it than him or I. Not to mention the financial aspect of it all. When you are in a position to monitor and decide the budgetary issues of film making, you can cut a lot of corners.

Don't piss off Bobbi Sue in this movie!

When women are put in the position of actress and producer at the same time, investors, and co-stars, can give you grief. How was Bobbi’s experience?

“I think everyone else was more worried about it than I was,” admits Bobbi. “I was sat down early on in the process by my other producers and was asked ‘Now Bobbi, are you going to be able to take a step back once we go to Maryland and focus on the acting?’ of course that pipe dream was out the window very early on in the process as we were all wearing so many hats. That is what independent film making is all about. Not to mention, love it or hate it, I am a multi-tasker and it is hard to keep me from not being that way.”

On set with actor Sean Whalen

As a producer, Bobbi understands how to make everything flow on something independent and low budget. “I don’t think people realize how many bodies it takes to make a movie work. The more bodies you have is the more food you need and equipment and insurance etc, etc. it is incredibly difficult to make it all cohesive, but when you pull it off, it is truly amazing. You end up having a family of people around you, all of whom created this thing, and together you are all giving birth essentially to this 'child' it is incredibly special. It was definitely a life changing experience for me.”

Of course, as horror fans, we all want to know if this film will freakin’ scare us, will it Bobbi?

"There are a lot of elements that are very creepy. The one thing that everyone seems to cringe at is the casket scenes. Seems EVERYONE shares a common fear of being in a coffin, go figure! Not to mention, Rob was hell bent on creating some very unique kills as he is sick of seeing the same old death over and over."

Bobbi Sue on Star Trek: Enterprise

There are a lot of women in the horror film making world who are supportive “horror wives”, who usually end up putting up with a lot of things they wouldn’t normally because of their husband’s strange love of horror. Bobbi Sue seems to have circumvented this by being creative and proactive in the horror world herself. In fact, she enjoys the bond it creates between her and her special effects-loving husband and the joint success they can share.

"It is an incredibly satisfactory feeling making a movie on your own but when you have a support system that mirrors your dreams and desires, its even that more satisfactory to be able to pull something of this magnitude off together. Obviously Rob is one of the most sought after Makeup effects artists in the business, but now after Laid To Rest, he will be one of the most sought after names in the horror industry. If is really nice to know that all of this hard work is going to pay off for him and I am so glad I was a part of it!"

Bobbi Sue behind the scenes

Bobbie Sue and Rob have now started “Dry County Entertainment”, their own production company “where I am an executive producer. We have over a dozen films in development at the present time and hope to be in production on our next feature by the end of the year. We will be concentrating on genre films but plan to extend into art house and family material as well.”

Bobbi Sue wants women horror fans who watch Laid To Rest to “think I am believable and good and that they can empathize with me and all of the characters in the film for that matter.”

For those of you horror fans who are attending Comic Con in San Diego, Laid To Rest is having the world premiere of the trailer and teaser poster as well as having a signing with our stars... and Bobbi Sue “could not be more excited!!!”

Check them out at www.laidtorestmovie.com

And check out Bobbi Sue at www.bobbisue.com and www.cutiesforcanines.com

All images are copyright Blain Eisner