Kevin M. Glover

General Interview (8/19/2001)

When did you first become aware of your orientation?
I first became aware of my orientation sometime early in High School. However, I did not actually act upon my interest until my late 20’s. I suppose you could say I was a late bloomer.

What have you written or starred in?
One of the earliest scripts I wrote that actually got produced, (self-produced actually, but produced nonetheless), was Love Bites. I had written a number of unproduced spec scripts, both for mainstream features and the short lived Buck Rogers TV show, but until Love Bites, nothing was ever bought or made.

A short time before that I also acted in and co-produced a low budget thriller called Venus Flytrap. This film had strong homoerotic overtones, but it was not what you’d consider gay positive. It received several nice reviews when it was released on home video, (Film Threat and the book Splatter Films, but it was far from a financial success. I have since produced a number of other gay themed video features, but until recently, nothing else had a horror theme.

For the record, as an actor, I did appear briefly in the James Spader thriller, Jack's Back and as one of the principal monsters in Syngenor. And, in a triple X film, I appeared as the Vampire, Eripmav, many years ago. As an editor I have cut several horror themed adult features for Studio 2000.

Last year I produced and directed several gay themed features for 10%Productions , (Mojave and Endless Pursuit), but while both had elements of fantasy in them, neither could be classified as horror. This year I just finished Scarlet Countess (or The Erotic Rites of Countess Dracula as it will be known on video here in the States). This is an erotic horror film with a strong lesbian slant, though I don’t think it’s ever referred to as that. I think Scarlet is my most polished project to date and really invokes a sense of the Hammer horror films of the 60’s and early 70’s. We’ve used a lot of music from some prominent Goth bands/groups so it has an interesting feel throughout.

I’m now gearing up for the The Mummy's Kiss which targets the same audience as Scarlet. To say this is primarily a lesbian audience, would be a little untruthful. While there is ample girl/girl soft-core action, (all very beautifully shot and tastefully stylized), I think the primary audience is heterosexual males. We’ve got a slightly larger budget for Mummy, so we’re hoping for even more production value. Both of these films are being done in conjunction with my production partner, Donald Glut. We worked together on the film Dinosaur Valley Girls as well as several other non-feature projects. I’m also prepping for another film based on my own story idea called Lair of the She-Wolf. It’s in the same vein, (no pun intended) as Scarlet and Mummy, only with a little less girl/girl interaction. I do plan on casting a few more attractive guys, giving a more equal sprinkling of eye candy.

What inspired you to write Love Bites?
Back when I wrote Love Bites I was working to try and get established as an actor. I was paying my dues, doing a lot of local theatre; in particular, a lot of local gay theatre. Some of them were pretty decent plays, but some of the scripts I thought were pretty lame. I thought it might be fun to write a play of my own and, since I always had an interest in horror films, I thought I’d write one about a gay vampire. My original play version was actually set in a mausoleum, but much of the dynamics changed when I decided to turn it into a feature. This decision was largely one of economics. The cost of mounting a play version, even with stylized sets, was almost as much as it would cost to produce the script as a shot-on-video feature. Since the odds of recouping the investment were greater on video than on stage, I went the video route. I’m glad I did as I now have a record I never would have had, had it only been on stage. It also helped me launch a series of other gay features, none of which were horror themed, but all specifically targeting a gay audience.

I’ve since toyed with remaking Love Biteswith the skills I now feel I have vs. what I knew then, but I really think the creakiness of the original adds to the camp flavor of it. If these current projects are successful, I may attempt a sequel, not to redo what I did before, but extend the story a little further. I’m a bit afraid I’m possibly a little more cynical than when I wrote the romance of the first, but I’m hoping I can rekindle some of that saccharine spirit when I actually sit down to write it. As a bit of a side note, Love Bitesis directly responsible for two of my most enduring and valued friendships. I met my long time favorite cameraman, Ron Hamill, through an ad I placed while crewing up the film and then, years later, I had my first long-term relationship with a guy who tracked me down after watching and enjoying the film. There is a lot of me in the movie, or, perhaps, a more idealized version of much of what is me, in the movie. Frankly, I’m happy so many have responded so favorably to it.

Didn’t you also star in Love Bites?
I don't know how in all my ego beating I neglected to mention that I starred as the Count in the movie, I certainly think it is one of the better performances I've done. (Though I did receive the adult video equivalent of the Oscar for a hard core movie I did many years ago, so I guess I can't be as bad as I remembered.)

What horror films or books inspired you?
I’d have to say I was a fan of horror films as far back as I can remember. I was an avid reader of Famous Monsters of Filmland and treasured every tidbit of film trivia I learned from it. Growing up I had a steady diet of weekend triple features at the local drive-in with many bad, but nonetheless enjoyable horror films. I’d say other than the original Universal classics, (and the Laughten version of the Hunchback, which to this day is one of my all time favorite movies), I really enjoyed the Hammer films of the sixties, the Corman/Price Poe series of fims, Dr. Phibes and its sequels, the original Darrin McGavin Night Stalker film, (which inspired many elements in Love Bites), the books based on Dark Shadows (I never really watched the series but I sure loved the books), The Munsters TV series, (I only later developed an appetite for The Adams Family) and The Phantom Stranger comic books, (among other comics, but we are talking horror here). I later developed an interest in the Anne Rice books, but that was after people who saw my film thought I’d like them.

How has the gay community reacted to your work?
I guess I already mentioned some of the reaction I’ve received by the gay community to Love Bites, but it was also listed in Frontier's magazine’s as one of the entertainment highlights of the year, and similarly praised in the Advocate and other local gay papers. I’ve also gotten a surprisingly favorable response from many straight viewers too. My favorite review line comes from Film Threat where the reviewer said "I’m not gay, but I liked it".

Love Bites was also reviewed in the books High Camp (Vol. 2), which, while not glowing did hit the nail on the head on a couple of, er, counts, and Images in the Dark which had a short, but very nice take on the film. I do like to think that a large part of its charm is the old fashioned notion that true love really can conquer all. It has many sweet and funny bits. I’m especially proud of the lines about the Count’s Care Bare jammies, the liberties people take in "those personal ads" and the fact that the Count’s name was changed to Sanders, because he liked chicken.

So, how can people get ahold of your films?
Love Bites is available from Pacific Media Entertainment at 800-262-7367 (US) or 800-272-7367 (in California) otherwise check out their website at www.pacificmediaent.com. Unfortunately, Venus Flytrap is currently out of circulation. The other films, Dinosaur Valley Girls and Scarlet Countess (aka Erotic Rites of Countess Dracula) are available from EI Cinema at www.SeductionCinema.com.

Any projects for the future?
I mentioned both The Mummy's Kiss and Lair of the She-Wolf. Other, more mainstream horror films are in development or at least the talking stages right now and I do have hopes of producing a queer interest feature about a gay superhero, but that project is a little down the road. Who knows, the interest in the current horror titles may motivate the Love Bites sequel I’ve long thought had too small an audience. With the current crop of highly visible gay themed features, maybe the timing has never been better.

Last updated 8/25/01