H13: The Captain – Little Miss Stakes
Written by Gaz E
Saturday, 19 October 2013 02:00
They’re here! Yes, Uber Rock’s 13 Days of Halloween have arrived, and the first victim is The Captain, bassist with Belfast-based horror punks Little Miss Stakes. With a new album, ‘Monster Party Hits’, rotting on crypt shelves, this eight-legged freak is putrid and perfect for the dawn of our dead-cool Halloween features…..
1.) What are your most vivid childhood memories of Halloween?
I was born way out in the farmland areas of Northern Ireland, so there was never any trick or treating for me. It was mostly about getting the face-paints and the make-up out and putting together a ridiculous costume for myself. Nothing has really changed in that respect. My most vivid memory is probably when I was quite young and my dad bought a ton of these massive fireworks. He planted a huge one in the ground too far down and the thing just exploded 
showering us all all in ash.
2.) Why do you think that the worlds of horror and metal/punk have always been so closely linked?
In a very general way they’re both centred around the darker aspects of humanity like fear and aggression, but for me horror and music has always been very intrinsically linked. From around the age of 14 or 15 when I first discovered bands like Blitzkid and Frankenstein Drag Queens I was listening to nothing but horror punk and psychobilly, simply because it was music for people like me who watched far too many zombie movies in their early teens. I guess in a way it was also to form my own musical niche and stand out from the crowd a bit. This ended up being a big challenge for me in the years that followed when I was putting a band together.
3.) Has there been a horror remake yet that has bettered the original movie?
I’m a bit of a horror snob in that I try pretty hard to avoid watching any of the modern remakes. As a huge fan of Romero it pains me to say that the remake of The Crazies was pretty damn good. A bit of a departure from the original, but I think that’s what’s needed in a remake. With the majority of them I get the impression they are purely for the sake of making money on an already established franchise, but The Crazies felt like a genuine effort to make a gripping movie.
4.) What’s the greatest ever horror movie kill?
Kyra Schon with the trowel. Back in the ’60s that would have been horrifying.
5.) Who is the baddest ever horror movie villain…and why?
I’ve had this argument far too many times with my friends. It’s a very hard decision to make but I’m going to go with Pinhead and the Cenobites. Those guys have no real motive except inflicting pain. You can’t argue or reason with that logic.
6.) Who is the greatest ever Scream Queen?
Karen Black. The woman’s been in like 70 movies and is such a cult hero she’s even had songs written about her. She also ended her career on a high note by playing Mama Firefly in House Of 1000 Corpses just before she died.
7.) Name your Top 5 favourite horror movies of all time…and tell us why!!
1. Night Of The Living Dead ’68 – Purely because it’s a classic in every way possible.
2. Cabin In The Woods – On the surface it’s a movie that gives multiple nods to other movies, but looking deeper it becomes the ultimate homage to famous movies and can even change the way we look at classics like Evil Dead or Hellraiser. Although it wasn’t very well received by the die-hard horror community, I think it’s Whedon’s masterpiece.
3. Hellraiser IV: Bloodlines – Another movie that wasn’t well received when it came out, so much so that it’s an Alan Smithee movie, (which is where the director is so ashamed of it that he removes his name from the production). It’s a Hellraiser movie on a new scope though. It spans from the very first incarnation of the puzzle box in 1800s France through modern day Manhattan all the way up to hundreds of years in the future. Although the original script called for the movie to be even grander, a lot of it eventually wasn’t filmed (as I recall). All in all a fantastic addition to the Hellraiser canon though.
4. Evil Dead II – It was one of the first movies I had ever seen that switched between horror and humour so seamlessly. I think the element of slapstick is sometimes very important and appropriate in some horror movies, and this was done fantastically. It laid the groundwork for movies to be as ridiculous as they are scary.
5. Fido – Again this isn’t really a horror movie but it’s about zombies eating people. I guess it’s more of a light comedy with extreme violence sprinkled on top. Another movie that I would consider to be massively original when it came out, yet featuring more subtle references to Romero’s originals than possibly any other movie I’ve seen.
8.) What underrated horror movie would you recommend to our readers just in case they have never seen it?
A fairly modern zombie movie called The Revenant. It was a random purchase in a DVD shop and I’m not sure how well known it is, but it’s one of the most original movies I have seen in years.
9.) What is your guilty pleasure, the trashy horror flick that you hold dear but everyone else runs away from?
A few years ago I found a movie when I was aimlessly browsing through the horror section at my local HMV. It was called Die You Zombie Bastards! The cover was a man dressed as the shittest superhero ever, and the back had topless women painted green and purple as ‘zombies’. Basically it’s a story about 
two cannibal lovers. The antagonist Dr. Nefarious falls in love with the female cannibal and abducts her. The protagonist cannibal turns into the superhero ‘Red’ (his superhero costume is made from human skin) and has to go on an epic and completely ridiculous adventure to get her back, all the while fighting through a sea of zombies that are painted in an even cruder fashion than the members of Little Miss Stakes’ faces.
10.) What is the greatest ever horror movie poster?
I’d have to go with the original Boris Karloff Frankenstein poster from 1931. The portrait of his face was my first ever tattoo when I was just 17 years old.
11.) Have you ever had a ghostly supernatural experience?
No, I don’t buy into any the existence of any supernatural activity. I think there are far more terrible things in this world to be concerned with.
12.) What ‘star’ of the music world would you like to see slaughtered in gory horror movie style?
We’ve already seen Paris Hilton getting horribly murdered in House Of Wax, what could possibly be more satisfying than that? Kanye West maybe…
13.) What are your plans for Halloween this year?
As a horror punk band it would be a tragedy for us to not play a show somewhere. This year we’re down with our friends in the South of Ireland in Dublin playing a Halloween gig/party.