Paul Logan for years has been entertaining movie audiences with his unique martial arts fighting skills, whether he’s battling men or creatures. Logan was born and raised in N.Y. and began his martial arts training at the age of 13. All his training paid off and resulted in precision fight scenes. Not only did Logan perform in the scenes, he did all his own choreography and stunts.
In addition to films, he has a highly educated background in bio-chemistry, and studied chiropractic arts. Logan initially didn’t plan on being an actor, but after some early success with acting he pursued that career. Since then he has been a regular in Asylum films and worked with multiple iconic genre filmmakers including Roger Corman and Jim Wynorski. Logan also was a contract player as Glen Reiber on Days of Our Lives from 2000 through 2003.
Not only is he an actor, but over the years he wrote numerous screenplays. In recent years, he has put a lot of effort and dedication into getting his screenplays produced and one due out soon is The Horde. Logan wrote and stars in it, but he also produced and was involved with every production aspect.
Five Quick Questions with Paul Logan
As the writer, lead actor, and producer of The Horde, this film is personal to you. Can you summarize the experience from concept through filming including the involvement of producer Gabriel Campisi and working with director Jared Cohn.
PAUL: This film is Extremely personal to me. I feel So fortunate to have gotten it done and that it has turned out so amazing.
I’ve written six scripts. The reason this one came about was because I thought most horror films are the same. It’s a bunch of kids going into the woods, the killer or the killers hunt them down one at a time until there is usually one girl left and she gets away. We’ve seen it a million times. But we’ve seen it million times because that’s what the horror audience wants, expects and enjoys. So I thought, what would happen if you had the same scenario, a bunch of kids out on a photography field trip in the woods with their teacher. A bunch of mutant, cannibalistic killers hunting them down… but one person in their group was ex-special forces, was a Navy SEAL and can turn the hunters into the hunted. You have all of the boo scares, terror and gore of a horror film and all of the extreme action of an action movie as well as a cool love story.
So, I wrote the script, I shot a sizzle reel and started looking for funding. I was so lucky that 313 Films liked my vision and had the confidence that I could pull it off. I started calling all of my friends both in front of and behind the camera and asked them to be a part of it. I wanted Jared Cohn to direct it, Jared is an amazing director and we worked so well with each other. We put our heads together and with our amazing cast and crew were able to transfer 99% of what I wrote onto the screen. It was such a great collaborative effort. As a producer, it was amazing to actually have the freedom of creativity to do things the way I envisioned them. I brought Gabe Campisi on board. He is a great nuts and bolts producer and super guy. It was nice to know things were being handled while I was on set by him, the producing team from 313, Beth Thuna, Doreen Bennett and Joel Bennett. It gave me the freedom to kick mutant Ass!
The film is described as having hideous disfigured mutated humans. Sounds like a difficult elaborate task for the make-up artists and special effects team, can you tell us about the effects?
PAUL: The mutants in the film are Scary. We were so lucky to get Eric Fox and his company MORB-X FX recommended to us by my good friend and fellow Special FX makeup artist Mark Viniello. Eric and I talked about the creatures and i told him that Nothing about this film was going to be campy….I wanted everything to be visceral…real…and terrifying. He took my descriptions in the script and came up with incredible make ups for the mutants. He based all of their deformities on real life diseases taken to a hideously extreme level. The creatures look amazing and he and his team were awesome applying the elaborate appliances on set. They will scare the shit out of you…
The Horde stars many familiar genre film stars including Bill Moseley, Costas Mandylor, Nestor Serrano, Vernon Wells, Matt Willig, and Frankie Ray. How where they brought on the project and how was working with them?
PAUL: I was fortunate to be friends with most of those guys and asked them to come on board. I called Costas and had already told him about the project a while back. I spoke with Vernon through a mutual friend and he liked the script. Nestor, Matt and Frankie are my friends. The only one I didn’t already know was Bill. We hit it off and are friends now as well. I even got my buddy Don “The Dragon” Wilson to come in for a cool cameo. These guys are all pros and were all amazing. They all were incredible to work with and breathed life into my characters so perfectly. The strength of their villains made my character more of a hero and I thank them all for that. We were so fortunate to have them in THE HORDE
You’ve been in many Asylum films. Can you share a little about your long relationship with them and David Latt since one of your first films was Killers, a David Michael Latt film?
PAUL: I have worked with the guys at The Asylum many times. My first film ever was KILLERS that I did with them. I was the lead bad guy, David Latt directed it and David Rimawi produced it. It was their second film. I love those guys and Paul Bales as well. They gave me my first shot…I don’t forget that.
What can you tell us about your upcoming film CobraGator, that is directed by Jim Wynorski and any other upcoming films, maybe another screenplay of yours in the works?
PAUL: Cobragator is a cool SyFy film. I have worked with Jim many times and it’s great. He’s a great director and a great friend. I was also fortunate enough to work with Roger Corman, an amazing man. My character in Cobragator is ex-special forces and hired to hunt down the giant creature by its creator played by Michael Madsen. It was so great working with Mike, most of my scenes are with him. We killed it. Such a pro and cool guy.
My next project is also one that I wrote. It’s called THE EDGE OF MADNESS, it’s basically DIE HARD in an Asylum. My character is a detective trapped in an asylum that houses the worst of the worst of the criminally insane. Lots of action… it Rocks.
A huge thank you to Paul! For more information and to keep updated on The Horde and all of his upcoming projects, check out his website, IMDB, and social sites:
http://m.imdb.com/name/nm0517638
Twitter: @RealPaulLogan
Instagram: PaulLogan88
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