Last Updated on July 30, 2021

If you would have asked when I started working for Arrow in the Head back in January 2017 which genre stars I would have loved to interview, in the top five would have been Tom Atkins, for sure. From classic roles in Tommy Lee Wallace's HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH, Fred Dekker's NIGHT OF THE CREEPS, William Lustig's MANIAC COP, and Patrick Lussier and Todd Farmer's one-two punch MY BLOODY VALENTINE and DRIVE ANGRY, Atkins has more than earned his genre stripes. 

RELATED: MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D DIRECTOR PATRICK LUSSIER TALKS TRICK

And if that wasn't enough, how about the fact that the man has worked with two of the undisputed masters of horror George A. Romero (CREEPSHOW, TWO EVIL EYES, and BRUISER) and John Carpenter (THE FOG and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK). That's one hell of a resume. And this morning I had the pleasure of sitting down with the man, the myth and the legend to talk shop about not only his new collaboration with Lussier & Farmer on the Halloween slasher film TRICK but also much more.

Check out our interview with genre legend Tom Atkins in full below!

Tell us a bit about your character in TRICK.

I play Talbot, the town curmudgeon, who runs a diner and is sort of the guardian of the town. He adores the kids and always has but he would never say that or show that to them. He's a great character and I love him, and he gets to be a little heroic trying to protect everybody at the end of the movie, running around with his shotgun and trying to do good. Terrific character.

You've worked with Patrick Lussier & Todd Farmer on MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D and DRIVE ANGRY and now TRICK? What attracts you to working with the duo?

I would go anywhere at any time to work with Patrick Lussier. He's a dear friend after working with him on My Bloody Valentine and Drive Angry and now Trick. 

You starred in the original CREEPSHOW from George A. Romero and Stephen King. What do you think of Shudder's recent revival?

I haven't seen any of them yet. But I did talk with Greg Nicotero a few months ago and though I'm not in any of the six that are released, he assured me that I will be in one next year. But I haven't seen any of them. I know my good friend Adrienne Barbeau is in one of these first season episodes. But I haven't seen anything yet.

You were also in MANIAC COP. How excited are you for HBO & Nicolas Winding Refn's upcoming event series?

[laughs] I don't know if I'm excited at all. You are the second person today that has told me about Maniac Cop going to an HBO series. I had no idea that any of that was happening. Of course, I had no idea until a few months ago about Creepshow. But I know they remade THE FOG and I did not even go bothered to see it because I didn't hear a good word about it. But Maniac Cop, I would hope it turns out good. I don't know if Bill Lustig or Larry Cohen or any of the old guys are connected with it.

Maybe by name, but it's going to be headed by the guy who directed THE NEON DEMON and DRIVE, Nicolas Winding Refn.

Oh, wow. Pretty good. Good director. 

Which role would you like to revisit the most?

I would like to see Detective Ray Cameron [from director Fred Dekker's NIGHT OF THE CREEPS] become resurrected somehow. And Fred Dekker and I, every time we see each other, we talk about that. And he's determined to do a sequel with the three kids and myself. I mean they're no longer kids, they're all in their 50's, but they're all still kicking and healthy and looking good. I would love to do that again. I love Detective Ray Cameron. It was an iconic role, a wonderful role, I had great lines. I got to see Fred twice last week, we went to dinner and then he came to see the premiere of TRICK.

You were recently cast in Marcus Dunstan's THE COLLECTED. Can you tell us anything about that?

Yeah, The Collected. We're still working on it. It's funny, Marcus Dunstan is directing it, he wrote it, and we're shooting in Atlanta and a few and a half ago maybe two weeks ago we did the ending first. He said, 'It's a horror movie and its all about the ending.' It was a 12-page sequence but I'm not in all 12 pages. So I went down and we shot my part and then they shot the entire ending. But in the meantime, I went off to Beyond Fest and the premiere of Trick out here in L.A., and now sometime later this week I will be called back down to Atlanta to finish the film. But I really love it. I like the script. It's fun working with Josh Stewart – I play his father – he is fighting the evil, and I help him in every way I can. 

One final question. Who would you rather go up against, Freddy or Jason?

Boris. I would rather go up against Boris Karloff. [Laughs] He was the best.

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And there you have it, folks. That was our interview with genre legend and HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH star Tom Atkins. His new film TRICK will be hitting theaters and digital day-and-date on October 18, 2019. Thanks for chatting with us, Tom! Read our interview with MY BLOODY VALENTINE, DRIVE ANGRY, and TRICK director Patrick Lussier HERE.