Filmmaker and actor Anthony D.P. Mann says he has such fond memories of his time in North Bay filming with local director Sebastien Godin, he jumped at the chance to return — this time to headline Godin's feature project The Abominations of Frankenstein.
"North Bay is a beautiful place. I had never been until last year when we shot the last one," he says.
In last year's Blood Rites of the Vampyr, Mann played a featured role as The Monk. In this year's endeavour, Mann stars as Baron Heinrich Von Frankenstein alongside Vicki Bitis as Clerval and director Godin, who is also the film's producer and portrays Frankenstein's monster creation.
Mann describes North Bay's Godin as both eager and talented. The two met at a horror convention and soon after, these film collaborations came to life. The Abominations of Frankenstein is "creepy, gory, campy, with a nice gothic sheen — everything you want from a proper Frankenstein movie," declares Mann.
He adds, "Once again, I had a fantastic time in North Bay, creating with some wonderful young artists in this community," he says. "It's inspiring to see the next generation of independent filmmakers well and vibrant, and getting better at their craft with every new project. The medium is in good hands!"
Based in Kingston, Ont., the Montreal-raised Mann says the week of Halloween is an appropriate time to film his scenes for Godin's unique spin on the classic story.
Of his early film career, Mann says, he found some success with his musical film adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, featuring Doctor Who's Colin Baker. In 2015, the film was screened on PBS.
Mann says the classical horror genre always appealed to him. I've also had "the opportunity to play Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, the Phantom of the Opera, but in 2016, I changed gears."
Directing and playing iconic roles in horror- and thriller-genre indie films had become a staple for Mann — and he still loves working in the industry — but he says his focus for the last several years has been on his voice acting and his multi-media company, Bleak December.
Mann says the company's main focus is the creation of new, full-cast audio dramas, available as traditional and digital media, with Dracula, starring Tony Todd; The Hound of the Baskervilles featuring Sir Derek Jacobi; and, an audio remake of The Wicker Man — in which Mann starred alongside Brian Blessed — among the Bleak December offerings to date.
Last year, Mann embarked on a nostalgic project dear to his heart — Return to Frightenstein, an audio continuation of the cult TV favourite The Hilarious House of Frightenstein. Mann says the original greatly influenced his interest in both the horror and voice acting realms.
Mann — who has an uncanny gift of mimicry he sprinkles into the conversation — voices several of the original roles of series star Billy Van (including The Count, The Librarian, The Oracle and Dr. Pet Vet). Co-producer Mitch Markowitz returns to reprise his 1971 role of Super Hippy. Veteran actor Malcolm McDowell steps into the role of the Host, made famous by Vincent Price.
Mann says he is "so honoured to take on some of the characters played by Billy Van. It was an honour to be the first person to play those characters in almost 50 years." Mann jokes Markowitz, who owns the rights to the show, "watched me like a hawk."
"I like horror that is tongue in cheek," adds Mann. "I'm not really into the slasher films with the blood and guts. I mean, they can be fun, I'm more into the chillers and the ghost stories. Some of my happiest memories as a child were of me watching ghost stories with my mother."
As far as playing and voicing classic roles, Mann says he takes their place in history seriously.
"It's all good to impersonate and imitate but I need to find out what the character is about," he says. "In the case of Frightenstein, I try to stay true to what Billy Van did rather than just imitate him. Or, even if I'm playing a monster, I just try to find a little square of human spirit and try to understand them a little bit."
