A “mini slasher flick” seems perfectly appropriate for the latest video from Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein and his band Doyle — and that’s exactly what “Run For Your Life,” premiering exclusively below, is. But truth be told, it’s not the guitarist’s favorite style within the horror milieu.
“I actually don’t like slasher movies,” von Frankenstein (nee Paul Caiafa) tells Billboard. “I grew up with monsters. There was The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Wolfman, Frankenstein, that shit. To me, that was scary. That blew my mind. Then it became guys with knives and hockey masks. That could really happen, so it’s not as scary to me. I like to have my imagination get blown, like Aliens. I remember when John Carpenter made The Thing; I saw that in the theater with the Necros. Both of our bands went and nobody said a word until it was over. That’s the kind of thing I like.”
Directed by Brian Cox of Flarelight Films and filmed in a Vernon. N.J., factory, “Run For Your Life” is the first video from As We Die, the second album from the band Doyle, which comes out June 2 on his own Monsterman Records label via a new deal with Megadeth bassist David Ellefson’s EMP imprint. It follows the group’s debut, Abominator, by four years, but von Frankenstein says As We Die, which features the new rhythm section of bassist Brandon Strarter and drummer Brandon Pertzborn, has actually been in the works for a while.
“I did the guitars when I did the Abominator record,” von Frankenstein says. “We did two albums at once, actually. We were going to do a double album but there was so much material we just cut the motherfucker in half. We were actually done with all the recording during February of 2016, and we were just having a real problem getting the mix right. We mixed for 14 fucking months!” And von Frankenstein fesses up to being the reason behind any delay.
“I’m out of my mind, man. It’s got to be perfect,” he says with a laugh. “It’s your product and you have to make it perfect, ’cause it’s forever. It’s got to be great. When my favorite artist makes a record and I don’t like it, I’m pissed, y’know? I don’t want anyone to feel that way about us.”
Between albums, of course, von Frankenstein took part in the Misfits reunion with Glenn Danzig and Jerry Only during last year’s Riot Fest shows in Chicago and Denver. And the guitarist says he’d be open to more. “We had fun. We had a great time,” von Frankenstein says. “Jerry and Glenn are really funny guys, so we laughed a lot. There’s no talk of (doing anything else) now, and I wouldn’t be at liberty to say even if there was. I want to do it, so if it doesn’t happen everybody should know I wanted to do it. I hope it happens.”
Meanwhile von Frankenstein is getting ready for a starring role in the upcoming feature film Death Ward 13. The remake of the 1973 horror film Don’t Look In The Basement is being directed by Todd Nunes and is currently in pre-production, with casting still being finalized and filming expected to start later this year. “They’re gonna pay me to kill people, which is cool,” says von Frankenstein, whose character is known as The Duke. “I’ve been in a couple of other movies and I’ve watched the actors and how they work. I did one with Matt Lillard, the guy who was Shaggy in Scooby Doo, and he’d be clowning around and being silly as fuck, then it came time to shoot a scene where he beats this guy’s head in and all of a sudden, as soon as the director said action, he turned into this insane person and just went off and my jaw hit the ground. Then as soon as it was over he was clowning around again like it never happened. Those motherfuckers are out of their mind; They can split their personality just like that. I don’t know if I can do that.”