T.V. MIKELS "Blood Orgy of the Astro-Corpsegrinder Squad"
Interview By Dr. Abner Mality

What an amazing life Mr. Ted V. Mikels has had! It would actually make for a very entertaining movie in itself. Though most well-known for his "modestly budgeted" and "unusual" films like "The Corpse Grinders", "The Doll Squad" and "The Astro-Zombies", film-making is just one component of an extremely colorful life that's included working as a magician, escape artist, ventriliquist and the master of a real castle in the American Southwest! Of such individuality is the life of a true "do it yourself" movie-maker made. Ted was a cinematographer, soundtrack composer, stunt coordinator, editor...you name it, he did it. You can bet your sweet bippy that the likes of Michael Bay and Eli Roth are boring and shallow in comparison...the same as their films. Mr. Mikels hails back to the days when the more outrageous the idea, the more determined the auteur was to bring it to life...no matter what the obstacle!

It was my distinct pleasure to interface with the distinguished Mr. T.V.M. recently and below is the result of my discussion with this legendary name...


WORMWOOD CHRONICLES: What projects are you involved with today? It sounds like you keep pretty busy!

T.V. MIKELS: Actually, I always have more than one project in mind for the future. However, right now, we're in actual production of "DEMON BLOODLUST",with second unit stuff already being done in New York, and CGI and animation under way in my own studios here in Las Vegas. I'll try to send the script cover with this e-mail. Full shooting schedule commences in mid-January, 2007.

WC: Your past is colorful to say the least! Tell us about your days as a fire eater, magician and ventriliquist.

TVM: Actually, I grew up on stage, starting at five years old, doing magic tricks for neighbors and friends. By age seventeen, I was accepted as a " Professional" with my full two hour show, " OPEN SESAME", wherein I did a lot of Magic, Ventriloquism, Accordion Solos, Houdini Escapes ( strait Jacket), fire-eating and acrobatic stunts. It was fun, and it drove me straight into the desire to make movies, based on my show.

WC: Where did you learn all these unusual skills?

TVM: The library was a good source for my magic knowledge, and I have an extreme desire to " entertain", so I created my own learning by doing my tricks, etc. at parties, gatherings, entertaining at any place that wanted it... USO for troops, Masonic Halls,various groups like the ELKS clubs, American Legion halls, the EAGLES, VFW, Chamber or Commerce parties, parties, anywhere in general. And I played for dances with my accordion and did magic and ventriloquism during the dancing intermissions.

WC: What was the catalyst that got you into the low budget film business?

TVM: It was when I wanted to record my magic shows, which, when they were over, were lost forever except to memory, hence my desire to shoot them on film. There was no such thing as " video" then.

WC: Did you ever get any flack from cat lovers for how they were portrayed in "The Corpse Grinders"?

TVM: Actually, no flack whatever from cat-lovers. They were not mistreated in the movie and were a challenge to work with.

WC: Were you the one who came up with the devilish idea for the "corpse grinding" machine?

TVM: When I bought the script, it was much different than what ended up in the movie, Arch Hall, the original writer, had described a CANNING FACTORY where fish were processed. I had no way of finding a cannery, so I decided to make a self contained grinding machine in the studio where we shot a lot of the scenes. Gary Heacock, who only last week after 37 years, visited me here in Las Vegas at my studios, was the one that actually made the corpse grinding machine, which was meant only to be something CAMPY for a mock horror film that turned out to be a real and very successful horror film.

WC: "Astro-Zombies" featured John Carradine. What was it like working with him?

TVM: I worked with John Carradine as early as 1963 on a project called " GENESIS". Then " THE HOSTAGE" in 1965, ASTRO ZOMBIES in 1967, and so on. He was a most dedicated and consummate professional and took every moment of his work very seriously. He was an absolute delight to work with. Knew his lines without ever seeming to look at them to remind him, and was instantly ready for the cameras when needed. What a gentleman. In ASTRO ZOMBIES production, he told me he had a son that wanted to work in movies also, could I have any work for him?

WC: Tell us about the great Tura Satana and how you hooked up with her!

TVM: I first saw Tura dancing at the Silver Slipper in 1957 in Las Vegas. I was on a private plane with three buddies flying to Matzanland from BEND, OREGON, having stopped for a flight break. Never saw her again until 1967 she came into my office in Hollywood and we discussed a role I could have for her in THE ASTRO ZOMBIES. I took a number of months attempting to move her into a " DRAGON LADY" role as opposed to what she had performed in "FASTER PUSSYCAT". We became very close friends and have remained so to this day, and talk every few weeks or so. Out of her four movies, three of them were for me. THE ASTRO ZOMBIES, THE DOLL SQUAD, and MARK OF THE ASTRO ZOMBIES.We always joked about her killing me in a scene, which she did in MARK OF THE ASTRO ZOMBIERS, as her arch enemy. Fun stuff.

WC: I loved the old drive-in days. Have movies today lost all the individuality and quirkiness of those times?

TVM: The movies presently are made for the audiences that can make them available. Since the demise of the drive-in era, the movies seem to be , on the independent level, made by everyone who ever wanted to make a movie, and these are not screened out like what took place when I was making my early movies, as the Theater chains examined them thoroughly before booking and playing them. That no longer happens, so home video prevails on its own.

WC: Would you agree that the lower the budget is, the more personality a film has?

TVM: Only in the way that these movies are being made. Many are the results of someone with a little video camera, and no budget at all except for a few rolls of video tape. Now doing that in making a movie requires a great deal of ingenuity, which is what you get.

WC: Did you ever interact with some of the other great film-makers of the drive-in days, such as H.G. Lewis, Al Adamson and Andy Milligan?

TVM: No, not at all, I kept to myself, doing my own thing, not paying any attention to what anyone else was doing. I was much too busy to meet up with other contemporaries.

WC: "Blood Orgy of the She-Devils" was one of the all-time great titles, but the movie itself was rated PG and seemed to be a bit of a mess. Were there difficulties putting it together?

TVM: Not sure at all what you meant in " mess ". It's the only movie I have ever made where after I wrote the screenplay, and that after two years of study in what was involved here in seances, etc. I kept to the letter of my script. I made NO CHANGES whatever, and since I was so focused in the writing, I felt no need to alter anything in the shooting. Today, it still seems to be more popular than ever, although when I finished it, I could not afford to release it properly. It's still going strong, and we're now considering a sequel to it, even after my first " sequel" , THE CAULDRON: BAPTISM OF BLOOD, now out on DVD. The only difficulties in putting it together was that mysterious flames and fire would appear constantly when we were shooting, and no one knew where these fires came from. At the time it was eerie.

WC: Did "Doll Squad" wind up being your most successful film? Did you go after the makers of "Charlie's Angels", because it seems they stole your idea?

TVM: Although many peole tried to encourage me to go after Aaron Spelling, I did not feel I should do it. Aaron did attend my premier screening of THE DOLL SQUAD at 20th Century Fox in Hollywood FOUR YEARS before making CHARLIE'S ANGELS, and he used some of my girl's names, like SABRINA in the leading part. However I never wanted to pursue anything with him or his company. Everyone has ideas and I'm not the only one in the world who has. The only difference, I had to make my movie THE DOLL SQUAD with tiny money, and I was offered a deal with MGM after completing it that would have changed my movie-making life forever. I couldn't accept MGM's offer because I had accepted a bit of completion money from six of my U.S. sub-distributors, and I could not take away sub-distributor rights from them. The MGM offer was the biggest and best offer ever made to me by the studios, yet, I could not accept it.

WC: What film would you say you are most proud of?

TVM: All of my movies require the same dedication, love, blood, sweat, tears, financing difficulties, working always with impossible odds to get them done, so I cannot say which one I am most proud of. Probably " MISSION: KILLFAST" was my most ambitious and costly of all, and took nine years to complete.

WC: Was there ever any film or project that you regretted working on?

TVM: How could I ever regret working on what I loved most on earth other than my family and kids? Never, I have always loved every movie I have ever made.

WC: What advice would you give young directors today?

TVM: To young directors? Get a camera and start to teach yourself. Look at what you have made over and over again, and learn from it , mostly about what you would do to make your movie better.

WC: Back in the day, if someone had given you a $10 million dollar movie budget, how would you have used it?

TVM: With ten million dollars, I would create a corporation dedicated to financing many movies, one at a time, not wasting a nickel on big salaries, and probably not spending more than one million an any of them, no matter what COULD HAVE been spent. Nobody cares what you spend making a movie IF THEY LIKE IT.

WC: Finally, my fellow Wormwood writer Jens wants to know if you still live in the "magic castle" with beautiful women all around?

TVM: No, no more castle. I took so many loans to get my movies finished that I had to give up the castle to pay them off. Sad to say, after making quite a few movies there, and paying for it for fourteen years, I walked away after the sale WITHOUT ONE NICKEL FOR MYSELF. But the debts were paid. Such may be the price of doing WHAT YOU WANT TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE.