Exclusive: Tyler Mane Talks 247˚F, Compound Fracture and More

Steve Barton   |  

Oct 25, 2012

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This week Anchor Bay released the steamy new thriller 247˚F, which follows a group of 20-somethings on a rural getaway who accidentally get locked in their cabin’s sauna and find themselves with only a few hours to get out before the heat gets the best of them.

Directed by Levan Bakhia and Bega Jgubria, 247˚F stars Scout Taylor-Compton, Travis Van Winkle, Michael Copon, Christina Ulloa and horror’s resident badass Tyler Mane.

Recently Dread Central had the opportunity to jump on the phone briefly with Mane, who has played iconic characters throughout his career from Sabretooth to Michael Myers and has successfully made the leap from the world of professional wrestling almost 20 years ago now to become a writer/producer and star of his own independent horror project, Compound Fracture.

During our interview we spoke with Mane about his involvement with 247˚F and reuniting with Taylor-Compton and heard more on his latest project, which is gearing up for AFM later this month.

Check out the highlights from our interview with Mane below, and look for more on Compound Fracture soon!

Dread Central: Let’s start off by talking about how you got involved with 247˚F; were you relieved when you read the script and realized they didn’t want you to play the usual characters you get and that you didn’t have to be stuck in the sauna, which seemed to be a far more grueling experience than your scenes were?

Tyler Mane: Originally they approached me to do this as a non-union production; they were going to do it quick and dirty, but I talked them into making it into a union shoot so we could get the right talent on board. Then Scout and the rest of the cast were attached soon after, and we were off to make this in Eastern Europe.

The thing that really attracted me to this role is because he’s kind of this “Lebowski” guy, which was something different and fun for me to do. Uncle Wade just does his own thing, which was cool; I definitely had it easier than the rest of the cast (laughs).

But another reason I wanted to do this project was because at the time I was getting ready to start making my own independent films so I saw this as an opportunity to really be involved with production on something from start to finish and then take those lessons and apply them to my own films.

Dread Central: How was it reteaming with Scout on this then?

Tyler Mane: I love Scout; she is just fantastic in this, and it was great to work with her again. I would love to work with her again in the future, too; we’re like family, and it’s always great to get to be creative with someone like her. You know, it just blows my mind to see how she’s grown up; she was 17 on the first Halloween – we even celebrated her 18th birthday on set – and now she’s 24. It’s like watching your kid grow up or something. I would definitely love to do more with her in the future.

Dread Central: I’ve noticed from conventions and such that you guys who worked on Rob’s (Zombie) Halloween movies seem to all still be really close…Malcolm, Scout, Danielle, Kristina, you.

Tyler Mane: You know, we really had a great time making those movies, and that all stems back to Rob. He knows how to run a set and keep things like a family environment while you’re working. That’s how I like to run my sets, too, now- I really learned a lot from working with Rob.

Dread Central: Well let’s talk about Compound Fracture then; what made you decide that you wanted to write, produce and star in this? That’s a lot of responsibility to balance, I would imagine.

Tyler Mane: Well, I’m a control freak, but I like to be creative so that was a huge part of it; my better half, Renae (Geerlings), and I wrote the story together because we saw this story as something we could make on our own and contain it within a reasonable budget. It was a great opportunity for guys like myself and Derek to do something different, and at the end of the day it was just a hell of a lot of fun to make. In fact, I would say Compound Fracture is the most fun I’ve had on any set next to the Halloween movies.

But it was a great experience; we pretty much had everything planned out really well so we didn’t experience a lot of bumps along the way. We lost our line producer on day three so when that happened, I just took over that role, too. It was a whirlwind experience, but I loved every minute.

Dread Central: What I thought was interesting about Compound Fracture was that it wasn’t your typical supernatural story going on; it managed to keep me surprised throughout, which was fun.

Tyler Mane: Yeah, we didn’t want to make a movie that fans had seen done before so we tried to do things a little differently. Hopefully that pays off, and I think it will once we get out there. But I know that I’m really proud of what we accomplished on this.

Dread Central: So are you primarily focused on Compound Fracture right now then? Have you started thinking about future projects at all yet?

Tyler Mane: Oh yeah, Compound Fracture is pretty much what’s on my plate for now; we’re getting ready for AFM and dealing with distributors so that’s my world. I do have some other projects I’d like to make in the future, including a project called Penance Lane, but for now it’s all about Compound Fracture.

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