‘Rosario’ Star David Dastmalchian Talks His New Horror Film at Horror Vibes Coffee
This past Sunday, on an unusually gloomy day for Los Angeles, California—perfect for a horror movie—beloved actor David Dastmalchian (Late Night with the Devil, The Last Voyage of the Demeter) arrived at Horror Vibes Coffee to promote his new film, Rosario, in addition to The Bloodletting, a drink crafted in honor of the film’s release.
Situated off Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood, Horror Vibes is “where the ghouls gather” and rise from the dead with caffeinated drinks named after famous movie monsters (I’m a sucker for the Nightmare on Maple Street). The place is a horror fan’s dream, the walls covered in art depicting favorite genre characters, such as a scene of Freddy, Michael, Jason, and Pennywise sharing some hot drinks, perhaps reminiscing over their latest kills. Well, maybe not Freddy or Jason. Those guys haven’t gotten to slay for over a decade, and we’re all still sad about it.
Meeting Up With Rosario Star David Dastmalchian
It’s a place where you can often find Dastmalchian, he tells me after we take a seat. Horror Vibes is where he likes to have meetings about upcoming projects whenever possible. Occasionally, you may even find him writing in a corner of the shop, surrounded by all sorts of inspirational imagery. It takes only seconds to understand Dastmalchian’s infectious love for horror cinema, an admiration that he expresses with joy as he describes his latest chiller, Rosario, the feature debut from director Felipe Vargas, in which Dastmalchian plays the strange neighbor of an old woman who has just died, her body watched over by her granddaughter while waiting for an ambulance…only to discover that grandma had dealings with some nasty spirits.
“One of my favorite things in the horror motifs and tropes is the McGuffin character,” said Dastmalchian. “When I first got the script, I started reading through it and was like, ‘Oh, I’m absolutely certain that this guy is going to be part of something really menacing.’ And then I was like, ‘Oh, maybe he’s not going to be a part of something really menacing.’ And then, I was like, no wait, maybe he is…Felipe did such a great job creating the world of the movie, and I felt like I had something weird, unique, and creepy to add to Rosario’s sense of dread being at her grandmother’s house.”
A Sam Raimi-Inspired Narrative
When asked what it was like to work with the first-time director, Dastmalchian responded, “Felipe’s got this great vision for the way he sees horror. He’s got this incredible spirit on set. Even though we were doing really uncomfortable and gross stuff, he’s one of the kindest and sweetest guys. You’ll hear stories about how much fun it was to do a movie with Sam Raimi. It kind of reminds me of those stories you’d hear.”
I tell Dastmalchian that Vargas’ direction and tone reminded me quite a bit of Sam Raimi’s work, in particular, Drag Me to Hell. “I thought Drag Me to Hell and Evil Dead as soon as I was reading this,” he says. “But with this folklore and this mythology and this cultural narrative that we’ve never gotten to see in a horror movie before. It’s totally original.”
As for The Bloodletting, a horchata chai with two shots of espresso? In his most sinister voice possible, Dastmalchian bellows, “It’s so good it’s evil.”
Rosario is now playing in theaters.
Categorized:Interviews
