PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Note: This piece was written during the 2023 SGA-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, Kill Dolly Kill being covered here wouldn’t exist.
I have been eagerly awaiting the release of Kill Dolly Kill, the sequel to Heidi Moore’s 2016 feature film directorial debut, Dolly Deadly. As with any sequel, Kill Dolly Kill is bigger, bolder, and surpasses the original in craziness and musical numbers. This was definitely an act of “Go big or go home!”
BENJI is back. Now living as his alter-ego DOLLY DEADLY, he’s all grown up and ready to kill… AGAIN.
To celebrate the film’s premiere at Fantastic Fest 2023, I chatted with star Donna Slash about being a part of Tromaville, preparing for the role of “Benji,” what’s up next, and more!
PopHorror: I really enjoyed Kill Dolly Kill. I was eagerly awaiting the sequel so I’m super excited to speak with you about it. This is your first feature role.
Donna Slash: Yes!
PopHorror: Heidi told me that you also hate musicals.
Donna Slash: I do, mostly. There’s a couple that get a pass.
PopHorror: What about the script intrigued you and made you want to be part of the project?
Donna Slash: She really had me with serial killer drag queen. I was like, “Yeah, that sounds perfect, whatever.” Then I found out it was a musical and it was more along the lines of Rocky Horror Picture Show so I figured why the hell not? When we first started talking about it, a big part of me didn’t believe that it would be a thing. Once I started with Donna Slash and the band Homosuperior, there was all kinds of talk about, “Let’s do this, let’s do that.” I was like, “Okay, I’ll star in your horror movie.” Then it happened.
PopHorror: That’s awesome. With this being your first role and a musical, how did you prepare for shooting?
Donna Slash: I did actually print out two copies of the script and I worked with friends. I had one friend specifically; we went over lines in my living room. It was funny because I wasn’t totally sure if what I was doing was right or what I was thinking was right, but every time I asked Heidi, she would say, “I just want everyone to bring themselves to this and just do whatever you want with the role.” And I’m like, “Okay, sure, whatever.” Almost the entire thing was all one take. There were a couple we reshot for lighting or other purposes, but a lot of it was we just went for it, and it worked.
PopHorror: Wow!
Donna Slash: At least that was my experience with my scenes. I can’t speak for other people. It was a lot of shooting and there was some stuff I just wasn’t around for.
PopHorror: That’s very impressive. What was your favorite part of filming?
Donna Slash: Definitely, and this isn’t shade, but it was split up into two shoots. There was a week in Vegas and a week in Indiana, and honestly, Vegas… It was just so fucking cool. We were all on a soundstage and they had a special effects crew that came out for an entire day, that was paid for the whole day, so we had to do all of our bloody effects all in that same day. Everything about the Vegas shoot was so much fun. It was funny because it was my first and only time in Las Vegas, but I didn’t get to do any type of Vegas stuff because I was always in full drag and stuck at the soundstage, even when I wasn’t shooting for like several hours at a time, I would just have to sit there. It was cool though.
PopHorror: I would think that Vegas would be the perfect place for full drag.
Donna Slash: There were talks of us going out and doing shoots and stuff on the strip, but it never really happened because there was never enough time between like, “Okay, now we have to be in this scene,” and they’d be like, “Okay, well we have to do another scene in an hour.” That’s not enough time for us to go out and take pictures and come back. Everything at the Indiana shoot was very DIY and was very this whole small town coming together to help put this movie on, whereas in Vegas it was more of a professional movie making kind of experience. Indiana was cute and interesting, and it felt very To Wong Foo. Like me and the other two drag queens are two and half hours from any kind of Target or major city. We literally would walk out of the apartment we were staying in to go shoot stuff in full drag and cars would come to a screeching halt because they were completely shocked. Terrifying but also exhilarating.
PopHorror: Was there anything that you were adamant about bringing to your character?
Donna Slash: Not really. I didn’t want to do any sex scenes. But the makeup and wigs and stuff, I was like, “Okay, well I really want you to realize that I’m going to go full out and do some kind of crazy fucking makeup,” and Heidi was like, “Yes, please do, whatever you want to do is fine.” And then of course I regretted that because the first day I was up early and so excited and did this three-and-half-hour face, and then I had to do that every single morning for basically two whole weeks, although it was like two separate weeks.
PopHorror: I don’t know when you filmed in Vegas, but it gets pretty hot there. I’m in Phoenix and we have pretty much the same weather. I can’t imagine being in full makeup in the heat.
Donna Slash: It was the first week in November 2017. It was still pretty warm mid-day. Even if it was cool, everything was in direct sunlight. There was one day we filmed for like 23 hours. It was insane. So we never knew really what time it was, because we were all in a soundstage.
PopHorror: Were you a horror fan before?
Donna Slash: Oh, absolutely. And a big Troma fan so when Troma… When we had first talked about this, I don’t think Troma had come on as producer yet, but then when that happened, it was just like, no fucking way. I’m 39, I’m up there, so I remember the small-town video stores with the huge horror section and there were always a million Troma movies. My parents, especially in the summertime, they didn’t pay attention to what I rented, and the people behind the counter didn’t care. It was a small time in the 90s, so I would go up there with an armload of just the most ridiculously inappropriate movies for a 10-year-old to be renting, and nobody cared. I’ve always been really familiar with Troma and the whole Troma library, so being a part of Troma now is very surreal.
PopHorror: That’s so cool, that starting out and your first feature role, and it’s Troma. It’s coming full circle.
Donna Slash: And I’m starring as the title character and it’s a drag queen serial killer. Trust me, it was very, very exciting and like, I can’t believe this actually happening.
PopHorror: I’m 42 so I understand growing up in the 90s and going to the video store, and seeing all of the cool covers and now having friends and meeting people who make these movies. It’s super cool.
Donna Slash: Yeah, it’s really fun. The people that were all involved in the production were all just like that, just like us. And also, I’ve done a couple things as Dolly and all of the Troma heads and people come out and it’s just so fun to be around people like that. I had never really thought about it before, but those are my people. And being around them, we can all make the same references to some obscure 80s horror sequel, and everybody gets it. It’s, oh God. It’s so much fun.
PopHorror: It is! Are you planning on doing more acting?
Donna Slash: I would absolutely love to. If somebody wants me to be in their movie, I’m available.
PopHorror: What is up next for you?
Donna Slash: Bringing Donna back. The movie finally coming out is really exciting because we made this movie so fucking long ago and it was in post-production forever. So it’s still kind of surreal that it’s finally happening. I was going to put drag on hold for a little while and was just trying to figure something else out. Now that it’s come back, I’ve gotten that itch and I’ve got a few shows booked. I’m doing Pittsburgh, New York, and Austin, we’re doing Fantastic Fest and I’m also going to perform with Louisianna Purchase.
PopHorror: That will be exciting!
Donna Slash: I’m recording a new EP. I’m always making weirdo electronica but I’ve been working more finally tracking my bass guitar and trying to make it more like bouncy punk versus the glitchy electronica stuff I’ve been releasing. Just music and shows here and there. Not trying to overdue it like I have before. There was a point where I was doing several drag shows a week and it became way too much, and I got very jaded to it. But since I’ve been around the horror Troma crowd, it’s been a lot more exciting and a lot more, “Yeah, these are my people, and this is what I want to do.”
PopHorror: I’m excited to see what you have coming up. Heidi told me that some of you had ideas for a third one, like more sequels.
Donna Slash: Yeah, I’ve been toying with an idea and trying to tie it into Dolly Deadly 3 just because… I mean, on set, the guy that wrote the second one, Tom (Komisar), was joking about doing Dolly Deadly 3: Dolly in Space. I’m sure Heidi had her own thoughts about it. We’ve all kind of bounced ideas back and forth but I have had an idea for something that could potentially be filmed out on the eastern shore where I’m at right now. There’s no rush on that. I’ve got a little outline that I’ve been kind of piecing together and writing ideas and seeing where it goes.
PopHorror: I feel like the Dolly Deadly universe could go anywhere and that space would just be a natural progression.
Donna Slash: Absolutely. It’s amazing because Heidi kind of encourages that. This universal canvas.
PopHorror: Just one last question for you today. What is your favorite scary movie?
Donna Slash: I have Leatherface tattooed on my arm and grew up in Texas, so I guess I’m going to have to say The Texas Chain Saw Massacre because it is the ultimate indie DIY slapped together kind of movie that just knocked everything else out of the water.
Thank you so much to Donna for taking the time to speak with us! Kill Dolly Kill just had its premiere at Fantastic Fest.
