ROH Star, and member of The Kingdom and former co-holder of the ROH six-man tag titles, Vinny Marseglia recently sat down with ROHwrestling.com for an interview discussing his upcoming role in the horror movie “The Find”. The film is scheduled for a Halloween 2018 release, and also stars fellow ROH Star Flip Gordon.
Marseglia discusses the movie “The Find”, his role in it, and what’s next for him:
ROH: How did you end up getting the lead in the movie? Did you have to audition?
Vinny: They saw me dragging a body into my trunk and thought I’d be a good fit, just kidding…maybe. Jokes aside, David Gere (producer/actor) like most of us has been a long time wrestling fan and is also involved on some notable independents. He knew I was a horror movie buff and had a love for the genre since I have been a kid. So he felt “The Horror King” was a good fit for the role of the killer in this film.
ROH: For someone like yourself who is such a horror movie buff, what was it like to actually star in one?
Vinny: Man, it was an unbelievable experience. On top of being a part of the best wrestling on the planet, it’s another dream come true, to be honest. Since I was about 5-6 years old, before any young child should be watching such stuff, I have been huge into horror films. My mother was a big time horror fan as well which is basically what ignited my fascination with horror. I mean my wife and I have basically a horror museum of screen used props from all your classic favorite horror films— my wife is just as big of a fan as I am. The Horror King is real and Vinny Marseglia is the director of what you see in the ring and on television weekly.
ROH: Tell us about your character, Damon, and the plot.
Vinny: The character “Damon” is the silent-killer type, but he isn’t a monster like Jason Voorhees, or some kind of entity. He’s an actual human who happens to be connected to an ancient Indian tribe. Basically the plot is Damon is on the hunt for this ring that has some sort of supernatural power connected to the tribe. It leads him to this giant house that a bunch of college students go to on winter break and just happen to be in the way of Damon’s search for this ring…and then well you can imagine how the rest goes.
ROH: Where did you shoot the movie and how long did it take? What was that experience like?
Vinny: The movie was shot at a giant mansion located in Chester, CT which was in the middle of nowhere. The house was amazing looking inside and out. It had several rooms, a bowling alley, secret rooms, but still had an eerie feeling to it which I thought was a perfect setting. I’m still not done filming actually. I have few days to film in January coming up, but I was there for a full week, Monday-Sunday. I lived like a vampire, slept all day and filmed at night, 5pm-7am film time. One night I actually had wrestled and went right back to the house after the show, got into wardrobe, makeup and got right to it…but it was amazing, the entire experience. It’s something I always knew I could do and do well, especially a lead role as a horror character.
ROH: Did you have any prior acting experience?
Vinny: I have done some short film stuff before, and was also seen for a very brief moment in the recent film “Saving Christmas” which was a straight to DVD Lionsgate film. I am a very creative person. I’ve always had an artistic eye for angles of cameras and storytelling, which is also my favorite part of professional wrestling. Anytime I get the chance to create something it’s a good feeling and I feel like I’m using my strengths in that department, so with little experience of the actual acting itself I felt very confident in this role especially just from studying and watching so much of it.
ROH: We understand you worked with some veteran actors of the genre. What was that experience like?
Vinny: This is actually a part of filming in January. It will be a big surprise for everyone, but I’m very excited to work with everyone especially horror/movie icons like this. Much like wrestling, with enough hard work the icons can become your opponents/victims.
ROH: Were there stunts in the movie, and if so, did you do your own?
Vinny: There were definitely stunts in this movie and I did them myself. It was pretty cool that they trusted me to choreograph the stunt scenes actually, especially with the cautions of safety for myself and the other actors. There’s a pretty intricate scene that actually involves myself and Flip Gordon that will be a must see when it comes out.
ROH: Did your experience as a pro wrestler come into play at all while filming?
Vinny: Absolutely did. To me a professional wrestling match is very much like a live action movie, or in my case, a live horror film. It’s about creating these intense moments to the best of your ability and to take the viewers at home on an emotional roller coaster—to make the audience cry, laugh, angry, happy, and so on. I feel like the producer Daniel C. Dahlstrom and I connected very well as far as envisioning certain scenes together with his experience in filming and mine in pro wrestling and the horror experience as well. We just connected very well and trusted one another’s opinions.
ROH: Will you be doing more acting in the future?
Vinny: That’s the plan. I actually already have been talking about a possible sequel to “The Find” but I won’t give away too much on that. There are a few other horror/thrillers I have been talked about being a part of separate from that.
ROH: What is your favorite horror movie and why?
This is a tough question for me sometimes, but my ALL TIME favorite film period is “The Lost Boys”. That movie is a classic, and I loved everything from the wardrobe, to the soundtrack…the entire thing is such a masterpiece for being a low budget film. My first ring jacket with all the patches on it was actually inspired by the character “Marko” played by Alex Winter in that film. I have so many favorites in the horror genre though. The original John Carpenter’s Halloween, Creepshow, Night Of The Living Dead (1990), Friday the 13th, Silver Bullet, the list goes on really. I’m very inspired by guys like Stephen King, George Romero, Tom Savini, John Carpenter, and Rob Zombie.
ROH: What’s next for The Horror King?
Right now it’s to make my way through the entire Ring Of Honor roster with my own horror, and begin to kill a kingdom conspiracy, and claim what’s ours—ROH gold.
