by SARAH ROWLAND

It's no wonder that Paul Naschy felt compelled to play the lead in Rojo Sangre. After all, he has a lot in common with his character. Both men are septuagenarians who have felt the pinch of ageism in a business that often dismisses extensive experience and talent as irrelevant.

However, according to Naschy, who virtually resurrected Spanish horror from the dead in the '70s with such classics as Dracula's Great Love and The Werewolf versus the Vampire Woman - there is one notable difference between himself and his on-screen persona: "Pablo Thevenet is a killer and I couldn't hurt a fly."

Armed with the bitter taste of rejection and one kick-ass Samurai knife set, Thevenet goes on a killing spree to rid the world of as much pop culture riffraff as he can, including the righteous savage slaughtering of a hot-shot director who disrespects him during an audition.

But Naschy's real life pacifist nature doesn't mean that he can't empathize with a desperate senior pushed aside in an industry that's more concerned with celebrity hook-ups, silicone leaks and Kabbala converts than cinematic artistry.

"Thevenet suffers a loss of vitality that can only be experienced in the actor's world," says Naschy. "I can relate to Thevenet's history for two reasons. A lot of things I lived through myself, and other things I know about from people who are close to me. I knew an actor who told me that he would sell his soul to the devil if the people who stole his job paid for it. This actor in oblivion gave me insight for Rojo Sangre."

Observing his friend's degradation served Naschy well. The former powerlifting champion with a barrel-sized chest and intense Marlon Brando-esque stare brilliantly instils his portrayal of the murderous psychopath with a pathetic old man quality. At every casting-call leading up to the slaughter orgy, Thevenet scrapes together his last few crumbs of pride to deliver a moving performance - only to find out that it's just a walk-on part to mock his archaic fame. In short, Naschy makes Rojo Sangre a horrific masterpiece, which shouldn't be all that surprising considering he's known as the Spanish Lon Chaney in his native land.

Horroring around

Some of Naschy's most memorable on-screen moments have occurred when very little acting was required because he was doing his own stunts or put in nasty situations.

"The horror cinema at the time was new in Spain and you had to have a lot of imagination to make scenes work," he says, referring to The Hunchback of the Morgue, where he let vermin crawl all over his body. "For example, trained rats with a specialist would have been very expensive, long and difficult. What was also very dangerous was the tiger scenes in The Beast and the Magic Sword. But possibly the most dangerous stunt I did was jump from wall to wall in a medieval castle that was 30 metres high."

Despite all the hazardous situations and financial risks of filmmaking, he still prefers the thrill of terror over cushy gigs with regular paycheques. "I think most TV is a value subversion," he says. "I think that it's better to spend money making horror movies."

Paul Naschy presents Dracula's Great Love and The Werewolf Versus The Vampire Woman, Saturday, July 24, at 11pm and Rojo Sangre on Friday, July 23, at 8pm at Concordia's Hall Theatre (1455 de Maisonneuve W.)

>> Movie Listings