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Blood, waxes and latex: Clayton Boyd on his role in horror flick Hell Trip

Cape Town - Channel24 sat down for coffee with South African actor, Clayton Boyd, to talk about his upcoming role in the horror-thriller, Hell Trip

A familiar face on local TV screens, Clayton is well-known for his role as Robert Carlson, a Grade 11 IT teacher, on the popular local soapie Generations: The Legacy. Viewers might also remember him from The Wild, Binnelanders, Isidingo: The Need and Heart

Clayton was born in South Africa, but spent most of his youth living abroad in Europe and America. 

"As an actor, if Los Angeles comes calling, then I will certainly not say no, but I am not pursuing it (work in the US). I did the overseas thing, it was lovely. But I am not running to leave the country," he says.

In his upcoming role in the horror-thriller, Hell Trip, Clayton will be portraying the role of  William Reese, boyfriend to Sarah (Jade Hubner). About the movie he says: "This is the type of movie where you don't need big celebrities. People like the scare factor. You don't need Tom Cruise to come on board to carry a heavy drama."

WATCH THE TRAILER FOR HELL TRIP HERE

"The directors have put their focus on local crew and cast, although we have American accents. The accents tie into the story line, of American tourists in Africa. It's like a Slasher film, where people get picked off one by one and nobody knows why."

The movie was filmed in January 2016, and premiered at Comic Con Africa in September. 

"We've already filmed the second one which I had a very small role in. And we are filming the third one in January. We're trying to create a pipeline for horror movies for TV, DVD and direct streaming markets. It's a throwback to the traditional old horror movies of the 80s."

Hell Trip was shot on location in Limpopo and Mpumalanga over 17 days, during an experience that Clayton calls "challenging"

But despite all the challenges, Clayton says: "When you don't travel South Africa extensively and you live in the cities, you forget how beautiful the nation is and how diverse. The Limpopo forests, we shot in Debengeni Falls, you could have been in Jamaica. It's so tropical and beautiful."

"And then we moved to Mpumulanga, where it looks like you're in Canada, because you have the evergreen trees instead of the tropical trees," he adds.  (See more behind-the-scenes photos here)

Hell Trip

He calls the imagery and scenery "stunning," saying: "The walking and hiking on the very first day were my favourite scenes to film." He said, illustrating the beautiful nature that surrounded them.

Another scene he enjoyed filming involved torture. "It was very intense,  But I love the challenge as an actor. If I wanted to do something easy, I wouldn't have chosen this field."

About the challenges, he laughingly says: "You are on location with everybody. With the cast and crew, there is no escape. And it was 16, 17 days of shooting, straight."

About the physicality of the role, Clayton explained how important it is to stay fit elaborating, "I do my own basic stunts, when I'm allowed to. But when filming it's important to keep your body warm. During the final days on set there was rain and the temperature dropped drastically. And when the crew are changing camera angles, you're waiting in the wet and cold. It's important to stay active and stay energised. Otherwise you can get hurt."

Hell Trip

When talking about the classic trait in horror movies of fake blood, latex and prosthetic limbs, Clayton said, "Fake blood is sticky, and it stains for a day or two. Another makeup trick is the glycerine spray, to give the illusion of sweat. It's really thick so it won't just run off your body. We were dirty for 16 days!"

Elaborating further on costume design, special effects and make-up he says: "You shoot out of sequence. So it's important to take photos of 'stab wounds' and 'injuries' to know what goes where. You often have six or seven shirts because you have to recreate the same 'wound' several times over. You can spend 30 minutes to an hour in the makeup chair"

Clayton says that if you enjoyed Slasher and I Know What You Did Last Summer, then you will enjoy Hell Trip. "There is so much action and intensity. But aside from the horror, it is visually stunning and shot so beautifully. It's also important to support local. The more we do, the better our content will get."

A release date for Hell Trip has not been set.

(Photos: JAG Communications)

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