Formed in Leichlingon, Germany in 2002, The Other rose from their earthy tombs as, initially, a Misfits cover band. Now, four hell-received albums later ('They're Alive', 'We Are Who We Eat', 'The Place To Bleed' and this year's 'New Blood') The Other find themselves being considered the most popular horror punk outfit in Europe.

With their first official music video causing a media storm in their native country due to the appearance of German porn star Leonie Saint (watch it below!), Migore Drake, Dr. Caligari, Sarge von Rock and frontman Rod Usher sold their souls to the devilock long ago and who better than the latter-named ghoul-crazy Usher to quiz about Halloween and the horror business?

What are your most vivid childhood memories of Halloween?

 
We didn't really have Halloween in Germany or the rest of continental Europe until about the last six or seven years and even now it's mostly a thing that is celebrated by the punk and goth crowd. No trick or treating here either. But we have Carnival where you dress up as anything you like and I always chose dark, or horror, costumes since I was a kid. Gene Simmons, Alice Cooper, a zombie, a vampire...I always loved scaring people. And I found out that girls are scared at first but then are very interested in you...

Why do you think that the worlds of horror and metal/punk have always been so closely linked?

 
Because all those genres try to break taboos and cross boundaries. Horror, metal and punk are both rebellious, they are about things that you don't normaly do or say. So horror metal or horror punk or metal/punk music in horror movies fit perfectly together. What doesn't work is cheesy college rock in teenage romantic horror flicks.

What are your thoughts on the state of horror movies at the present time? With all the remakes and rehashes there doesn't seem to be much original thought going on at present.....

 
Oh well, I'm not all against remakes, there have been some good ones all through history. Think of Bela Lugosi in Mark Of The Vampire, Vincent Price in House Of Wax, Kinski in Nosferatu or Christopher Lee in Dracula. All remakes, all great. And recently I really liked The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes and especially The Wolfman. But it's definitely true that Hollywood is relying on remakes way too much. I don't understand why you would wanna remake Rec, Let The Right One In, or even Friday The 13th and A Nightmare On Elm Street. I'm sure that the horror genre and the viewers would profit from more original movies and that they would work at the box office too, if as much money would be spent on them as on the remakes...

Has there been a horror remake yet that has bettered the original movie?

House Of Wax (1953) definitely, because it had Vincent Price in the second version, my all-time-favorite actor. And I actually think that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is as enjoyable as the original, with much better scares, but it sure does lack the socio-political context of its predecessor. Other then that nothing comes to mind... I did love the first two Addams Family movies however even though they're not really a remake of the great series.

John Carpenter's Halloween or Rob Zombie's Halloween?

 
Oh that's easy: The original by far. I think however that Zombie's version is not as bad as people make it to be. I actually liked it too and if you watch it with an open mind, it's really good. Skip Zombie's second part though, that's utter crap!

Fast zombies or slow zombies?

 
Both are cool in a way, the fast ones are scarier cause the appear out of nowhere and can outrun you, but the slow ones are classic and I like my horror classic.

What's the greatest ever horror movie kill?

 
The French movie High Tension (Haute Tension) has a great scene where Alex's father is graphically decapitated with a bookcase, his headless neck spraying blood. I saw the uncut version at the Fantasy Filmfest here in Germany and thought that was pretty intense. Also the sleeping bag kill in Friday the 13th Part VII : The New Blood comes to mind. There's just too many to mention, those are the first two that I could think of right now.

Who is the baddest ever horror movie villain...and why?

 
Freddy Krueger. He's witty and cruel and looks scary and can transform into all kinds of things. Robert Englund is Freddy Krueger, no matter who else they put into the costume! But for the coolest horror monster I'm going with the Werewolf. The metaphor for good and bad sides of a person's character really appeals to me. My character in the band is created after Poe's Roderick Usher in an undead version and a werewolf...

Who is the greatest ever Scream Queen?

 
Barbara Steele, if you can call her a Scream Queen. In Bava's Black Sunday she played the villain and the victim for example. She was a great actress, not just tits and ass. And her beauty was not of this earth. I wish I could meet her just for a photo...

Name your Top 5 favourite horror movies of all time...and tell us why!!

 
The Exorcist (Director's Cut) : The most horrible film ever. I watched it as a young teenager and was scared out of my mind. Plus the movie broke taboos...a young girl masturbating with a cross and peeing on the carpet? Wow...

The Shining : I saw Kubrick's version almost at the same time as The Exorcist, but I'd read the book years before. The scene with the two girls in the hallway was burned into my mind forever. A truly scary movie.

The Creature From The Black Lagoon : I love creature movies and I always feel sorry for the creature. And I'm a big fan of Jack Arnold's work, who never failed to make some social (or in this case ecological) comments in his movies.

Tarantula : Same goes for the story of the giant spider. Except that I really don't like spiders and thus try to overcome my fear by watching spider-movies like that one or Arachnophobia, Kingdom Of The Spiders, Eight Legged Freaks, etc.

Nosferatu : The original version starring Max Schreck is one of the oldest horror movies of all time and one of the greatest. It was filmed in Germany and never after has Dracula - or Count Orlok as he is called here - looked so horrific and vermin-like.

What underrated horror movie would you recommend to our readers just in case they have never seen it?

Trick Or Treat. Probably the greatest horror rock 'n' roll movie ever made, along with Black Roses. Trick Or Treat is about a rock star coming back from the dead and it not only features great music by Fast Eddie Clarke of Motörhead and Fastway fame but also Gene Simmons and Ozzy Osbourne in cameo appearances.

What 'star' of the music world would you like to see slaughtered in gory horror movie style? How and why?

 
Lady GaGa... That bitch is really getting on my nerves cause she's everywhere. Somebody please cut off her dick and feed it to her. And Jamiroquai. I can't stand that lame hippie-shit that he calls music.

What are your plans for Halloween this year?

 
We're playing the Underground in Cologne for the eighth time in a row. It's always sold out with 500 kids who dress up and go crazy. We've played huge festivals like the Wacken Open Air, shows with Alice Cooper, The Cult, Misfits, The 69 Eyes, The Damned, etc. but the yearly Halloween show is always the best!!!

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