The "Puppet Master" franchise has been using maniacal toys named Blade, Pinhead and Tunneler to generate scares since 1989. The most recent installment, "Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich," stars Thomas Lennon, Michael Pare and Jenny Pellicer.
Given Pellicer was born and raised in Oslo, Norway, and isn't old enough to have any knowledge of the original film aren't the only reasons she's an unusual casting to star in the latest production in the long and bloody series.
"To be honest, horror films and that genre aren't exactly something that I'm tremendously fond of because I get very frightened. I guess in a way, you could say I am the perfect audience because this kind of film really, really affects me," Pellicer says.
But as soon as Pellicer was cast to play Ashley in "The Littlest Reich," she dove in. It was only through the process that she came to understand why the franchise keeps going.
Where the 13th installment goes has Ashley joining her boyfriend, Edgar (Lennon), on a road trip to a convention for people who own the various killer puppets. It's a weekend in the country that turns bloody quickly.
One of the things that helped Pellicer deal with the scary parts of "The Littlest Reich" was Lennon. And all the scares weren't caused by puppets _ the pair have a love scene, which Pellicer says is always uncomfortable and awkward to do in a film. It takes a lot of preplanning to get the movements just right. She credits getting through those scenes to how comfortable she felt working with Lennon.
"There's a moment _ that's in the movie _ where we are kissing and suddenly Thomas looks at me and asks, 'What's your name again?' Thomas is so funny and he was constantly playing pranks and joking around," Pellicer says. "It ended up being a very fun set to be on."
Another avenue of support came from fellow cast member Barbara Crampton, who along with a wealth of work on daytime dramas has appeared in numerous horror films ("Re-Animator," "Chopping Mall," "We Are Still Here," "Death House"). Crampton shared what she had learned though all those films with Pellicer.
Getting to star in a horror film was a long journey for Pellicer. After graduating from the International School of Oslo, Pellicer worked for the Ministry of Health in Costa Rica, got her law degree from Durham University, was employed at Newsweek in London and helped her family start a restaurant business in Mexico. She did all that while learning to speak four languages.
Acting had been a part of Pellicer since she a child, but she really only had a basic understanding of what a career would be like and how to begin to move into that world. Her approach was to devote herself to her studies.
"I realized if I got the grades I wanted, I could go anywhere to study," Pellicer says. "I thought of law because I have always been very interested in people's stories. When I was at university, I started doing more and more theater. That's where I started living two lives.
"I was the happiest when I was on stage or when I was reading plays. I didn't believe I could make acting happen until I came to Los Angeles. That's when I realized if I didn't devote all my efforts to acting, a part of my soul would die."
Once she decided to concentrate on acting, Pellicer landed work on FX's "The Bridge" and NBC's "State of Affairs." She also starred opposite Catherine-Zeta Jones in the Lifetime movie "Cocaine Grandmother."
Now that Pellicer has not only faced her fears of horror movies by both watching past "Puppet Master" installments and starring in one, the assumption would be things should be different for her in regards to the genre.
"I thought it was going to help me, but it didn't. I still get really frightened quite easily. I think my imagination is far too active. The dark and the unknown scare me," Pellicer says. "The idea anything would be creeping under my bed _ whether it be a puppet or something else _ is still terrifying.
"I think that's why horror films like the 'Puppet Master' movies will always be successful. There's this pleasure in the pain of being frightened."
"Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich" opens in theaters and will be available through On-Demand starting Friday.
