Amy Lynn Best
Independent cinema seems to be gaining in popularity at the moment. Not only because of surprise hits such as Donny Darko and The Blair Witch Project but also with the rise of digital filmmaking and DVD, enabling ever more independent filmmakers to bring their visions to a geographically diverse public. At the same time, there have been a host of scream queens making the rounds, appearing at conventions, in films, and on the web. One of these independent scream queens is Amy Lynn Best.
Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Best has spent several years in indie films, learning the ropes from the ground up on the short
haunted house film, Tenants. She has since gone on to become both a director and very popular actress in many low budget horror films and has recently completed a screenplay, Envious Moon.
Aside from her work in film, Best is a trained dancer, an avid kickboxer and also a horsewoman, a master rider.
More recently she has been involved with the filming of The Resurrection Game - both as an actress, co-producer - along with long time associate, Mike Watt. The Resurrection Game is Best and Watt’s contribution to the zombie genre and blends a load of dark comedy with political commentary and outright horror.
In a recent interview for Hacker Source magazine, Best said of the film: “One theme of the movie is how big corporations can
manipulate society and get away with pretty much whatever they want. We have seen somewhat of a breakdown of this in the past couple of years, but it’s still there. There are too many big businesses out there who think that they are omnipotent-hence the God/Corp name (in the film). There are a few organized religions that seem to feel that way too. They can do anything they want because it’s in your best interest! Most people have gotten that out of the film. It’s pretty in your face.”
As well as appealing to the horror buffs and zombie lovers out there, The Resurrection Game also draws its audience from Best’s (rapidly growing) legion of fans, and possibly an even wider audience - the growing army of Americans who have become disillusioned with corporate America during the past decade, the increasingly vocal religious right and the antics of the
Bush administration. Time will tell.
As Sister Mary Bliss in this film, Best once again portrays a strong woman, staying true to her repeatedly stated a dislike for
‘weak” or traditional female roles as found in many horror – and especially slasher - films.
“Mike wrote the role of Sister Bliss for me. He knows I don’t like weak, stupid women’s roles and Sister Bliss is far from that. I really enjoyed playing her. She had her issues, but no one was going to get in her way. And she got to wear black leather and drive a motorcycle.”
As well as being a regular on the horror convention circuit - making appearances at various shows throughout the Midwest, including Frightvision, Chiller Theatre and the Pittsburgh Comicon, Best is also a co-founder of Happy Cloud Pictures who describe themselves as “decent, hard-working people, who just want to make movies.”
Happy Cloud’s second film Were-Grrl tells the story of a young woman who falls under an ancient Gypsy curse and is forced to spend each full moon as a lesbian and marks directorial debut of Amy Lynn Best
And if all that wasn’t enough, Best is also one of the people behind the website and magazine, Hollywood is Burning and moderates a forum where her fans can connect and keep informed.
Monday 08 Mar 2004 | Dale Pierce | Profiles
