Something Wilde: Barbie!

Posted in Friends of trippin'
October 1st, 2009 by Devi Snively (The Directrix)

barbie-portrait_1I had the great pleasure of meeting Barbie Wilde in Munster, Germany at the Weekend of Horrors event several years ago.  I was there to screen a few films, she was there to greet her fans.  She and I were the only females staying at this hotel along with an overwhelming plethora of male horror icons and I was grateful for the ally amid all the testosterone. 

16931__lost_in_translation_lnorvind2-9935We quickly discovered two commonalities – our love of the film Lost in Translation and a connection to Eva Norvind, Barbie’s sister-in-law and a woman from whom I’d taken a Learning Annex course called “How to Be a Dominatrix” back in my Holly GoLightly NYC days. thanks to this meeting in Munster, I had the occasion to hook up with Eva again at Sundance where she was pitching her new documentary Born Without.  Sadly, she passed away several months later.  She was a remarkable woman whose fascinating life is documented quite nicely in Didn’t Do it for Love.

Since then Barbie and I’ve enjoyed a fun correspondence and she never ceases to impress with her fascinating endeavors – how many people can boast dancing with Adam and the Ants, doing robotic mime in a Bollywood film, being the first female Cenobite and writing books that make the likes of Doug Bradley (Barbie’s fellow Cenobite ) comment, “Who knew she was so twisted?” I’m so ordering Hellbound Hearts to find out for myself and so should you.

barbiewildeI’m so glad Barbie was the first to respond to a little questionnaire I’ve sent out to a bunch of fest friends made over the years (now they’re flooding in, so stay tuned for more fun people as soon as I can post them).  Barbie perfectly represents just why it’s such a valuable experience to follow one’s films and dreams around the world.  I so hope for the opportunity to work with her on something in the not too distant future.  In the meantime, heeeeeere’s Barbie…

Q:Who are you?

My name is Barbie Wilde and I’m best known as the Female Cenobite in Clive Barker’s ‘Hellbound: Hellraiser II’.  I also played a vicious punk in ‘Death Wish III’ with Charles Bronson and a robotic drummer in the “Holy Grail of unfinished and unreleased 80’s horror” ‘Grizzly II: The Predator’ (AKA ‘Grizzly II: The Concert’), which featured actors such as Laura Dern, Charlie Sheen and George Clooney in their earliest roles.  The film also starred Louise Fletcher, Dick Anthony Williams, John Rhys-Davies and Deborah Raffin. What a cast, and yet it’s never seen the light of day except for some extracts that surfaced on Youtube.

Here’s a page dedicated to the film on my web site:  http://www.barbiewilde.com/GrizzlyIIPredatorConcertGrizzly2.html

Q: What do you do?
A: I’m now a writer, but I’ve also been an actress, a mime artist, a singer, a TV presenter and a casting director.

Q:  What were the circumstances under which we first met?
A: We met at the Weekend of Horrors Convention in Munster, Germany in December, 2005. We had some delightful moments while propping up the hotel bar. I was amazed that you had taken a course with my sister-in-law, the sadly missed Eva Norvind (AKA Ava Taurel) — the award-winning film-maker (for her documentary ‘Born Without’), dominatrix and sex therapist.

Q:  What were you working on then?
A: I was finishing up my book ‘The Venus Complex’, which is a fictionalized journal of a serial killer.  (It’s still looking for a publisher to understand it.)  Here’s a review of my book by Paul Kane:
After purposefully killing his wife in a car accident, art professor Michael Friday finds his perspective on things has become a little…warped.  Via his personal journal, we’re allowed into his mind to slowly watch the disintegration of it, bearing witness to his unnerving sexual cravings and ideas about killing: intertwined with the paintings he loves so much. As Michael writes, he’s “turning into something dead”; but at the same time he wants to be somebody, not a nobody.

Using his diary to rant against the world in general – including everything from banks to popular culture, from national holidays like Christmas to politics – he reveals more about the big, gaping hole in his own life. But as the novel goes on the first person narrative tensely builds up, displaying his dark dreams and innermost thoughts; his way of filling that void and presenting his grisly “works of art” to the world. As intelligent and cultured as ‘Hannibal’, easily as disturbing as ‘American Psycho’ and infinitely less “reassuring” than ‘Dexter’, this is a sexually-charged real life horror story that will definitely stay with you.
- By Multiple British Fantasy Award-Nominee, Paul Kane – Author of Touching the Flame, The Lazarus Condition, Arrowhead, Peripheral Visions and Dead Time, adapted for Lionsgate/NBC’s Fear Itself by Steve ‘30 Days of Night’ Niles as New Year’s Day and directed by Darren Lynne Bousman (SAW II-IV & Repo: The Genetic Opera). Editor with Marie O’Regan of Hellbound Hearts.

Q:  What are you working on now?
A: After contributing a short story called ‘Sister Cilice’ to the new ‘Hellbound Hearts’ anthology, based on Clive Barker’s hellraising universe, I’m now working on an erotic vampire novel.  Here’s a review of ‘Sister Cilice’ from http://www.fatally-yours.com/horror-literature/book-review-hellbound-hearts-anthology/:
My absolute favorite of the bunch was Sister Cilice by Barbie Wilde. Wilde is best known for her portrayal of the Female Cenobite in Hellbound: Hellraiser II, but she is also an accomplished dancer, performer and writer. Her short story absolutely stunned me with its simplicity yet complex character. It tells of Sister Nikoletta, who though appears devout, has violent sexual fantasies and is slipping further and further away from the faith. She one day discovers an old tome called the Grimorium Enochia that tells how to call the Cenobites and enter their world of exquisite pain. The story sounds simple enough, but the character of Sister Nikoletta is so conflicted and perverse that I was just drawn into the story and it stuck with me long after I had finished the anthology.

Q:  What do you think about film festivals and conventions?
A: I love ‘em!  They’re not only great fun, but it’s wonderful to meet interesting people who are working in the same field — like yourself!

We’ll be sure to keep you posted on our trippin’ website any updates we hear about this tremendously talented woman.

3 Responses to “Something Wilde: Barbie!”

  1. [...] had the most wonderful lunch with Barbie and Georg at Café Roma where we finally checked off pate from our to do list – AMAZING!)  [...]

  2. [...] the International Pavilion to our next party where much to my delight we met up with my fest friend Barbie Wilde and delightful beau Georg Kajanus.  We enjoyed a fun reunion at this party put on by the French [...]

  3. [...] into a similar type reunion with fest friends I haven’t seen in years.  My writer/actress friend Barbie, whom I met at a fest in Muenster, several wonderful friends from last year’s London Independent [...]

Leave a Reply