Aussie actor Ryan Kwanten is in a pretty good place these days. He stars on the hit HBO vampire series TRUE BLOOD, which begins shooting its fourth season in December, and this Friday, his toplining vehicle RED HILL opens in U.S. theaters (NY, LA and TX to start). The 33-year-old actor also took a lead role in WRONG TURN 2 director Joe Lynch's upcoming FX extravaganza KNIGHTS OF BADASSDOM, and believe it or not, will play Charles Manson (!) in a new movie based on the infamous 1969 California murder spree. In NYC to promote his violent modern-day Western RED HILL, which lensed in Australia under tyro director Patrick Hughes, the Sydney-raised/LA-living Kwanten sat down with Fango to talk about his career. In RED HILL, Kwanten plays a young cop who voluntarily transfers to a quite town and a “cushy job.” But on his first day of a work, a horribly scarred, seemingly indestructible murderer (Tommy Lewis) escapes from jail and heads back to Red Hill to bloodily settle some old scores. 

“I was always thought I’d be a subgenre geek for the rest of my life. Apparently now, we’re riding the crest of some sort of cultural wave. Who knew?” says Frank Darabont, seemingly just as astonished as the rest of us that this Sunday evening—appropriately enough, Halloween night—an honest-to-goodness television series (and a great one at that) focusing on the undead will hit basic cable when THE WALKING DEAD premieres on AMC at 10 p.m./9 Central (see review here).

Here we are, at the end. Like it or not, SAW has become an immensely successful and very telling franchise for our times, and if SAW 3D (opening today from Lionsgate) really is the sendoff, you have to admit that—no matter what you think of the franchise—you’re at least a little curious about how it’s all going to go down. Director Kevin Greutert, returning to the helm from SAW VI, briefly spoke with Fango about the final curtain, and ringing it down in real-deal 3-D.

With the seventh and supposedly final entry hitting theaters today, there’s a bit more excitement and buzz around this year’s latest incarnation in the modern tradition of, “If it’s Hallowen, it must be SAW.” Sure, part of it comes from the film being shot in “mind-blowing” 3-D, and part of it is the idea of a grand finale, wondering how the creative team will go out. But truthfully, the real cause for celebration is the return of Cary Elwes as Dr. Lawrence Gordon, a coup the fans have been screaming for since the second and third films.

In part one (see here) of our exclusive interview with multifaceted actress Diane Salinger of DARK HOUSE (available everywhere as part of FANGORIA FrightFest’s eight-title collection on DVD from Phase 4 Films and via video-on-demand), the thespian discussed her turn as the heinous foster mother Miss Darode, working with director Darin Scott and other scary tidbits. Salinger continues her discussion below, sharing stories on CÀRNIVALE, working with Tim Burton, news of a third REST STOP movie and some bizarre on-set experiences with the notorious Klaus Kinski!

Continuing our chat (which began here) with the director of I STAND ALONE and IRREVERSIBLE about his new movie ENTER THE VOID, now playing in select cities, we further investigate his unique vision…and query him about his once-proposed remake of Ken Russell’s classic ALTERED STATES…

“I’m really appreciative of all the SAW fans,” says actress Betsy Russell, who has been a mainstay of the Lionsgate horror franchise ever since her surprise appearance in SAW III. She adds, “The reason they love SAW so much is because of the heart and the soul it has underneath all of the bludgeoning, traps and torture.