Actor Christopher Atkins remembers making the 1990 killer baboon classic Shakma
A crazed baboon pumped up with a serum that is meant to monitor it’s aggression, stalks a group of med-students involved in an all-night fantasy role playing game: this is the outline for the fast paced, gore-soaked eco-horror cult favorite Shakma. Released in the early nineties, which was a period when killer animal movies were quietening down – and if they did appear they were either benign offerings such as Arachnophobia (1990) or painted up in the adventure/horror mould as seen in the William Goldman penned The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) – Shakma is a relentless, manic and surprisingly violent variant on the “Ten Little Indians” motif and mostly effective because of the incredible work the baboon himself undertakes. When the psychotic beast lashes out, smashes through doors, races down isolated corridors and screeches and bares his fangs, it is genuinely frightening – and all the more terrifying to know that these animals cannot be restrained. With Hollywood legend Roddy MacDowall heading the night’s activities as well as being “blessed” with a gruesome death to excite any splatter film fan, the star player and final survivor to duke it out with the bloodthirsty primate is the athletic and handsome Christopher Atkins, who gives a measured and solid performance as a quietly resourceful student who has to match both physical prowess and intellectual wits with the vicious and frenzied baboon.
SHOCK: First and foremost, I’ve always been a fan of yours and films like Blue Lagoon were staples in my childhood – in 1990, you make Shakma, can you tell me a bit about finding out about the project and how you became involved?
CHRISTOPHER ATKINS: A friend of mine, Jim Parks was part of Quest Entertainment down there, and Jim and I had known each other. He was one of the producers at Quest and Universal Studios was just opening in Orlando, and they ended up having Michael J. Fox and me and Morgan Fairchild and everybody sort of cut the ribbon to Universal Studios, back in the day down there in Orlando. And the production company that was making a bunch of movies there where they had this thing called ‘the tube’ and they could audience, could have people come through from the park – come through and actually watch a real movie being made. So, unfortunately it didn’t work out too well because ‘the tubes’ that they built were not sound proof so they kept screwing up the movie, and they had to eventually shut those things down or fix them or something. It was just a show that came to me. It was down there in Florida, and there was another film that they wanted me to do after that, so I said yes, of course, and we went down there to do it. Roddy McDowall was a guy that I had worked with before I had worked with him.. you know, he was someone I had work with a couple of times and it was fun! The baboon was absolutely the most insane creature I had ever worked with in my entire life! And if a woman was on that time of the month, they weren’t allowed anywhere near the sound stage – the big ol’ soundstages at the studios are big, they are huge! And man, they would not let anybody who was that time of the month – anywhere near the door to the soundstage. The baboon would smell it or sense it and go crazy!…. even though it was supposed to go crazy!
SHOCK: Are you a fan of horror movies and more specifically eco-horror movies where the featured monster is an animal?
ATKINS: Oh yeah! Oh yeah, absolutely! I think it is really scary what your imagination can make up; and you have these bugs or birds, or shoot, I did one with birds with Michelle Johnson (Birds of Prey aka Beaks: The Movie, 1987). I think it is fascinating what you… look at Tremors – one of the classics of all time…so yeah, so thinking up some of some eco-horror I think it is fantastic! One of the ones that I will always remember – was it Kentucky Fried Movie or something and everyone turned into grass or they started turning into reptilian things or turned them into plants or something? – it was fantastic!
SHOCK: Shakma says a lot about science and the dangers of experimentation – what are your thoughts on this?
ATKINS: Yeah, that is a real balancing act like everything else… I think because, like somewhere along the way in order to increase man’s ability to survive there are those subjects that are destined for experiments. And so, I mean, that is just how they do it. And if there was a better way –which I think they are coming to now – where they can do things more in the petrie dish than on the actual animals, but they still want to see how it behaves and how it turns out, you know, for the better of mankind. And it is a really tough, tough place to be. You know, I always said, if you want to save the shark, eat a Chinaman, you know what I mean? They eat everything (laughs). But it’s a tough way to go. My sister has a PhD in cellular biology at Yale University and she has to experiment on mice all the time and stuff like that – that’s a real rock and a hard place to be at in that. I mean, there are situations though where, I mean, for instance they are talking about mosquitoes: being able to eradicate mosquitoes. Is it a good thing? Or is it a bad thing? And mosquitoes are the number one causing of malaria and all those horrible, horrible diseases that are transmitted by this mosquito. And they can now do this sterile thing where mosquitoes will propagate with other mosquitoes, but they’re sterile and once, I guess, they will propagate the female dies or something like that, so they will eventually start killing off mosquitoes. So whatever. Is it good? Or is it bad? If they go away what’s going to come up next? You know, it is the big question. That is a really hard, hard question to answer, because part of me is like, yeah, the poor animals don’t need to be subjected to this whole thing, and then part of you says, there is plenty of these fricken terrorist guys – use them! They don’t seem to have a care about human life, so use them! Anyway, who knows? They are coming real far with genetics and genetic studies and everything is more on the cellular levels than it is, but they still have to grow something somewhere and see how it interacts with the human body because just because it works in a petri dish doesn’t necessarily mean it is going to work inside the human body, so they have to test it on something than somebody somewhere. I mean in, you know, huge, huge strides in science of all come from this….
SHOCK: What did you think of the script when you first read it?
ATKINS: When I got the screenplay it was very, very interesting. I loved the premise of it. I think they worked on the script more to pump it up. The producer also directed it. And, yeah, it was all set in one building but that was a necessary evil because it was a real baboon – the baboon was incredibly vicious! Like for instance, in the scenes when the baboon was going crazy what happens is, there is a trainer and there is an assistant trainer – and the trainer is in the baboons eyes the leader of the pack. So the baboon – the trainer can do anything to the baboon and the baboon will do it. The assistant trainer in the baboons eyes is below the baboon so he in the pecking order is beneath the baboon. So, if the assistant looks at the baboon in any shape, way or form… as soon as he makes eye contact with the baboon, the baboon will immediately presume that he is trying to knock him off the pecking order, out of that place that he is in and will take him on and start going after him. So, that is what happens in the movie – the assistant is walking along the top of the soundstage, on top of the walls on a platform on the walls, and the baboon is throwing itself against the walls trying to get at the assistant who is looking at it, you know? (laughs). And so the baboon is going crazy! It dislocated its shoulder at one time because it got so crazy! I mean, crazy, crazy. And the funniest part about it, when the baboon got really angry and really crazy would always get a hard on! They had to air brush this pecker out of the film a lot! (laughs). The director would yell out “one more time without the hard on!” (laughs).
SHOCK: What are your fondest memories of the baboon himself? Was there only one used?
ATKINS: Yeah, it was only one baboon used. It was fascinating to watch…to see that whole pecking order thing. The scary part was really to see how serious it was with this baboon – they were such lockdown on this set over that baboon, you have no idea. One thing and this baboon – they are fast as lightening. I mean teeth that are four inches long. It was a serious, serious threat – this thing! So when you are working with this…. They tried to not have us actually work with the real baboon as much as possible. And a lot of it was running away from us, but a lot of it was doing these different things to keep away from it…. And then you’d see the baboon run out into the hall and look, like it’s looking at you, you know, that kind if a thing. They just wouldn’t chance having anyone near the baboon except for the trainer. At this point it was so long ago I can’t even remember what the scenes were that I did, but it was very minimal because that thing will absolutely tear you apart. The trainer Gerry Therrien did all of that. He was able to control it because he was above the baboon in the pecking order. The assistant guy (Steve Martin) he had to go way… and as soon as he went away, everything calmed down and he was able to deal with the baboon. And it was an amazing bond that they had. I mean, (laughs) it was really intense, intense time when that baboon was on set.
SHOCK: You get to work with and be around a lot of various animals in the film – such as rats, chimpanzee and the like – what were they like to work with?
ATKINS: Yeah, I certainly don’t mind it. I worked with a little spider monkey in The Pirate Movie and that little thing was a funny little mean, assed animal too! Working with animals is always a challenge but I don’t mind it, I enjoy it. I did Circus of the Stars once. Actually was the only guy to ever stick his head in the lions mouth! I got a picture of that on my computer – it’s pretty intense! And then carrying a lioness over my shoulders – I think that’s where I blew my back out. So, yeah, I have worked with a bunch of animals. And I’ve worked with Brooke Shields –she is one of the biggest animals I have ever worked with (laughs). I’m kidding. I’m kidding!
SHOCK: What were your thoughts on the animatronic baboon?
ATKINS: I remember when they did the whole thing when the baboon jumps through the glass and all of that. They threw a puppet baboon through the glass, and they had the animatronic with Roddy and us where they would, you know, move that sort of thing slightly, you know in whatever the shot ways it is. But that is the magic of movies – making it so it is just enough so you can’t really tell which is which, but at the same time still making it as fearsome and scary as it can possibly be.
SHOCK: Can you talk about working with screen legend Roddy MacDowell?
ATKINS: I would go over to his (Roddy McDowall) house and talk to him about stuff over at his house. He was a wonderful man! Oh my God. He was such a great, great guy! He had some real golden age, like you said, stories. It’s just amazing! Those were the days of Hollywood, you know?! When it was a real big business. It was more of the limelight, the glitter and the movie stars back then. God it was so long ago! And the 80s were so rough on my one brain cell! It’s hard to remember all of that (laughs). I just remember that he (Roddy McDowall) was a very kind man. He was a very kind, he was a very generous man, and working with him was such a dream come true; he was very giving. He wasn’t….though he was an amazing star, you know –he was Roddy McDowall – he was in Planet of the Apes – he was in some of the biggest movies in Hollywood, that he had been in, but here he was just working like any other actor and making you feel equal. And that was the, I think, gracious part about somebody like Roddy, that he lifted your performances up. That is very exciting as an actor to work with somebody like that who can, you know learn from, you can watch then tell all your friends that “I just worked with Roddy McDowall’! (laughs)
SHOCK: What was your working relationship like with fellow cast members Amanda Wyss and Ari Meyers?
ATKINS: Amanda was a lot of fun! I’m a big goof ball on the set. And Ari was a younger girl, she was really young. She still had, I think her mom there and stuff so she was really young, but she was so sweet and so adorable. Oh my God, she is cute as a button. And Amanda was just really fun! She was really funny and really fun. I had always wished that I could have worked with Amanda again someplace. But going back to your other question about these kind of films, it is something that has already happened with viruses leaving one door….you know, we are already messing with bacteria and viruses and things like that, that are just absolutely mutant and highly deadly. All it takes is one to escape and the whole human race could be in trouble. And so they’re already doing that kind of thing. And you know, it is interesting nobody has thought of or done anything yet about concern – the generator – the atom generator -whatever the thing is up in Italy up there where they are splitting atoms and finding god particles and opening tiny little black holes. I mean, oh my God, all it takes is one little chain reaction that nobody thought of and all of a sudden the entire planet is sucked into a black hole. I mean, the things that are going on right now, it is scary. Nobody really knows about that stuff, so something like this sort of a movie is a very…even though it is a movie and it was a little kind of cheesy with the whole game and all this sort of stuff or whatever, it is still the bottom line aspect of an experiment going wrong is very real. And all it takes is one to literally get out. And there has been, I guess, a bunch of movies of humanoids or something else, I mean, Dr. Moreau…things like that! You know, it is just bizarre.
SHOCK: The film also has a lot to say about the culture of aggression…
ATKINS: Absolutely. Well, they take this serum and give it to some guys in the military and the next thing you know you have this kind of aggressive, animalistic fighting force; I mean, it can go anywhere. The new PLANET OF THE APES, was all based on the fact that man brought these creatures up to this point and the apes took over? It’s the same thing that is going to happen with computers. So, yeah, it is very, very real. I know it is still a movie, it is a very real concept! You know, I think the whole ending and the whole physicality and the cleverness of the ending – is the monkey getting me or am I getting the monkey type of thing. I think it’s very interesting that it got down to mono e mono and that type of deal, and it was a movie that I hadn’t done anything like that before where, you know, I came out the victor, so to speak, but even then, at the end, you are not really sure, I think, if I do make it or not?
SHOCK: You get a fair sure of blood and gore applied to you, do you like this aspect of making horror films?
ATKINS: I can’t stand that stuff! Ugh! I had to do the blood… ughhh, there is nothing worse than that sticky, fricken blood on a cold day and you can’t move because every time you move it spreads someplace else! (laughs). It’s like mustard at a baseball game. No idea –you eat the hot dog and the next thing you know you got mustard…. you know, where did this mustard come from?! You have no idea – same with the blood. Oh my God (groans).
SHOCK: What are you most proud of in regards to Shakma?
ATKINS: It was just a lot of fun. It was shot down at Universal and it was really interesting because about three o’clock every afternoon the thunderstorms would come in and everybody would have to stop while the thunderstorms would pass. You almost set your watch by it, it was so amazing! Giant thunderstorms rolling in around three o’clock every single day!
