BY BRUCE C. HALLENBECK
Volume 3

Let’s say you’re a film producer and your movie calls for a six-foot blonde Amazon who can ride horses, shoot arrows and perform dangerous stunts. Who ya gonna call?

Lana Clarkson, that’s who. The California-born beauty, who looks like a Frazetta rendering in the flesh, has graced a number of Roger Corman’s fantasy films: DEATHSTALKER, WIZARDS OF THE LOST KINGDOM: PART II, THE HAUNTING OF MORELLA and BARBARIAN QUEEN. Seven years after the release of the latter film, Clarkson is back in the title role with BARBARIAN QUEEN II: THE EMPRESS STRIKES BACK (1992). Once again, she fights evil sorcerers and their minions, further developing her celebrity as a fantasy film icon.

Recalling that her parents were San Francisco hippies, Clarkson claimed she aspired to be an actress since infancy. “Absolutely!” she exclaimed. “Since about the age of two. There’s no real history of acting in the Clarkson family, so I guess I must have been born with this desire.”

Her earliest “contracted” roles were in FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH (1982) and SCARFACE (1983). She played a biology teacher’s spouse in FAST TIMES, a film that served as a launching pad for the likes of Jennifer Jason Leigh, Phoebe Cates and Sean Penn. “Penn was always in character on that film,” said Clarkson. “He’s actually a pretty nice guy, although most people don’t believe that.”

Clarkson’s bit part in SCARFACE allowed her to study director Brian DePalma. “It was great watching DePalma do his number,” she said. “He’s very intense. I just played a side girl, so I got to take it all in.”

Modeling prompted her transition to a film career. “I had been working as a model in Europe and going into movies seemed the next step. I hadn’t studied acting at all, but when I stared working for Roger Corman, I guess you could say I went into the ‘Corman School.’ I went to amazing countries, learned languages and got to work with foreign crews. Quite an education.”

She initially climbed to prominence, not in a Corman movie, but as one of BLIND DATE’s featured players. Helmed by Nicos Mastorakis (BLOOD TIDE), the 1984 horror film also provided exposure for Kirstie Alley (CHERS) and supporting actresses cast in minor roles—including Valerie Golino (RAIN MAN) and Marina Sirtis (STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION). “That was my first film in a lead role,” said Clarkson. “It was made before DEATHSTALKER. I got to be Joe Bottoms’ fantasy in the film. He was my voyeur. It was fun to do—and Kirstie’s a riot.”

As the sword-wielding sidekick to DEATHSTALKER (1984), Clarkson was required to wear little more than a cape. The fantasy film, which co-starred Barbi Benton, was shot in South America. “I overacted in DEATHSTALKER,” Clarkson admitted. “I’ve learned a lot since then. But Hector (Olivero) is one of the top directors in Argentina, and I enjoyed working with him. I like Roger [Corman’s] way of working. There’s no waiting around. I guess you could say Roger’s my mentor. We have the same birthdate, so every year we send each other gifts.

Clarkson’s spirited performance as a woman warrior of beauty and strength prompted her casting in BARBARIAN QUEEN. The 1986 sword-and-sorcery film, also produced by Corman, was released to video in R-rated and unrated versions. What’s the difference between the two?

“It’s mainly in the torture scene,” Clarkson explained. “That’s the scene where I’m topless. It’s probably my least favorite scene of all time. I’m supposed to crush this guy with my legs, but they made it look as though I was raped. At least I got to throw him into a vat of acid later, so I got my revenge. The R-rated version was all filmed above the bust, but I’ve never done full-frontal nudity anyway.”

Around that time, Clarkson filmed an episode of Steven Spielberg’s AMAZING STORIES. “Tom Holland (FRIGHT NIGHT) directed me in that,” she recalled. “I played a giantess brought to life by Jon Cryer, who plays a nerd. I had to be kissed within two minutes to stay alive.”

Continuing roles that stressed a “larger than life” stature, Clarkson was appropriately cast in AMAZON WOMEN ON THE MOON (1988). The John Landis production, boosted by a diverse cast of A- and B-movie vets (Rosanna Arquette, Russ Meyer, Carrie Fisher, Monique Gabrielle), was a series of satiric sketches and black-outs. In a spoof of cheap “rocket ranger” shows, a fixture of early TV entertainment, Clarkson played Alpha Beta. “I got that role as a result of a TV show I did called GEORGE BURNS’ COMEDY WEEK,” said Clarkson. “John Landis worked on that. The show was fun because I got to wear dowdy clothes until the end when I transformed into a sexpot.

“John is like a kid on the set. AMAZON WOMEN was more of a challenge than you might think. It’s not easy to act “badly” well, if you know what I mean. And there was the semi-schlock ’40s and ’50s glamour. My fans seemed to like that character because I get a lot of mail about it.”

Clarkson delivered her most dramatic performance to date, as a witch with a taste for women, in THE HAUNTING OF MORELLA (1990). Produced by Roger Corman, HAUNTING is essentially an expanded remake of the Morella episode from the Corman-directed TALES OF TERROR (1962). Clarkson shared screen time with David McCallum, whose brooding presence is far removed from MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. persona that haunts his career. “David’s great,” raved Clarkson, “a very quiet, nice man. He was incredibly concentrated on this film, whereas I tend to drop in and out of character on the set. I’m always in character when the camera’s on, but when it’s off I may just go back to being me. David doesn’t do that.”

A scene, played beneath a waterfall, required Clarkson’s character to engage in a lesbian tryst with a maid (Maria Ford); the sensuous union concludes with the maid’s murder. Strong stuff for an R-rated film. Are provocative scenes, in this capacity, difficult for the actress?

“No, I had no problem with it,” said Clarkson. “[Director] Jim Wynorski did a nice job. It was beautifully choreographed as she fell slowly down my body. It was very sensually done.” Clarkson’s only reservation about HAUNTING was her physical appearance in the film. “I had just gotten out of a leg cast and I had put some weight on. In that film I’m bigger than I ever was. Six weeks later I was back to my normal size. A lot of people thought I was just voluptuous Victorian in MORELLA, which I’m grateful for.”

Clarkson seems to have an ability to turn deficits into assets. “When my leg was still in the cast, a girlfriend of min—who’s also an actress—told me that someone was looking for a tall, beautiful blonde with her leg in a cast for a short film. I couldn’t believe it! I went to the audition—it was a film called LIFTED—and, needless to say, I got the part. My girlfriend said, ‘Only you could ever get a film role with your leg in a cast!’”

According to Variety, the heroes of WIZARDS OF THE LOST KINGDOM II “encounter well-endowed women, including Lana Clarkson, but nothing happens to threaten the film’s PG rating. It probably would have worked better targeted for the hard R-tag most of Roger Corman’s films generate.” Clarkson’s partially bared cleavage provided male fans with enough incentive to sit through the 1990 release, which was a patchwork assembled from other Corman movies.

“A lot of footage didn’t match,” revealed Clarkson, “especially the scenes with David [Carradine]; there was a real difference in attitude between the scenes specially shot for WIZARDS and the ones taken from other films.” The film’s director, Charles B. Griffith, served as Corman screenwriter; indelibly linked to Corman classics (ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS, A BUCKET OF BLOOD, 1960’S LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS), Griffith interred genre clichés under a layer of black humor. “It was fascinating to work with Chuck and to hear the stories about the movies that he and Roger used to make. He’s quite a character.”

Grateful that she learned how to charge with a lance, Clarkson also enjoyed working with Carradine. “He’s a real pro, and a very pleasant man, who’s starting to turn his career around. I’m friends with his wife, Gail.”

The rough-and-tumble action of her latest film, BARBARIAN QUEEN II: THE EMPRESS STRIKES BACK, wasn’t entirely scripted. “I took some good falls on that one,” laughed Clarkson. “I do most of my own stunts. But I enjoyed it. I take the responsibility of carrying a picture very seriously. You know, it’s tough to make some of those lines come across. You have to believe in the moment. There’s a fine line you have to walk.”

BQII was shot in Mexico, much of it in Mexico City, where the pollution bothered Clarkson. “But, I was treated very well. There aren’t many six-foot blondes in Mexico, you know,” she said.

She appears unfazed by the risk of stereotype. “I really do have a good time making these movies. I always get in great shape while I’m doing them. I work out anyway, but making a film like BARBARIAN QUEEN II really improves the muscle tone.”

Clarkson also works on television fairly often, and recently guest-starred in an episode of NBC’s WINGS. “Comedy is really my favorite thing,” she said. “I don’t mind being typecast in fantasy, but I also don’t mind making fun of my own persona. I enjoy the production side of filmmaking too. I’d like to be a top ‘A” actress, sure. I’d love to do a big feature film.

“I just spent a year in Europe doing freelance modeling and acting. I went to the Berlin Film Festival, which is not really big on glamour, so I really had that market cornered.” Hardly a challenge for a ravishing Rambette who has triumphed in less civilized territories.

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