Before he became a vampire, Leo Rogstad had a long history of villainy.
Rogstad, 34, an Alexandria-area actor and Huntington resident, beefs up his film resume with “Stakes,” a low-budget horror film from Baltimore-based Timewarp Films, released to video on Oct. 8.
The film tells the story of time-traveling vampires, undead villains who come to Earth through a rip in the space-time continuum. On the back of the box, Rogstad, clad in black leather and fangs, meets an untimely end.
“Stakes” is another rung in the film ladder, Rogstad said. “The very first film I did was as an extra in ‘Contact.’ At the very end of the movie, Jodie Foster’s coming out of a Senate hearing, talking to Matthew McConaughey,” he said. “I got cast as a boy in a wheelchair. But I was pushed so far back, I never saw myself.”
He was disappointed not to get any screen time, but the film gave Rogstad a taste for the silver screen. Before that, he had gotten a taste for acting with regular parts in the Jaycees annual haunted house.
In some ways, that was the gateway for him, from local parts to auditioning for films. Rogstad usually served as horror movie icon Freddy Krueger for the Jaycees since 1987. “I’ve been a ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ fan for some time,” he said. “My room is filled with ‘Nightmare’ stuff.”
The 1984 teen slasher film, noted for the wit it brought to the genre, turned Rogstad on to horror films when he was younger, and piqued his interest in playing a part at local haunted houses. “They gave me an award for, like, growing up with the Jaycees,” he said.
DELVING INTO HORROR films, Rogstad soon discovered the homegrown horror of Don Dohler. Dohler, a Baltimore native, made films like “Alien Factor” (1979) and “Nightbeast” (1983). “He’s a pretty famous cult director,” said Rogstad.
Dohler formed Timewarp Films in Baltimore in 2000, and started making films in the vein of his late 1970s classics, starting with “Harvesters” in 2001, produced by Dohler and directed by Joseph Ripple. That brought Rogstad and the low-budget horror kings together.
“He auditioned, and unfortunately we can’t cast everyone we see,” Ripple said. “But we saw him, and we thought, ‘Hey, he’d make a great-looking vampire.’” When they started making “Stakes,” Ripple and Dohler immediately thought of Rogstad.
Rogstad went all out for the audition. “I brought my own costume,” he said. “A black trenchcoat, black jeans, black boots.”
HIS LOOK IMPRESSED Ripple enough to give Rogstad some good action scenes, in which he wields a giant sword, and eventually gets shot seven times, meeting his undead demise.
“It worked great,” Ripple said. “I think he’s really hooked up on vampires. He has a good look.”
The film looked good too, Rogstad said, especially given the low budget. Computer effects make it easier to make impressive horror films, he said.
“Stakes” had its premier in August, at the annual Horrorfind convention, near BWI Airport. “It was in an extremely small room,” Ripple said. “Maximum occupancy was maybe 45 people. But there were people sitting on the floor, lining the walls. It was extremely well received.”
It gave Rogstad his first brush with fame. “I got to sign a few autographs, which is awesome,” he said. Next up is another vampire role, in another low-budget film: “The Vampire Sex Chronicles,” playing the lead vampire.
Given his success with Baltimore-based films, he said he has a great idea for a John Waters horror film, too. “I’d like to go ahead and cross a horror film and a comedy film,” Rogstad said. “He’s famous for being flamboyant, and I think he would love the idea.”