Some unsuspecting elementary school students in L.A. area might have a professional zombie in their classroom.

Actor Jed Rowen specializes in low-low budget horror films, but he supplements his income, in part, by working as a substitute teacher.

“As expensive as L.A. is I have to do other things,” Rowen explains.

The actor, best known for horror titles like “Orgy of Blood” and “Zombie Farm,” understands how hard the film industry can be.

He’s been through a half dozen agents over the past five years, but he’s also racked up an impressive number of screen credits over that time – 21 over the past three years according to imdb.com.

Starring in mostly horror films means getting to know some truly gifted craftsmen, he says. The “gore people,” as Rowen calls them, simply don’t get the credit they deserve.

“They’re artisans,” he says. “They spend a lot of time in this craft. The stuff they come up with very few people can do.”

That doesn’t mean Rowen’s film shoots all go according to plan.

He recalls shooting a sequence in which an elaborate pipe accessory was inserted up his shirt to spill faux blood on cue.

“Then, the producer and director got into a shouting match with each other and left the set. They left me with the entire apparatus sitting there,” he says.

Another time the crew forgot to bring paper towels to the set, all the while Rowen stood in character, red-colored corn syrup dripping all over – and hardening – like he was a “big M&M,” he says.

Rowen loves the horror genre, but he hopes to spread out to other types of films in the future. He’s already shot some experimental shorts and has two 35mm films slated for this summer which will expand his repertoire.

“It seems like that big wave is over for horror,” he adds. “I feel I’m at a transition point. Now that I‘ve established myself solidly in the genre I‘m picking and choosing more.”

Rowen thinks he’s a good choice to play the heavy on a popular cop show, and he doesn’t fear being cast based on his hulking appearance.

“Typecast means you’re working a lot. Very few actors have that luxury,” he says.

(Photo: Actor Jed Rowen has forged a successful career in the independent horror genre, but he wouldn’t mind branching out into other projects.)

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Actor Jed Rowen recalls the shock of seeing one of his horror films, “The Witch’s Sabbath,” sitting next to a copy of the Jack Nicholson film “Wolf” on the shelf at his local Blockbuster store.

The former film’s budget was but a fraction of what it cost to bring out Nicholson’s inner beast, but horror movie fans don’t crunch numbers like studio executives do. Nor do they tally up continuity errors.

They just want a good scare.

Rowen, who recently appeared at the Starfest ‘10 event in Denver to help promote “Dahmer vs. Gacy,” learned a decade ago the horror genre was a good entry point for young actors.

“There’s a lot of [horror films] that don’t have any big names in them,” he says. “You can start working in movies and get real credits. And some of these movies get bigger distribution deals and wind up in videos stores. Some even get theatrical releases.”

So rather than compete with countless other actors for a guest spot on “Friends,” Rowen reached out to horror movie directors via the Web to see if they needed someone to flesh out their next film’s cast.

After all, Rowen offers an unconventional look that’s a snug fit within the horror genre. He’s tall, bald and can do menacing in his sleep, even if in person he’s anything but frightening.

In fact, it’s disarming to hear him discuss experimental theater and absurdist playwrights after watching him gnaw flesh in films like “Zombie Farm.”

The professional gamble paid off. Rowen quickly connected with some horror film directors and started compiling a long list of screen credits, including appearances in films like “Orgy of Blood” and “Rat Scratch Fever.“

His films typically feature tiny budgets, genre-friendly storytelling and some titles you can’ t say in front of your grandmother. But Rowen finds the thrill of being a working actor trumps all.

“To me, there’s nothing cooler and more fun than making a movie and being on a movie set,” he says.

Tomorrow: Rowen talks about his un-Hollywood side projects and why it’s important to have paper towels handy on a horror movie set.

(Photo: Actor Jed Rowen has a flourishing career in the indie horror world.)

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Ford Austin may be known for films like “Dahmer vs. Gacy” and “Gothic Vampires from Hell,” but he got his start studying theater of the absurd masters like Samuel Beckett and Eugène Ionesco.

It’s partly what drew him to the “Dahmer vs. Gacy” screenplay.

“The whole script for me was absurd, which is why I wanted to do it,” Austin tells WWTW during his recent trek to Starfest ‘10 in Denver.

He goes one step further, comparing movies like “Dahmer vs. Gacy” to the kind of material that echoes the absurdist pioneers.

“I look at this micro budget level of production and horror films and comedies … as the equivalent of a post-modern absurdist playwright’s work,” he says.

The very notion of cloning serial killers, the focus of Austin’s new film, does have a surreal ring to it. And while plenty of faux blood is spilled along the way, the movie also pokes fun at a culture which makes criminals into quasi-celebrities.

And consider one of the film’s juicier subplots featuring an emotional news anchor in the Glenn Beck mode.

“I was raised that you’re weren’t supposed to comment on [the news]. Let the audience have their own opinions rather than inform them,” he says.

Austin’s next project is based on a short story by Edgar Allan Poe called “Morella,” and the period piece will likely have a higher price tag than “Dahmer vs. Gacy.“ If that sounds too highbrow, consider another Austin project in the works – “Buggie Babes Get Revenge.”

It’s also unlikely he’ll abandon the horror genre any time soon.

“The fan base of horror, science fiction and fantasy, they’re the best fans in the world. They’ll spend a year making a costume of your character. Those are the fans that we need as filmmakers,” says Austin while costume-clad Starfest guests mill around him. “I want someone who’s gonna put a hockey mask on and walk around with it – especially if it’s my character they’re playing.”

(Photo: Ford Austin and Jed Rowen, who co-star in the horror comedy “Dahmer vs. Gacy,” strike a post at the Starfest ‘10.)

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Gather a gaggle of horror film actors in a room and you’re bound to discuss classics like “The Shining” and “The Exorcist.”

It’s still a blast to hear industry veterans at this year’s StarFest convention in Denver tell tales of what scares them silly.

And, yes, all those stories about actors sitting for hours on end while makeup techs administer fangs/fins/blood/etc … it’s all true, they swear.

The panel? – actors Ethan Phillips (“The Island,” “Star Trek: Voyager,” the upcoming “Dahmer vs. Gacy”), Jed Rowen (“Driller,” “Zombie Farm”), Robert Picardo (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “The Howling”), Pal Tallman (1990’s “Night of the Living Dead” and “Army of Darkness”)  and director  Jaume Collet-Serra (“House of Wax,” the upcoming “Orphan”).

Phillips recalled seeing his favorite horror film, “The Exorcist,” for the first time, an event which made him a die-hard genre junkie.

“I was stoned out of my mind,” the actor said. and the film’s transgressive shocks shook him to the core.

“I’ve been chasing that one experience ever since,” Phillips said.

Horror films, Phillips says, “take me out of my everyday life.”

“It’s like being awake during a nightmare, but safe,” he added.

Tallman said “The Haunting” with Julie Harris, a black and white chiller, still gives her the creeps oh, so many years later. Picardo cited “Alien’s” chest bursting sequence – “the biggest mind blowing experience I’ve had in a theater.”

Collet-Serra summed up why he thinks the horror genre exists in the first place.

“It’s human nature. You stop when you see an accident. Some of that [urge] needs to be satisfied,” he said.

(Photos: Top, right – Pat Tallman (“Army of Darkness”). Bottom left, Ethan Phillips of “Star Trek: Voyager”)

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