“I don’t remember exactly when I met Robert {Englund},” Shaye began reminiscing. “I remember being very excited, though, when I found out 2001 Maniacs was going to happen and that I would be working with him. He’s a graduate of the Royal Academy, classically trained, and he’s just brilliant. Nobody can talk about as many things as Robert and really know what they’re talking about. Music, art, opera, literature.  He is truly a renaissance man in his own right. So I was totally fascinated by him and so we became friends.”

Shaye and Englund played Granny Boone and Mayor Buckman in Tim Sullivan’s remake of the H.G. Lewis classic about the cannibalistic citizens of a small southern town who appear once a year like a psychotic Brigadoon to feast on the flesh of anyone they can lure across the city limits. She enjoyed the experience of working with Englund in the film so much and gushed her admiration of his dedication.

“I love working with him. He’s as dedicated to getting the moment right as I am and I’m not sure I can say that for a lot of actors. And his focus is fabulous. Robert is a true, true actor.  And I have great respect for him. And I adore him as a friend. We don’t see each other frequently, but the affection is there for both of us.”

 

2001 Maniacs also marked the first time she met and worked with a young actor by the name of Adam Robitel, the man who would later direct her in the upcoming Insidious Chapter 4.

“Can I say a bad word?” Lin asked me as we were talking about Adam’s role. After my complete assurances that it was okay, she dryly laid it on the line. “His character was fucking Jezabelle the sheep in that movie. And boy has he come a long way, baby. We had dinner at this little Chinese restaurant in Toronto while filming and I think there was just a real communion of friendship at that moment. It was just one of those lovely dinners where you share real thoughts and just kind of commune with each other. So I’ve always felt really close to Adam. He can float in and out of your life and your relationship doesn’t become less.”

A few years before 2001 Maniacs, Lin had worked with Tim Sullivan on another film titled Dead End. The seriously dark and twisted horror/comedy takes place on Christmas Eve. The Harrington family is one their way to spend the holiday with extended family. Little do they realize they’ve got a date with Death. As the night spins wildly out of control, family secrets are spilled and ties are broken as one by one, the Harringtons die. Shaye played the role of Laura Harrington, matriarch of the clan. The movie never had a wide release in theaters, but it collected a loyal and eager following, including one super fan who showed up with Sullivan for a party at Lin’s house a few years later.

“So, Tim was coming over and I don’t know how he knew James Wan, but James said he’d really love to meet me. So he came over, and I had an extra copy of the movie and I gave him one of my copies. We chatted; he’s fairly shy. He didn’t stay very long, but a few weeks went along and he called and asked if I wanted to be a part of a video that he was shooting as a prequel to an Xbox release which is crazy. I don’t even really know what that means. But that’s what it was.”

Shaye agreed to do the video and when she arrived on set, she also met Leigh Whannell and Mike Mendez. The video was called “Doggie Heaven” and Shaye played an old, grandmotherly type woman with “big boobs and a big butt and dog named Miss Marple.” She loved it and she loved working with Wan and Whannell and Mendez.

It was a few months later that Lin received a call from Wan to ask if she’d be interested in another role.

“He said, ‘we’re trying to decide if we’re going to call it in Insidious or The Further,’ and I said, ‘I think Insidious is the better title. So he sent me the script and I read it in bed.  And I remember when I put the script down I was shivering. It was so upsetting the way it was written. Leigh is a fantastic writer. The scenes that he sets…it’s real literature. He doesn’t just give you stage directions. It’s a real story. The narrative is almost as strong as the dialogue. So when I finished it, I was so nervous about it that I literally took it downstairs and put it in a closet. And the next day, I called James and I said I’d love to be in it.”

It was a decision that would change her life in many ways.

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