Everyone thinks their ex is a little demonic after a bad breakup. Chris Salvatore gets to take that idea considerably further in Scorch Marks, a queer apocalyptic horror film premiering October 1 on Dekkoo.
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The out gay actor, model and musician plays Joel, the late husband of Beckett (Brandon Shypkowski), who may be the last man alive after a cataclysmic event. As Beckett struggles to survive his terrifying new reality, he is repeatedly haunted by Joel. Whether Joel is actually back from the dead or Beckett is losing his grip on reality is part of the fun — because apparently surviving the apocalypse wasn’t enough trauma for one man.
Salvatore, best known for his sexy comedic performances in the Eating Out films, gets to play against type here. Instead of the charming romantic lead, he’s the ex from hell, complete with prosthetics, white contact lenses and plenty of emotional damage.
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In his interview with EPGN, Salvatore said he was excited to finally play the bad guy in a horror film, especially after being associated with rom-coms. And he was clearly having a good time with it.
Chris Salvatore Gets to Play the Bad Guy
Salvatore has wanted to make a horror movie for years, so Scorch Marks gave him the chance to finally get messy.
“It scratched that itch for sure. I wasn’t the damsel in distress. I was the agitator, and that is quite different from any other role that I have played — especially coming from romcoms. I’m grateful that our director, Brendan Haley, approached me for Joel. I thought it would be so much fun to play the bad guy in a spooky way. Getting into prosthetics was also a first, but the white contact lenses I wore were difficult because I could not see anything! It was like acting with my eyes closed.”
The makeup wasn’t simply there to make Joel look creepy. For Salvatore, seeing the character physically transform helped him find the darker side of the role.
“It was definitely exciting. It was my first time wearing prosthetics. There were days where I spent a lot of time in the makeup chair before we even started shooting, but it was also really helpful because once I looked in the mirror and saw Joel transforming physically, it immediately helped me get into a different headspace.”
But the real trick was making Joel more complicated than a standard horror villain. Speaking with the Los Angeles Blade, Salvatore described playing the demonic ex as “kind of liberating,” explaining that he didn’t want to approach Joel as simply “the demonic ex” or the villain.
“I didn’t look at Joel as a one-note mean guy. As gay men, I feel we’ve all been in a toxic relationship or two. I’ve been in a relationship like that. There are two stories, and then there is the truth. Each person is the victim by the way they tell the story. That’s how I went about playing Joel. Beckett is not completely the victim in this case; even if that is what the writer/director intended, I had to play it otherwise. I didn’t want to go in with a bias.”
That ambiguity gives Scorch Marks more to chew on than simply “hot guy gets haunted by terrible ex.” Joel may be doing terrible things, but Salvatore wanted to understand what was underneath them.
“Joel is quite different than who I am in real life. I brought in instances from real relationships that I had. Maybe I was the agitator, and maybe I did things not intending to hurt or manipulate, but it can make the other person feel that they were. Joel is not very self-aware. I think there is a lot of pain and shame underneath that. I had to look at those emotions.”
And then there’s the question that horror loves to leave dangling: Is Joel actually there?
“I had to play Joel as literally haunting Beckett, as if he was actually there. But I like the idea of ‘Was Beckett really seeing Joel’s spirit, or was he hallucinating because he was going insane?’ Beckett is a someone who places the blame on everything going wrong in his life on anything outside of himself.”
So yes, it’s an apocalypse movie. But it’s also about the kind of relationship baggage that apparently survives the end of civilization.
A Darker Role After Time Away
Scorch Marks is also significant for Salvatore because it marks his return to feature filmmaking after nearly a decade.
The actor has spoken openly about feeling shut out of the entertainment industry and questioning whether there was still a place for him professionally. He eventually moved away from Los Angeles, spending time in Florida and Pennsylvania before returning to entertainment through Naked Boys Singing! in Las Vegas and later The Real Friends of WeHo.
That period wasn’t without its frustrations. Salvatore said his experience with The Real Friends of WeHo and the reaction to his OnlyFans account left him feeling as though his acting career had reached a dead end.
“That left a really big scar. I had a huge scarlet letter on my chest. I felt like, OK, this is the end of my acting career. I started to really regret having done OnlyFans. It was a huge weight to carry around, and this heavy baggage that just nobody wanted to touch me anymore — career-wise, not physically [Laughs]. It really demoralized me and it took a few years to come back after that.”
Now, he says he’s more interested in work that actually means something to him.
“As I get older, it becomes easier to do more meaningful work. It becomes easier to separate my emotions from how harsh the industry can be. There are a lot of people who want in, and there are only so many seats. I worked on myself the past few years — taking break from it all and understanding and knowing what it is I want and that I want to put out there that connects with people, or helps people, or makes people think differently. I’m glad ‘Scorch Marks’ is a part of that, because I feel like it has a lot of deep layers.”
If the Apocalypse Comes, Call Chris
Considering he’s starring in an apocalypse movie, naturally the next question is whether Salvatore would actually survive one. The answer appears to be a very enthusiastic yes.
“I feel like I would be a natural leader. I have a doomsday kit and my flashlights and walkie-talkies and night vision goggles — I’m really into that stuff. It must be the Pennsylvania boy in me. Not to be someone who is cheering for end of life, but it would be a crazy time and very enthralling. I’m an adrenaline junkie, so bring it on!”
Honestly, the doomsday kit is already more preparation than most of us have. The walkie-talkies and night-vision goggles are just showing off.
But beneath all the demons, blood and apocalypse chaos, Scorch Marks is interested in something much more familiar: isolation, shame, toxic relationships and the need to feel understood.
That might also explain why Salvatore sees such a natural connection between queer audiences and horror.
“I think queer people understand what it feels like to be told there’s something about you that exists outside what society considers normal. Horror has always been fascinated with outsiders, transformation, secrecy, identity, and people trying to survive in worlds that don’t always understand them. There’s also something cathartic about horror. It takes fears that can be difficult to talk about and turns them into something physical that you can confront. And honestly, queer people also just have great taste.”
And honestly, if your ex is going to haunt you after the apocalypse, they might as well look good doing it.
Scorch Marks premieres October 1 on Dekkoo.