Rose McGowan knows how to stand out in a film. And her latest effort continues that cinematic tradition.

McGowan plays an evil sidekick with a bizarre twist in the R-rated reboot of Conan the Barbarian, which opens in theatres Aug. 19.

Not only did the 37-yearold reinvent the motivation of the former male character, she decided to hint at a forbidden sexuality. She also developed an unforgettable Goth-like witchy woman, which seemed just about right for the fantasy.

Loosely based on the 1982 Arnold Schwarzenegger flick, the revamped, Marcus Nispel-directed picture more loyally references Robert E. Howard’s stories from the 1930s. In other words, the sword fights are bloody nasty and ragingly violent, and there is an erotic tone to the production, underscored by bare breasts and a sex scene.

Yet McGowan’s Marique does her own subverted thing as the manipulating sorceress, defending her obsessed father Khalar Zim (Stephen Lang) against the vengeful Conan (Jason Momoa).

In the opening sequences, the audiences gets to see why Conan wants Zim dead. In pursuit of an evil power, Zim wipes out a warrior tribe, murdering Conan’s father (Ron Perlman). As the barbarian matures, he plots his single-minded revenge with assistance from Tamara (Rachel Nichols), a monk running for her life.

Along the way, buckets of blood are spilled in graphic confrontations. But German filmmaker Nispel says he always wanted his remake to be a great deal more risque than the Schwarzenegger version.

“If you don’t get the R-rating, you don’t tap into the primal instinct,” says the director, who also remodelled The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 2003 and 2009′s Friday the 13th.

That’s why McGowan seemed like an appropriate addition to the Conan cast, although she added more flair to her performance than expected.

“Rose understands how to be sinister and sexy,” Nispel says of her Marique. “And she really gets her audience.”

Occasionally, she had second thoughts about her look in the movie, though. The partly digital makeover, which includes a high forehead and no eyebrows, took six hours to apply. That meant McGowan had to be up by 2: 30 a.m. daily.

“It’s the ultimate mullet,” says McGowan of the facade. “That could be the most punk-rock haircut a girl could have.”

McGowan began her unique journey with a cameo in the 1982 comedy Encino Man. A celebrated part in 1995′s The Doom Generation was her breakthrough, eventually winning her an Independent Spirit Award for best debut performance.

A supporting role in the hit horror movie Scream established her among mainstream fans, but she followed that notoriety with a string of indie flicks, such as Southie, Going All the Way, Lewis & Clark & George, Phantoms, and Jawbreaker. In 2007, she starred in Grindhouse, the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double bill. She was the lead in Rodriguez’s Planet Terror and a co-star in Tarantino’s Death Proof.

An injury on the set of Planet Terror, and an illness in her family, kept her out of movies for a few years. But she’s back at it full throttle.

In fact, she just wrapped The Pastor’s Wife, a TV movie about a real-life church lady who murdered her pastor husband in 2006. McGowan plays the wife, which she admits is the polar opposite to her Conan character.

“The outfits were fashion birth control,” she says. “But she’s an amazing person to play, and I was flattered that they thought of me, because I don’t wear anything tight, which is so rare.”