Christian Sellers' Junk Palace!

Kenneth Johnson 'V' Interview!

2008-12-06T15:08:00.000-08:00

How did the concept for V originate and what kind of work had you been doing up until that point?
"At the time I started working on V, I had already created The Bionic Woman and The Incredible Hulk, as well as a number of other television movies. I had read a novel by Sinclair Lewis written in the '30's called It Can't Happen Here, which was about a fascist takeover of the United States, and I thought it was very intriguing and it would be an interesting opportunity to examine how ordinary people reacted in extraordinary circumstances, particularly as nothing like that had ever happened in the United States."

What were the biggest influences for you as you were creating the story and were there any themes you were trying to explore with the Visitors?
"In fashioning the screenplay for V, I went back and looked at a lot of historical references to see how history had unfolded, particularly during World War II, and how the Nazi rise to power had seduced a number of countries into believing that the Nazis were in fact good guys. V was never about spaceships and lizard people, however, it was really about power and people who were in power and abused it, people who sucked up to it, like the Vichy French during World War II, and ultimately the heroes who fought against it and became the resistance."

Was V always intended as a TV show or did you ever plan for it to become a movie? Did you plan out the entire series before you started writing the first episode or was much of it created as you went along?
"I thought of trying to do V as a movie originally, although this was before there were even any aliens in it, but quickly realized that I had so much story to tell that I would do the characters of the story a disservice by trying to cram it down into too small a space. Hence, a mini series seemed to be the ideal way to go."

How difficult was it to find a producer or studio that would take a chance with a sci-fi show or had the success of the likes of Star Wars helped open doors for you?
"I was under contract to Warner Bros. at the time and my friend, Brandon Tartikoff at NBC, was very excited about the idea and jumped on board immediately."

Would you say that V is very much a product of the '80's? Are there any elements to it that you feel capture the era in which it was made?
"I do not think that V was a product, particularly of the '80's… the idea of resistance fighting oppression is a timeless story Spartacus' revolt of the slaves."

The show originally aired as a two-part mini series. Was this always your intention, as the second episode ends rather abruptly? Did you always plan to continue the story with The Final Battle?
"The original four-hour mini series was originally designed to be a pilot, that would continue as an ongoing one-hour series. That proved too expensive to do, and the decision was made to do a six-hour sequel, but I left Warner Bros. before it could be completed by me."

Rumours has it that you eventually walked from the project due to creative differences. How true is this and can you shed any light on this?
"Warners and I had creative and contractual differences that just could not be resolved, so I left the studio."

Would you say that Alien Nation was in any way a continuation of the themes and ideas you first explored with V?
"Alien Nation in some ways continues some of the themes of V, but Alien Nation was really more about prejudice and intolerance and discrimination than it was about power."

Twenty-five years later, how do you feel about what you achieved with V and what convinced you to resurrect the series?
"I'm very proud of what I achieved in the original four hours of V, but recently I've begun to think that there are… there's a whole new audience out there that would be open to hearing some of the ideas afresh and that is very appealing to me. Also, to carry the story on beyond from where I left it off twenty-five years ago."

What can you reveal about the new series of V? Which characters will return and how will the story continue from the original?
"We're currently working very hard at this point to bring V back in front of the cameras, probably as a theatrical feature motion picture, and all the information will be at my website, www.kennethjohnson.us."

Video Nasties: An Analysis of the Slasher Genre

2008-09-11T15:34:00.000-07:00

INTRODUCTION

"The earliest recorded use of the term "slasher movie" was in the Whig-Standard (Kingston Ontario) 2 Oct 1975 when circulation of suspected snuff movies was discovered: "New York City police detective Joseph Horman said... that the 8-millimetre, 8-reel films called "snuff" or "slasher" movies had been in tightly controlled distribution."
(Whitehead, 2003, p.7)

The following is an attempt to analyse the slasher genre and its conventions. For this, it will be seperated into three chapters; the first will focus on gender and sexuality within the genre, most notably what many critics have referred to as "the final girl," the female protagonist who shows independence and intelligence far surpassing the male characters and thus is usually the only one to survive at the end, but only after dispatching the killer. The lack of homosexuality and the death of the more sexually active characters will also be analysed. The second chapter will focus on the evolution and metamorphosis of the morality tale, from its roots in 18th century folklore and fairytales, through American urban legends to the slasher movie, and how these stories warned the youth of the dangers of straying from the path of normality. The final chapter will focus on the controversy the genre has caused since the release of Psycho, via Child's Play 3 to the latest incarnation of slashers.

Ever since the first slasher movie, Psycho, these films have been met with negative publicity, either as a moralistic backlash against the contents if the movie or with the film simply dismissed as trash. In his review of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, in the Autumn 1975 issue of Sight and Sound, David Wilson commented that; "Tobe Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a gory celluloid horror comic which, apart from its undeniably animated finale (involving a power-driven chainsaw and barbecued victims) hardly seems worth the rumpus it is going to create." It is clear that he was not impressed with the movie, considering it rather mundane, but that he knew the movie would cause controversy among other critics and cinemagoers. In his BFI Monthly Film Bulletin (December 1976) review of the movie John Pym described it as; "Simply a contrived piece of nonsense (we sympathise with no one) and content to pad out the action before the final capture-and-escape sequence with derivative or repetitive devices."

After the release of Friday the 13th, Tim Pulleine's review of the movie was less than flattering, stating in the July 1980 issue of BFI Monthly Film Bulletin, that it was; "... shoddily dependent on simulating its gory murders with maximum relish." There is some truth to this. Director Sean S. Cunningham was the first to confess that the movie was designed to capitalise on the success of Halloween and had tried to recreate what had made that movie so successful. But whereas Halloween relied on tension Friday the 13th's main attribute would be its special effects, mainly due to the involvement of Tom Savini, whose gory work on Dawn of the Dead had made him an industry favourite. Pulleine's review of Friday the 13th Part 2 was just as negative, describing it as; "Rather more polished than its predecessor, Part 2 is no less feeble in plot and dialogue." Again, this comment is not entirely unfair, as Part 2 does follow the blueprint laid out by the first movie a little too closely.

It seems that the BFI Montly Film Bulletin was never a fan of the slasher movie. In his April 1981 review of Don't Go in the House, Steve Jenkins commented on the film's moral message, that; "This cynical pretence to a universal "message" - don't mistreat your children or they'll turn into women burners - serves only to highlight the film's weakness as drama." While this was not one of the most respected of slashers, this negative attitude seems to flow through all of their reviews of the genre. Paul Taylor's review of The Toolbox Murders, in the March 1980 issue, described the movie as; "A humourless, suspenseless, once-gory exploiter."

In fact, it seems that the only slasher movie this magazine was willing to recognise as anything but terrible is the critics' favourite, Halloween. Onthe subject of the sexually active characters being slain due to their promiscousness, Richard Combs stated that; "... the victims are all youngsters caught in, before or just after flagrante delicto also complies with the sexual hang-ups of the movie monsters but is not, the film is careful to establish, part of any psychological theme."

Chapter One
"FEMINISM AND SLASHER MOVIES"

"Given that the word "heroine" has many associations and implications of its own and does not simply mean "female hero," many modern authors have chosen to discard it entirely, preffering to use the word "hero," and qualifying it with "female" and "male." In discussing slasher movies this is a sensiblw choice, because the Final Girl is definitely a hero in the masculine mode, despite being female."
(Harper, 2004, p.31)

The following chapter will be exploring sexuality and gender within the slasher movie. As well as the aforementioned final girl, other subjects discussed include how both males and adults are portayed as inferior charactersm unable to save the heroine and thus leaving her to save herself, and the lack of homosexuality within the genre.

The slasher film has constantly been accused by critics as being both misogynistic and exploitational. As one critic, Jeff Young, commented on the website VideoVesta; "Without a doubt, there is something grossly exploitative, if not quite inherently misogynistic, about the subgenre of slasher movies - and yet filmmakers around the world keep producing them, and the appetite of video renters for the same old stalker and screamer formula is undiminished by 25 years worth of slice 'n' dice action."

Their main focus has always been on the murders of the female characters in these movies, stating that the bloodiest and most brutal slayings are usually reserved for the young girls. Now, as with any accusations, there may be some truth to this. Some movies in the genre have certainly degraded the female as she has begged for her life and then been promptly killed off, such as Lucio Fulci's New York Ripper and William Lustig's Maniac. But other examples. like John Carpenter's Halloween and Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street, show their female protagonists as resourceful and independent, much stronger than their male counterparts.

The genre was first conceived in the late 1950's, when the crimes of Wisconsin farmer by the name of Ed Gein influenced Alfred Hitchcock's seminal classic Psycho. This was the first slasher movie and, although different to the ones that flooded the drive-in theatres in the early 1980's, it was a huge influence on what was to follow. The 1960's also saw the rise of the feminist movement, where women marched on Washington demanding equal rights in the workplace and condemning pornogaphy.

"It wasn't until the 1960's that feminism was able to infiltrate the law system and begin taking control of society via the law system. When feminism first obtained power within the law system during the 1960's, they initiated their acquisition and monopolisation of the media. This included the acquisition of the television, radio, movie industries, as well as the education system and workforce."
http://manpower.blogdrive.com/comments?id=21

It seems that the slasher film, more than any other genre, was influenced by the newfound strength that women were now showing and incorporated it into its movies, Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Bob Clark's Black Christmas became the blueprints for what would later become the genre standard. Both featured strong female heroes and sexually confused killers. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre's Sally was a more typical cinema heroine; screaming and running to safety, after all, this has been the same in horror since the likes of Frankenstein. But Black Christmas features a headstrong and independent female, one who fends off the supposed killer by herself and defeats him without the help of others. Both films were released in 1974, during the rise of feminism, and both films would have a great impact on the horror movie.

Film feminist Carol J. Clover, for her book Men, Women and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film, dubbed this demale her "the final girl." And this is now a term that has become widely used. Most notably this phrase is reserved for Laurie Strode, the heroine of Halloween. It is she who realises that something is wrong and it is she who survives, while her friends are killed off after having sex, and it is she who puts up the most resistance to the killer.

The accusations levelled at the slasher movie by critics who have condemned them as exploitational to womenhave not paid enough attention to the genre. It is the slasher that has shown its female protagonists to be totally independent and not needing the help of males, parents of authority figures (the police are never helpful or capable) while other films, such as 1980's action films and recent hits like Spider-man, show the female to be totally dependent on the male hero. Surely this is more degrading to women than the way they are represented in the slasher movie?

The most notable examples of female characters are located in movies such as Lethal Weapon 2 (the character of Rika van den Haas is a typical damsel-in-distress, except this time she does not live to the end of the story), Rambo: First Blood Part 2 and various Steven Seagal films, such as Hard to Kill (a scene shows female protagonist Andy Stewart watching in awe as "hero" Mason Storm practices his martial arts).

But is the final girl in slasher movies a symbol of feminism like certain writers have stated? She is truly independent; showing intelligence, individuality and resourcefulness, able to act and defend herself without the help of a man. She is not just a symbol of sexual desire, as the protagonists in films such as Basic Instinct and Fatal Attraction are.

The best example of feminism in the slasher genre is during the climax to the original A Nightmare on Elm Street movie where, after losing her friends and mother to the maniacal Fred Krueger, final girl Nancy pulls her enemy from out of her dreams and into the real world, promptly setting him on fire. But she knows it is not over. She realises it is her fear of him that has given him power over her and that it is only by taking this fear away that she can truly defeat him. So when he reappears to take revenge she turns her back on him, telling him that he no longer has a hold on her and that he is just "shit." It is this strength that finally defeats him and saves Nancy. It is interesting to note the parallels between this and true-life cases of domestic violence. It has often been stated that a woman should turn her back on her abusive partner as this will take away his hold over her, metaphorically "castrating" him (relinquishing him of his weapon) and leaving him powerless.

Homosexuality is not a common factor of the genre, most probably because in the late 1970's and early 1980's when these movies were being made it was still a taboo subject that was widely disregarded. While the Gay Rights Movement had been established by then it was widely ignored by mainstream cinema. Any horror film that did dare brush on the subject would be accused of being homophobic. In his book Slasher Movies: Pocket Essentials Film, Mark Whitehead accused A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge of promoting violence towards gays;

"A distasteful homophobic subtext lurks beneath the slaughter of the SM-loving coach and Jesse's best friend, especially as the love of a good woman saves Jesse from Freddy's attention."
(Whitehead, 2003, p.56)

These accusations seem unfair. There is nothing in the film that states that Freddy's motives for killing the coach are sexual. Just because the victim happens to be gay does not mean that the murder was a homophobic attack. And, as with any good horror, there is a love story, so the fact that he is saved by the love of his girlfriend is just reinforcing the romantic aspect of the plot. Surely two heterosexuals displaying their love for each other cannot be misread as homophobic? Is this just reinforcing the moral codes society has placed upon the hererosexual relationship?

And is sexuality is a large part of the slasher morality thn surely the virgin is the one who would survive, as is the case in Halloween. After all, straight after losing his virginity in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Jimmy is murdered by a corkscrew being thrust into the side of his skull, courtesy of the still-sexless Jason Voorhees. One of the more intriguing post-Scream slashers was Geoffrey Wright's Cherry Falls, the tale of a serial killer stalking a campus and playing only virgins, prompting the students to hold a "lose your cherry or die" party. It is revealed at the end that the killer is the offspring of a young girl who was raped and left for dead years before, and that the ones who attacked her had now grown up to become respected members of the community; sheriff, high school principal, etc.

It is worth noting that many critics have concentrated on the fact that it is always the characters who have sex that are immediately killed off, but does this not beg the question that surely a person is easier to kill off if they are drunk and/or stoned with their pants around their ankles? After all, several characters throughout the Friday the 13th series have been murdered during sex. Does this not just make them easier victims? Whether or not this is a strong enough point to argue is debatable but it is at least worth considering.

Chapter Two
"FROM URBAN LEGENDS TO THE SILVER SCREEN"

"Despite its reputation as lowbrow or mindless entertainment the horror film has a rich literacy and oral tradition that eclipses many other forms of storytelling. Primarily, confrontation of fear in a safe environment (whether it's in cinema, around a campfire or snuggled up in bed) works at a primordial level to psychologically prepare an individual for life's hardships as well as acting as a cautionary source of morality."
(Blanc, Odell, 2000, p.4)

This chapter charts the history of the slasher genre, from its origins in old European folklore and nursery rhymes, as well as American uban legends, to its current format. It also explores various elements used within these movies, such as locations and the choice of weapons used by the killers.

The roots of the genre can be traced back to the 18th century, throug European folklore and fairytales. They primarily dealt with warning children of the dangers of the forbidden and unknown. Old stories such as Frankenstein also tell of a creature that live outside of man's domain and how straying from the path laid out before you could result in violent punishment. This is at the centre of the slasher movie.

It could be argued that the grandfathers of the slasher movie were the Brothers Grimm,, whose stories of morality and caution were often used around campfires to scare and entertain. Tales such as The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was and Little Red Riding Hood showed youngsters leading into temptation and coming face-to-face with a dangerous outcast. These were also told to children to warn them of the dangers awaiting them in later life. Aaron Evans, in his Internet essay Slasher Movies: A Narrative Analysis, stated that;

"The threat of an eschatological punishment for an act commited during youth failed to scare many. After all, they needed only to seek repentance from their youthful transgressions. So, adults contrived stories about ghastly consequences befalling those who violated the cultural mores including the taboo on premarital sex. These stories became fairy tales of yesterday and eventually the urban legends of today."
(Evans, 2002)

Other stories that followed this mould include the works of Edgar Allen Poe and Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland which, along with its counterpart, Through the Looking Glass, featured a young girl wandering off alone to find herself in danger, and Heinrich Hoffman's Struwwelpeter. The influence of Hoffman's The Great, Long Red-Legged Scissorman can still be seen in horror today, most notably Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street, the character being a blueprint for Freddy Krueger.

The morality fairytale was first conceived in Italy and France in the 17th century, through the works of Giambattista Basile and Charles Perrault, and were told as bedtime stories to children or at night by travellers around a fire. Another form of entertainment that was used to educate the young into being cautious were nursery ryhmes, innocently sung by children who were often unaware of their true meaning.

The slasher movie was also born from urban legends. They warned of the dangers of premarital sex, drugs and other sins that parents tried to discourage them from. Probably the most famous of these was the take of the hook. This infamous story was told to many generations of Americans by their parents before bed and consisted of a patient with a hook for a hand that had escaped from a mental hospital. A young couple were getting intimate in the back seat of the boy's car while parked up in the woods but are soon interrupted by a strange scratching sound. The girl remembers that her mother had warned her about being sexually active with boys and soon becomes worried, promptly asking her boyfriend to take her home. Begrudgingly, he complies but when they pull up outside her house and he goes to open her car door he discovers a hook hanging from the door handle, still with flesh attached from where it had been ripped from the patients' arm.

The moral behind this story was that because the girl heeded the warning of her mother and never went through with their intentions they had survived, but had they stayed and had sex the killer would have got them and their lives would have been cut short. This is the message at the centre of the slasher movie. Every filmmaker from Wes Craven and John Carpenter to Tobe Hooper and Tom Savini have cited this story as a major influence on their work. This is evident when watching films such as Halloween and Friday the 13th, where the sexually active characters are usually the ones who perish while the virginal ones are more likely to survive.

"A common criticism levelled at the slasher genre is that it is inherently reactionary - the virtuous live while the "bad" deviant teenagers get sliced up as punishment for their dalliances. It is often cited that in Halloween Laurie is the virtuous teenager and therefore the only one allowed to survive."
(Blanc, Odell, 2001, p.27)

It has become probably the most significant trademark within the slasher movie that the "final girl" is the most innocent and level-headed character while her friends are sexually promiscuous. This is the most evident in John Carpenter's Halloween. The character of Laurie is pure and warm-hearted, a much more sympathetic character that her best friends (one of whom dies in her underwear while the other is strangled immediately after sex). But co-writer and director John Carpenter insists that this was not the defining factor in his movie and that Laurie's sexual innocence was for other reasons; "They (the critics) really missed the boat there, I think. Because if you turn it around, the one girl who is the most sexually uptight just keeps stabbing this guy with a very long knife. She's the most sexually frustrated. She's the one that killed him. Not because she's a virgin, but because all that repressed energy comes out. She used all these phallic symbols on the guy... She and the killer have a certain link: sexual repression."

So if this is the case it could be said that maybe this phallic symbol has become a major staple of the slasher movie from then on. Surely it could be no coincidence that the killers in these movies tend to use "piercing" weapons, such as knives, spears, arrows and scissors, so they can penetrate their victims up close and personal, After all, would it not be simpler if the killer had a gun and had just shot their victims instead of stalking and stabbing them. Could their weapons of choice be used as metaphors for their penises, venting their sexual frustration out on their victims shortly after watching them have sex? And if so, is this why Laurie is the one who survives, because she shares the same repressed emotions as the killer? In Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Leatherface rubs a chainsaw between the heroine's thighs before ejaculating, thus showing his repressed sexual urges, represented through his "weapon."

Technology, or lack thereof, seems to feature heavily in the slasher movie as well. The protagonist must survive without the aid of machinery, computers or weapons and rely on their own animalistic cunning and strength. Cars will never start, lights always seem to go out and there is never a gun when you need one. In an Internet essay Why Slasher Movies Expose the Folly of Gun Control, an unnamed author stated that had the final girl been given access to a firearm she would have been able to relinquish the killer earlier on in the story and thus have saved the lives of many of her friends. An interesting point, although Scream seems to have been the only slasher movie to acknowledge this, with the killer being shot in the head at the end of the film.

As Jim Harper pointed out in his book Legacy of Blood: A Comprehensive Guide to Slasher Movies, these films are usually set in one of three locations; campus, urban and wilderness. The latter could stem back to those old fairytales, such as Little Red Riding Hood, with the defenceless youngsters stranded in the woods with a monster in pursuit, elements echoed in such movies as Twitch of the Death Nerve, Friday the 13th and The Burning. Some of these old tales even featured scenes of violence and/or gore, another influence on the slasher movie;

"When Little Red Riding Hood did not come home that afternoon, her parents were very worried. At last her father went to Grandmother's cottage to find her. How horrified he was when he found a fierce animal in Grandmother's bed! With one blow of his axe, he killed the wolf. Then Little Red Riding Hood's father cut open the wolf. Out jumped the little girl! She felt very strange indeed."
(Grimm, Grimm, 1993, p.15)

Referring to the fairytale origins of the slasher film, Carol J. Clover once stated that in our dreams we straddle the divide between monster and victim, stating that we are both Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf. What she meant by this was that our dreams allow us the freedom to experience whatever our minds are capable of and to play out our darkest fantasies. In this respect, we become the killer and the final girl, the unstoppable menacing force and the symbol of innocence. Yes even those these tales have been passed on from generation to generation it seems that the slasher movie, which are retellings of these old stories, has constantly been met with resentment and disgust by those same people who sing praise for those old fairytales, The following chapter charts the slasher movie's journey from creation, through the years of controversy and censorship, to its place in cinema today.

Chapter Three
"BAN THIS FILTH!!!!"

"I do self-censor. I don't go to see films like A Nightmare on Elm Street. I find them quite scary and there tends to be a predomonance of violence against women and I don't like that. I know a lot of people don't find them scary but I find them absolutely terrifying. I do self-censor because I don't want to see women as victims."
(Participant 3-FG5, 1997, p.70)

One question that has arisen during the writing of this is why are peoples' main focuses on the violence directed towards women within these movies? Surely violence against anyone, regardless of gender, race or sexuality, is equally disturbing. So why is it more acceptable to see a man die in a horor film (male characters in these movies are very rarely credible) than a female, as then it is viewed as misogynistic? So it could be argued that maybe slasher movies are sexist - towards men. While many of the female characters may die, usually all of the males will meet their end - usually dispatched with very little effort, compared to the females who put up more of a fight - leaving only the final girl to survive. The rare exceptions to this, where a male protagonist will last the length of the film, including The Burning and Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (although the hero in the latter still has to rely on this girlfriend to save him, thus making her the "hero").

Many filmmakers are conscious of the kind of reaction they would get from misogynistic violence towards women so often cut such material from their work (Danny Steinmann, who started out making exploitation and pornography films, cut a scene from his movie Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning, which featured the character of Violet being impaled through the groin - this scene was re-shot at the wishes of the producers). Yes other filmmakers exploit the concept of a defenceless female at the hands of a killer, such as Italian director Dario Argento who, as Clover mentioned in her book Men, Women and Chain Saws; "I like women, especially beautiful women. If they have a good face and figure, I much prefer to watch them being murdered than an ugly girl or man." This is a point worth considering, after all... sex sells. A pretty cast is more likely to help sell a film than a cast full of overweight, unattractive people. Maybe this is some form of childish mentality that if we watch an attractive person killed off in a film (such as Casey (Drew Barrymore) in the opening sequence of Scream) we almost think "what a waste," whereas watching an obese person die (or the gruesome aftermath in movies like Se7en) provokes very little sympathy. Do we judge the character's merit and worth in films in terms of sexual attraction?

The film that was responsible for the slasher boom of the '80's was Friday the 13th. After seeing what a profit Carpenter had made with his drive-in movie, producer-director Sean S. Cunningham deconstructed Halloween in an attempt to take what elements had made that so successful and recreate them within his own movie. Surprisingly enough, Paramount bought the movie and gave it a large oublicity campaign. Slowly over the months the movie bame a huge hit, prompting other studios to make their own versions (Prom Night, My Bloody Valentine, Maniac, Sleepaway Camp, Nightmare in a Damaged Brain, etc).

It is interesting to note that although Paramount was making a tody sum from the Friday the 13th franchise they were becoming increasingly embarrassed by the negative reactions from critics and campaigners for being associated with such "filth," twelve years and eight movies later they would eventually sell the rights to New Line. But Paramount is not the only major studio to have received this kind of negative publicity over a slasher movie: Universal received copious complaints due to Psycho and Tri-Star would eventually withdraw the release of Silent Night, Deadly Night (a film about a murderous Santa Claus that caused protests from disgrunted parents).

But even though the moral outcry was helping sell tickets, it would go on to cause serious damage for both filmmakers and horror fans. In 1984, due to the release of The Evil Dead, Nightmare in a Damaged Brain and Abel Ferrara's notorious The Driller Killer, the British media went on a witch hunt promptly demanding that the BBFC banned those films they considered unacceptable. The press dubbed these "video nasties" and, under a new legislation entitled the Video Recordings Act, many horror films were taken off the shelves. There was a reason for this. The early 1980's saw the release of the home video recorder (VHS or Betamax), meaning that any household could own any film and watch it at any time. This meant that those who would not normally watch a horror movie in years were disgusted by what they witnessed in this new wave of special effects-heavy independent movies. It would not be until 1999, when BBFC director James Ferman stepped down and was succeeded by the more liberal Robin Duval, that many of these films would finally be released (partically thanks to the introduction of DVDs).

But the slasher movie would also begin to die a slow, painful death for another reason: marketing. Not only were these movies beginning to look more like music videos (A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 4: The Dream Master), but the franchises that both Paramount and New Line (who owned the rights to Elm Street) who eventually be milked to death; Freddy Krueger gloves "for children" (it seems ironic to say that Krueger was a child murderer), Jason Voorhees lunchboxes, etc. Any suspense that was created by the original movies was diminished by the middle of the decade.

CONCLUSION

"The best horror films avoid overwhelming us with gore and violence, which can easily turn comical when overdone, or be pointlessly punishing to the audience. Both Carpenter and De Palma work more by suggestion, like their acknowledged master, Hitchcock, and like some erotic filmmakers who eschew hard-core sex for being too literal and unimaginative: organ-grinding rather than fantasy."
(Dickstein, 1980, p.32)

This quote seems at its most relevant when discussing the slasher movie. It is intersting to compare two films such as Psycho and Friday the 13th. For all its faults, Friday the 13th did borrow extensively from Hitchcock's masterpiece, even to the point of virtually stealing the ending (whereas Norman Bates is "possessed" by his mother, Mrs. Voorhees is "possessed" by her son Jason). Both stories are about loss and both have almost sympathetic killers in them. But that is where the similarity ends. Psycho is an assault on the senses whilst Friday the 13th is just an exercise in modern effects. One is a well-constructed narrative, the other is just a vehicle for elaborate deaths and T&A.

But are slashers immoral and misogynistic?

There is no way of coming to a conclusion on this debate that everybody would be satisfied with. Whilst some people take slasher movies to be mindless fun (full of inventive deaths as a substitute for originality, tension or realism), others consider them sexist smut that does not deserve to exist. Whilst some critics, such as Clover and Mark Kermode, will at least acknowledge that the genre has conceived a few classics (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween), others stubbornly refuse to accept that the genre could produce anything but trashy filth. Maybe they both have their point. The slasher genre is certainly cheap, and open to criticism (bad acting, unconvincing dialogue, predictability). But isn't that part of its charm?

- Blanc, Michelle Le and Odell, Colin (2000), Horror Movies: Pocket Essentials Film, London: Pocket Essentials
- Clover, Carol J. (1992), Men, Women and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film, New Jersey: Princeton University Press
- Dickstein, Morris (1980), American Film
- Harper, Jim (2004), Legacy of Blood: A Comprehensive Guide to the Slasher Movie, New Jersey: Headpress
- Hill, Annette (1997), Shocking Entertainment: Viewer Response to Violent Movies, Luton: John Libbey Media
- Whitehead, Mark (2003), Slashers Movie: Pocket Essential Guide, London: Pocket Essentials

www.myspace.com/christiansellers

Psychedelic Nursey Rhymes

2008-09-08T03:30:00.000-07:00

Way back when, long before I started writing for magazines and websites, I was in a band. Were weren't the best group in the world, but it was a lot of fun and writing songs really helped vent the frustration of being a teenager. Here's a selection of lyrics, written between 1995 and 2000!

CHEMICALS

I woke up from a coma
I find it hard to think
These days I am tired over everything
The pain that I felt is numb
Now I set adrift from your kiss
Self-indulge in my dreams

Chemicals left to waste
But too sour to taste
Colder when I sleep
Too obscure to breathe
Chemicals in my brain make me hard to contain
Cheat myself into dreams
Fall apart at the seams

I am blessed by a curse
Intoxicated
Take a rest from myself and from everything
Open eyes cannot see
Open lungs cannot breathe
I reflect all my schemes
Self-indulge in my dreams

Chemicals left to waste
But too sour to taste
Colder when I sleep
Too obscure to breathe
Chemicals in my brain make me hard to contain
Cheat myself into dreams
Fall apart at the seams

I am not you and I am not me
I am just somewhere in between

Chemicals left to waste
But too sour to taste
Colder when I sleep
Too obscure to breathe
Chemicals in my brain make me hard to contain
Cheat myself into dreams
Fall apart at the seams

TRANQUILITY

I lost my head when I was high
I thought I was going to die
My friends all think that I'm diseased
I have lost my sanity
I crayon dreams inside my head
I know that I was misled
My life's a fucked-up pantomime
With no real storyline

I want to come down from my mind
And leave the world behind
I'm hungover from myself
And I feel nothing else
I'm a spaceman reaching Mars
My head's amongst the stars
I'm in orbit coming home
It's good to be alone

I found one meaning in my life
That had nearly passed me by
All my problems seem to fade
My memory gets misplaced
What's the point in being scared?
We are so self aware
For just a while I'd like to die
To see what it's like

I want to come down from my mind
And leave the world behind
I'm hungover from myself
And I feel nothing else
I'm a spaceman reaching Mars
My head's amongst the stars
I'm in orbit coming home
It's good to be alone

I got lost inside a dream but it all seemed to real
I send my head to outer space
Then I come down again

I want to come down from my mind
And leave the world behind
I'm hungover from myself
And I feel nothing else
I'm a spaceman reaching Mars
My head's amongst the stars
I'm in orbit coming home
It's good to be alone

YOU'RE NOTHING TO ME

She doesn't even care
Pictures fall from off the walls
The answer phone had lied
You never meant to call
The TV says the same
The radio is superficial
The glitter round your eyes
Helped you hide one hundred lies

The candle burns out the pain
Only you and I remain
With sugar it tastes the same
I knew you'd make me take the blame
The ashtray's filling up
Even as we self destruct
Everything seems to stain
Why did we have this conversation?

Nothing matters now
The cigarette is killing time
Your points are trivial
Poisoned in this world of mine
The rain is pouring in
The coffee has been here so long
The video is so blue
It makes me think of times with you

The candle burns out the pain
Only you and I remain
With sugar it tastes the same
I knew you'd make me take the blame
The ashtray's filling up
Even as we self destruct
Everything seems to stain
Why did we have this conversation?

The nature of your hate still dwells
I know your evil ways too well
Time has gone and so has everything
The record's playing our of time again

The candle burns out the pain
Only you and I remain
With sugar it tastes the same
I knew you'd make me take the blame
The ashtray's filling up
Even as we self destruct
Everything seems to stain
Why did we have this conversation?

UTOPIA

Take your time
You're in no hurry
All you want it so be wanted
Same for me but I don't know why
Am I alive or wasted?

Mother said, 'Don't cross the road'
But I have to 'cause I'm feeling fucking bored
In my head my daddy said
'You're the slave and I'm the lord'

I wish I was a dog
Because I could sit around all day
Eat my food and take a walk
And leave the world to play

But I've got to do something
I'm wasting away the years that are worth gold
Soon I won't be in my prime
Soon I'll be too old

Take your time
You're in no hurry
All you want it so be wanted
Same for me but I don't know why
Am I alive?

IMMUNE

Immune to you
You won't get through
You're like a drug I don't need
A parasite feeds off my mind
You are impure
Infect me

Come rescue me
I cannot breathe
I'm suffocating in myself
Inside my dreams I cannot scream
I feel so scared
I need you

Immune to you
You're such a fool
You cannot win
I'll kill you
It hurts to smile
You're in denial
I feel so scared
I need you

Come rescue me
I cannot breathe
I'm suffocating in myself
Inside my dreams I cannot scream
I feel so scared
I need you

AESTHETIC TASTE

What I hate is who I am
I find it hard to be human
Everything is fake
The world is so diseased
Should I even trust my friends?
Will they hurt me in the end?
I built a cage around my mind
And refused to go outside

I am God but so's my idol
I can't get a fix on you
All I want is my sedation
Give me medication
I am God, my own disciple
I'm temptation reaching you
All I want is my salvation
Give me medication

Does it hurt to be yourself?
Wouldn't you be someone else?
It's hard to see everything so clear
Tell me what I want to hear
I will not chase you anymore
I'm feeling like an unloved whore
Who is this that I've become?
Have I come undone?

I am God but so's my idol
I can't get a fix on you
All I want is my sedation
Give me medication
I am God, my own disciple
I'm temptation reaching you
All I want is my salvation
Give me medication

FREAKSHOW

I stare through the dark when I turn out the light
Too many monsters are here through the night
I hide under covers away from the claws
That come up to get me from under the floor
I try not to breathe so I will not get found
From all the creepies that live underground
Hoping my teddies will keep them at bay
And all the nasties will soon go away

Welcome to the freakshow
Come and see yourself inside
Life is what you make it
And we will make it worth your while

I welcome the spiders 'cause they are my friends
I don't mind the rats just as long as they're tame
A monster is hiding right under my bed
I have such a fear that I'll soon wake up dead
Then all the demons will blok out the world
I would try to run but I'm only a girl
I hide from the shadows that chase me at night
Vampires come visit for drinks and a bite

Welcome to the freakshow
Come and see yourself inside
Life is what you make it
And we will make it worth your while

I'm unable to pray because I'm so afraid
I know now for certain that God went away
The breeze through the window makes my skin crawl
I can't get away 'cause my dad locked the door
Under my bed there's a scratching sound
I know all the meanies are still hanging around
I try not to cry so the tears go away
It seems that the evil grows strong every day

Welcome to the freakshow
Come and see yourself inside
Life is what you make it
And we will make it worth your while

www.myspace.com/christiansellers

Sarah Jahier 'Fatally Yours' interview

2008-09-07T15:18:00.000-07:00

How old were you when you first developed an interest in horror and which film in particular sparked that interest?
"I was always drawn to the darker side when I was growing up, but I stuck more to reading horror novels like Stephen King's books instead of watching horror movies. I didn't really get into horror films until high school, when I watched The Texas Chain Saw Massacre for the very first time…and was blown away by its brutality. After recovering from shell-shock, I was completely hooked on horror! I even went on to write my thesis in college on TCM!"

What is it about horror that appeals to you so much? Do you feel that these kinds of movies serve any other purpose than to entertain, such as helping the viewer to confront their own fears or learn about morality? Some writers have made comparisons between modern horror and both nursery rhymes and urban legends, as they contain messages to help guide their young readers.
"For me, horror acts as a catharsis. After a bad day, there's nothing better than sprawling on the couch and watching a particularly spooky, or even cheesy, horror movie. Compared with the troubles the on-screen characters face, your problems just don't seem so terrible. I think horror movies have this affect on many people. They also allow us to confront our fears in a very controlled environment. Even if we get scared, we know that it's "just a movie." Yet, that adrenaline rush and release of emotions (our bodies' fight or flight response) are real. Horror movies are a great way to experience this rush while not actually being put in any real danger (unless you have a heart condition!). There are plenty of horror movies that convey deeper messages than the blood and grue they splash across the screen, but I think many viewers just wish to be entertained. Really, it's all about what the viewer personally takes away from their viewing experience, whether they are watching purely for entertainment or if they are willing to look a little deeper into the film and take something more meaningful away from it."

Horror, more than any other genre, has had such a mixed reception over the years. Whilst conventions the world over are packed with hardcore fans, many people still look upon this type of movie as one step up from pornography; either sleazy and corruptive or simply juvenile. Why do you think horror provokes such strong emotions, both positive and negative?
"Horror fans "get it." They understand fear and love the emotions horror movies evoke in them. Others outside the genre just don't see the value of such catharsis. While horror fans are drawn to the darker aspects in life and can acknowledge them, while most other people just want to ignore death. Horror embraces the ugly side of human (or inhuman) nature, fear and death while other genres tend to shy away from these things. Instead, other genres tend to focus on unrealistic ideals, like romantic comedies representing skewed views on love. I think horror fans prefer the nitty-gritty truth over unattainable ideals! I also think horror's popularity has a lot to do with the many different subgenres of horror we have to choose from. Some fans might like cheesy, funny horror while others prefer the gory exploitation flicks. Horror fans have a wide spectrum of films to choose from, and I think that's a big part of what makes horror such an appealing genre to many and why there is such a rock solid fan base for it."

So many horror films have been blamed for real life violence, why do you think it makes such as easy scapegoat? The censors have been stricter with horror over the years than any other genre, despite most action movies featuring more graphic deaths than your average horror, and many critics are hesitant to discuss the positive aspects of horror, showing that these kinds of films are still a kind of taboo.
"Horror films are visual representations of our deepest fears, and when violence (which itself is feared) is perpetrated in real life it is easy to look at them as a mirror for the horrifying crimes. People believe the old saying "Monkey see, monkey do," especially when it pertains to individuals who commit violence, but they tend to ignore other factors that would be more likely for causing violence. Saying horror films are solely to blame for someone committing violence is like blaming comedy movies when someone makes a bad joke. It's completely silly!"

How would you say gender and sexuality are portrayed in horror? Do you think the 'sex equals death' morality is an important theme and are women portrayed and treated as fairly as their male counterparts? Some have discussed that films such as slashers are misogynistic, while others say the image of the heroine celebrates feminism. How do you feel on this subject?
"I think most of the time women in horror are portrayed far worse than the men. They usually suffer the most prolonged and visible deaths, they are usually most likely to be humiliated before they die, usually treated solely as sexual objects instead of real people and their characters are usually the least developed. Of course, things are always improving, and I think people in the genre have come very far from how women were portrayed in horror in the past. The "Final Girl" in most slashers is the only person to survive and some think that signals some kind of celebration of feminism, but I prefer to look at how her character was treated throughout the entire film before jumping to any conclusions. It is true that many films celebrate the strength of females, but many others are still stuck putting women into stereotypical roles…even when their film is hailed as a great feminist achievement. Case in point is the recent film Teeth (review), which I absolutely loathed. I felt that it was completely anti-woman and that people got the fleece pulled over their eyes just because it was "different." It was one of the most misogynistic movies I've seen!"

How often would you say that nudity and sex scenes are actually relevant to the story or are they usually just to keep the young audience interested or help revive a film that is running its course?
"For me, a lot of nudity and sex scenes tend to slow down the story. It's like, come on, get on with it, I wanna see some REAL action! Sometimes it's justifiable for the film, but most of the time it's just gratuitous."

Another aspect of modern horror which is often discussed is voyeurism and the use of point-of-view camerawork, which often forces the viewer to watch the murders through the killer's eyes, placing them in the role of the antagonist, instead of allowing them to sympathize with the victim. What is your opinion on this?
"Much has been made about this technique, with critics of the genre complaining that the audience will start to relate with the killer as opposed to the victims, but I think that is mostly BS! The POV from the killer fully allows the audience to realize the horror of what is really happening, and be able to fully see the terrified reaction from the victim. If anything, seeing the terror of the victim from the killer's point-of-view should allow the audience to sympathize more with the victim, because they are seeing exactly how scared they are!"

Do you think that the advancements in special effects over recent years (both prosthetics and CGI) has allowed filmmakers the chance to help create tension and excitement or has it taken too much attention away from the story; as many older films relied on the cast and script while many recent films have been saturated in effects and the expense of a coherent plot?
"Special effects have gotten pretty nifty over the years, but it's the story that really matters in a film. Filmmakers should learn to work within their means before staging elaborate scenes that require many special effects, because sometimes they just can't pull their vision off. I think we as an audience have focused too much on how stuff looks rather than focusing on how well a story is told. Some of the best films were made without any of the special effects we have available today, and they still stand the test of time…all because of the substance of their story, not their special effects."

What is your opinion the current horror climate? How do you feel about the countless remakes, as it seems that Hollywood is updating both the timeless classics and the more obscure cult favourites?
"I think horror fans have to look beyond Hollywood for quality horror flicks. The indie and foreign markets is just teeming with excellent horror films that not very many people have had the pleasure to check out. Hollywood will just keep remaking and making films that are horrible representations of the horror genre. This "bubblegum horror" is not geared toward horror fans, but at the younger set of moviegoers and the more mainstream audience in mind. Now, with quality horror films that horror fans actually want to see, like Midnight Meat Train and Repo! The Genetic Opera, in jeopardy of being yanked from theatrical release (with the possibility they'll just be dropped straight to DVD), the horror community shouldn't be relying on the big studios for quality horror anymore."

Horror seems more acceptable now than ever, with many of them designed as 'safe movies' aimed at the PG-13 MTV crowd. Many of these films are generic and refuse to take any real risks to shock their audience. At the same time, there have been the so-called 'torture porn' movies that specialize in elaborate deaths and graphic violence. Both styles have been extremely successful over the last few years. How do you feel about modern horror and the industry in general?
"I avoid PG-13 films that are geared for teeny-boppers, what I call "bubblegum horror." Films like the Prom Night remake just don't do it for me, so I refuse to shell out cash just to be disappointed. The so-called "torture porn" sub-genre worked for a while, but has long worn out its welcome. And you know what both of these types of films lack? A solid, scary story to keep me glued to my seat. If you just throw CW actors and buckets of gore at me without an interesting story, I'm just not going to care about the film at all. So, like I mentioned earlier, I think we as a community should be turning to independent or foreign horror films, ones that feature new surprises!"

Do you feel that independent filmmakers are given enough support, by both the studios and critics, and how do you feel the likes of MySpace and YouTube have changed the way in which these films are publicized?
"I believe that MySpace and YouTube have been amazing for independent filmmakers. It has really leveled the playing field for them and has allowed them more exposure. It's been excellent for the horror fans as well, because it is easier to find fantastic, independent horror films now. Still, many moviegoers are turned off by the low-budget look of some films…to those I say, get over it and give these talented filmmakers a chance! They are the future of the horror genre!

Christian Sellers: In your opinion do the producers in Hollywood really understand what makes a good horror film or are they only interested in profit, sometimes at the expense of artistic freedom. Which filmmakers working today do you respect the most and why?
"I respect indie filmmakers who really are doing it "for the love of horror." They are usually fans of the genre and know how to scare an audience, unlike the big studios who are pushing out the tame horror remakes just to make a quick buck. It's sad to say, but major studios are in a business and are out to make money. Of course they want to entertain audiences, but what they really want to do is get the maximum number of butts in seats to watch their new movie. So, to do so they must cater to wider, more mainstream tastes, which are much tamer than the horror crowd's robust palate. The result is watered-down horror movies…so, again, we can't solely rely on Hollywood for our horror fix. We must look elsewhere. There are some studio films that have their hearts in the right place, though these are usually far and in-between. Whatever horror films we seek out, we must make sure they are being made "for the love of horror!""

www.myspace.com/christiansellers

Reyna Young 'The Last Doorway' interview

2008-09-07T15:01:00.000-07:00

Were you always a fan of horror growing up? Was there one specific moment that won you over and did you always want to work within the industry?
"Since I was a little girl I read Edgar Allan Poe and was always interested in horror. It wasn't until I saw John Carpenter's Halloween that I really fell in love with being scared. The tingling down my spine excited me and my nightmares would have frightened me but also for some weird reason made me want to watch more. I then started going through my father's horror collection and started watching Texas Chainsaw and whatever I could get my hands on. I then started to write my own short horror stories and dark poetry. I have been writing for so long it's my number one passion. I never thought I'd be able to do my own films, I thought women were only suppose to take their clothes off and die in the movies. At a young age, I started to practice my screaming and taking acting classes. All I wanted to do was be in a horror movie."

Which movies inspired you the most when you were younger and which filmmakers were the greatest influence?
"I would have to say that Halloween and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Alice Sweet Alice. I was influenced by all the old school horror movies. Then my father showed me the old, old-school Frankenstein and Dracula. I love the old horror movies because they scare me and they're creepy. Not like the nowaday movies that are just killing, blood and guts, the story sucks. Great directors like Wes Craven, John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper. These are the directors that were just wow! A huge influence for me. Even back then I wanted to come out with my own horror movie, but it's just so male dominated I thought I wasn't allowed too. But being younger and not knowing as much as I know now I didn't think I would be able to do my own horror films. The old school horror films were so creepy, and the music is so original. For Halloween to make such a huge impact and there's really no blood in that movie, is awesome. The mood that John Carpenter sets in the film is inspiring to me as a filmmaker. Just like Hitchcock, Psycho was to me a masterpiece. Something different and unique on the whole serial killer aspect. Also he always had great actors. I always go by Hitchcock's movies that the unseen is scarier then the scene itself. I guess that's why The Blair Witch Project was so intriguing to me. It really took on the aspect of the Hitchcock theory. Not being able to see the witch was scary to me. It makes your imagination wonder, and that to me is what makes a good movie then now a days seeing guts and pointless killing. Zombies eating people to the point where it makes you sick. Horror movies to me have died!"

Do you feel that horror is still male dominated? There has been a rise in female-orientated horror online, with such sites as Fatally Yours, The Chainsaw Mafia and Ax Wound becoming prominent features of the genre. Do you feel that the balance is shifting in favour of a more equal opportunities industry?
"I feel that the horror industry is about to get a lot tougher being that there's nothing but remakes. Plus, I haven't seen anything really original and good lately. I mean, I love horror movies but damn people, where's the originality. I think the industry is going to be hit hard by blood wrenching females, starving and thirsty for showing the men what they are capable of doing. I feel that this is the time for females to come out and hit the men hard on what we can do and how our sick and twisted minds work. There's no doubt that horror is male dominated but that won't last for long. I admit I'm pretty twisted and I'm not the only one. Just like Shannon Lark, we are coming out of our shell and it's only going to get better. We are sexy, twisted and ready to take on the horror industry. I love Chainsaw Mafia or Fatally Yours, Pretty-Scary. Strong females in the horror industry doing what they love. I keep in touch with all of them. I feel that we Horror women should stick together."

What led to the creation of Last Doorway Productions? Were you hesitant as to how a company ran by a female would be received within the horror community?
"Before I started my production company I wasn't hesitate too much. It did worry me on how much of a reaction I would get. But as soon as I read an article about Shannon Lark in the Guardian paper, I fell in live with her. Seriously, she was my hero and I knew if she could do it then I could do it. So I did! I did get a little heat by people actually. People I know and I didn't care what they thought, I went for my goal and my dream and I'm still going for it. I am amazed on how far I have gotten too! I have had people I met, guys laugh when I tell them I make horror films and run my own little company. There are people out there who still think women cannot do it. That bothers me because we are capable of doing just as much and more. Not to sound sexist but a lot of guys I've met while doing this are assholes. It makes me want to work harder to show them they are wrong. I wanted to start and run my own company because horror is what I love and I wanted a chance to do my own thing, have my own production company and do whatever I wanted with it. So far it's been a lot of work but work that I love."

How did you promote the company when you first started out? Were sites such as MySpace and YouTube an important part of how you developed a following?
"Before my website I did start a MySpace page. Myspace is a great tool for networking, that's how I started meeting other females in the genre. Soon after, about six months I think, my boyfriend and now co-owner, John Gillette, started the website. I basically draw out how I want each page and he creates it for me. We make a great team. He's a huge help and we help motivate each other as well. He too would love to see more females in the horror industry. It's great having someone there to help me out when I need them and with the same goals. Youtube, yes I have YouTube. It helps getting my short films seen other than MySpace TV. Also another great tool for networking. I also started writing to other sites, female run of course, to put up what I'm all about to help get my name out there more. Whatever horror sites I come across I'm always sure to let them know who I am. I love meeting new people and am always glad to help with what I can."

What was your intention with Last Doorway? Was it primarily to promote other people's work or to produce your own?
"Last Doorway was primarily set up to help get my stuff going. All my short films. To show off who I am and what I'm all about. I have been doing a lot of cross-promoting and advertising for all my friends on my website to help get their stuff out there as well. It's turning into that promoting other's area. Which is fine with me, I love to help others and I love meeting new people and watching new things. So it's a win-win thing. I am now branching out with The Last Doorway Show website for my online show which helps promote other local independent horror artists. I host that under the name Miss Misery. I do interviews and show there films, I also go around to the conventions and interview horror icons. It's fun and I have a great time and I'm happy to do whatever I can to help others. I mainly started the show to give people an opportunity to let everyone know who they were and what they were all about."

Have you found that filmmakers and other websites have been very supportive or is there a lot of competition? Who in particular would you say have been the most instrumental in your success?
"I don't think there is any competition within all of our websites. We are all very supportive within each other. We all keep in touch and when there's something new and exciting going on we e-mail each other and ask if it can go up on their site or my site, no problem. Its a great circle we have and it's supportive and we do all that we can to help each other out. Shannon Lark of The Chainsaw Mafia and I, we do whatever we can to help each other out. I e-mail Heidi Martinuzi from Pretty-Scary when I need advice. I have met other girls who feel that there is a competition, even guys who think that we all compete and try to make it look like that. There is no competition. I never and will never think of it that way. I just do my thing and help keep the horror flowing. I'm supportive and love everything everyone is about, whether it be Chainsaw Mafia or Pretty-Scary, or Fatally-Yours, like I said before it's one big circle and we all do what we can for each other."

Is there any particular sub-genre of horror that you despise and, if so, why? Would you say that much of the negative criticism levelled at the genre is justified or ignorant?
"Right now I am not too fond of the latest craze in zombie movies. It just seems like each movie is trying to top the other one with more guts and body parts and they're trying to out-do each other in being gross. I cannot stand it. Zombie movies shouldn't be about being disgusting or bodies being torn apart. I just feel that it's getting out of hand and I don't watch them because of that. Plus my stomach cannot take it if it's over the top. It makes me sick to watch. So I'm turned off from zombie movies right now. I don't want to name any movies because I feel that it's very hard to make a movie and I give a lot of credit to everyone on set for making it happen but some movies just shouldn't be made. I'm going to leave it at that."

Do you have any plans to produce a feature of your own? How have your shorts and show been received, and have they attracted the attention of any prominent names?
"I am in the works of doing a feature film on my short Sinner. I have the script done and all the actors ready. I will start shooting that soon actually. Money-wise is very hard but I will be funding it myself. I feel comfortable that way, I would like to find a producer but right now I'm going to do this one on my own. My horror shorts have had some interesting opinions from people. Most of them good comments, some are bad, but I try to take criticism as something good so I know what not to do for next time. The Last Doorway Show has had some big names interviewed like 'The ladies of Evil Dead', or Kane Hodder. Walking around the conventions and people knowing who I am is a great feeling. We definitely attract big names which is great. We always appreciate people taking there time to interview with us."

How did you set up the A Nightmare To Remember Film Festival? How would you compare it to other film festivals and was it as successful as you had hoped?
"A Nightmare To Remember was an idea I had one night. I always wanted to put on my own film fest and I did it!! I knew nothing about how to put one together, John and I learned as we went. I just went with my instinct on things and hoped for the best. As I got deeper into it it became easier. It was very frustrating but worked out great at the end. I sold more tickets than I thought I would. I had 'Guest Of Honor' John Stanley, and special guest August Ragone. Plus 'Achievement Awards' went to Joe Flynn and Priscilla of The Joe Flynn Show. I was surprised as I showed up to the theater that there was a line of people waiting to go in and watch my film festival. I sold more than half the seats and for my first film fest it was fun and people actually showed up. My biggest fear was no one showing up. It was overall a great show. I cannot wait to do one next year. Compared to other film festivals, our festival was different because we focused on short films and not feature length. They were all independent artists, and we wanted to give them a chance to be on the big screen."

Your short film, Out of Print, won an award at the 2007 Viscera Film Festival. What was the premise of the film and has it helped raise the profile of Last Doorway? Did Confession receive a similar response?
"Out of Print was a dream I had. I was thinking long and hard to come up with an idea for the Viscera Festival and I couldn't think of anything. Then one night I had this strange dream and from there it all fell into place. It was meant to be a short, weird killing moment. Nothing with a story to it. I wanted to make something where people wouldn't understand it, it was just there, straight to the point.. I won! Surprisingly I won!! First film fest I've won too. I was very excited and I did work hard on it. It has helped bring traffic over to my website. It's an honor to be called winner on the DVD, especially by an all-female film fest. Confession is a huge controversy. I have people who literally hate me for making it because it was in a Catholic church. I have sinned and am going to hell is what I have been told. One guy said he was going to get his church group on me, he also wanted it removed from the internet. I heard so much stuff and at first it really bummed me out, but you know what, I am not saying sorry for my art. It's fiction, people, it's my take on how a serial killer thinks, it's not about Catholics whatsoever. People just don't understand at all sometimes. I'm very proud of myself for not apologizing to him though, he wanted one and I will never be sorry for something that I have created."

What are your intentions for the future with regards to Last Doorway? Is the genre making it more acceptable for women and do you feel that horror, more than any other type of film, is finally embracing this mentality, despite it still often being accused of misogyny?
"Last Doorway will be moving forward into doing more films, features, The Last Doorway Show will be on access channel in San Francisco. Another film fest, a Miss Misery comic book, more conventions and hopefully an actual Last Doorway Horror Convention in San Francisco... I feel that day by day women are pounding on that door to be let in and be created equal among the males of horror. I feel that it is now unwinding and a bunch of us will be knocking that door down soon. I think that the industry is now just starting to get use to women being around and more powerful. I feel that there's an acceptance but still not enough and it's going to take some time but we are working our way in. Power to all women in the horror genre and one day we will have our time and that time should be now!!!"

www.myspace.com/christiansellers

Elske McCain 'Jessicka Rabid' interview

2008-09-07T08:27:00.000-07:00

Was it always your ambition to become an actress? What kind of upbringing did you have and how did you get your first break in the industry?
"I never actually thought I could make it as an actress. I was more of a film geek and dreamed of being a movie critic of all things. I did take drama from Jr High into college, but it was mostly just for fun. I had gotten work as an extra in a few films thanks to my best friend Cici. Her mom had a modeling agency in Yuma, Arizona, and when films would come to shoot there, they would often call her to do the extras casting. That's how we first got our feet in the door. I had dropped out of college in order to be more independent and live on my own out in Tuscon. In 2004, I happened to meet Lloyd Kaufman of Troma films, and that got me back into the acting game."

How were you experiences with Troma and what was it about their style of filmmaking that appealed to you so much?
"I really appreciate Troma for helping me as an artist, and find out what I really wanted to do with my life. I love the combination of over the top gore and comedy in most Troma films. That is what makes them so unique. They will pretty much do anything they want to do in a Troma film and don't really care what the critics will say. It's that kind of attitude that I admire."

How did you first make the acquaintance of Matthew Reel and how were you introduced to the Jessicka Rabid project?
"I first met Matthew through a horror dvd review website. When I needed somebody to come and film a screen test for Poultrygeist, he came to mind. His partner had actually filmed my initial meeting with Lloyd, which had become an extra feature on one of Matt's dvds. I was happy with the way the Interview with Lloyd had turned out so it made sense for me to ask Matt to come and help me with the audition. Though I didn't get the part (I had read for 'Micki'), Matt had a short film coming up and asked me to be a part of it. The experience was so fun that we just ended up working together over and over and as a result became great friends. Jessicka Rabid was the result of a combination of things. Mostly a project that Matt and I had worked on that had ultimately failed and we wanted to use our resources to make something better."

What can you reveal about the story and what kind of tone are the filmmakers aiming for?
"The story revolves around a dysfunctional family living in a house where lots of disturbing things take place. Jessicka has an unspecified mental disability and as a result often ends up taking on the most abuse. I want the movie to feel like a vintage piece that brings back memories of the old school movies we used to rent on VHS back in the 80's. Alot of people lately refer to this type of movie as "grindhouse" a term that I am extremely hesitant to use. However sometimes it is just easier to tell somebody it is a grindhouse film instead of coming up with alternative explanations."

Was the character written specifically with you in mind and how much input did you have on the script?
"Yes the character was definitely written specifically for me. I had used the name Jessicka Rabid as an internet moniker and myspace url. When I got tempted to make a film about a female serial killer, it just made sense to take advantage of the name. I gave Matt the initial outline of what I wanted from the script and during one of my out of town trips, he was house sitting for me and wrote the script in under two weeks."

How did you prepare for the role and what was it about Jessicka that you found so interesting?
"I didn't really have too much time to prepare for the role. I had gotten into character during the original teaser trailer and some promotional shots we had done in pre production. Jessicka has a mental handicap and I thought it would be a cool challenge to play a type of role not normally found in these low budget movies. I had to use alot of facial expressions and body language in order to bring Jessicka to life. It's pretty hard to snap in and out of the character really quickly. I find myself staying in character alot of time when other cast and crew members were joking around and being themselves."

From the promotional footage released the movie seems to be in the vein of late '70's/early '80's exploitation features. Which movies in particular were the main influence on it?
"Originally, I think I wanted Jessicka to be more of a Freddy Krueger-ish type character with humor. But after reading Matt's script, I really like the direction we took. The most influencial movies would probably be Carrie, Deadly Friend, The Last House on the Left, Thriller a Cruel Picture, Halloween, The Baby and Bad Boy Bubby. There are really too many infuences to try and list , but these are a few of the main ones."

The trailer featured strong sex and nudity, and hinted that Jessicka's vengeance would be violent. Just how graphic will the movie be?
"I really have not thought about whether or not the movie will be rated. I know there will be alot of nudity, and some gore. It definitely won't be suitable for children."

How long did it take from your initial involvement to the shooting, and how difficult has it been to find an audience?
"We came up with the idea in January of 2007, and we shot the original teaser in July of 2007. Preproduction of the movie officially began sometime in September of 2007. The movie completed principal photography in November of 2007. Thanks to MySpace and the internet, the news of the movie has spread like wildfire. The teaser alone had gotten me so much attention at San Diego Comic Con in July 2007, that I knew we had to make this movie."

The likes of MySpace and YouTube have helped spread the word. Just how much of an impact would you say these sites have had on he way independent features are financed and promoted?
"I think those sites are invaluable promotional tools. However I wouldn't expect to get a movie financed solely from MySpace."

How would you compare Jessicka Rabid to the other projects you have worked on and what are the pros and cons of working on low budget movies?
"Jessicka is different from my other projects because it is the only one I have had nearly complete control over. As far as pros and cons of indie film go. There are tons of pros, as far as creativity goes. But obviously when you have limited finances as most indie films do, then alot of times you can't afford to produce the types of ideas you come up with. So it's a double edged sword. With low budget films, you get tons more creative control, but alot of the times, just can't afford to do the things you come up with."

How much torture did Matthew put you through in the name of art and were you subjected to much fake blood and effects?
"Matt really didn't put me through as much torture as you would think. A normal actress may have dreaded all the nudity and crazy stunts we did. I think I actually went further than Matt had originally intended when he wrote the script. I spent most of principal photography wearing next to nothing, and there were a couple of scenes where we could have staged things, but I wanted to go the extra mile to add realism. Some might refer to it as method acting, but yes I did get my hands dirty. Jessicka's final look did take a little while to put together with the teeth, blood, etc. Being a low budget movie, our f/x budget was limited, but thankfully fake blood isn't that expensive. So we did end up using quite a lot of blood!"

How enjoyable has the experience of Jessicka Rabid been and what kind of impact has the film had on your life so far?
"I have enjoyed all aspects of making Jessicka Rabid. Even from the beginning, you come up with a cool concept that you would like to see made, and getting to realize that dream is a fantastic feeling. Actual production was great because we made the movie with all of my close friends. So not only was it a bonding experience, but also a learning experience for many people involved. I have been getting such great support from everybody. Post has been the most stressful part. Everyone is awaiting the final outcome and making sure the movie turns out just right takes time, but in the end it will be worth it. Jessicka has changed my life because it is my chance to prove to everybody that I am not just your typical horror actress. I am a filmmaker who works hard to get things done, so I think I get more respect that way."

What kind of feedback has the movie received prior to its release and does Matthew intend to showcase the film at festivals or will it be sent straight-to-DVD?
"The trailer had amazingly positive feedback! The teaser also did pretty well, as far as getting the movie attention before it was even made. Jessicka will most likely play the festival circuit before it makes its way to dvd, but at this stage, if we get offered a good enough deal, anything is possible."

Do you and Matthew have any plans to work again together in the near future and does Jessicka Rabid lend itself to a sequel?
"Matt and I will always be good friends, but at this point I wouldn't mind spreading my wings and working with other directors. If Matt had a project he wanted me to act in, I would probably do it.. Jessicka Rabid could probably be made into a sequel if we had the money. I just want to finish the first one and then maybe after resting for a while after it's completion I will decide."

www.myspace.com/christiansellers

The Kentucky Fried Horror Show

2008-09-06T19:56:00.000-07:00

You know you're onto a winner when a huge corporation threatens to take you to court! Well, this is one of the many dramas that have rocked the pre-production of the notorious sickfest The Kentucky Fried Horror Show. Coming from the twisted mind of C. L. Gregory, who previously helmed the Hustler-produced porno horror Blood Lake, KFHS has not even begun filming yet and already it's promoted one scandal after another. From publicized fall outs with the likes of Jessica Simpson and Haylie Duff, to the recent feud with fast food giants KFC (who not only objected to the name, but also its violent content, claiming that such images should not be associated with their company).

"I just seem to piss people off these days," Gregory tells GoreZone, in an upcoming article, and that's no understatement! Simpson's bitchy comments were the least of his worries, though, when KFC demanded that the filmmakers change the name of the feature. As a compromise, Gregory shortened the title to The Kentucky Horror Show, though this was still unacceptable. In an unexpected turn, animal rights activists PETA issued a statement to GoreZone that claimed, "Kentucky Fried Horror Show should be the name of a documentary, not a fantasy film. KFC chickens are bred to be unnatural freaks, big, heavy and sick."

But there's more to KFHS than just controversy, the film is a host to various talents, including Child's Play stars Brad Dourif and Alex Vincent, adult actress Joanna Angel, Playboy regular Rachael Robbins and TV's Scarlett Pomers. Gregory gave GoreZone an exclusive read of the script earlier this year and one thing is for sure... expect blood, breasts and more blood! Subtlety certainly isn't one of his stronger points - after all, we're treater to a double murder and gratuitous nudity within the first few minutes - but he sure knows what horror fans want.

"I fucking hope to God this movie disgusts in some way the audiences. We have one scene in my film that is so over the top, so blatant, that I think will be talked about for a long time," he boasts cheekily, clearly eager to shock and offend in equal measures, though he does claim that the movie will have its humorous moments (the script had various digs at the differences between city slickers and Deep South rednecks). "There is one good scene in the beginning of the film that will be overtly sexual, full blown sex, but the end result will surprise you. But for the most part, the rest of the film 99.999% of it is straight horror."

For those of you who have been looking forward to KFHS, keep an eye out for our exclusive coverage in the neat future, featuring interviews with Gregory, writer Erin Gilmer, producers Rik Walters and Devin Reeve, FX artist Harvey Lowry, and stars Robbins, Mary Castro and Zoe Hunter. Whilst a release date has not yet been set, expect the film to appear late this year or early 2009. And if Gregory's attitude is anything to go by, expect something special when The Kentucky Fried Horror Show is finally unleashed... "I'm old school so I guess I feel that strongly about what's called horror these days and what's called bullshit. But we've got it all, a great set up, a great plot, fucking great characters that would make Charlie Manson proud and lots of gore and blood, so yeah, we've got it covered I think - and if that's not enough I'm sure I can find a midget to place in there somewhere!"

www.myspace.com/christiansellers

Don Calfa's 'Revenge of the Living Dead' review

2008-09-06T19:38:00.001-07:00

Over the years, the Return of the Living Dead franchise has taken several turns, through both Romeo and Juliet (Return of the Living Dead III) and TV movie (Necropolis, Rave to the Grave) territory, though one actor from the original movie had different plans for the series. Don Calfa, who played eccentric mortician Ernie Kaltenbrunner, wrote a treatment soon after the release of The Return of the Living Dead back in 1985 with partner Roger Carney. The studio showed little interest in the concept and instead approached Meatballs II director Ken Wiederhorn about creating a new story from scratch. All of the characters were jettisoned in favour of carbon copies, though both Col. Glover and Tarman would make a brief appearance.

Now, over twenty years later, Calfa has joined forces with British artist Gary Smart to bring his sequel, The Revenge of the Living Dead, to life in the form of a graphic novel! The story continues immediately after the conclusion of the film, where the army, in a last attempt to contain the outbreak, nuke the US town of Louisville, Kentucky. 'But what if the army got the coordinates wrong?' asks the comic. In this version of the story, the bomb goes off target, exploding in the distance. Whilst Ernie and Tina hide in the attic of the morgue as zombified boyfriend Freddy attempts to break his way in, the other survivors (Burt, Spider, Chuck and Casey) are holed up in the medical supplies warehouse across the street. As the movie comes to a close, Freddy manages to find his way into the attic, just as the city is illuminated by a bright explosion. But as the toxic smoke makes its way into the sky, the acid rain that reanimated the dead earlier on rains down all over the surrounding area, hinting that the story is indeed far from over.

Whilst many fans have expressed their disappointment with 1988's The Return of the Living Dead Part II's, Calfa's story follows on very much in the vein of the first movie. Ernie has become the somewhat reluctant hero of this motley crew, with Spider (originally played by Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning's Miguel A. Núñez Jr.) fighting alongside him while the other characters appear almost as useless as they did in the movie. Unfortunately, Burt died in the explosion, when part of the room caved in on him. This does make sense from a dramatic point of view, though, as this gives the story that 'anything goes' sensibility that made the film so appealing. In his place, both Freddy and Frank, the bumbling Laurel and Hardy-style double act, make a welcome return. After both slowly transforming into zombies throughout the movie, Frank tried to cremate himself, which may cause some confusion to fans as to how he has managed to survive, but the comic does explain that due to his incompetence he only burnt himself instead of ending his (undead) life as planned.

As Ernie and Tina meet up with the other survivors, the town is put under a military lockdown, with Col. Glover leading a search and destroy mission to exterminate any infection (i.e.; kill anything that moves). The group is forced to pile into an ambulance and make their way out of the area before it is destroyed. Fans will be pleased to see not only a brief cameo by a naked and zombified Trash (a role which turned Linnea Quigley into the ultimate '80's scream queen), but also a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance of Dan O'Bannon (writer and director of The Return of the Living Dead) among the crowd of zombies. Those with a keen eye will also notice a soldier wearing the nametag 'O'Bannon' on his uniform. Both Tarman and the ½ Woman Corpse also appear briefly.

The Revenge of the Living Dead is the perfect companion piece to the first feature, which expands on the original concept by taking the action out into the city (The Return of the Living Dead was primarily set in three locations; the graveyard, the mortuary and the warehouse). As the survivors attempt to leave the city, they must not only avoid the undead that have grossly outnumbered them, but must also flee from the military that show little interest in taking prisoners. The artwork is impressive, with each character perfectly resembling the actor on which they were based (Ernie even has that demented stare that Calfa has mastered). Whilst the comic is in no way as gory as the movie, the pace is kept tight and the layout is superb, with Smart clearly an up-and-coming talent. For fans of The Return of the Living Dead, and those that love zombies and graphic novels, The Revenge of the Living Dead is a treat!

No release date has been set, but I will keep you updated on the progress…

www.myspace.com/christiansellers

Bianca Barnett 'scream queen' interview!

2008-09-06T18:01:00.000-07:00

Horror movies have always had a fascination with 'scream queens,' from classic actresses of the Golden era such as Far Wray and Joan Crawford, to more recent stars like Jamie Lee Curtis and Linnea Quigley, the genre has constantly portrayed women as both victims and femme fatales. Since the slasher movie introduced the concept of 'the final girl,' and the likes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider have shown that women no longer have to be the damsel-in-distress, horror filmmakers have begun to write their female protagonists as stronger, more independent, characters, and not just defenseless victims. Perhaps the most promising young actress to be working in the genre today is Bianca Barnett, whose diverse body of work has seen her portray everything from a deformed monster to a corpse.

Born Bianca Evans on the 26th of August 1981, in Garland, Texas, the twenty-six year old actress has so far launched several websites (including The Perils of Rock and Roll Decadence and Bianca's Boudoir), and has appeared in various short films (available on YouTube) and music videos, before making her feature debut in Ramzi Abed's The Devil's Muse (aka Black Dahlia Movie). Her best role to date, though, is as the central villain Pig Bitch in the upcoming monster movie Albino Farm (previously covered in issue 32 of GoreZone), which featured Barnett as the head of a clan of murderous mutants.

What first sparked your interest in the darker side of art? Allegedly, your parents owned a model company when you were a child, what can you reveal about this and how it had an effect on you?
"I was always weird and an outsider, so it was just a matter of time before I blossomed into a macabre mistress. I was always interested in studying metaphysics, the occult and spooky ghost stories even at a young age. Halloween was my favorite holiday of the year and horror movies simultaneously thrilled and frightened me. I'm sure my environment had some influence over me, even though I was more partial to monsters and horror rather than science fiction which my parents enjoyed. I had the opportunity of a lifetime to visit Bob Burns' personal movie memorabilia collection when I was twelve. I had the chance to sit in the original time machine, touch the werewolf from An American Werewolf in London, see Lily Munster's gown and Linda Blair's mock head. Mr. Burns even puppeteered some miniature aliens from the movie Alien for me! It was amazing and life changing. I knew I had to be involved in filmmaking after that."

Why choose acting and, more importantly, horror?
"I have always enjoyed entertaining people and it is really nice to get positive praise from people who dig what you do. It is also a challenge for me because I am quite shy, so pushing myself to do something out of the norm is a way to grow. Horror sort of came my way when I would go to special effects shops and volunteer to wear prosthetic makeups. Most actors and actresses shun the idea, but I think it's fun to become something else! I always found the bad guy or monster to be the most interesting character in a picture. I don't plan to limit myself to just horror films even though I love the genre. Anything smart and a bit dark is great, and I don't mind the challenge of trying something new!"

What were your early ambitions and what led to you starting your own site a few years ago?
"I was still floundering about, not sure what I wanted to do with my life. I knew I wanted it to be entertainment related, but there were so many options, I wasn't sure where to go. Originally, I had wanted to be an independent film director and I went to college to study film. I realized that I wasn't completely passionate about that, so I dropped out and moved to Los Angeles where I thought I would get hands on experience."

What came first, acting or modeling? Which do you feel you have progressed at the most and are there things you are willing to do for one and not for the other? Do you find success in one has helped with the other?
"I started modeling in my teenage years after a hair dresser spotted me walking in the mall. He asked me to do runway for an upcoming show and that progressed into more modeling work. I didn't really focus on becoming an actress full time until about two years ago. I suppose I got started late in the game, but it is really what I love to do and helps me overcome my personal demons. As an actress, I am still learning and progressing. I learn something new every time I work on something. I am actually quite shy in person, so this is a great opportunity for me to challenge myself to become more outgoing and free. Yes, I am willing to take unpaid work for a photographer if they have an amazing portfolio and can use me as a muse. I don't work for free or just points on a film, though. Modeling helped me to be more comfortable in front of the camera and learn to take direction. You won't believe how many people have a hard time following direction!!! I have been told that I have a very strong "look" which can be either a great asset or a hindrance. I've even tried out for softer roles and had the director change my part because he felt I had such a strong presence. Maybe I just look like a bully. :)"

What made you decide to move out to LA and how daunting was it?
"I went to college in Texas to study film, but realized that it wasn't the heart of the industry. So, with $2000 in my bank account and only what would fit in my car, I drove out to Los Angeles and never looked back. It took a really long time to get accustomed to life here, but I think I am now grounded enough to not REALLY live in Hollywood La La Land. This town can be so superficial, but I have grown a thick skin and have become more resilient over the years."

How did you land your first acting role and what was it?
"My first real role was playing the mutilated corpse of Elizabeth Short in Ramzi Abed's The Devil's Muse (aka Black Dahlia Movie). I pop up a few times in that movie... it's kind of like playing "Where's Bianca?". I got the part through a friend of mine who knew Ramzi personally. He was originally from Dallas, too, so he welcomed me aboard his crazy, guerrilla filmmaking train. And I love him for that! I collaborated with him again in his upcoming film, In a Spiral State."

You have stated that you are comfortable with prosthetics and nudity. How scary is posing nude and what is the worst experience you have had with makeup/FX?
"Well, I am alright with doing them both, but now they are going to have to pay me a lot more for them! Posing nude is terrifying, I don't claim to have a perfect or even great body. But, everyone on set is as uncomfortable as you are, so you just take a deep breath and roll with it. When actors say that filming these scenes isn't sexy and it's awkward, they are being totally honest! As for prosthetics, once I am in them and on set, I am ready to perform. The worst part is waiting around for hours between scenes. That can just be excruciating. I came down with Viral Pharyngitis while shooting Albino Farm. It was just awful."

You have made thousands of friends on MySpace and gathered a cult following as a scream queen. What's your secret?
"Cast a spell over them all to trick them into befriending me. Honestly, I don't know why or how, but I am so thankful and thrilled to meet new friends and fans. I do my best to read and answer every single email and I always visit new friends' profiles. If someone took time out of their schedule to write me, the least I can do is write them back. I wouldn't be talking with you now if I didn't have the amazing fan base that I have. I will never forget that!"

What are your ambitions as an actress? You have hinted at wanting to be a role model for women, how do you intend to accomplish this?
"I would love to make a living as an actress so I could do it full-time and pay bills. As far as being a role model, I love portraying smart and strong females who still embrace their femininity. This is a male dominated industry, so succeeding in this business is something I will be very proud of."

What are your plans for the future, what projects do you have lined up and what advice would you give to young actors and models wishing to take their first steps into the industry?
"I am always working on something, whether it is short films, commercials or music videos. I am looking forward to the release of films I worked on in the past few years. I also have a trilogy of films that I begin filming in about a month. I hope I didn't jinx it by talking about it! As for aspiring actors, I really recommend beginning work as an extra for film or television through a legitimate agency. It's really a crash course in how things work and you get the chance to be on set. Most people who do this the first few times realize they do not want to be actors anymore. Days are generally 12-15 hours long with a lot of waiting between shots. You have to do the same actions over and over again. You have to be punctual, follow rules and take direction well without any bitching. As for models, start by building a portfolio with local photographers. Be safe and careful who you work with, though, because I have been taken advantage of in certain situations."

www.myspace.com/christiansellers

I Spit on Your Remakes!

2008-09-06T17:29:00.000-07:00

Remakes are nothing new. Hollywood has been making money out of them since cinema was invented over a hundred years ago. Some of the most popular movies of all time have been re-imaginings of someone else's work; The Wizard of Oz, Scarface and Ben-Hur were all updates of older, less famous films. But it seems that now they are taking it a step too far. Look on any movie forum or in the letters page of a magazine and there's usually at least one angry fan protesting at his favourite film being retold.

And no genre has suffered from this more than horror; with not only the classics (The Omen, The Wicker Man) being rehashed, but now even long-forgotten atrocities (The Toolbox Murders). And it seems that it will only get worse, with a slew of other gems about to receive the 'makeover' treatment.

Thanks to such companies as Dark Castle (which were responsible for bringing back the flicks of yesteryear with a successful run that included House on Haunted Hill, Thir13en Ghosts and House of Wax), it seems that almost every genre classic is now up for grabs, resulting in everything from The Creature From the Black Lagoon to C.H.U.D. being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

Studios such as Sony Screen Gems and producers like Michael Bay are milking this current fad for all it's worth, probably aware that one day audiences will have had enough. Bleeding an idea dry is common within horror cinema; Universal released various spin-offs of their more successful creations and the 1980's saw the birth of several franchises which still continue to release inferior instalments today.

Probably the first movie for Hollywood to remake was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which was originally made by William Selig in 1908, only to be rehashed four years later. By 1920 there had been eight international versions, as well as two spoofs. A more renowned version was later released in 1931, directed by Rouben Mamoulian. The James Whale classic Frankenstein was not the first to be based on the Mary Shelley story, that honour went to a 1912 Edison-produced adaptation. When Universal released their seminal Dracula, a Spanish version was made simultaneously, using the same sets. Which went into production first is unclear but by now the remake was a viable commodity. All the old Universal classics were remade again, not only by Hollywood but also by Hammer in the 1950's and '60's. To this day there are still movies based on Dracula and Frankenstein.

Many of the cult B-movies from the 1950's were rehashed years later. Don Siegel's political sci-fi hit Invasion of the Body Snatchers was remade to critical acclaim in 1978 and then again, to a lesser extent, as Body Snatchers in 1993 (and, more recently, as the Nicole Kidman flop The Invasion). By the 1980's, the children that were brought up on the old 1950's classics had grown up to become filmmakers in their own right and, thanks to advances in prosthetic make-up, were able to bring to the screen what had only been hinted at thirty years before.

The best of these was The Thing, John Carpenter's retelling of the Howard Hawks-produced monster movie, this version taking it closer to its source material, the John W. Campbell short story Who Goes There?. David Cronenberg, renowned for his body-horror efforts such as Rabid and Videodrome, remade The Fly in 1986, which saw scientist Jeff Goldblum's slow deterioration after an experiment-gone-wrong melds his DNA with that of an insect. Chuck Russell's update of The Blob was a more light-hearted affair, which saw James Dean-style rebel Kevin Dillon and cheerleader Shawnee Smith up against a man-made life form, determined to swallow up a small American town.

While Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 hit Bram Stoker's Dracula and the Kenneth Branagh-directed Mary Shelley's Frankenstein both claimed to be the most faithful adaptations of those stories, indie director Gus Van Sant took it one step further with his 1998 remake of Psycho by filming it as a shot-for-shot copy of the Alfred Hitchcock original. Why anyone would want to tackle such an iconic movie was anyone's guess but whatever Sant wanted to achieve with the movie he failed on, as it is a bland and frustrating experience, with Vincent Vaughn's turn as Norman Bates too over-the-top.

But the movie most likely responsible for the current wave of remakes is the 2003 version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The original had been made for next to nothing and over the years had become a genre favourite, the movie's visceral impact even resulting in it being banned in the UK for almost thirty years. But the MTV-style directing and fancy editing (the camera passes through a hole in a girl's head) have made the film far more glossy than the original, but it also took away any sense of dread that the Tobe Hooper classic evoked on the viewer.

Probably the most pointless of the recent remakes, though, was the 2004 update of George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead. While it certainly wasn't the worst of its kind – it's far superior to The Texas Chainsaw Massacreupdate in every way – it is the title should have been changed. This did not need to be a remake. While the mall in the original movie served as a major plot function, showing the protagonists being brainwashed by capitalist greed, it had no real purpose in this version. The setting could just had easily have been a school, library or apartment block and the movie could have been called something else. Then maybe people would have appreciated it more as a homage, as opposed to just another remake.

Despite each individual director obviously taking their projects seriously, one cannot help but feel sceptical by the studio's desire to make one remake after another. For instance, when The Ring became a hit back in 2002, studios fast-tracked as many remakes of Asian horrors as possible, resulting in the likes of The Grudge and Dark Water. With The Hills Have Eyes becoming one of the biggest horror blockbusters of 2005, producers decided to raid Wes Craven's back catalogue to find similar successes, resulting in upcoming adaptations of A Nightmare on Elm Street, The People Under the Stairs and even The Last House on the Left.

Surprisingly, the new way for producers to make money is with the slasher movie; a once-despicable subgenre that, since the success of Scream, suddenly became bankable again. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was followed by the likes of When a Stranger Calls and Black Christmas, both of which had been reduced to ineffective, harmless teen movies. Tobe Hooper jumped on the bandwagon with the above-average The Toolbox Murders, which was based on the forgettable 1977 movie. Even Robert Harmon's classic road movie-slasher The Hitcher was ruined by Michael Bay's production company. But now studios, particularly Screen Gems, have gone overboard, with producers rushing out new versions of Prom Night, Terror Train, Silent Night, Deadly Night, The Driller Killer, Motel Hell and Friday the 13th.

Probably the biggest offenders of the current wave of slasher remakes are Platinum Dunes, the production company owned by action director Michael Bay. Thanks to the success of their first venture, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (which recouped it's $9.5m budget on its opening day), other projects to follow have included The Amityville Horror and The Hitcher. The next eighteen months will also see them produce new versions of Friday the 13th, The Birds and A Nightmare on Elm Street.

One thing that several of the recent remakes have angered fans for is the studios insistence to aim for a PG-13 teen crowd, thus forcing the filmmakers to tone down on not only the gore but any real threat of violence within the film. Quite ironic, really, when you think of what the original versions of some of these movies were like. Some of the films also have a glossy MTV look to them mainly because many of these directors have moved on from music videos.

So what other remakes are we being threatened with? Well, how many classics are there left untouched? We've already been subjected to awful updates of The Wicker Man (Nic Cage and his wig should never work again for being involved in such a dire film!), The Omen and 2000 Maniacs (remade as the imaginatively titled 2001 Maniacs). Next up will be Faces of Death (yes, that so-called snuff movie that was banned in God-knows how many countries for so many years), Sisters, Hellraiser and a possible new version of The Evil Dead (which was even turned into a musical recently!).

So what else is there they can sabotage? Well, so far I haven't heard of plans for an Exorcist remake, but it will only be a matter of time. Also, no doubt Michael Bay would love to fill A Nightmare on Elm Street with CGI and O.C.-style teens. Or a lame-as-hell update of Deliverance? It's over thirty years old now, so surely it's past its Hollywood sell-by-date. The Last House on the Left or I Spit on Your Grave; it'd be amusing trying to watch them make a politically correct version of them that they could sell to the multiplexes. Others for them to ruin are Don't Look Now, Twitch of the Death Nerve, Phantasm, Alien, Zombie Flesh Eaters, Basket Case, An American Werewolf in London, Q – The Winged Serpent or Tetsuo: The Iron Man.

In conclusion, one site last August pointed out a rather worrying statistic; "Since 2005, Hollywood has remade no fewer than 13 horror movies, leaning on 1970s titles such as The Omen, The Wicker Man and Black Christmas. That doesn't count US clones of Japanese pictures (The Grudge 2, Pulse, ad nauseam) or unofficial remakes such as Disturbia, which bore a disturbing resemblance to Rear Window." The writer on sfgate.com also stated that, "If it seems as if you've seen that blood-spattered, knife-wielding maniac chasing that girl before, you probably have. Ditto the dude with the chain saw, and those naggingly familiar flesh-eating zombies. More than ever, Hollywood is resurrecting horror classics (and not-so classics) - but is this giving old favorites new lives or just robbing their graves?"

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