BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW: THE ALEXANDRE O. PHILIPPE INTERVIEW

Alexandre O. Philippe has crafted a body of work that is unique in film circles. He studies cinematic greatness, then paints his own film canvas inspired by the brilliance of others. From his take on zombie film culture in Doc of the Dead (2014), to his frame-by-frame study of Hitchcock’s ‘shower scene’ in 78/52 (2017), to Memory: The Origins of Alien (2019), a journey into the nightmarish psychology of Ridley Scott’s deep-space shocker, Philippe has redefined the ‘making-of…’ documentary with works that expose not only the filmmaking process, but the filmmaker themself.

His latest is LEAP OF FAITH, in which he sits director William Friedkin down in a comfy chair and unravels the mind behind the most terrifying film in movie history. Ahead of the film’s screening at Monster Fest 2020 and wide release via Shudder, Alexandre O. Philippe spoke with SCREEN-SPACE about forging a bond with the enigmatic movie brat, now a revered elder statesman of cinema, and how Friedkin’s legacy will always include a turning point in cultural history...    

SCREEN-SPACE: You create these deeply artistic, very personal works in service of other people's artistic works. It's a very unique way to make movies, to look at films. How do you describe what you do?

ALEXANDRE: That's a really good question. I sort of see myself, in retrospect, as a bridge between what you might call cinema studies and the general public. There's a sense that this idea of deconstructing film [is] cinephilia, something that can only be enjoyed if you have studied X amount of years. But just trying to do your own deep dive into films is so much fun and should be accessible to the general public. I make films thinking about the most hardcore cinephiles [but] also for people who may never have even watched the film. Nothing makes me happier than when we screen 78/52 and my first question to the audience is, "Has anybody here, not seen Psycho?" There's always a few hands, and they're always very tentative. I'm like, "Well, wait a minute, you're here to watch a documentary about a scene from a movie you haven't seen that came out 60 years ago. That's incredible stuff." So I think there's hope in humanity, when that happens and it gives me great pleasure to provide. I mean, I'm glad you said that because I think the idea of making those films cinematic to me is very, very important.

SCREEN-SPACE: There's a fascination that I have with documentaries that provide not only an insight into the filmmaking rigour, but the minds of the director; films like Hearts of Darkness and Burden of Dreams. And I think that's where your films excel.

ALEXANDRE: Well, thank you. I'm very interested in meaning; why those films, why those moments, why those scenes continue to resonate with us. Let's face it, those are not just movies, they're cultural moments. I think they mean a lot to us. And so I think, as a culture, we need to understand why those things matter so much to us. I think it's a sort of a window into our collective unconscious. (Pictured, above; Friedkin with actress Linda Blair, as Regan, on the set of The Exorcist)

SCREEN-SPACE: Mr. Friedkin has been talking about The Exorcist, for what feels like a thousand years. What were you hoping to achieve that was a fresh perspective? 

ALEXANDRE: He talks a lot about ‘Gifts from the Movie Gods’. I think this was a gift in the form of William Friedkin, coming to me, and saying, "If you find an angle, just let me know." Those were his words. I will always remember that. To me, the angle was his process as a filmmaker. So I proposed to him, "I would like to use the Hitchcock/Truffaut model of interviews. But instead of chronologically going through your entire filmography, we're going to just focus on The Exorcist. And we're going to crack it open, and we're going to break down every moment, every scene, every image, every technique. I will structure it into sessions. We're not going to talk about special effects. We're going to talk about art and music, about influences and inspirations." And his response was immediate; "This sounds great and ambitious. Let's do it. How many days do you want?" So,we started with three, and then added a fourth, and then a fifth, and then a sixth. Then, we'd have these conversations, or he'd invite me for lunch and we'd start talking about stuff. I'd be like, "What? You haven't told me about this. We need another day. Let's add another day." We could still be talking about The Exorcist, frankly. For me the real pleasure was to just let him talk. You have to find these questions that you know are going to unlock something in him. And then he'll just go, and it's astonishing the... I mean, he is a true Renaissance man.

SCREEN-SPACE: What do you know about him that maybe his fans don't know? And I don't mean personal details of course, but what have you learned about him from being a friend, that you can impart to us?

ALEXANDRE: His sense of humor is pretty extraordinary. I will never forget this one lunch we had where the entire lunch he talked about two things - Citizen Kane and Beavis and Butthead. He is obsessed with Beavis and Butthead. I hope he won't mind me saying this, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't. He had Mike Judge record his answering machine in the voice of Butthead. And he sent me a cel, like an animation cel, by Mike, of Beavis and Butthead on the couch with William Friedkin in the middle, just sitting on the couch in between them, with a Judas Priest t-shirt. Amazing stuff.

SCREEN-SPACE: The Exorcist represents a landmark moment in film history. A major studio film containing these extraordinarily shocking scenes; the notion that a studio would take those sort of risks today is incredible. That's why I consider the '70s to be like the last golden era of Hollywood movie making. From your studies and your understanding of Mr. Friedkin and the film, what's your take on its place in film history?

ALEXANDRE: It's one of those few films that became a game changer. If you adjust for inflation, it's number nine at the all time box office, which tells you something about the popularity of the film. There's nothing like it, because it's just an extraordinarily powerful piece of filmmaking, grounded in some extraordinarily bold choices. Bill says that he was really the only person who knew how to make this film, which I don't think he means in a cocky or pretentious way. I think he truly was the only one who could, as he says, see it in his mind's eye. It's just one of those films that could have been ridiculous, easily. Just as Alien could have been ridiculous. I mean, if you think about the chest burster, right? The execution of the chest burster could've completely killed the movie. And yet, it's the execution of the chest burster that really made Alien the great film that it is. It makes it completely believable. And Hitchcock with Psycho, utilising source materials that are almost unfilmable. But, comes along the right director, at the right time, who figures it out. The works are so great and so powerful, translated to the screen in such a powerful way, they transcend the medium. Whenever something like this happens in cinema, we have to cherish those moments because they're few and far between. There's a lot of great films being made, but when something like The Exorcist happens, it goes beyond being just a great movie. It's just one for the ages, as they say.

A SHUDDER Original Presentation, LEAP OF FAITH: WILLIAM FRIEDKIN ON THE EXORCIST screens Sunday November 1 at 2.00pm at Event Cinemas sites in George St Sydney, Innaloo Perth, Myer Centre Brisbane and Marion Adelaide. Full ticketing and session details can be found at the Monster Fest 2020 website.

IS TROMA'S TEMPEST REDO LLOYD KAUFMAN'S CITIZEN KANE MOMENT?

The legendary Lloyd Kaufman, the oldest ‘enfant terrible’ in showbusiness, is back, this time with an adaptation of The Bard’s The Tempest that American society didn’t know it needed. The lovable showman, still head of the underground cult giant Troma Studios after nearly 50 years, directs himself in #ShakespeareShitstorm, a brutal, brazen takedown of cancel culture, the opioid crisis, SJW influence and Big Pharma.This nakedly ambitious, garishly grotesque freakshow has found some serious festival love worldwide, and comes to Australia on October 31 as part of the 2020 Monster Fest line-up.

From his home in New York, Kaufman spoke with SCREEN-SPACE (“I'm happy if anybody pays attention to Uncle Lloyd,” he bemoans, half-seriously) about his ongoing battle to defy the mainstream, even as the U.S. slides closer to a Troma-like reality... 

SCREEN-SPACE: Why The Tempest? What link was there between Shakespeare's work and the satire you were aiming for with #ShakespeareShitstorm?

KAUFMAN: The Tempest has always been my favourite Shakespearian play. Prospero deals with magic [and] I create magic with the movies. Prospero has been banished, as I have to the deep, deep underground by the mainstream. So, I love The Tempest. I went to see it with my mommy when I was nine years old. She took me to Stratford on Avon in Connecticut and I loved it. We studied it in eighth grade at Trinity School. Saw it numerous times on stage and a lot of the movie iterations. I very much liked Derek Jarman's version, as well as the television version with Lee Remick, Roddy McDowall, Richard Burton as Caliban. It's got a monster in it and Troma's big on monsters. It's got fairies. It's very druggy. I learned about drugs at Yale. That's about all I learned. Well, I learned about Marvel Comics at Yale, too, which is why I was friends with Stan Lee for 50 years. (Pictured, above; Kaufman, left, as Prospero)

SCREEN-SPACE: You work with your Troma troop again; Doug Sakmann, Monique Dupree and Debbie Rochon all return. Are you at that stage now where they know what you're thinking, what you want as the director? What’s a Troma set like?

KAUFMAN: Well, we attract fans. Everybody who worked on #ShakespeareShitstorm was a fan. The director of photography came from California to New York and got paid about 10% of what he would usually receive. The first cameraman came in from Denmark, the production designer from Japan. People came from all over the world to do something that they believed in and to disturb the shit a little bit. My wife was one of the producers. My assistant Justin Martell convinced us to go to Albania, becoming the first American feature film to shoot in Albania. So it really was a labor of love. It was probably the most wonderful group we've ever had. People got married; people [fell in] love with each other. There's a whole family of these people now all over the world, and that's been true of the last 20 years. 

SCREEN-SPACE: Do you keep things tight when shooting? You don’t strike me as 12-take kinda director.

KAUFMAN: We took a long time rehearsing and preparing the movie. By the time we came to the set, we were pretty well prepared. We accept improvisational ideas, such as the Chinese warlord woman singing the Sergeant Kabukiman theme song with the actor who played the Evil One in Sergeant Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. And there were a couple of young guys who are obsessed with Citizen Toxie, who put on diapers and played the nightclub scene naked except for the diapers, to pay homage the Diaper Mafia in Citizen Toxie. (Pictured, right; Kaufman with his biggest star, The Toxic Avenger)

SCREEN-SPACE: It’s great seeing you back in the director’s chair, it must be said…

KAUFMAN: The late John G. Avildsen was my mentor. I learned so much from him, like trying to shoot in sequence. As you go along, if an actor becomes nasty, you get rid of him or her or it. Or you can rewrite, and blah-blah-blah. And since we can't afford to shoot with a union, we can shoot in sequence for the most part. He also suggested that it was much more satisfying to shoot with young new actors rather than famous stars. We made Cry Uncle together, which you can see on Troma Now. He turned what should be X-rated softcore into a hilarious movie. It was Paul Sorvino's first movie. With Joe, he discovered Peter Boyle and Susan Sarandon, and then Stallone in Rocky and Ralph Macchio in The Karate Kid. Every movie he did was wonderful. He never relied on big stars. #ShakespeareShitstorm is dedicated to the memory of John G. Avildsen, and Stan Lee and Monty Python’s Terry Jones, who were major, major influences on me.

SCREEN-SPACE: How do you define Troma's place in the pop culture landscape, and what responsibility does that bring with it?

KAUFMAN: Well, the first step is to thine own self be true. I bought into the auteur theory, which was founded back in the late '50s and '60s by the French journalists Jean-Luc Godard and Claude Chabrol and a couple of others, who were transitioning into filmmakers. They propounded the auteur theory, which basically suggests that films should reflect the mind, soul, and heart of the director in the way a book reflects the mind, soul and heart of the writer. I bought into that because I speak fluent French and at the Yale Film Society, they had a stack of these Cahiers du Cinéma, which was the magazine of the Cinémathèque Française, and I started reading that stuff. 

SCREEN-SPACE: Troma's has been around now since, what, the Carter administration, the Ford administration? Is American society as rich a source of satirical targets as it's ever been?

KAUFMAN: Since 1974. It's a rich source of satire, but unfortunately, other than South Park, we have free speech here as long as we don't say anything. I think to create real satire, you have to step over some lines. Look who's running for president, both of them; old lying millionaires who have used public service to enrich themselves. I think some of my fans are pissed off at me because I didn't want to #SettleForBiden. In New York State, where I vote, he will get 90% of the vote. So I just couldn't bring myself to vote for him even though he's better than Trump. I voted for the Green Party because I just couldn't bring myself to vote for the better of the two lying sleazebags. (Pictured, above; Kaufman, left with #ShakespeareShitstorm co-star, Debbie Rochon)

#SHAKESPEARESHITSTORM screens Saturday October 31 at 7.00pm at Event Cinemas sites in George St Sydney, Innaloo Perth, Myer Centre Brisbane and Marion Adelaide. Full ticket and sessions can be found at the official Monster Fest 2020 website.

PREVIEW: BEYOND FEST 2020

Unfurling a bare-knuckle middle-finger to COVID-19 on behalf of the West Coast horror community, Beyond Fest 2020 will hold tight to the physical festival experience and present an eclectic mix of retro classics and hot-buzz current titles from October 2-8. Better still, horror and sci-fi fans will relive the golden years of genre filmgoing with the line-up screening at the iconic Mission Tiki Drive-In Theatre in Montclair.

Patrons must adhere to the venue’s strict pandemic prevention conditions, of course, but organisers are certain that attendees will respect and practice all that is asked of them. The festival, which exists in partnership with American Cinematheque and Death Waltz Recording Company, has ten new features set to unspool, including three World Premieres and two US Premieres, with the program further bolstered by seven genre classics.

In a special pre-Festival event, Beyond Fest will hold the West Coast premiere of Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor Uncut (pictured, right) on September 24. Featuring a startling lead turn from Andrea Riseborough as a hitwoman who uses technology to commandeer the minds of strangers, hijacking their bodies to carry out kills, the film has already vied for Best Picture honours at L’Etrange, Sitges and Sundance festivals. It will screen in must-see double-bill with John Frankenheimer’s 1966 paranoid-cinema cult classic, Seconds, with a dynamic Rock Hudson as the Malibu artist faced with a new life and all its unforeseen consequences.

The festival proper launches with writer/director Jim Cummings’ sophomore feature, The Wolf of Snow Hollow. Having made a festival splash in 2018 with his offbeat character study, Thunder Road, Cummings stars as the small town sheriff faced with what may be an unwelcome werewolf presence. The world premiere will be followed by a repertory session of Joe Dante’s biting suburban satire The ‘Burbs, the 1989 Tom Hanks starrer that has developed a devoted cult following of its own in recent years.

October 3 will leave many festival goers dazed and confused with a David Lynch triple-bill booked to run well into the night. The fun kicks off at 7.30 with Lynch’s 1986 version of a smalltown murder mystery, Blue Velvet (pictured, right; starring Kyle McLachlan and Isabella Rossellini); from 9.30, audiences can reassess whether or not, as dubbed by BBC Culture in 2016, Mulholland Drive, with Naomi watts and Laura Harring, is the new millennium’s best film; then, from 11.55, the non-linear 1997 headscratcher classic, Lost Highway, with Bill Pullman and Patricia Arquette.

In debutant director Rose Glass’ stomach-tightening Saint Maud, carer Maud (Morfydd Clark) allows a malevolent force to dictate her nursing instincts, resulting in pure terror for the terminally ill Amanda (Jennifer Ehle). In a sublime piece of programming, Beyond Fest will screen a 30th anniversary session of that other ‘insane nurse’ classic, Rob Reiner’s 1990 Stephen King adaptation, Misery, with James Caan and the brilliant Kathy Bates in her Oscar-winning performance.

From October 5, contemporary works take centre stage. Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s long-delayed follow-up to The Endless will have it’s West Coast premiere. Synchronic features Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan (pictured, right) as paramedics who find the world around them engulfed in madness when a new designer drug starts to spread along the streets of New Orleans. Justin Simien’s razor-sharp satire Bad Hair utilises 70s/80s-inspired psycho-thriller vibes and sensibilities in its brutal indictment of the inherent violence of the Western gaze.

Debuting on US soil on October 6 are Bryan Bertino’s The Dark and The Wicked, a nightmarish homestead shocker steeped in dark family secrets, and Neil Marshall’s witchfinder torture vision, The Reckoning, featuring a stunning central performance from Charlotte Kirk. Next day is the World Premiere of Archenemy, from Daniel Isn’t Real director Adam Egypt Mortimer, a tale of an intergalactic hero (appropriately portrayed by larger-than-life Joe Manganiello) cast adrift on Earth sans powers, followed by Steven Kostanski’s Psycho Goreman, a bloody ode to prosthetic monsters, guts & gore, and practical effects.

Wrapping up Beyond Fest 2020 in true party fashion will be the World Premiere of the latest from Blumhouse, the serial killer body-switch horror-comedy Freaky (pictured, top), starring Vince Vaughan and Katherine Newton, from Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon. To sweeten the deal, entry is free with every ticket purchased to the repertory screening of the hillbilly romp, Tucker & Dale vs Evil, celebrating its 10th anniversary.

BEYOND FEST runs October 2-8 at the Mission Tiki Drive-In Theatre. Session and ticket details can be found at the festival’s official website.

NEW MUTANTS IMAGES GENERATE PRE-RELEASE BUZZ...AGAIN

Another round of enticing pics have emerged from director Joshua Boone’s long-delayed X-Men spin-off, The New Mutants, but is it too little too late?

Hot off the box office success of his 2014 YA adaptation The Fault in Our Stars, Boone and offsider Knate Lee used panels from the graphic novel by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz to pitch the project at 20th Century Fox. Principal photography began in July 2017, with an impressive cast headlined by Anja Taylor-Joy as Illyana Rasputin / Magik, a Russian mutant with sorcery powers and a purple dragon called Lockheed, and Game of Thrones’ actress Maisie Williams as Rahne Sinclair / Wolfsbane, a Scottish mutant in command of her own brand of lycanthropy.

The latest series of images suggest the ‘nightmarish fantasy’ element has been amped up. Former Fox CEO Stacey Snider told Variety that the cut she saw was, “Breakfast Club meets One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, while Boone cites the institutionalized horror of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors as a key inspiration. The April edition of special effects bible Cinefex Magazine features impressive shots of ‘Demon Bear’ towering over Taylor-Joy’s Majic and a hideous creation tagged ‘Smiley Man’.

The subject of much fan speculation and industry conjecture, The New Mutants has to date juggled planned reshoots, internal bickering over final cut rights, the Disney acquisition of 20th Century Fox and, for good measure, a global pandemic that shuttered cinemas indefinitely. So far, it has been allocated then bumped from April 13, 2018 to February 2019 to August 2019 to April 3, 2020; been cut to suit a PG-13 rating from its original R-rated vision (though some reports suggest the R version is back in place); and, watched from the sidelines as X-Men Dark Phoenix bombed, tarnishing the core brand.

With the streaming platform business booming, the seemingly cursed film has been touted as a prime candidate for a home viewing premiere. Disney were quick to signal that is always an option when they bumped Kenneth Branagh’s Artemis Fowl from a theatrical slot to the small-screen, where it premieres June 12. But a complicated contractual arrangement that dictates HBO gets current Fox product until 2022 means that Disney (or, more likely, their adult-oriented platform, Hulu) are unlikely to premiere it without a multiplex run.

Word spread overnight that the film was available for pre-order on VOD platform Amazon Prime. No release  date was confirmed, but prices suggested it would be a home-viewing premiere, with the streaming service charging US$25.99/£13.99 before the link was removed. None of the other streaming services offered a pre-order option, suggesting slippery fingers at Amazon Prime may have ‘accidentally’ gone live with the page prematurely.

Co-starring Blu Hunt (pictured, above) as Native American mutant Danielle Moonstar / Mirage, Brazilian actor Henry Zaga as solar energy manipulator Roberto da Costa / Sunspot, and Charlie Heaton as human projectile Sam Guthrie / Cannonball, The New Mutants carries with it a great deal of industry expectation. In the wake of the expensive implosion of Dark Phoenix at the international box office, Joshua Boone’s new-look X-Men adventure takes on the added responsibility of a brand reboot; a fresh take on an ageing franchise to appeal to a younger audience. The original 1980's setting was made contemporary, while series' holdovers James McAvoy, as Professor Xavier, and Alexandra Shipp, who played Storm in 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse, disappeared from key roles as new drafts of the script were developed.

The latest release date for The New Mutants has yet to be announced.

BLACK LAKE: THE K / XI INTERVIEW

Despite its old-school horror title, Black Lake is one of the most unique genre visions to emerge from the U.K. independent sector in many years. Inspired by an act of brutal sexual violence in South Delhi in 2012, it tells the story of an isolated artist who must cope with the presence of a Churail, a vengeful South Asian spirit. A work of both stunning beauty and chilling intensity, Black Lake is a remarkable achievement for writer/director/star K Pervaiz, aka K / XI, the London-based head of Bad Wolf Films, whose Pakistani heritage became central to the narrative. “I was personally invested in the film,” she told SCREEN-SPACE, ahead of her film’s World Premiere on the Women in Horror Film Festival…

SCREEN-SPACE: It has been a long journey to bring Black Lake to the screen. What has inspired you, kept you invested in the project?

K / XI: I wanted to bring a monster to the screen, one that I had not come across outside of Bollywood cinema. She appears as a beautiful seductress and killer of men, [with] long black hair, backwards feet and contorted limbs, which I have never seen on screen. I discovered a history of violence against women who did not conform to society and were raped, and or/murdered for it. These were the women that were said to come back as a Churail.

SCREEN-SPACE: The cyclical nature of violence against women is central to the story…

K / XI: My research tied in with the case of Jyoti Singh, a young woman who was coming back from the cinema on a bus and was brutally gang-raped, dying a few days later. This turned ‘Black Lake’ into a complex monster film, which not only deals with violence against women, but the cycle of violence which continues, often by the hands of the abused. Women in South-Asia rarely have an option to talk about the violence that they are subjected to. I wanted to be that voice, because at times in the past, I too had no voice. (Pictured, right and below; K / XI as Aarya in Black Lake)

SCREEN-SPACE: Why did exploring such themes within a genre/supernatural framework appeal to you? 

K / XI: What I love about horror is it can be used to call for social justice whilst also be enjoyed for being beautiful, artistic, entertaining. The violence of the Delhi bus crime affected me so deeply. I wanted to create a horror film that toned down on the violence and one was beautifully shot [but] unsettling at the same time. I wanted audiences to feel their heart racing in fear, but also not be able to look away. Attention is drawn to the ‘horror film’, but also challenges audiences to look beyond. The Churail in ‘Black Lake’ is a supernatural product of violence against women, and this origin story of sorts worked well with the themes of the film.

SCREEN-SPACE: In ‘Aarya’, you take on the complexities of an artist seeking inspiration, a woman of South Asian heritage and a family member struggling with the ties that bind…

K / XI: I have always been told to write what you know, and I am all those things. I had never seen anyone like me on screen so rather than focusing on differences, I wanted to capture everyday moments of my character Aarya, to make her relatable; eating cereal, drinking coffee, working out and watching a movie. ‘Black Lake’ relies on Aarya being a character that people can hopefully look up to because she is independent, strong willed, takes risks and doesn’t spook easily.

Aarya the artist had to be strong yet sensitive, to allow her to be open to experiences. The painting scenes were some of the toughest moments in terms of performance because they were wild, intimate and ritualistic. As audiences we so often see anger portrayed in films that deal with violence against women, and I really wanted to show the other side of that, which is reflection, understanding and transformation. (Pictured, above; K / XI, right, with co-producer Sei-Kai Leung) 

SCREEN-SPACE: You made the decision to reshoot much of the movie, a production that had already tapped you creatively and financially. Tell us about the struggle that lead to that moment...

K / XI: Black Lake was going to be shot entirely in Pakistan. When I got there, my cast and crew dropped out because they were terrified of the concept of the Churail. Spooky things had happened the last time I filmed there. I filmed a prologue in a village near Makhli Necropolis, where I had met a young beggar girl called Naseema (pictured, left). We started paying the villagers, but local authorities would turn up with guns and take the money, putting the villagers at risk. I decided to make do with the footage I had.

Back in London, I amended the script, put another team together and took the production to an isolated house in Scotland, but things did not go to plan. We lost our lead actress a month before the shoot. The cast and crew were not connected to the story; I was told by one crewmember that I wasn’t Hitchcock or Kubrick and that I should hurry things along. We got the whole film shot, entirely self-financed; I remember crying on the last day, alone by the lake, because a traumatic story now felt more painful. I edited the film, but all I felt was the negative energy.

I was in such a dark place. The story was too important to let go and needed nurturing. I made the tough decision to act the lead, despite being camera shy; after all, I knew Aarya better than anyone. I replaced the crew with people who were focused on seeing the film right through to the end.

SCREEN-SPACE: The music plays such an integral part of Black Lake. What direction did you give BurningTapes to achieve the beautiful soundscape? 

K / XI: I know exactly what I want, but I am always open to innovative ideas people bring. When I first sent the movie over to Darren [Page] of BurningTapes, I had music in place for key scenes to explain the emotions I wanted conveyed. We both loved certain horror movies, so when I would make a reference and say ‘I’d like more of that feeling’ or ‘more worms’, he would know what I meant. That was really special. I would listen to [their] score with my eyes closed and if my body responded, [with] a tear or if my hairs stood on end, I knew it was perfect. We released the score on limited edition vinyl a year ago and sold out in a day! It was important to me that people heard the sounds of the Churail before they saw the movie. That was my way of giving her a voice and allowing her to be heard. I could also finally sleep with the light off.

BLACK LAKE will have its World Premiere at Women in Horror Film Festival, Marietta, Georgia on February 28. Check the official event website for ticket and session information.