BadRonald Wants a Date with American Mary

Finally! Your summer just got bloody better. Here it is, folks -- the first trailer for the fabulous Soska Sister's AMERICAN MARY.  Be afraid.  Be fucking afraid!

BadRonald Interview with Evalena Marie: Watch Those Eyes!

The first thing you notice about Evalena Marie is her eyes. Wide and bright, and telling a story.  They grow big with fear, and then smolder with fire.  Just a glimpse from her and your imagination runs wild.  

The second thing you notice is that she can kick your ass!  Holy crap is this girl rock solid killer!!!  She's Joan Jett, all leathered up and raging with hot punk grrl angst.  She's Milla Jovovich, sleek and long and battle tested.  She's Audry Hepburn sweet and smart.  She's Rooney Mara, recondite, and quiet beauty. She's the whole deal. 

Born and raised in the Puget Sound area of Washington State, Evalena had no aspirations for the acting life.  It was while studying architecture in Boston that she happened on fashion photographer Kim Kennedy and became the subject for his work.  Once in front of his camera, she began to fall in love with performing.  Her modeling quickly led her to her first acting role in Kevin James Barry's femme fatale feature Serena and the RATTS.  In 2010, she was awarded BEST ACTRESS at the Los Angeles Cinema Festival of Hollywood for her role as Desiree in the short film Asleep in Child's Park.  Since then, Evalena has been busy acting, producing, and writing.  Her most recent role as Tori in the film adaptation of Steve Niles' (30 Days of Night) graphic novel Remains is on the Chiller channel.   

Evalena has enjoyed playing many unusual characters, and with several exciting projects in development for 2012, Evalena is looking forward to even more challenging roles. I know I'm keeping an eye out for her.

BadRonald:  You can now be seen in Steve Niles' Remains on Chiller TV, and you are featured in a number of other genre films this past year, including Exhumed, with Debbie Rochon.  Are you a horror fan?  And what is it about horror you enjoy?

Evalena Marie:  I am a horror fan.  I am a sci-fi fan.  I am an action fan.  Fantasy, comedy, drama, romance, I'm just a movie fan period.  I love a great story and a fun ride, and I love getting that from a horror film because the characters and the circumstances are usually intense and visceral, and I just happen to really enjoy playing those types of characters in those types of extreme circumstances.  I love imaginative people doing their thing, finessing their craft, and the horror genre in an excellent playground for them to dream bigger and really flex their muscles.  Everyone gets to work together to create something maybe only previously known in dreams.  And of course, if doesn't hurt that I happen to love chainsaws and shotguns and prosthetic skin!

BadRonald:  Whatever role you're playing, you have this vulnerability about you.  Of course it works well when you play a victim or a troubled soul, but it's most impressive when you're the tough tomboy ass-kicker.  Your performance in Serena and the RATTS, reminded me of what was so great in the performances in Le Femme Nikita, Run Lola Run, and the Lisbeth Salander movies.  Where does that vulnerability, juxtaposed with guts come from?

Evalena Marie:  First of all, wow.  Thank you for even mentioning me in the same sentence with those films.  That juxtaposition that comes through successfully is the result of a beautiful collaborative partnership between myself and a brilliant director, whether it be a photo shoot or a feature film.  It's that relationship between myself and my director that provides me sanctuary to approach and balance on the ledge with knowing I won't fall.  It's kind of like being able to fly while Superman is holding you up!

BadRonald:  You've now taken a role as producer.  What did you see in Serena and the RATTS that attracted you to the role, and how did you use your position as producer to pull it all together?

Evalena Marie:  Being a producer kind of just happened, but then again, so did being an actress.  I met Kevin James Barry (writer and director of Serena and the RATTS) on my first gig ever, playing a background concentration camp prisoner in Shutter Island just for fun.  He was a film student at the time, and thought it would be fun to make a skinheads short since he now had access to all these bald people, and he asked me if I wanted in on it.  Now, at the time I was studying architecture and had zero interest in acting, and was actually mortified by being on camera, but I would have agreed to anything to get to see him again, so I said sure!  We were waiting for the red line at South Station when he remembered his little script he had on the back burner, Serena.  We did some tests where he put me on camera in character, and then he offered me the role.  My first role, my dream role.  And producing the movie together was just a result of our partnership.  I promised him we would finish the movie, and producing the movie alongside him was the best way to ensure I kept that promise.  I never expected to fall in love with acting or producing but here I am, not able to imagine my life without it.


BadRonald:  Your modeling work stands out, as well.  There are a couple pieces that are very striking.  The first is a photo I've come across online with you in a punk role, your head is shaved (by the way, you look amazing bald!), and with those big beautiful eyes just sort of staring back into the lens.  What's going on in that photo?

Evalena Marie:  I know the exact photo you're talking about, it's one of my favorites.  I loved being bald, so it's great that it actually worked since I plan to do it again as soon as I can.  The photographer Peter Martin and I had ventured out into the streets of Boston that day, spring was just starting to take its first breath of the season, and as we lost the sun that day, we ended up in a dark back alley somewhere in Beacon Hill.  I crouched down against that coarse brick wall and just soaked in my environment.  The atmosphere is the real star of that photo, it was so thick and undeniable.  I just ingested it and made it everything I was for that moment.  And that's what you see in the photo.


BadRonald:  And the other is the rooftop photos with photographer Jackie Puwalski... there's some wild sci fi action girl costumes going on.  You have this feminine strength that breaks through, and it's not just from the sexiness of you and the wardrobe.  Many models demure to the camera, to try to seduce the viewer, but your shots are different.  There's a lot more going on.  You command attention from sheer will and strength, and your state of undress is as much a part of the wardrobe as the clothing.  You have a great confidence that comes through in these photos that's very engaging.  It seems to come natural to you.  How important is it to you to portray strength -- physical and emotional -- in your characters (whether in modeling or acting).

Evalena Marie:  I think strength comes in many forms and it is just compelling and engaging no matter how you serve it, so I believe strength is a crucial component for creating a fascinating and captivating character.  When I'm in the front of the camera (still or movie), the farthest things from my mind are trying to seduce or be pretty for the camera.  I mean, when I look in the mirror, I don't see pretty.  I see the same face I see every day; the same doofy, awkward girl I've always seen.  So when I'm on set, I'm just having a blast playing pretend.  I'm a super hero!  Or I'm a monster!  Or whatever sounds like fun at the time, just like playing Dungeons and Dragons or writing my stories.  I've always loved making new characters, long before I ever took on a role in a movie.  So that is still my favorite part. 


BadRonald:  What, to you, defines strength in a woman?

Evalena Marie:  My confidence in my imagination and my willing surrender of inhibition is where my strength in front of the camera comes from.  However, strength might just be one of those things that cannot be tamed with a definition.  I don't know that it has boundaries and defined edges, I think it may be more of a fluid concept that will be different in every woman.  But maybe the common denominator you can anticipate would be confidence.  Confidence in whatever form.  Maybe she's confident of her sense of humor, and that gives her strength.  Maybe she's confident in her kindness, and that gives her strength.  I'd like to think that once you achieve true confidence, it cannot be taken away from you (a goal I'm still working to achieve myself!).

BadRonald:  What are the films and art and artist that influenced you when you were young.  And who and what still make an impact?

Evalena Marie:  Most of my early artistic influences are actually musicians.  Harry Connick, Jr. is a huge influence.  Fiona Apple.  Stevie Wonder.  Otis Redding.  Without them I don't even want to think about how numb I would be to all the beauty that surrounds me.  Since falling in love with acting, two of my influences are Gary Oldman and Daniel Day Lewis.  Holy cow, if I ever become half the actors they are, I will blow my own mind.  My goal is someday to be completely unrecognizable in a role, that my own mother wouldn't even be able to see me.  But that's a long road ahead of me.  Got a lot of hard work to get to that point, and I cannot wait for the challenges that will help me grow to that level. 

The most influential person in my life, however, is not an actor or a filmmaker, but an artist of capturing moments of inconceivable beauty.  A photographer named Kim Kennedy.  Meeting Kim was a life long gift.  In front of Kim's camera, I felt beautiful in front of a lens for the first time.  And not because I felt pretty on the outside, but because he had the magical talent of really seeing me, making it safe for me to come out of my shell, and capturing that moment of emergence from deep underground.  Not only a huge source of inspiration and drive in my life, he was also a dear friend and creative partner.  Last May, he passed away from Lymphoma.  With an unmatched zest for life, he loved diving in the ocean, and wanted the Atlantic to be his final resting place.  Before we laid him to rest, I made a final promise to him that I would help him take care of his girls so he could enjoy the ride.  His best friend Tom Clancy set up a charity in his name, Everybody's Brother, to benefit his beautiful wife Marina and daughter Misha.  Anyone reading this can join me in helping him take care of his girls, helping me keep my promise to him, by making any amount of donation to www.everybodysbrother.com.  100% of the donations go straight to Marina and Misha and no donation is too small to make a difference.  Thank you, guys.


BadRonald:  You've made an impact in horror and genre films.  How do you see the role of women in horror and genre films growing, and what would you, as a producer and creator, like to do, or see done?

Evalena Marie:  I've had a lot of conversations with my friend and film director Mike Pecci about this actually.  We've talked about what we want to see in the modern heroine.  As a movie goer, actress, writer and producer, I look forward to seeing and portraying more female characters that are heroic without trying to be men.  There's certainly a charm to seeing a masculine chick kicking ass and taking names, but I'm really looking forward to seeing more roles where a woman is kicking ass and taking names as a woman; where the femininity is not only still intact but also remains valuable.

A BAD RONALD EXCLUSIVE

Evalena did a huge kindness for me by lending me some exclusive photographs from her latest photo shoot with Daniel Rosenthal.  If you thought you were having a good time on Oscar night, check out the wild time Evalena was having at the Beverly Hills Hilton... So nice.  So cool.  So smokin'.

Photography credit: Daniel Rosenthal

Makeup and hair credit: Keri Anne Shea

Cinematography credit: Kevin James Barry

Some behind the scenes footage of Evalena Marie's latest photo shoot!

EVALENA MARIE Oscar Night at the Beverly Hilton from Evalena Website on Vimeo.

If'n you're loving these photos as much as I know you are, here are some links to find out more about Evalena and about the fine work she'd done:

www.evalenamarie.com
www.horroblepictures.com
www.yellowlinephotography.com
www.kerishea.com

BadRonald Celebrates Nicole Kruex for Women in Horror Month

Continuing in my WiHM celebration, I hooked up with Nicole Kruex and got her take on what it's like to be a woman in the horror scene.  I was pleased to find out that we had so much in common... Like I had, she grew up worshipping the genre idols of the day, while also enjoying the more goody goody child friendly fare  Her juxtaposing tastes would later guide her through her burgeoning career in front of the camera... and now behind the camera.

Nicole put her time in on low budget horror and genre gigs, where her body may have been more prominent than her other, developing talents.  She had her own understanding that she would pay her dues to get a foothold in the biz... and then, with the knowledge she'd acquired on the job, and the relationships she built in the Minnesota horror and film scene, she started developing projects under Triwar Films and Deadtime Productions.

BadRonald:   You've been featured in a number of films, as an actress, but now you're also producing and writing?

Nicole Kruex:   Certainly!!  Acting is my first love and will always be my goal, but stability in acting is fleeting and often unless you have great contacts or are born into the craft, you have to make your own future.  One of the best ways to do that is to become a producer/writer.  In some ways it seems very narcissistic to be the facilitator to your own future. But then how else are you as a creative able to work your way into bigger and better projects?  I love producing, though.  I love being on set and standing behind the camera just as much as in front of it.  It a great opportunity to learn things from all angles and gives me greater understanding of things I need to do as an actor.  Currently I've produced several projects, one I can link to is a 3 min short entitled, 'The Initiation' directed by Mitchel A. Jones (see below).  That film was fun.. It unfortunately had to be 3 mins, and feels too fast paced to me?  But we are working on a longer cut in our down time. As you can see in the credits, I also edit and run camera, and soon --  Direct!

BadRonald:  The role of women in horror is ever changing. What are your views on the role of women in horror? And how do you envision women excelling in the field?

Nicole Kruex:  I hope more women take a business savvy course and more production roles.  Acting is the great platform for ego and narcissism and as of late seems less about the craft then about how many films one can pile under their belts and how many half nude pictures they can pile onto facebook. There is nothing wrong with that!  But I'd love to see women change the portrayal of what we are in context of a story.  Leave the porn to the porn stars and really learn how to act.  Demand quality from the productions they attach themselves to and help to raise the bar on what gets produced.

But some are so desperate to just "get a role" we agree to anything from anyone...  Instead, enter a $200 flip phone, iMovie editing, and a script written by a boob obsessed 12 year old.

BadRonald:  Who are your influences, and what films inspire in you in your work?

Nicole Kruex:  Oh gosh, Guy Ritchie, Danny Boyle, Christopher Nolan, J.A. Bayona, Guillermo del Toro, Stanley Kubrick, Roman Polanski, and Neil Marshall are some of my favorite directors.  Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Cate Blanchett, Audrey Hepburn, Alan Rickman, Geoffrey Rush... I love horror desperately!  But I'm influenced by the incredible careers of those I consider some of the best in the acting business.  I've found it difficult to find an influence in acting that is strictly horror... but maybe there is a reason for that.  I think the best shoot higher then just horror, but hundreds of them got their start there... look at Jamie Lee Curtis!

As for films, in the horror genre I am most inspired by films with a clever edge or a rawness that translates into something more then "Five teenagers go into the woods".  28 Days Later, The Orphanage, The Descent, The Shining, Rosemary's Baby, The Omen, Poltergeist.  Movies with incredible stories and incredible cinematography.  Movies that create a world for you to disappear into with details you may not catch on the first or second watch.  A lot of films don't reach that pinnacle today because they are too interested in body count, twist endings, found footage, boobs, blood, and gimmicks.  Give me Hitchcock and real people over GQ drunken frat boys "actors" and loose porn star "actresses" any day.

BadRonald:  You had started your acting career taking parts where your body was exploited more than your creative talents.  But then you made the decision to take a vested interest in the business and art of the genre, with writing and producing. How did you balance the two, presenting an image that will attract, while taking control and producing and creating?

Nicole Kruex:  Well, the first step for me was picking and choosing roles and films that made sense for who I want to become. I've made mistakes just to get in the game and quickly realized that wasn't who I wanted to be or how I wanted women to be viewed. I have great respect for doing what it takes... but being smart about it. A lot of girls fall into stripping naked for films with no future. The guy with camera, and zero budget, and no plan beyond getting a pile of girls naked and covered in blood idea... problem is if you really want to be Jamie Lee Curtis, you have to look further then that,.  You have to work, fight for better roles, and do your research on what is going to push you forward vs. hold you back. For me, that meant seeking out things bigger then myself and learning what I needed to do to get there. The balance comes in deciding what was really sexy and what was just slutty.

BadRonald:  I liked the humor and commentary of the "Arrested After a Girl Fight" pics on your FB page. What was that all about?

Nicole Kruex:  Honestly? I was having a bad day... but I turned it into a positive thing by finding some humor in my sadness. It became a fun photo shoot.. but in truth, those were real tears.

BadRonald:  Like me, you grew up with horror stars as your idols.  Stars like Robert Englund and Doug Bradley.  And you loved films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  But also, you were equally fascinated with the sweeter side of film, enjoying the films of Shirley Temple, Audry Hepburn and Great Garbo. I'm the same way in that I really love performers with sort of duel personalities -- balancing darkness and light. I love Johnny Cash for his soul, but also his demons. I loved Burl Ives and Andy Griffith for their child friendly work, but also the twisted turns they gave in movies. Also Jimmy Stewart.  Do you also enjoy those dark shadow you see in the "goody" entertainers?

 Nicole Kruex:  Absolutely! As an entertainer you can't be just one thing... All actors have just as much light as they do demons, it's those demons that cause the changes in attitude needed to give a realistic performance on camera.

BadRonald:  Thank you Nicole.  Best of luck on all your projects.

Nicole Kruex:  Thank you BadRonald!!  

Check out more on Discursion here.

BadRonald Celebrates Polly Frost ~ Women in Horror Month

Polly Frost is a humorist and an accomplished writer of fiction, radio and plays. Her work has been published in major places like The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and she has had collections of stories published in book format.  I celebrate Polly Frost as an artist of words for all the great work she's done, but this being Women in Horror Recognition Month, I wanted to bring her to your attention for her amazing work she's done in horror.  Her book "Deep Inside," a collection of short erotic horror, has been a much buzzed about sensation amongst genre fans, not only for Frost's tremendous wit and satire, but for the depths she goes to challenge and flirt with your mind.

I had the opportunity to chat with Polly about her love of horror, and about the role and portrayal of women in genre films.  Please enjoy!

BadRonald: For me, horror blipped on my radar when I was very young. I was maybe six years old when I first watched Dark Shadows on TV. Then it was a long string of Vincent Price movies. When did you have the first inkling that you liked horror?

Polly Frost: You were six years old! -- very similar to my experience. I was a little younger than that when I first got hooked on horror movies. I was four. Part of my early love of horror comes, I think, from being a Scorpio. I don't mean this in any astrological way, but having my birthday so near to Halloween made me feel a kinship to the horror genre.

The 1941 version of The Wolfman with Lon Chaney, Jr. was the first horror movie I saw. Of course, Chaney was one of the greatest horror actors, because he could elicit your sympathy and terrify you all at the same time. And he really got to me! I would squeal and jump up, hide behind the sofa, and then just have to peek around it and watch some more. Chaney was the perfect actor to lure me into horror.

BadRonald: When I became interested in horror, I have to admit that the attraction was slightly fueled by sex. I was clearly too young to understand much of what was going on, but I remember that horror movies and books were where the racy topics were. Where did you first tie horror and erotica together?

Polly Frost: I came from a Catholic background. So when I got interested in horror, the attraction was VERY fueled by sex. You can't spend time in the Catholic Church without seeing the connection between horror and sex! I mean, if you even think about masturbation you're going to go to Hell. So how can you not think about masturbation and about being in Hell at the same time? How can you not picture demons swirling around you the moment you become aroused for the first time? Plus, if you even think about sex and that means you're damned, why not just party with those demons?

Also, I was raised during a period (the 1960's) when sex was touted as free and good for everyone to do with everyone else, preferably at the same time while doing drugs. However, what most of us came to realize in the 1960's was that if you took the lid off the id of people, you also might be unleashing their dark side. Charles Manson, anyone?

I wrote a collection of erotic horror stories, "DeepInside" that was published by Tor in 2007. When I wrote those stories, I told myself I had to feel two very honest things: arousal and terror. I promised myself I wouldn't write them unless I was honest about the powerful conflict of those two feelings.

BadRonald: I'm very excited to see that women have gained a voice in horror and other genre films. American horror had gotten very typical, until fresh voices -- some of them women -- started reinventing and twisting the genre around. How do you see the role of women in horror today?

Polly Frost: First, I have to say that I love seeing women get involved with horror on any level! Whether it's as an actress or a director, whether on stage, in movies or in books. We talk about the importance of having female directors doing horror now, but let's not forget the horror actresses who lent their spirits, their bodies and their souls to the horror movies of the past: Edwige Fenech, Isabelle Adjani, Camille Keaton, Catherine Deneuve, Felissa Rose, Jessica Harper, Julie Strain, Zoe Tamerlis -- to name but a few.

These actresses were fearless in the extreme ways they got into their characters. Why could they do that? Was it because they were fighting against the macho male directors of that time? Was Susan George's extraordinary performance in Straw Dogs better because she was dealing with Sam Peckinpah? (To me, Straw Dogs is one of those thrillers that overlaps with horror.) Would she have given that same performance had she been working with an understanding and feminist female director?

Here’s how I see what the role of women in horror today should be: continuing that tradition, being proud of it. Not to negate it or to say that these actresses were being objectified by the male directors of the 1970's, but to say, yeah! Those actresses rocked. Now that women are directing more horror movies, they should be taking that tradition and making it even more powerful. I hope women won't be taking horror movies in too sex-positive a direction!

BadRonald:  Many male directors use a false "empowerment" in revenge movies (like the I Spit on Your Grave remake) to further objectify women, while others (like the films of Gasper Noe and Adrian Garcia Bolgliano) do well at examining social issues through their "victims." How do you see sexuality as empowerment in today's horror movies?

Polly Frost: I hated the remake of I Spit on Your Grave. But I don't think that male directors today only err by using "false empowerment" for the arcs of their female characters -- I think they often do even worse by their male characters because they give them false DISempowerment.

I mean, come on -- none of the directors of movies like the remake of I Spit on Your Grave or Wolf Creek would behave the way their male characters do. If they did, they'd never get a film made! Do you believe the men OR the women if these movies? I certainly don't. And there's no real tension between the characters.

Besides, one thing that makes horror a great genre is that you can satirize so many things. One of the stories in my book "Deep Inside" is called "The Dominatrix Has a Career Crisis." I felt very free to write a story that satirized the entitled-to-the-point-of-sociopathology upbringing of many young women I've seen today. If a guy had written that story -- OMG, he would have been slaughtered! But I could write it and get away with it.

I think that's what women can -- and should bring -- to the genre today. They shouldn't engage in what you rightly call the "false" empowerment b.s. of today's male directors. They should delve into the truly dark side of women.

BadRonald: Overall, how do you see the role of women in horror changing, both behind the camera, and in front?

Polly Frost: One thing I'm thrilled to see is how many young women love horror. This was not the case when I was growing up. If I told my female classmates at college that I loved slasher movies, they acted as though I'd just said I was condoning, I don't know, some despicable act of violence. Whereas I saw these movies being honest about the tensions between the sexes at that time. Besides: hey people, it's fantasy.

Today? I love talking to SOME young women today -- the ones who've moved beyond the feminist stance of the 70's through 90's to embracing the power of the horror genre. And let me mention some guys I've worked with: the actor Jake Thomas, Geno McGahee, the director Matt Lambert (with whom I co-produced the horror-sex-sci-fi webseries The Fold), and the filmmaker Paul Busetti. They're part of a new generation of young guy creators who genuinely get off on exhibitions of female power while never losing touch with their own male rowdiness. I love that.

BadRonald Who are some of the female voices in the world of horror that you find interesting (past and present)?

Polly Frost: I absolutely adore Debbie Rochon. She's not just an amazing actress in Lloyd Kaufman movies like Tromeo and Juliet and in loads of low-budget horror movies, she writes on horror, she goes to conventions, she's a fun and generous presence on Facebook -- she's incredible. More artists should be as feisty and accessible as she is. There's an actress in New York City I adore: Jillaine Gill, who does these incredibly bizarre and yet very real horror-themed one woman shows (often in collaboration with her brother, Sean Gill). I love that actress in Takashi Miike's movie, Audition, Miyuki Matsuda, who gave us that terrifying portrayal of mousy love. And I will always revere Anne Rice for her Beauty books, which are essential horror erotica.

Thank you Polly!! 

To find Polly's books, go here.

And also check out her website: pollyfrost.com

BAD RONALD INTERVIEW with Adrian Garcia Bogliano

Watch Him Go!

All in a day's work!

If you haven't seen an Adrian Garcia Bogliano flick, please be advised to do so -- immediately!  He, along with his filmmaking team at Paura Flics, has been a bloody force in the Argentine horror film world, as well as on the International scene.  With films like 36 Pasos (36 Steps), and No moriré sola (I'll Never Die Alone), Bogliano has explored the dark side of humanity with the sexuality and violence of films like I Spit on Your Grave, and Dressed to Kill, and the style and finesse of Tarantino and Peckinpah.   

His films are fast and furious as they are paced and methodical.  They are full of gorgeous eye candy, but harbor a scathing intellect that challenges the viewer to think beyond all the blood, mayhem and sex.  I'm hoping that one day soon, Bogliano will get the recognition in the States that he deserves.  Adrian did me a kindness and took some questions from me.  read 'em, and then go find his flicks and devour 'em!

This isn't gonna end right

     ________________________ 

Bad Ronald:  Who are the filmmakers who influenced you?

Adrián García Bogliano:  I started thinking of being a filmmaker after I saw Dust Devil when I was thirteen years old, so I guess Richard Stanley is one of the biggest influences. Later on, Quentin Tarantino, Shinya Tsukamoto, Nicolas Roeg, Brian de Palma, Peter Medak, Tinto Brass... but I like to keep watching films and finding new sources of inspiration.

I'm really glad that I'm a film lover that keeps watching movies every day and even so, I keep finding amazing films that really shake me deeply. When I was a kid I felt affected by very different types of films, from very violent ones like Spanish rape and revenge Coto de Caza or Class of 1984 to the creepy and yet not violent at all Picnic at Hanging Rock. Later, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Tokyo Fist, The Blair Witch Project, I stand alone, Gummo and more recently I discovered films like Unhinged, or Bo Arne Vibenius' Breaking Point... things that keep me in awe.

BR:  Had you always been a horror fan?

AGB:  Yes, all my life. I grew up -like I guess most directors of my generation- watching this brutal horrors of the seventies and eighties on double and triple features on the cinemas and on VHS. It was an amazing moment, I think. The decision of making horror films started with my love for the genre but also had a lot of relation with the lack of production of horror films in Argentina.

BR:  Your films are very much driven by character. The action is always very intense because it’s motivated by how your characters react to the situations they are in, or find themselves in. Most horror (American horror that is) these days is more about trying to invent some kind of clever situation and forcing the characters and plot to fall into place. Can you tell me about your storytelling style?

This IS gonna end right

AGB:  I think it depends on the type of movie you want to make. When I was a teenager I made a torture porn, a fake sort of snuff film and it helped me to realize what I don't like of horror films. I don't care if the ending is going to be happy or sad, but I do care whether the characters are going to have a chance to do things or if they are going to be just puppets that bleed and scream. I think the only film I love where characters are there without any chance of doing anything, and are there just to suffer is the original Funny Games. But obviously it's something Haneke was trying to tell through that horror, and the actors are so good that you not only feel pity but you actually like them... 

And the problem is, for me, that if you don't like the characters, and you are just using them to get killed in a funny way, the film is not going to work. And I also love to have good villains that have even stronger motivations than the good guys. Probably the only film where they don't show their motivations is in I'll never die alone, because I had an idea of why they were doing that, but I wanted to show them as a bunch of beasts. Even so, in that film nobody explains much of themselves.

BR:  The horror genre (and similar genres) has always been a place where social and political undertones (and overtones) have lurked about – whether intentional or otherwise. Your films, as far as I’ve gleaned, certainly have a great deal of social commentary. Is this your intent? If so: Do you start out with a purpose, or does the message come out with the development?

AGB:  I don't think a film can work if it's just an excuse to make a political or social statement. You got to have good characters and a strong plot. I believe a lot in what Stephen King says that you should write first without giving it a lot of thinking and then read it and re write it trying to understand what the material is about. Obviously if you are a person that cares about things that happen around you, that will be reflected in your material.. After I have a structure I try to think what the story is REALLY about, what is lying underneath. And once you find it, I think that you are saved, because it's actually like a life saver that will help you through the rest of the process. That's something that will help you define behaviors and situations because you will know what the film is about. So, yes, it's intentional but after I find an idea that I really like.

BR:  One of the strongest commentaries I see in your films is with your portrayal of women. In 36 Pasos, the females are sexy as hell, and flaunting it. In I Will Never Die Alone, one of the rape victim becomes very sexually charged – or empowered, as we like to say in the U.S. – once she has taken control of her fate. What are the views you have of female characters in your stories?

AGB:  My first four films were lead by female characters and it's something I'm very proud of. In every film I intend something different with female characters. In my first film, Rooms for Tourists, I tried to talk about the repression of female sexuality and the taboo of abortion; in the second, Scream at Night, I explored the relations of teens and the burden of growing up; in 36 Pasos I was talking about the role models of the perfect woman that society tries to establish and I also tried to take women out of the victim role and put women as the worst enemy of women; on IWNDA finally I was trying to explore the brutality of sexual aggression, the "macho" society that we live in and trying to give it a twist, that for me was like giving female victims a chance to do something that doesn't happen in real life, that is not only having a payback but, as you say, actually doing it with a charge of sexuality.

Every once in a while someone calls me misogynist, but I'm used to it because it happens a lot that horror films are misunderstood or overlooked, even by filmmakers that very often think that nudity or sexuality implies exploitation, a concept that bores me to death. To me there is also a very important element that relates female -sexuality, maternity, beauty- as opposite to death, a contrast that I really like to have in my films.

BR:  In horror, the women are usually portrayed pretty much as stereotypes or archetypes: the heroine, the bitch, the slut, the wallflower, etc… But in the mainstream, they make sure that we are attracted to all of them, even the ones whose character is less than desirable. In your films, you’re not afraid to make a female character undesirable, even after they’ve become a victim of a horrible crime. Some are indifferent, some are struggling, yet they all react differently -- sometimes very unexpectedly -- to being a victim. To me, this makes your storytelling very honest and genuine, as opposed to an eye candy fantasy movies out of the U.S.

A stellar cast!

AGB:  I started working with stereotypes in my first film, but after I finished it I realized that I committed a lot of mistakes and one of them was trying to make characters act in a straight line all the film -as stereotypes that is. Involving more the actresses in the process was crucial. I learned that in my second film, that was a breaking point, because all of it was improvisation. But to me the genuine part might be liking the characters, finding some beauty in all of them.

BR:  In I Will Never Die Alone one of the young women reacts to her assault by becoming... I don’t want to say sexualized, but I couldn’t find the proper term. In America, they like to call it “female empowerment.” [Sort of a silly term for using female sexuality for strength, since the term is used widely to reach out to teen and tween girls, more than adults.] But, when the one character turns from withdrawn to ripping her clothing to expose her midriff, it becomes a visual metaphor for her strength. This sudden awareness of her sexuality seems to give her the will to overpower her male tormentors. In the original I Spit on Your Grave, the victim uses her sexuality to entice the men into her trap. But, in your movie, the young woman uses her sexuality as almost a super power.. What was your thought process when conceptualizing this character. And how did you relay that to your actress?

Is this the line for the Bogliano flick?

AGB:  That's really interesting... I was thinking in animals, and lot of people told me I shouldn't compare rapists with animals because animals act for a reason: fear, hunger, territory, domination or whatever. But the truth is I was thinking about that, because to me the metaphor was the barb wire. This girls are much more intelligent than this guys but to communicate with them, they can't speak, they have to communicate in the only language that they will understand, which is the violence. 

The first image that I worked on for a poster of the film was this girl that you are talking about with the arms extended holding a barb wire in front her chest that shows her only wearing a bra. And it was a risk and not too many people understood the moment that she starts to make this noises and starts to laugh like crazy. I tried to keep the film very quiet, with very little screams all the time and with characters showing their emotions in the less explosive way until that point. And to me the thing is she acts like an animal in front of another animal. It's more like a noise of an animal what she does. And for the sexual part, exactly, is more of the sexuality of an animal that a sexy thing. I love I Spit on Your Grave but I tried to avoid as much as possible the "sexy" element in this movie. Sick as I Spit on Your Grave is, I think that it has something of male sexual fantasy lying very underneath and I think most rape and revenge films had it. And I wanted to avoid the sexy element by any mean necessary. What I do think is that, there is a beauty in those two girls regaining their dignity at the end.

Day of the women

BR:  I sometimes see the way you portray your women as similar to the way Hitchcock did. They are always quite beautiful, but they are put through brutal situations… and they don’t always act so beautifully.

AGB:  Just like in life... We, men, like to think of women -and mostly good looking women- with an aura, that kind of slow motion and bright lightning of commercials. If you think about that is stupid, but that's the way it is. And we tend to portray women doing "women stuff" whatever that means. I always felt fascinated with portraying female characters but I try to give them whenever is possible as much complexity as I can. I always think of what David Mamet says that male writers should try to write female parts as if they were to be played by males. I never tried that, but I guess he is right.

BR:  Thanks for talking with me, Adrian.  Looking forward to more of your work.

AGB:  I really liked your thoughts about the films, man! Thanks a lot.