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.

LARRY VAN DUYNHOVEN AND THE GUTS IT TAKES TO MAKE HORROR GREAT AGAIN

You would not know it by looking at his normal-in-every-way Aussie male exterior, but Larry Van Duynhoven creates movie moments that remain seared in your memory. From the infamous head drilling in Sean Byrne’s The Loved Ones to the battlefield carnage of Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge to the man-machine mayhem of Leigh Whannell’s Upgrade, the special effects make-up and prosthetic wizardry of Van Duynhoven is legendary, both in the Australian production sector and to horror fans the world over.

His latest masterwork can be seen in The Furies, director Tony D’Aquino’s all-or-nothing homage to the stark, splattery slasher pics of the 70s (notably, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and the 80s (Friday the 13^th, et al). Following the film’s recent screening at Fangoria x Monster Fest in Melbourne (where it won Best Australian Film), Larry Van Duynhaven spoke with SCREEN-SPACE’s Simon Foster before an enthralled crowd about creating horrible, beautiful viscera for your viewing pleasure…

VAN DUYNHOVEN: “When Tony came to Melb and we started talking about it, one of the first things I said to him was, “Can we get an R-rating?” And he said, “Sure, why not?” And I was frank, letting him know that so many horror films have been made over the last few years that don’t really hit a mark. I wanted to go a bit more crazy with the gore, otherwise we were only going to get three people in the cinema – you, and the producer and the projectionist. I told him, “Don’t think about Australia, think about the world” and he agreed and we kind of got on straight away.”

VAN DUYNHOVEN: “It was a $1.5million film, which is not a lot of money, but it forced us to really go for practical effects. And that was good for me. These days, you’re on-set a lot, and there’s a lot of just (overseeing) the CGI, that attitude of ‘We’ll put a bullet wound in later.’ There’s so much green everywhere, it’s just taken over. So, yeah, we got to do pretty much all of it practical, with just a couple of CG shots to clean things up later.”

VAN DUYNHOVEN:  “I don’t normally get to blow up heads myself. We make it, give it to the special effects guy who then get to put their explosives in, do all that fun stuff. But there was no affording that on this budget, so we had to build the rigs. So me and my team got to do almost everything, which was nerve-wracking. I had another effects make-up artist called Sheldon Wade and a young assistant Rachel Scane on-set, so it was just the three of us, plus Helen Magaleki doing make-up and hair, who helped us a lot. It was a bit crazy, but a lot of fun.”

VAN DUYNHOVEN: “In the six weeks pre-production time, I worked with a conceptual artist called Seth Justice. He’s a good friend, so I rang him and had him on board right from the start, thinking up some cool designs; Seth’s quite smart, not like me. Tony came with some ideas, which were terrible (laughs). No, not really, but we’d sort of seen them before – bunny rabbits, stuff like that, from Donnie Darko and You’re Next, a bit jumbled. I was trying to persuade him to go in another direction. And he was very open, he’s very good like that, but coming up with an idea that suited (the premise) of the film was hard to do.”

VAN DUYNHOVEN: “Seth came up with some very cool ideas that we ran with. The guy that’s wearing human skin, we tried to make him resemble ‘The Scarecrow’ in The Wizard of Oz. Tony wanted this babyface-type of character, so we modelled that a bit on Pinocchio. It was fun to take well-known characters from different films and stories and interpret them in this way.”

THE FURIES will screen Thursday October 31 at 9.30pm in Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra and Perth as part of Fangoria x Monster Fest Takes on Australia 2019. Visit the event’s official website for full details.  

Photo credit: Jordan Hayne, ABC News.

DEATH AND THE MAIDEN: THE VANESSA MOLTZEN INTERVIEW

Traditionally, the western and horror films of legend are male dominated. But the real fan knows that the lifeblood of these genres are women characters; from icons like Annie Oakley and Ellen Ripley to the classic ‘final girl’ archetype who outwits the psycho-slasher, the ladies have been the strong, soulful yin to the dark yang of the bad guy. So when the genres collide and the dusty, outback western meets the apocalyptic zombie epic, the lead actress was going to have to be something special. Meet Vanessa Moltzen, star of Bullets for The Dead…

A VCA graduate with key roles in genre pics I am Evangeline (2015) and Tracy (2016) to her credit, Moltzen commands the screen as Annie Blake in debutant director Michael Du-Shane’s splattery mash-up of hard-bitten frontier adventure and gut-gnawing undead shocker. Audiences get their first look at the statuesque Annie as she robs a bank and slays some innocents, a big-screen entrance as good as any in recent memory.

“We see her at the beginning of the film as a cold-blooded killer, (but) she needed to have some redeeming qualities,” says the actress, who left behind her Sydney base for an extensive location shoot in the Queensland wilderness. “It was apparent that Annie had a depth that was complex, and a pain from family history that was a struggle to overcome. I found her through research and improvisation."

Working from the broad outline provided in the script by Du-Shane and co-writer Joshua C. Birch (based upon their 2011 short, 26 Bullets Dead), the actress wove a backstory that helped reveal Annie’s psyche and shape the performance. ”I didn't want to make her some cardboard cut-out,” says Moltzen. “She had strong reasons for her reckless ways, was brought up in a less than ideal environment that shaped (her) behaviour.” The actress also saw in Annie a yearning for blood ties and the bond they create. “She lost her family so she created a new one in her gang of outlaws (played by Renaud Jardin, Troy MacKinder and Karl Blake). She is fiercely loyal and protective of them.”

One unique aspect of Annie’s character is her sexual guile, an allure that generates a palpable physical chemistry with tough-guy bounty hunter Dalton (Christopher Sommers; picture, below, with Moltzen), who is taking the gang in for the price on their heads. “It’s a front at first, used to intimidate and challenge Dalton to see if he can handle her,” says Moltzen, who spends most of the film in her period undergarments. “But underneath, she desperately longs for someone who can see beyond her tough exterior. Back then, a woman her age would have been expected to be demure and married with a child. She is none of those things so she owns what she has. It’s most likely that she is a virgin.”

Du-Shane’s film is rich in western iconography and imagery, with Moltzen’s Annie Blake recalling such great cinematic frontierswomen as Barbara Stanwyck in Anthony Mann’s The Furies (1950) or Raquel Welch’s title character in Burt Kennedy’s Hannie Caulder (1971). “I watched a lot of westerns,” she admits, citing Kelly Reichhardt’s Meek's Cutoff and Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven as key influences. “The relationship to the harsh landscape and the expectations of the woman’s role in society was interesting to explore,” she says, also noting the bush shoot was not always an easy one. “I had a scorpion at my feet one day,” she laughs, “(but) I love being out on location. The smell, the grit, the texture of the landscape, the muggy air, the hot sun, it's all is part of the story.”

As for the bloodbath that comes with starring in a zombie flick, Moltzen admits to ending the shoot a little rattled. “I watched a bunch of zombie films beforehand as research, and I know there are some cracker scenes in our film that zombies fans will love,” she says, enthusiastically, “but on set it can be quite shocking to see all that blood and guts. I don’t need to do another scary film for a while.”

Screen-Space managing editor Simon Foster will co-host a Bullets for The Dead Cast & Crew Q&A, courtesy of the distributor Monster Pictures, on Thursday, August 18. Full details and ticket information at the venue website here.

Bullets For The Dead - Trailer from Monster Pictures on Vimeo.

LAST DRINKS: THE SEVÉ SCHELENZ INTERVIEW.

When your low-budget debut hits big, where to next? Such was the enviable problem for horror auteur Sevé Schelenz, who rattled international festival crowds with his 2011 shocker, Skew. For his second feature, the Canadian has crafted a fresh perspective on the ‘single-setting’ horror film; the gross-out funny, very ‘splattery’ Peelers unfolds in a remote titty bar, as infected patrons turn on the survivors. Ahead of its World Premiere at the Palm Beach International Film Festival, Schelenz spoke with SCREEN-SPACE about the origins of his latest work, the learning curve he went through on the shoot and answering the age-old question, “Where would nudity be acceptable?”…

SCREEN-SPACE: After the success of Skew, what kind of pressure did you place on yourself and your 'sophomore project'? 

Schelenz: I never thought about any "pressure", never thought of it as a "follow-up". I was just ready to make another film and took it from there. The only thing I wanted to do differently was to make a more traditional horror film, (to) work with a DP and compose shots and work with lighting. When we shot Skew in 2005, films tried hard to look like big budget films and most fell short. I didn't want to make a film where the audience would be pulled out of the movie because they were thrown off by the look. With the sort of budget we had at the time, POV was the way to go. When we shot Peelers, HD was much more accessible. You could also shoot 5K, which allowed you to play with the image more in post, which you couldn't do back in 2005 without image degradation. Actually, the most important thing for me when making any film is to have a good script with twists and great characters. We did that in Skew, but some of the twists may have been a little too much for the audience. Screenwriter Lisa DeVita and I came up with something more balanced. 

SCREEN-SPACE: What were the origins of the story?

Schelenz: After Skew’s festival run and distribution, my sales agent asked me, "So, what's next?" I was developing a number of features, mostly comedies, thrillers, or sci-fi. He told me, “No, do another horror.” I asked him what he thought would sell and he said, "More blood and more boobs." I was more into anticipation-building and psychological horror but I went away and thought to myself, "I know I can get the blood in there, but what about the nudity?" I just wasn't interested in gratuitous breast shots. I thought, "Where would nudity be acceptable? A strip club!" It turned out there were not a lot of good stripper-horror films, leaving an untapped sub-genre of horror out there. I asked ‘Devits’ if she would be interested in writing a script with strong female characters who kicked ass, a deft story and some good twists. Her eyes went wide and she told me a story about something that happened to her while she was at a strip club in Las Vegas. From there, Peelers was born. (Pictured, above; Schelenz, on-set, with actress Nikki Wallin).  

SCREEN-SPACE: The 'single setting' concept carries its own production challenges. How did you address both the limitations and potential of your location?

Schelenz: A single setting can be the kiss of death from an audience point of view. There is a perception that the more locations, the bigger the film, the more the audience will want to see it; my sales agent recommended multiple locations if only to have them in the trailer. But from a production point of view, a single location is the way to go. It is the best answer to the main obstacle of indie filmmaking - budget. My editing background means I’m always thinking about how scenes transition, which I bring to the script process as well. So, I sort of treated each room in the strip club as a separate location, of giving each one it's own look and feel through production design, lighting and camera angles. Our DP Lindsay George (pictured, left) was an indie fllmmaker's dream because she was fast, had a great eye for composition and understood lighting. Peelers doesn't feel like it's all in one location, when in fact it pretty much is.

SCREEN-SPACE: There is a great deal of authenticity in the casting, a lot of 'character' in the characters, especially in your lead, Wren Walker, and the girls who play the dancers. 

Schelenz: We threw out a wide, open net for the casting to see as many actors as we could. Surprisingly, we had a lot of talented girls show up to auditions. We were worried that actresses would hear "stripper horror" and think ditzy, damsel-in-distress types with gigantic fake boobs, when really we were going for something different, something against type. We wanted characters with brains, women you could sympathize with who come in all shapes and sizes, confident in their own skin. How could actresses know this coming in to cold auditions? We were wrong; ultimately, selecting our female roles was tough due to all the talented options. When it came to the lead character, ‘Blue Jean’, none of the girls ideally fitted the role. Wren Walker (pictured, above) came in late in the audition process because her boyfriend saw our ad and encouraged her to read and she nailed it. Wren just owned the Blue Jean role right off the bat.

SCREEN-SPACE: Despite the usual tight budget and time constraint issues, did the shoot go to plan? Was it a positive set?

Schelenz: When you make a truly independent feature, you're always worried about running over. I had the experience of shooting Skew and we also had great 1st and 2nd ADs on Peelers. For the most part, the shoot went according to plan. Another way of staying on schedule is to allow more time in pre-production and rehearsals. The more issues you can encounter and solve before production, the better. This helps the mood on set, as the prep has been done. Of course, you also set the tone of production pretty early on. I got to know most of the cast and crew ahead of time and that made things more enjoyable. It's great to hear cast and crew say, "I had a great time on set, it was so much fun," but it's not the case for the producers or director. Yes, we are pretty pumped to be on set and making a movie but it really is up to us to get the shots needed or there's no film. (Pictured, above; from l-r, Wren Walker, Madison J. Loos, Momona Komagata, Kirsty Peters and Caz Odin Darko).

SCREEN-SPACE: And you pull a Hitchcock, rewarding yourself with a very funny cameo! Plan to spend more time in front of the camera?

Schelenz: (Laughs) I like the idea, (but I’m) not sure I have the acting chops to pull it off. I like to get myself, or my name in there somehow, just for shits and giggles. If you listen carefully, you'll hear my name being paged as Doctor Schelenz in the opening sequence. In Skew, my name actually appears on a newspaper as Officer Schelenz. My cameo in Peelers is actually part of a bigger story.  Everyone in the scene, minus the main actor, is the crew from the film, including the other three producers. It was a fun scene to film because I knew in editing I'd have a chance to get everyone into the movie.

Peelers will premiere April 9 at the Palm Beach International Film Festival, Florida; other territories to follow.

NEW WAVE OF HORROR HITS PALM BEACH FILM FEST

Under the stewardship of new CEO/President Jeff Davis, the 21^st Palm Beach International Film Festival represents a defining period in the event’s history. The relatively young celebration of cinema seems poised to join the ranks of Cannes, Venice and Toronto, with whom it shares accreditation status. One key initiative in 2016 is an international strand of horror titles; ten films from seven countries that announce PBIFF as a major new platform for global genre works. Having settled into the 250-seat Palm Beach Theatre in Manalapan, Florida in 2015, patrons can expect to be thoroughly unsettled by Director of Programming Larry Richman’s impressive line-up of shockers. “The 21st PBIFF is all about fresh ideas and new directions,” says Richman, whose insight you’ll find below in our preview of the 2016 PBIFF Horror Film roster…

THE FOREST (Dir: Paul Spurrier / Thailand; 109 mins / Trailer / pictured, above): A new teacher (Asanee Suwan) establishes a bond with a mute student (Wannasa Wintawong) that leads to a terrifying, yet moving lesson in life. The first westerner to have directed a Thai-language film (P, 2005), Spurrier works elements of fantasy and the supernatural into his dark tale of redemption and revenge.

THE PERFECT HUSBAND (Dir: Lucas Pavetto / Italy; 85 mins / Trailer): Having wowed the genre festival circuit with his short film Il Marito Perfetto, Argentine-born/Italian-bred director Lucas Pavetto developed the concept into this feature-length work. A cabin-in-the-woods weekend for a young, struggling married couple (Gabriella Wright, pictured; Bret Roberts) turns particularly horrific.

THE PHOENIX INCIDENT (Dir: Keith Arem / USA; 84 mins): Combining a found-footage aesthetic, docu-drama elements and some good ol’ fashioned alien abduction lore, Keith Arem’s offers a visually arresting reimagining of certain ‘facts’ in relation to the March 13, 1997 mass UFO sighting in Phoenix. If you still have an ‘I Want to Believe’ poster in your man-cave, this is a must-see.

“I'm a huge genre fan. While I've been with the festival for several years, it was a change in management this year under new President and CEO Jeff Davis which allowed us to create a category for horror and a cash prize competition, to boot,” says Richmann, whose entertainment industry experience includes long stints in commercial radio, the tech sector and online journalism; he founded larry411.com and became a respected film festival regular as contributor for the highly-respected Indie Film Spotlight.

INTERIOR (Dir: Zachary Beckler / USA; 83 mins / Trailer / pictured, right): Carrying before it a wave of insider buzz, Zachary Beckler suburban ghost-story introduces a sly sense of humour and genuine chills to the ‘paranormal investigation’ genre. It also introduces a franchise-worthy entity in Emily, the spirited central spectre of the writer/director’s chiller.

BUBBA THE REDNECK WEREWOLF (Dir: Brendan Rogers / USA; 80  mins / Trailer): Brendan Rogers aims for instant cult status in his low-budget/low-IQ comedy/horror about a hillbilly lycanthrope and the townsfolk who bestow upon him (anti)hero status. Looks and feels a bit like the Troma classic, The Toxic Avenger (a good thing, right?)

MASKOUN (Dirs: Krystle Houiess, Sharif Abdunnur / UAE; 91 mins / Trailer): Combining both raw handheld footage with a richer, more complex film craft, the film industries of the Middle East offer a rare genre work in this chilling tale of paranormal incursion and past life manifestations from directors Krystle Houiess and Sharif Abdunnur. Advance word and plot details are shrouded in well-staged ambiguity, but anticipation is high.

“A lot of my inspiration comes from Colin Geddes, who programs the 10-film Midnight Madness section of the Toronto International Film Festival, and Tim League at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, two festivals which led me to PBIFF,” acknowledges Richmann, who also acts as PBIFF’s Executive Vice President.

THE KEY (Dir: Gedeon Burkhard / Germany; 90 mins / Trailer): Mashing gangster thrills, rampaging undead and farmhouse horror tropes and staged at an insanely high pitch, German actor/director Gedeon Burkhard’s The Key is a frantic, fierce and funny splatter feature with a legitimate shot at ‘midnight movie’ cult status.

PEELERS (Dir: Sevé Schelenz / Canada; 95 mins / Trailer) WORLD PREMIERE: Having announced his fearless talent with 2011’s Skew, Sevé Schelenz doubles-down on the humour and gore in Peelers. The last night of trading at a remote strip joint goes bad when infected patrons start turning on each other. Lots of blood, lots of boobs, lots of fun.

LAND OF SMILES (Dir: Bradley Stryker / Canada; 95 mins / Trailer): Not all is as idyllic as it would appear in Bradley Stryker’s hell-in-paradise opus, Land of Smiles. In Thailand to repair a broken friendship, Abby (Alelexandra Turshen; pictured, right) becomes a pawn in a sociopath’s twisted cat-and-mouse game; if she refuses to follow the psycho’s instructions, footage of her friend being tortured will grow alarmingly worse. But is all as it really seems…?

THE HOUSE AT THE END OF TIME (Dir: Alejandro Hidalgo / Venezuela; 100 mins): Redemption and revenge for past sins are themes that feature in several of the horror works on offer. Venezuelan filmmaker Alejandro Hidalgo’s supremely stylish ghost story examines a crime of infanticide at the hands of a malevolent spirit and a wrongly imprisoned mother (a terrific Ruddy Rodríguez) determined to reveal the truth. Already a festival circuit favourite; earned Best Picture honours from Screamfest.

“We're not TIFF or Fantastic Fest but we can certainly aspire to have a killer horror program and these 10 films represent some of the best of what's being produced in 2016,” Richmann states.

The Palm Beach International Film Festival runs April 6-14. All ticketing and venue information can be found at the event’s official website.