Interview: Jen & Sylvia Soska Talk Dead Hooker, American Mary, Catholicism and Spidey
Interview conducted by Ben Bussey
Canada has given us some great things over the years: David Cronenberg; Neil Young; a place for America’s draft-dodgers to go. And now, Canada gives us one of the most exciting independent filmmaking teams around right now, Jen and Sylvia Soska of Twisted Twins Productions. I’ll be the first to admit that, on first seeing their debut feature Dead Hooker In A Trunk (read that review here), I was a bit dismissive of the identical twin writer/director/actresses; they seemed too much like a novelty, a marketing man’s wet dream, some mythic midway point between the Coen Brothers and Elvira. With time, reflection, and of course watching Dead Hooker again on DVD, I realised I had been most premature in that assessment, and that this was actually quite a special film from filmmakers of real promise. (Hence I reviewed it for a second time, here.) And, let’s be honest, there are worse things to be than a midway point between the Coens and Elvira.
I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to fire a few questions their way, and they were gracious enough to give some nice in-depth answers. And so, without further ado - read on.
BAH: Hello Jen and Sylvia Soska, and many thanks for taking the time to speak to Brutal As Hell. So, Dead Hooker In A Trunk hit DVD in the UK and Australia last week, and by all accounts is selling pretty well. How do you feel about how audiences worldwide have received the film?
Sylvia: I’m blown away by it. I was hoping that people would check out the film and have a fun time, but I guess I miscalculated the outpour of support that we have gotten from the horror community. This really isn’t a regular story where two people max out their credit cards to make a no budget DIY style flick and then the film gets to play around the world and then sells out its stock on Amazon UK in one day. It’s a huge honor and I’m thankful for everyone who went out and got themselves a copy.
Jen: When I first got a message saying we were sold out on Amazon on the day the film was released, I couldn’t believe it. I knew that we had quite a number of supporters in the UK, where the film had its world premiere during 2010′s Ghouls On Film Festival, but I had no idea how many people would pick up a copy on the first day. It was incredibly humbling and I can’t even express our gratitude. I was just floored.
We’ve received some outstanding feedback. It’s really exciting logging into facebook or twitter and getting the “I just saw you’re movie and it fucking rocked” messages. From the very beginning it was our hope to make a film that was pure enjoyment for our audiences and then to share that film with as many people as possible. I’m so happy to have been able to achieve those ambitions with this film.
BAH: One of the great strengths of Dead Hooker In A Trunk, from the perspective of a jaded horror movie critic such as myself, is how it does not stick rigidly to the conventions of any specific horror subgenre; indeed, we might debate whether it is horror at all. Do you consider it a horror film?
Sylvia: That’s so true. The funny thing is, Jen and I didn’t think we were making a horror movie at all, it was a road trip buddy comedy. We just didn’t want it to be boring like most ‘chick flicks’ so we wanted to make the anti-chick flick chick flick where a group of girls have a fucking crazy adventure that could stand up with best of boy road trip flicks. We started to understand horror filmmaking when we were little girls and our mom taught us that the monsters and bodies in films were creations by artists, so it was important to have good gore in the film. In the spirit of grindhouse filmmaking, we wanted to have our cast go through high action sequences themselves, so we hired actors that were also stunt performers in certain roles as well as almost all actors doing their own stunt work in the film.
I think there are moments and sequences that become extremely horrific in the film, but there are also scenes where it becomes an arthouse film where the characters have personal revelations while getting high. Jen, CJ, and I call it arthouse meets grindhouse filmmaking. I think it’s fun to mess around with conventions, it’s interesting.
Jen: DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK is an unconventional film in all ways. It was created by unconventional means and is hard to label as a strict horror. There are so many aspects to it. It has horror in there, yes, but also a healthy helping of romance, suspense, and, above all, comedy. We read Stephen King novels at a very young age and his brand of horror is often deliciously sprinkled with moments of dark humor. I think moments of levity go a long way in telling your story. It gives a little breathing room. I love those out of place funny moments in a horror where you laugh despite yourself. I’ve always felt that the best of horror has comedy in it.
I thought we were making a comedy with horrific elements to it, not the other way around. Sylv and I have a darker sense of humor than most. I felt we were making WEEKEND AT BERNIE’S, but in our style. In North America, there seems to be a need to label and categorize everything clearly. Just look at the heroes and villains in films. They’re always definitely good or evil. If you look at world cinema, they are more curious and open minded when exploring those themes. Look at I SAW THE DEVIL. It’s hard to say who is good and who is evil there. DHIAT is similar in the way that it’s not easily labelled as horror or comedy or even grindhouse. It’s a beast of its own.
BAH: An interesting feature of the film, as you speak of at length in the director’s commentary, is the abundance of oblique religious symbolism in the film. How important was this to you?
Sylvia: We like to put personal things in our work. Jen and I were born Roman Catholic and were the first female alter servers in Western Canada. I know a lot about religion and I wanted to put those influences in there. I feel like there are so many people using it for their own hate propaganda and are using religion to hide behind. I know congregations that are kind and accepting that have a sense of humor and I wanted to have that in the film. Our church was so supportive that they donated the location for filming, another donated her house, and many came out to the screening – the others, I’m afraid we might have lost with the title.
Jen: We wanted to make the film an epic in the literary sense. The undertones of good versus evil were an important part of that. Many are surprised to learn that we are Roman Catholic. Maybe not in the stereotypical sense of the word, but we are very religious. It came quite naturally writing in religion in our story. I’m not sure many of our references were picked up in all the other insanity. We have Carlos Gallardo making an appearance as God. John Tench, our wonderful Cowboy Pimp, was our Devil. He was all the while after our Hooker’s soul. Her soul was meant to be pure, that’s why her body was without any marks or bruises and she always looked immaculate. We have Rikki Gagne’s Junkie wake up for her monologue with the sun beautifully coming through the trees to symbolize a burning bush.
We tried to break several stereotypes with this film. There’s a real misconception about people who are religious and what they find funny or acceptable. Our church even allowed us to film part of DHIAT there. I think my feelings are summed up with my religious views stated via my facebook profile. God has a sense of humor.
BAH: Also judging by the commentary, it would seem your second biggest influence after Christianity would be Robert Rodriguez. Is this a fair comment? And have you had any feedback from the man himself? (Rodriguez, that is, not Jesus. Although if JC has been in touch, do tell.)
Sylvia: That is more than fair. Robert Rodriguez and Carlos Gallardo showed me it was possible to make a movie independently on your own. The Ten Minute Film Schools were my film school. There is an eye gag that we do in the film that we learned from the Ten Minute Film School behind the scenes featurette from ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO. We know Carlos and had him in a cameo role as God, we have become good friends with Eli Roth who gave Quentin Tarantino the film for his birthday, and we just played in a Canadian grindhouse double billing in Texas with Jason Eisener’s HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN, but we have no idea if Robert has heard about the film yet. If anyone reading this knows Robert and wants to tell him that his work has inspired us and made a film called DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK possible, then I would love that. I want to be able to say thank you for showing us the means to do this ourselves.
Jesus was at the premiere. He said the film was fair but I should shake the camera less.
Jen: Robert Rodriguez and Carlos Gallardo are huge inspirations to us. We had his REBEL WITHOUT A CREW on hand at all times on set and lovingly dubbed it the Bible. I highly recommend everyone pick it up. It’s not only an excellent read but it’s highly motivating. There’s comfort in reading about Robert’s struggles and challenges because when things are at their worst it’s easy to feel alone. Everyone struggles and gets knocked down. But the most important thing is to be able to pick yourself back up again and keep going.
I haven’t had the honor of meeting Robert yet. I have so much I want to tell him. I really want to thank him for not only being a huge inspiration to all of us filmmakers out there by giving away his secrets. When I studied martial arts, I would always ask to learn more than I was, but I was told no time and again. You have to wait, you’re not ready to know that yet. Robert has no problem letting us in on all his secrets and then challenging us to do our own work. I have so much admiration for that.
BAH: I was also curious as to whether you’d had any feedback from the Beach Boys? After all, it’s not often you hear their music in the background of a hideous torture scene! Was there any trouble securing the rights to the song?
Sylvia: Just like in stereotypical horror filmmaking, there is a stereotypical sound track that is also associated with some films. We wanted to pick music that complimented the scene whether it be the punk rock musical stylings of Fake Shark-Real Zombie! or the crooner musings of pop rock band, The Awkward Stage. it was important to us to have a large part of the soundtrack consisting of local indie artists. Other bands included Incura, Adam Nanji, and The Titan Go-Kings (from Japan). The rest of the soundtrack came from the very talented and multi-jobbed CJ Wallis (Goody Two-Shoes in the film). We also used a fair bit of copyright free music from a site we had a membership to – which included Habanera and a few other cool choices.
I like counter point choices we made in some of the higher gore sequences. It added a little more horror and fun. I haven’t heard from The Beach Boys yet, but hopefully soon. Maybe they aren’t horror fans.
Jen: I like counter point music. You always get a scary song during a scary scene, more often than not. Or sound effects. Using something happy during a disturbing scene really hits home and makes that sequence unforgettable. I love seeing that in film and television. Matching the cinematography to perfectly paired music is vital. I love how Stephen King’s THE STAND opened with “Don’t Fear the Reaper” as it panned over a legion of dead bodies. In ER, there’s this epic moment in one Valentine’s Day episode where (characters) Carter and Lucy are left lying in pools of blood after they’re attacked by a schizophrenic patient. The song used is Battleflag and it’s so counter point. That moment was just so unexpected and still stays with me because of the music choice. Seriously, go Youtube it.
Of course, Robert and Quentin are masters of marrying music with cinema. No one does it better. You can’t hear a song they’ve used without thinking of where it appeared in their work.
BAH: To move on to your upcoming second feature, American Mary. How is that coming along? And is it fair to assume, as the title suggests, that there’s a bit more of that Christian symbolism in this one…?
Sylvia: I wanted a very strong female name for the lead character and Mary was most suitable. She was the mother of God, but also was the name of the prostitute that Jesus befriends in the Bible. There is also another Mary that influenced the name and that woman is Mary Harron, the Canadian director who is a hero of mine not only for her provocative films but also the intelligent way she educates nay sayers about her work.
AMERICAN MARY is coming along very well. It’s a completely different experience working with a budget instead of maxing out credit cards to pay for everything. We got to really plan what we are doing with this one, we have a great team working together getting everything perfect. We have Todd Masters and Jeny Cassady heading up the team at Masters FX that is bringing all the prosthetics and effects to life, CJ Wallis is coming from the DHIAT team as a producer who will also be directing a nine minute sequence in the film, Norm Li is the brilliant cinematographer that will be bringing out the beauty in a very dark and gruesome world, as well as Ivan Lyttek, Chris Ferguson, and Clif Prowse who have been incredible in getting things perfect to go to camera. I love my team and I can’t wait to start filming in the next few weeks.
Jen: There are definite undertones of good and evil. It’s really hard to talk about without giving too much away. A big theme in this film is sacrifice and perception versus reality. Appearances play a heavy role. That’s all I can add.
BAH: Very excited to see the fantastic Katherine Isabelle in the lead. This might go without saying, but were you big fans of her work beforehand?
Sylvia: I love her work. Being Canadian, there was a huge level of pride seeing such a brilliant actress from your country and GINGER SNAPS is a great Canadian horror trilogy. A project like this really requires a good understanding of the story and the character between the directors and your leading actor, so much of the film is her character and her reactions that it’s so important to have someone who gets that. I was really nervous finding the right actress to be Mary, but Katie was mentioned a lot during the writing of the film even though we didn’t want to lock ourselves in on thinking of this person will be this character and so on.
We sent her the script and had a dinner meeting afterwards and I was just blown away. Katharine Isabelle is one of the most down to earth, genuine, and interesting people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. She is going to be very phenomenal in the role. I can’t wait to share it with audiences.
Jen: I remember watching GINGER SNAPS and being in love with the film from the title sequence. I smiled at Sylvie and said, “they’re like us”. The only big difference is that if one of us was ever bitten by a werewolf (or a vampire) we’d just “turn” the other and be done with it, ha ha. We made that pact while watching GINGER SNAPS.
Katie is a sensational actress. She has this presence that is undeniable. Mary Mason is an extremely challenging role and she couldn’t be better suited to it. We met with her after she read the script for dinner and just knew right then and there that she was our Mary. Again, I can’t give too much away, but Katie is going to blow people away with her performance. She is everything we wanted in our Mary and then some. I couldn’t be happier with her.
BAH: You’re Canadian filmmakers; you’ve cast a Canadian actress; yet the title is American Mary. How come?
Sylvia: I live in Vancouver, British Columbia where we are right by the boarder of the United States. If you look at the population of Canada, there is a great majority of the population that lives in close proximity to that boarder. Go farther north and see the population dwindle. I’ve spent my entire life looking over the proverbial fence at our mighty neighbors. I dream of the American Dream. There is an opportunity where you can start as anything and you can work hard to achieve their goals. Huge dreams can be realized. There is that opportunity in Canada, but in a much smaller scale. To be successful in the US, you can be Gene Simmons or Donald Trump or Oprah. That grand scale ambition is the driving force behind the film.
Jen: No matter how big you can be in Canada, the sad truth is you have to go to the States to really make it big. There’s this glass ceiling in Canada. It’s not that you can’t make it big or make a living doing film in Canada, but the opportunities available in the States, particularly in LA, just have no comparison up here. Whenever we visit LA, we get so much work done. You can literally work and meet and collaborate all day long. It’s more of a challenge to do up here.
But don’t get us wrong, we are as proud of our Canadian heritage as we are of our Hungarian roots. In the film, we will reveal more of why we cast so many Canadians in our “American” movie.
BAH: Just a couple of frivolous ones to close. If you had to choose between the two, would you rather appear in a remake of the Hammer movie Twins Of Evil, or play the twin fairies in a new Mothra movie?
Sylvia: Jen and I will be taking a step back from acting with final cameo performances in AMERICAN MARY, the sequence that Mr. CJ Wallis will be directing. We just want to focus writing and directing for the time being. Maybe one day there will be a role that we couldn’t resist, I think playing the Mothra twins would be pretty fucking tempting.
Jen: I do adore vampires, but there was this NES Godzilla game where you could play as either Mothra or Godzilla. Being second born, I always gave Sylvie first pick and ended up playing as Luigi, Tails, and Mothra. I have a special place in my heart for that monster.
I’d love to have played THE SHINING twins. I need to get us those dresses.
BAH: And finally, as I understand you’re big Spider-fans, are you optimistic or anxious about the upcoming Marc Webb/Andrew Garfield reboot? And what do you think of Spidey joining the Fantastic Four?
Sylvia: I am extremely excited about the Marc Webb/Andrew Garfield reboot. I have really dug what Marc has done with his impressive catalogue of music videos. Now, he has a multi-million dollar opportunity to show off, I’m looking forward to seeing it. Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker suggests that we are getting more of the comic book Spidey where he has a mouth on him and there’s humor in the character.
I don’t really like Spidey being in the Fantastic Four. I find him to be a highly introspective and relatable character that works best with characters that come in and out of his life rather than putting him in a team situation. I really miss the Peter Parker Spider-man Series and the ill-fated Tangled Web Series. I know what it’s like to have no money and try to get by while always trying to do the right thing. Spidey represents the best in human beings – the dreamer, the optimist – while having these fantastical adventures. I hate to see the humanity obscured by the fantastic. I would love to see a series that brings him back to being that guy that represents the nerds that love him.
Jen: Wow. Someone’s done their homework. That’s so cool. Yes, we just adore Spidey. He’s Sylvie’s love interest. You should see her room. It’s like an 8 year old boy’s room. Spidey everything everywhere.
I really like Mark Webb. I loved his MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE music videos. His GIVES YOU HELL video for ALL AMERICAN REJECTS is one of my absolute favorite videos. That video encompasses so much cheeky humor that is perfect for Peter Parker. I felt that light hearted, always joking humor was lost in Sam Raimi’s Spider-man when Spidey was in costume. Open any comic and watch Spidey run his mouth all throughout his battles. It’s a vital part of his character and his spirit. I think Mark Webb will do a fantastic job. I’m really looking forward to seeing it.
I don’t really see how Spidey fits into the Fantastic Four. They are about family. All of them are connected. Spidey is an outsider. It seems like a interesting avenue to explore but at the end of the day he doesn’t belong there. Spidey being on his own is something a lot of people relate to. I think the way he faces his challenges, both the ones he faces as Spider-man and Peter Parker, is inspiring. On a bad day, we can all read a Spidey comic and watch him rise up and persevere.
Literally, I can talk forever about comics. I love them to death. I’d really love a chance at a PREACHER film, but I think we’re a bit late on that one.
BAH: Jen and Sylvia Soska, thank you for your time!
