Hardcore received it's world premiere September 12th, 2015 at the Midnight Madness program at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was a extremely unique cinematic experience as it was the world's first feature length Point Of View Action Film. Robert A. Mitchell was on the red carpet and spoke with Director IIya Naishuller, actor Sharlto Copley (District 9, Chappie) and producer Timur Bekmambetov (Daywatch, Wanted).
Here is Robert A. Mitchell's 2015 Midnight Madness interviews at the Baskin World Premiere. Robert spoke with writer and director Can Evrenol and actor Gorkem Kasal. Baskin is one of more extreme horror films to be unleashed upon the world and quite some time and the film has the distinction of being the first film from Turkey to play in the twenty seven years of the Midnight Madness program at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Green Room written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier was the first film in the 2015 Midnight Madness program at the Toronto International Film Festival. Robert A. Mitchell was on the red carpet and had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Saulnier as well as Sir Patrick Stewart, Anton Yelchin, Alia Shawkat and Macon Blair.
October 2008 was the first time I met Larry Fessenden after the premiere of I Sell The Dead at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. We had a great interview discussing his career making films from the the formation of his production company Glass Eye Pix his own genre pictures from Habit to The Last Winter as well as acting in films directed by Martin Scorsese (Bringing Out The Dead) and Jim Jarmusch (Broken Flowers) just to name a few films and directors he has worked with. Larry is extremely talented, charismatic, passionate about making films and has a great knowledge of cinema.
Back in October 2008 I met and had a conversation with Terrance Zdunich co-writer, co-composer of Repo! The Genetic Opera. He also plays the character Graverobber in the film. It was a great conversation talking about the initial concept and origins -- from the original play to the feature length film. We also talked about where did the idea of creating a twenty-first century rock opera come from, Terrance's various influences and the casting of ensemble cast who appear in the film.
It was late December 2008 and I was living in Toronto preparing dinner when I received a call from a local promoter I knew. (People still used phones in those days) He asked, "Would you be interested in interviewing GWAR! tonight?" There was little hesitation when I said yes. I hung up and rushed through finishing making and eating dinner.
I then fired up my laptop and beginning working on questions. I prepared two sets of questions. The first was for the band in character and the second -- was in the unlikely event that I would interview the band themselves.
I headed out and to the Queen East streetcar that took me over to The Opera House. I got into the venue and met up with the promoter. The one stipulation I was told was that I would not be allowed to film the live show. The band was very protective of the live shows and was a source of income for the band selling DVDs. The show was great and a lot of fun. I shot images after the show of people walking past me covered in fake blood. It was such good footage I used it at the starting of the interview.
This one of my first "big" interviews and it was backstage after the show. The excitement increased when I learned I would be interview Dave Brockie outside of his on-stage character which was extremely rare. Being backstage was tamer then perhaps some would think. However there were a lot of crew loading out equipment, which at a GWAR! show is a lot. Plus there were several people hanging around who once they saw the camera tried to get their way in front of it. With the amount of experience I have gained since I would have controlled the room and interview a lot better.
As I write this it is still weird and difficult to talk of Dave Brockie, founder and former lead singer of the band in the past tense. He was funny, energetic and had a real passion for music and you can see that in the interview below.
Bloomington, Indiana located an hour south of Indianapolis where the farm lands of Indiana begin to give way to the rolling hills of Southern Indiana. These hills eventually make their way further South and meet up with the Appalachian mountains. Bloomington is also where I currently call home. It was falling in love and getting married that lead me to this college town. What do these geographically and personal details have to do with an independent horror film?
As far as the rolling hills turning into mountains, there is a small collective of individuals here giving rise to personal horror films and helping to put Indiana on the map as a place where films can and are being made. The first film from this group of filmmakers is a movie called Found. The film was directed by Scott Schirmer who also wrote the screenplay adapted from Todd Rigney's novel. Found was made not on a shoestring but the frayed remnants of a shoestring. Proving that money is only a tool of film making and not end all and be all of cinematic storytelling the finished film is a strong first feature made by a dedicated core of individuals. One thing that stands out for me is cinematography of Leya Taylor. The film looks beautiful as it takes it viewers into the darkness of humanity.
Which leads me to love. Found is a film where one can see that the creators are clearly in love with cinema and their personal discovery of first finding films. One such instance can be seen as characters in Found track down VHS tapes in a video store. This is where the genesis of the next film would be found. (pun actually unintentional) In Todd Rigney's story there is a film called Headless which is the kind of film that kids of the eighties would seek out like Faces of Death where it was the thrill of the hunt to find a copy and then through fingers covering eyes would uncomfortably watch the movie. Scenes of Headless were shot for Found. In these scenes one could see Arthur Cullipher's and his team's talent at creating special effects.
While on a cursory note one would like to say the two film are bookends, Headless having direct beginnings in the film Found and the creators behind both films. However the two are very different stories and cinematic experiences. Headless is it's own film and shows that this team while operating within the horror genre can make vastly different films. Arthur Cullipher steps into the director's chair and the film was written by Nathan Erdel. Headless is definitely not a horror film for the faint-hearted. Here is the interview I conducted with Scott, Leya and Arthur in my living room. (I should do more interviews here)
