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March 10, 2011

Interview: Viscera Film Fest's Heidi Martinuzzi and Shannon Lark

Women in Horror month has officially wrapped for 2011, and although I like to think that everyone will keep celebrating the lovely women who contribute to the genre all throughout the year (regardless of it being February or not), I'd like to thank the fabulous females behind The Viscera Film Festival (an independent film festival held in Los Angeles every year that specifically focuses on horror shorts made by women) Shannon Lark and Heidi Martinuzzi.As a follow up to my Women in Horror month feature that I posted earlier in February, here are full interviews with Lark and Martinuzzi.

Interview with Heidi Martinuzzi -
Lacey Paige: Who are you and what role do you play in the horror "business"?
Heidi Martinuzzi: I'm a journalist, I think. I write about what's going on in the genre entertainment world on my site FanGirlTastic.com, and I disseminate and interpret information for people who want to know what I think is important. Or funny. Or stupid. Or cool.
I'm also a feminist; I like to focus on writing about women making horror movies as much as possible. I'm really disheartened by how few women horror filmmakers have fans the way men do.
LP: What drew you into the genre and at what age to you remember it first having an impact on you?
HM: I have loved horror films from the time I was 3 years old. Watching The Shining on daytime network TV, and Elvira's Movie Macabre on Saturday nights really made me fall in love with horror.
LP: Name some females that you think had a significant impact on the evolution of the horror genre and why they had such an impact.
HM: Cassandra Peterson (Elvira) was the first woman to be funny AND sexy AND like horror. She became my idol.
Kathryn Bigelow, whether she likes it or not, made one of the first horror films directed by a woman to be enjoyed by mainstream theatrical audiences. Shortly after, Mary Lambert's Pet Semetary adaptation followed. These women really paved the way for other women to have genre films play in mainstream theaters instead of in smaller indoe or grindhouse theaters, as in the past.
Anne Rice. Anne Rice created an entire movement that was almost bigger than the current Twilight movement. She brought vampires into the mainstream and inspired several films with her characters.
LP: What do you think are some monumental horror films in terms of the importance of women in the genre?
HM: That's tough. I think there are some filmmakers who are very important in how they portray women in horror. Lucky McKee, for one, creates amazing female characters and sees his stories through a very different lens. May is a wonderfully crafted female character, more complex than many female villains, but just as frightening. The Ginger Snaps series is another example of new female villains that don't fit into a simple cliche - they have really interesting stories and personalities. I think ultimately Ridley Scott's Alien created the ultimate horror heroine for the genre; Ripley is a female, but her character is genderless within the context of the film. What I mean by that is that she's not affected by her gender as a social construction. She's just "Ripley", and how strong or weak she is has nothing to do with what she's got between her legs.
LP: How do you feel about the role reversal of women in horror--going from victims in classic or "old-school" horror to often being the predator in modern horror?
HM: I think it's usually done in a realllly bad way - like in Jennifer's Body. Women can only be the 'predators' in horror if they are ultra-sexual, or if they are old and ugly. They never kill for killing's sake the way men do. Women always need a 'reason' to kill (like revenge), but men can be crazy maniacs without any explanation.
LP: Why do you think horror is often arguably considered a genre for guys?
HM: Because the people who make the decisions about marketing are idiots who don't know their market. Also, I think most of the guys in charge are total nerds and don't know any women, so they assume only men, like themselves, are interested in horror.
LP: How do you think this had been proven wrong over the past few decades?
HM: Maybe not the past few decades, but the past decade, definitely. When you go to a horror film, or a horror convention, or a horror film festival, take a look around you. I guarantee you'll see that at least 50% of the fans there are women.
LP: Why do you think more women are getting involved?
HM: Because women are freer than ever before in human history to express themselves and follow their passions. It's no longer 'unacceptable' for women to enjoy the dark and the gory; we have a lot more social freedom, and women are expanding into all areas of fandom, including sci-fi, sports, horror, comics - areas that were previously, rigidly considered 'unfeminine'. I also think new technology has given women tools to make their own independent films and show them online.
LP: Are you directly involved in the Viscera film festival? If so, how? What are your thoughts on this event?
HM: I love Viscera and what it stands for. I'm the co-director, and I LOVE when we get new submissions from women I've never even heard of. It's exciting to see new films by women, more and more of them every day.
LP: How are you celebrating Women in Horror month?
HM: I'm heading to Dallas on Feb 26th for the Pretty Scary Blood Bath Women in Horror Film festival! www.doabloodbath.com. We're screening a bunch of short horror directed by women and two amazing features - Within by Hannelle Culpepper and Fugue by Barbara Stepansky.
Interview with Shannon Lark –
Lacey Paige: Who are you and what role do you play in the horror "business"?
Shannon Lark: I'm Shannon Lark and I tend to wear a lot of hats (otherwise I get bored). I'm the founder/co-director of the Viscera Film Festival, a short horror film festival for women. I direct, write, produce, and act and have worked on over 30 shorts and feature films. I worked with Fangoria Entertainment as their "Spooksmodel" in 2008. For more in depth information, you can visit my website here.
LP: What drew you into the genre and at what age to you remember it first having an impact on you?
SL: I was 4 years old. My Mother took me to a bloody ballet rendition of Romeo and Juliet. I was blown away at the blood effect the dancers used at the end. It was my first experience of death and it was beautiful. From then on I was hooked! I forced my friends into horror marathons and rented anything that that was weird, abstract, and horrifying.
LP: Name some females that you think had a significant impact on the evolution of the horror genre and why they had such an impact.
SL: Katherine Bigelow, Mary Harron, Mary Lambert, and Amy Holden Jones. All of these female directors have made great horror cinema. They pre-date the contemporaries, and most of them have gone on the create mind blowing work. They are an inspiration to the women who can pick up a camera now.
Also, there is Ida Lupino, Alice Guy, Paula Maxa, and Maya Deren. These are the classic women who truly stole the show, and laid the path for women to create not only horror, but beautiful films as well.
LP: What do you think are some monumental horror films in terms of the importance of women in the genre?
SL: Euro Horror has really been producing some great cinema (when have they not?), such as Inside, Martyrs, and High Tension follow female characters specifically through their journey, while not overtly sexualizing them. They are also high intensity slasher films that aren't generic.
A Nightmare on Elm St, Titus, Psycho, Aliens, Night of the Living Dead, The Fly, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and True Grit features representatives of strong, independent women. However, there are few films where men and women are seen as equal, or strong independent women are not penetrated to punish them.
LP: How do you feel about the role reversal of women in horror--going from victims in classic or "old-school" horror to often being the predator in modern horror?
SL: I'm glad that the female gender are on the road to being more well rounded, but if a woman is just going around and penetrating men or using their sexuality to lure men into their clutches, it's the same message as before. It shows that women have a long way to go.
LP: Why do you think horror is often arguably considered a genre for guys?
SL: Because women were ostracized from the film industry in the 1920's when the big banks bought out Hollywood and filmmaking became a "legit" profession. From then on, women have had to scale brick walls and financial ruin to secure financing and distribution, on top of raising children and fighting for the right to vote and equal pay. Women are still having a hard time getting work in Hollywood. I think that women were thrown back down to the ground with these puritan beliefs that women should serve. Otherwise, I think there would be many more women who would love horror, and support horror as an art form, and feel like they could be involved and make a difference.
There are a massive amount of women who love horror films, but the genre—and the film industry in general—is dominated by men.
LP: How do you think this had been proven wrong over the past few decades?
SL: More women are discovering horror and realizing they can make their own. Women are attending horror flicks in theaters and evening out the audiences. However, we have a long way to go to make the genre equal.
LP: Why do you think more women are getting involved?
SL: Accessible Digital media and equipment, the internet, and simply evolving from traditional, puritan beliefs.
LP: Are you directly involved in the Viscera film festival? If so, how? What are your thoughts on this event?
SL: I am! I'm the Founder and Co-Director. I think it's kick ass, and that women should be picking up cameras, everywhere. It's been truly mind blowing to experience the support from the Filmmakers, Audience, and Special Guests.
LP: How are you celebrating Women in Horror month?
SL: I am co-hosting the Viscera Film Festival in Athens, GA with the Gonzoriffic Crew, along with co-hosting the Pretty-Scary Bloodbath 2 in Dallas Texas with Heidi Honeycutt. I am doing several interviews throughout the month in relation to WIH month, and wrote an article about what WIH Month actually is about. Viscera's submission phase ends on the last days of February, we recently released the Viscera 2010 DVD (all short horror films made by women), and we just launched our donation campaign on indiegogo.

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