Your new movie Trouser
Snake - in a few words, what is it about?
Trouser Snake is
exactly what you think it is! It's a comedic send-up
to 1950s creature features, but the monster is a mutant penis.
With Trouser Snake
being inspired by 1950s creature features - could you at all elaborate a bit
on that? While a movie about a penis monster is funny
enough, I thought a movie about a penis monster set in the 1950s would be
even funnier. A lot of modern horror movies are throwbacks to the '80s,
which I love, but I wanted to do something a little different. The '50s,
when sex was so taboo and monster movies were rampant, seemed like the
perfect fit. Other sources of inspiration when writing
Trouser Snake?
I wanted to capture the style and essence of
the '50s without setting it in an exact time or place and without directly
referencing any previous films. To get myself in the mindset, I watched
some of my favorite monster movies of that era, like Creature from the
Black Lagoon, The Thing from Another
World, The Blob and
Them, along with
Leave it to Beaver. What can you tell us about your co-writer
James Cilano, and what was your collaboration like? James
is one of my best friends. He's a really talented musician, so I had him
score my first short, The Horrors of
AutoCorrect. He did a great job, but
it was apparent his creativity extended beyond the musical realm. He and I
got together for a few days of writing, during which we came up with
several short scripts and treatments. I believe Trouser Snake
was the
final one we wrote. I pitched the idea to him, and he agreed that it was
just so dumb it could work.
I really enjoy working with James, because we have similar tastes but are
not afraid to challenge one another in order to come up with funnier
lines, scarier scenes and better scripts. I'm sure there will be more
collaborations between us in the future.
Do
talk about Trouser Snake's
brand of humour for a bit! Trouser Snake's humor is,
naturally, sophomoric. I enjoy dry humor and clever wit, which I tried to
incorporate into The Horrors of
AutoCorrect, but sometimes there is
nothing funnier than a good dick joke. While that plays a big part in it,
there's some non-penis-related humor as well. You of course also have to
talk about Trouser Snake's
titular creature, and how was it achieved?
The Trouser Snake was created by Jordan Pacheco, a good friend of mine
who is an amazing special effects artist, as well as a talented
filmmaker [Jordan
Pacheco interview - click here]. Jordan is actually a large reason as to why the short
happened. I had mentioned the concept to him on the set of a film we
were both working on, and he told me he would do it as long as I
credited him as the Trouser Snake. A few days later, out of the blue, he
sent me a picture of the Trouser Snake sculpt. If he hadn't been so
enthusiastic about it, I probably never would have made it.
There were three Trouser Snakes created for the shoot. One was
essentially a prop filled with stuffing that could be tossed around,
another was a hand puppet that had the ability to open and close its
mouth, and the third was attached to a super soaker so it could
"spray." It was Jordan's first creature, and he knocked it out
of the park.
What can you
tell us about your cast, and why exactly these people? Casting
on this one was funny, because I had to approach these talented actors who
I deeply respect with a script about a penis monster. Thankfully, everyone
was game. I also cast my 12-year-old cousin as the little sister; it was
an interesting experience to ask her parents about their child appearing
in a movie called Trouser Snake. Luckily, my family shares my sense of
humor.
Both the lead actors - Alexander Gauthier and Jamie Lyn Bagley - were
last-minute replacements when previous actors had to drop out, but I
couldn't be more pleased about that happy accident. They both deliver
performances far better than a movie called Trouser Snake
deserves, and
they're extremely fun have on set as well. Do
talk about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere!
Needless to say, the atmosphere on set was a lot of fun. The jokes were
endless, but everyone was serious when they needed to be. I had a very
small but dedicated crew, many of the same who worked on my previous
short. We've all done several projects together, so whenever we get
together it's like a little reunion. We shot for three days. The first day was all of the indoor scenes, which
went really smoothly. The second day was the car scenes, which was cool
because we had a guy who was nice enough to let us use his genuine '50s
car. The final day was inserts with the creature, which was actually the
toughest. Thankfully, my three main crew members - J. Poisson [J.
Poisson interview - click here], John
Mosetich and Jordan Pacheco [Jordan
Pacheco interview - click here] - are all accomplished filmmakers themselves,
so we were able to work out any kinks and come away with something I'm
proud of.
The
$64-question of course, when and where will your Trouser
Snake be released onto the general public? Trouser Snake
recently had its premiere at the Boston Underground Film Festival,
which was a blast. To finally see it on the big screen with a receptive
audience was amazing. There may be a couple of other theatrical screenings
in the near future as well. Beyond that, it should be online in the
spring. I can't say exactly when or where yet, as I'm not 100% sure
myself, but I will certainly let you know. Anything
you can tell us about audience and critical reception of your movie yet? The
Boston Underground premiere was great. We played first in a block of
locally-produced shorts, which was an honor in itself. BUFF is my favorite
film festival; not only is the line-up always great, but the audience that
attends really understands and appreciates these weird movies. Any
future projects you'd like to share?
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I'm currently producing a feature titled Abyzou: Taker of Children -
https://www.facebook.com/AbyzouTakerOfChildren/
-, which is written and directed by Jordan Pacheco [Jordan
Pacheco interview - click here].
It's a possession movie based on a real demon from Hebrew folk lore.
We're blending a modern style with old-school special effects to create
something scary. We're really excited with the footage so far.
I recently made a faux-trailer called Cybershock 1999, which plays as
part of the prolific Richard Griffin's latest horror-comedy, Seven Dorms
of Death [Richard
Griffin interview - click here]. As a lover of campy '80s slashers, it's seriously one of the
funniest movies I've seen in a long time, and I'm so honored to be a
part of it. My trailer is a take on the cheesy post-apocalyptic movies
that came along in the '80s in the wake of Mad Max, Escape from New York
and The Terminator.
While producing Abyzou: Taker of Children and working on filmmakers' projects is currently
taking up the majority of my time, in the back of my mind I'm trying to
figure out my next short. I'd like to do a sequel to Trouser Snake
sometime, but first I want to do something that's straight horror.
Your/your movie's
website, Facebook, whatever else? You can be the first to
know about the release of Trouser Snake
and stay up to date with all of my
movie work on the Grimbridge Productions Facebook page at
facebook.com/grimbridgeprods.
You can also find me on Twitter
(@alexislegend)
or Facebook (alexdivincenzo).
I also run BrokeHorrorFan.com,
where I share cool horror merch I can't afford and ramble about movies I
love. Anything else you're
dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? I'd
like to thank you again for taking the time to speak to me about my silly
short. You have been a supporter since the beginning, and it really means
a lot. Thanks
for the interview!
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