Hot Picks

- Ready for My Close Up 2019

- Talk of the Dead 2016

- Tower Rats 2020

- Script of the Dead 2024

- The Bell Affair 2023

- Easter Bloody Easter 2024

- Velma 2022

- Everwinter Night 2023

- Main Character Energy 2023

- Stupid Games 2024

- Bittertooth 2023

- 4 Minutes of Terror: Night Slasher 2024

- Apart 2024

- The Abandoned 2006

- Becky 2024

- The Evil Fairy Queen 2024

- The Black Guelph 2022

- Followers 2024

- Silence of the Prey 2024

- Battle for the Western Front 2024

- Beware the Boogeyman 2024

- Subject 101 2022

- Driftwood 2023

- The Legend of Lake Hollow 2024

- Black Mass 2023

- Skinwalkers: American Werewolves 2 2023

- The Manifestation 2024

- Spirit Riser 2024

- Garden of Souls 2019

- It's a Wonderful Slice 2024

- Caleb & Sarah 2024

- The Thousand Steps 2020

- The Desiring 2021

- When a Stranger Knocks 2024

- Quint-essentially Irish 2024

- Son of Gacy 2024

- Saltville 2024

- The True Story of the Christ's Return 2024

- Whenever I'm Alone with You 2023

- Jurassic Triangle 2024

- Midnight Peepshow 2022

- Offworld: Alien Planet 2024

- The Swiss Conspiracy 1976

- Sex-Positive 2024

- Here for Blood 2022

- All Over Again 2024

- The Color Yellow 2023

- Des Töchterleins Leid 2024

- I Am a Channel 2024

- The Hermits 2023

- Murdaritaville 2024

- Inheritance 2024

- The Devil's Partner 1960

- First Impressions Can Kill 2017

- A Killer Conversation 2014

- Star Crash 1979

- Strangler of the Swamp 1946

An Interview with Dakota Ray, Director and Star of American Antichrist

by Mike Haberfelner

November 2018

Dakota Ray on (re)Search my Trash

 

Quick Links

Abbott & Costello

The Addams Family

Alice in Wonderland

Arsène Lupin

Batman

Bigfoot

Black Emanuelle

Bomba the Jungle Boy

Bowery Boys

Bulldog Drummond

Captain America

Charlie Chan

Cinderella

Deerslayer

Dick Tracy

Dr. Mabuse

Dr. Orloff

Doctor Who

Dracula

Edgar Wallace made in Germany

Elizabeth Bathory

Emmanuelle

Fantomas

Flash Gordon

Frankenstein

Frankie & Annette Beach Party movies

Freddy Krueger

Fu Manchu

Fuzzy

Gamera

Godzilla

Hercules

El Hombre Lobo

Incredible Hulk

Jack the Ripper

James Bond

Jekyll and Hyde

Jerry Cotton

Jungle Jim

Justine

Kekko Kamen

King Kong

Laurel and Hardy

Lemmy Caution

Lobo

Lone Wolf and Cub

Lupin III

Maciste

Marx Brothers

Miss Marple

Mr. Moto

Mister Wong

Mothra

The Munsters

Nick Carter

OSS 117

Phantom of the Opera

Philip Marlowe

Philo Vance

Quatermass

Robin Hood

The Saint

Santa Claus

El Santo

Schoolgirl Report

The Shadow

Sherlock Holmes

Spider-Man

Star Trek

Sukeban Deka

Superman

Tarzan

Three Mesquiteers

Three Musketeers

Three Stooges

Three Supermen

Winnetou

Wizard of Oz

Wolf Man

Wonder Woman

Yojimbo

Zatoichi

Zorro

Your new movie American Antichrist - in a few words, what is it about?

 

American Antichrist is an epic, dark, and nihilistic horror film that takes the viewer on a surreal drug fueled trip through hell.

 

What were your sources of inspiration when writing American Antichrist?

 

I had been wanting to make the film American Antichrist for some time now - as far back as 2013, actually. But it was not until after the completion of my previous film, The Rise and Fall of an American Scumbag (late 2017-early 2018), that I obtained a 4K camera, which enabled me to create films that were more cinematic and sleeker in style. I’ve grown tremendously as a filmmaker/artist, and now that I had a 4K camera, I finally had everything I needed to truly bring my vision of American Antichrist to the screen.

As far as inspiration for American Antichrist - I drew inspiration from a variety of things-such as serialkillers, religion, drugs, and heavy metal subculture. As far as cinematic inspirations for making American Antichrist, I was inspired by older horror films that relied heavily on atmosphere, such as At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul, Eraserhead, I Bury The Living and even The Exorcist. I also found a great deal of inspiration from arthouse films as well, which may explain some people have made comments that American Antichrist is much more “experimental” than my past films, and some have even said that American Antichrist is avant garde.

 

Of all the characters of American Antichrist, neither of them being very nice people, is there anyone who you can actually identify with on a personal level?

 

All the characters in American Antichrist are each evil in their own individual way - but despite this, if the viewer is able to set aside their morality, then they will definitely not have any issues identifying with any of the characters in the film.

Aside from that, I enjoy how my character, The Antichrist is somewhat of a rock star/celebrity even though he is a serialkiller, as the film shows that he was given extensive media coverage and even has followers, including the mysterious woman who cuts herself and spills her blood on his grave.

 

Do talk about your movie's approach to horror for a bit!

 

I wanted American Antichrist to have a dark, drugged up, supernatural, nightmarish atmosphere, but at the same time I wanted it to be disturbing yet abstract, with a lot of the content being left up to the viewers interpretation. The film is essentially an exploration of evil, showing how it can take on many different forms, whether it be religion or drugs.

I was also fortunate enough to get to use music from the French doom metal band Fallow as the soundtrack to the film. The soundtrack from Fallow meshes incredibly well with a lot of the scenes and elevates American Antichrist into something powerful, haunting, and metaphysical.

 

What can you tell us about your overall directorial approach to your story at hand?

 

My directorial approach to American Antichrist was to allow myself to have unlimited artistic freedom - and that is why some of the film’s content comes across as experiment or avant garde. I also put a lot of effort into the camerawork of the film, and The 4K camera gives the film’s images more depth and allowed me to take in more of the surroundings, enabling me to establish the dark, supernatural, nightmarish atmosphere I was striving to create.

 

You also play one of the leads in American Antichrist - so what did you draw upon to bring him to life? And since you once again play a very despicable character - how difficult but also how much fun and how much of a relief is it playing this kind of role?

 

A great amount of time went into the development of The Antichrist character. The Antichrist is essentially a glorified dead serialkiller raised from the dead as a vessel for the Antichrist. The character isn’t quite human, so the challenge I had was to convincingly portray and bring a character to the screen that is an entity/supernatural being.

I designed The Antichrist with myself in mind to play him since I felt that the character was extremely important to the film, and it was imperative that I play the role because I felt that no else could effectively bring my vision of the character to the screen the way I could.

 

What can you tell us about the rest of your cast, and why exactly these people?

 

There is Nick Benning who plays the drug dealer named Chris in the film. Nick is a friend of mine who regularly appears in my films. He played Nikki in The Acid Sorcerer and Lucifer in American Scumbags. Nick’s friend Meg plays Crystal, a drug addict who escapes from rehab, hooks up with Chris and then inadvertently ends up being murdered in a snuff film after being set up by Chris and his friend/snuff filmmaker Sid.

Then there is L.B. who plays Benjamin, a religious fanatic/serialkiller who preys on homeless people. The character is on a divine mission to try to extinguish the lives of those he deems “wicked” or unholy. L.B. is an incredible actor and no one else could have played the character Benjamin as effectively as he did or even touch his performance.

A few of my acquaintances also played minor roles in the film, but other than that, the cast of American Antichrist was relatively small.

 

A few words about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?

 

Compared to the on-set atmosphere of my past films, it was normal. Most of the scenes involving The Antichrist and Benjamin were actually filmed around my house in Denver, Colorado.

The segments of the film involving Chris and Crystal were filmed all in one day at Nick’s house in Lakewood, Colorado.

 

The $64-question of course, where can American Antichrist be seen?

 

We recently had an IndieGoGo presale of the film that was successful. A lot of people supported and contributed to the campaign and we ended up not only meeting but surpassing our goal! So thanks to everyone who supported, contributed to the American Antichrist IndieGoGo presale!

There will be second edition DVDs available in early 2019 and American Antichrist will be playing at a few film festivals as well. Then finally, American Antichrist will be streamed online for free - basically because I want as many people possible to see the film.

 

Anything you can tell us about audience and critical reception of American Antichrist yet?

 

It has been mostly positive. There is no denying that the film is impressive on a technical level. I have gotten a lot of positive feedback regarding the camerawork and acting in the film, and almost everyone has enjoyed the new kind of experimental style of American Antichrist.

 

Any future projects you'd like to share?

 

I am currently in the preliminary stages of a new film called The Dark Days of Demetrius. We will probably begin filming spring 2019, and have it out in the later summer-fall if next year.

Every time I make a new film, I try to push myself as a filmmaker/artist and think I have some solid ideas and concepts that I feel I can make a powerful new film out of.

 

Your/your movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?

 

Feeling lucky?
Want to
search
any of my partnershops yourself
for more, better results?
(commissions earned)

The links below
will take you
just there!!!

Find Dakota Ray
at the amazons ...

USA  amazon.com

Great Britain (a.k.a. the United Kingdom)  amazon.co.uk

Germany (East AND West)  amazon.de

Looking for imports?
Find Dakota Ray here ...

Thailand  eThaiCD.com
Your shop for all things Thai

The official Dakota Ray-R.A. Productions WordPress can be found at https://dakotarayfilmmaker.wordpress.com

It extensively covers my films, and features a large photo gallery that spans my entire filmography/career. The WordPress site also contains several interviews I’ve done through the years as well.

Official Dakota Ray-R.A. Productions Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/dakotaraydirectoractorartistdenver/

 

Anything else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?

 

Yes, thanks for your continued coverage/support of our films, we really appreciate it. We’d also like to give a HUGE thanks to everyone who contributed to the American Antichrist IndieGoGo presale campaign and helped us surpass our goal!

 

Thanks for the interview!

 

© by Mike Haberfelner


Legal note: (re)Search my Trash cannot
and shall not be held responsible for
content of sites from a third party.




Thanks for watching !!!



 

 

In times of uncertainty of a possible zombie outbreak, a woman has to decide between two men - only one of them's one of the undead.

 

There's No Such Thing as Zombies
starring
Luana Ribeira, Rudy Barrow and Rami Hilmi
special appearances by
Debra Lamb and Lynn Lowry

 

directed by
Eddie Bammeke

written by
Michael Haberfelner

produced by
Michael Haberfelner, Luana Ribeira and Eddie Bammeke

 

now streaming at

Amazon

Amazon UK

Vimeo

 

 

 

Robots and rats,
demons and potholes,
cuddly toys and
shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

is all of that.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to
-
a collection of short stories and mini-plays
ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic
to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle, all thought up by
the twisted mind of
screenwriter and film reviewer
Michael Haberfelner.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

the new anthology by
Michael Haberfelner

 

Out now from
Amazon!!!