Britgeek here.
With Fantastic Fest 2012 looming, I can tell you now of one film in the line-up that is going to blow audiences away, and that is AMERICAN MARY, written and directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska, otherwise known as the Twisted Twins.
The Soska sisters garnered attention a couple of years ago with their no-budget debut feature DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK, an enjoyably trashy send-up of their favourite cult movies, inspired by GRINDHOUSE, the 2007 collaboration between Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. It was certainly a niche film and one that thankfully found its audience, but when you make such a movie, it's easy to get labelled as “those kinds of film-makers.” What the twins have done with their new film is a complete 180: they've made something deep and brimming with resonance that looks great and is headed by a tremendous performance from Katharine Isabelle (GINGER SNAPS). If you have any reservations about seeing AMERICAN MARY based on a viewing of DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK, please ditch them at your earliest convenience.
I saw the film in August at Film4 FrightFest in London along with my partner in gore at the festival, Dr Karen Oughton, who reviewed the film for us HERE.
While we were there, we discussed the movie with Jen and Sylvia on a number of occasions, the first of which was at the media wall moments after their film, which is being distributed in the UK by Universal Pictures, had its special preview screening to around 1,300 horror fans. These twins really know their stuff and have an incredibly bright future in the industry.
With the two Fantastic Fest screenings taking place on both Thursday, September 20 and Monday, September 24, we thought now was the best time to unleash the Soskas' smarts and passion in our interview, conducted by Doc Karen, below:
