Horror movies &stuff Interviews "Satanic Panic" Director Marc Selz
We talked recently with "Satanic Panic" Director Marc Selz, who's satanic-cult-inspired horror pic is based on true events which occured in the late 70's early 80's time period. In the film...two twins, a brother and sister -- are kidnapped by a local Satanic Cult in the town of Thornwood. The sister manages to escape, but the brother isn't so lucky...and to this day, he hasn't been found. Now -- fast-forward 25 years later, a group of teens on a canoeing trip in the same area where the children were abducted all those years ago, find themselves targeted by crazed locals, as well as the Satanic Cult from 25 years past!
MR. H:What's the basic premise of "Satanic Panic"?
Marc:SATANIC PANIC, inspired by true accounts and the craze that took place in the late 1970's and early 80's, follows in the footsteps of classic horror films from that generation. In 1980, ten year old twins Toby and Cindy Richards were abducted by a group of demented satanic cult members. Cindy managed to escape, but Toby was never found. Twenty-five years later, a group of six friends take a canoe trip to re-kindle their friendship, only to find themselves in trouble with crazy, small town locals and the same satanic cult that took Toby years ago. Can the friends make it out of the town of Thornwood alive and in one piece, or will the become victims of sacrifice in this terrifying tale?
MR. H:Where'd you come up with the idea for "Satanic Panic"?
Marc:When I was growing up, I remember hearing a lot of cases where mutilated animals and satanic markings were found in local forest preserves around the northwest suburbs of Chicago. There was always another story someone had about what they had seen or heard. I am a big fan of Brad Anderson's film, Session 9, which was not a real gory film, but was extremely scary to me. The film had a very interesting topic that was brought up about Satanic Ritual Abuse. That moment was just talked about briefly in the film. They didn't have to show anything, the character just told a story about a situation involving SRA.
Things connected with me to that time back in the 80's, so I thought I would do more research on the topic since it freaked me out so much. I watched a couple of films that were made in the past such as Race with the Devil and Devil's Rain, dealing with some of these cult issues, but nobody really went deeper into it. I felt there was an opening to tell more. I actually was more freaked out watching documentary stuff than watching those early films I mentioned. I thought lets try to add some of those elements into our film since they had more impact on me.
MR. H:How'd you arrive at the official title for this picture?
Marc:I simply used the phrase that reporters and the public would use during those times. I think it rolls and it's catchy. I thought it was strange that nobody ever made a horror film with that title and after copyright research, I landed with Satanic Panic
MR. H:You've got two mostly unknown up and comers in this film in Cyn Dulay and Nikki Taylor Melton. What was the rationale behind the decision to get these two to topline the film?
Marc:I felt both of these actors had done enough horror films and had the experience to pull off the roles that I was looking for. Nikki worked on her first film with me when she was just six years old The Rockville Slayer and was a total trooper. Her mother Tracey trained her very well and prepared her for the intense things she was going to do. Everyone will be surprised with what Nikki does in this film, trust me. Cyn had just wrapped on a few horror films prior to Satanic Panic. She auditioned and I knew that she was going to nail her character and would have no problems getting down and dirty in Satanic. Her character had a lot of physical scenes and she was a real trooper and a true professional to work with.
MR. H:Who did you have in mind for "Satanic Panic" as far as well known indie-horror actors/actresses go, that you weren't able to get?
Marc:At first we started with Felissa Rose, Brink Stevens, Eileen Dietz and Dee Wallace Stone along with Tiffany Shepis. We were originally going to have a straight four week shoot. We had locked Felissa who was awesome, but it was hard with our schedules since she just had a baby and the production had some bumps that interfered with the four week schedule. This was the same conflict with Brink and Eileen. Dee was very nice. We wanted her to come in for a one day shoot, but after us describing what the movie was about, and her reading her scene she turned it down. I was so disappointed because she had mentioned that she didn't want to do these types of films anymore and ever since then, she's been in more and more horror/slasher movies.
I would have loved to have had her on board since I was a big fan of hers. Tiffany was great; a wonderful personality. I would love to work with her some day. She was willing to do whatever it took to make the movie work. Unfortunately she had another project that interfered that was filming out of the country and it didn't work with the new schedule that Satanic Panic's production was proposing. When these things weren't working out and our schedule wasn’t working out, the production set us back six months. We had to regroup if this was going to happen.
We planned to do things differently and I don't think it hurt the film at all. We stretched out the shoot over a two year period and almost every actor in the film had past experience with other horror movies, plus they had months to get their characters together and work with me. I feel that with this film, as long as we had solid acting, it would work. I felt that it could also take away from the "real" feeling if we had used name genre actors in the film. You would say "oh look it's so and so". Let's think about this…the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Wolf Creek and Blair Witch all had no name actors and it didn't hurt the film. It was good, solid acting and I think Satanic Panic falls in those lines. Let's hope everyone else does.
MR. H:"Satanic Panic" just recently wrapped shooting. How would you rate the shoot compared to other projects you've worked on? Was it more difficult? Less?
Marc:Every shoot is always long, uncomfortable and tedious, yet Satanic Panic was the best shoot that I've worked on because we took our time to get what we needed and EVERYONE on the shoot did whatever it took and gave 110% to the movie. Everyone wanted this to work. I can't rave enough about my cast and crew on this project. I think it was a little difficult for me at times to stay on the same project for a total of three years for it being an independent low budget project, but we did what we had to do and I got what I wanted in the end.
MR. H:You've worked as producer, director, actor, and even editor on your first few projects. Do you want to stick with the multi-tasking thing throughout your career, or do you want to branch out into one or two specific areas and build a career on those specifically?
Marc:I would like to just write and direct. That would be my dream. Unfortunately, with low budget films, it's hard to make one film let alone three, Satanic being my third. If someone's not doing the job or you are limited on staff, then you have to do it yourself to get the project done. I always help in other areas because I have studied and understand the other areas I help out in, if I don't know them, I get someone who does. I started out acting as well as going to film school and Special Make-up F/X school. I like to put my other skills to work when I can as long as it is not hurting my production. I think as a filmmaker you should know and do as much as you can. You are more valuable at a job when you can do more and have more capabilities. There are a lot of people out there that say they can't do it because they don't have enough bodies to do the project or that it's not their job, and that's true to a certain degree depending on the type of film you are working on, but if you want to make your own movie and want to get it done, then wearing different hats is what has to be done at least that's how it's worked out for me.
MR. H:Is "Satanic Panic" a schlock horror film, a psychological horror picture, or a little bit of both?
Marc:Satanic Panic is a hard edge, in your face docu-style slasher movie with some psychological elements.
MR. H:Exactly how much blood, gore, and body count can we expect in "Satanic Panic"?
Marc:Enough to make me happy and I've been a horror fan for over 30 years. I like to do everything tasteful though and not to crazy over the top, yet leave a little room for your imagination.
MR. H:Who are the main characters in the film, and what parts do they play in the overall story?
Marc:Dulay plays Karen, the lead female role. She is strong, energetic and caring but also has a serious health ailment she is hiding and dealing with. Tom Lodewyk plays Gregg, Karen's boyfriend who is a caring strong, outdoor, rugged individual who wants to take their relationship to another level. Nikki Taylor Melton plays Cindy Richards and other roles that I don't want to get into until you see the film. All I can say is that they are multiple roles at this point. Watch the film to find out.
MR. H:Looking at the cast list for the movie, there's obviously a satanic cult acting as the films antagonist. Did you use your own creative genius in creating this films cult, or did you base them off of any real life past and or present sects?
Marc:The cults in this film are fictional. They are based of me and my partner's warped minds. They are not based off any cult that I am aware of. These are crazy small town backwoods killers that use the religion to hurt people. These cults in the film to me are cowards. They hide themselves behind masks and cloaks and attack people mostly when it's six or seven of them on one individual who is defenseless and tied up most of the time. We do have some Cult members that are bigger and stronger and stand out more than others such as the leader.
MR. H:Did you do any research into satanic cults in general beforehand, just so you could know the inner-workings of such organizations, and implement what you had learned into the picture? And what sects do you think are a bigger threat to society, Satanists or religious/hyper Christian fundamentalists?
Marc:We did do some research on the victims accounts. We based most of the rituals in the film off the accounts. Some of them could be false. Whether or not these things happened we will never know, but it makes you think. I can't see how some of these little children could come up with these stories in such detail if they didn't happen. This is not a religious thing. I think it is like anything else in life. You have good people and bad people. There are people who are Satanists that are everyday people and this is their religion and they will protect it.
I respect that. We also have people who use the religion as a dark side and these people do evil and horrific things. I think Satanism is also targeted because it is very different. Satanic Panic is about bad crazy people who are using the religion to harm people. We are not targeting Satanist and saying they are bad people. This is a fictional horror film and nothing more. We thought the accounts and premise along with the title made for a good horror film and we built a story around it.
MR. H:What kind of tone did you try to give this movie? Dark and moody, grindhouse/exploitation, or just gritty horror-indie?
Marc:It is mostly gritty horror-indie with some docu-style elements.
MR. H:Have you seen the finished product yet? What are your thoughts on it?
Marc:We are in the color correction process as we speak. We are working on a certain look that I want. I have seen a rough cut and I like what I see so far. I will probably see the finished product a week or two before the premiere and we will make any quick changes then if need be. We will most likely do some more sound tweaking even after the premiere if need be.
MR. H:Do you currently have any ideas for a sequel to "Satanic Panic"?
Marc:The cool thing about when Karl Sundstrom and I were writing Satanic, is that we had so many ideas and situations that we could not put them all in just one film. We put a lot of them in, but we also have plenty of room for prequels and sequels.
MR. H:Give the horror fans out there your best pitch as to why they should check out "Satanic Panic" in Illinois this November.
Marc:I really don't think I have to pitch this film that much, it pitches itself. You know what you are getting into when you hear the title or when you look at the poster. I can tell you this...if you like a horror film with these elements, then Satanic Panic is for you and you have to see it. We have story, suspense, slayings, sex, snakes, shish kebabbed girls, and Satanism. That would be enough for me to want to see this movie.
MR. H:When can we expect "Satanic Panic" to arrive on DVD, and what distributors have you talked to so far about releasing the film to home disc?
Marc:I have no release dates other than the premiere we are having in November on when Satanic will be on DVD or if we can push it to get a small theatrical release. We will most likely have a screening for distributors in LA after the premiere. If we get a distributor they will decide where the film stands and they will market it and release it how they see fit.
MR. H:What other upcoming horror projects do you have on your current slate?
Marc:I have a treatment for another horror film. I don't know whether or not I will turn it into a film or maybe I will write a script to it and present it to potential investors. I don't have any plans for any new films at this time.
End. Be sure to check out The official "Satanic Panic"
website!
| | | |
