Necessity
is, as they say, the mother of
invention. Of course, talent and
determination are truly helpful
in unexpected situations, also.
Thankfully, both of these
qualities seem to be
prerequisites for the members of
the newly formed Scotchworthy
productions. Take this February's
Fangoria Convention in Chicago
for example. On her way to
promote Scotchworthy's debut
picture 'It's My Party
and I'll Die if I Want To'
, lead actress Adrienne Fischer
left the airport minus one very
important prop - her character
Sara's bodacious Elvira-like wig.
While this certainly made some
drag dreaming airline employee
very happy, it left our
industrious horror makers in a
bind. Enter SW co-president
Christopher Patrick, actor and
costumer extraordinaire. Patrick
gathered together two remainder
wigs from his garage and in a
rip-sewing frenzy almost
spontaneously created a
replacement wig that was a direct
clone of the original.
Subsequently, the sight of the
personable Fischer wandering the
horror strewn hallways of the
Wyndham Chicago O' Hare in her
depth defying 'do was one of the
highlights of the weekend.
Cool
story, but it was nothing new for
the creators of one of the most
adventurous low budget horror
films in recent existence. Filmed
in 45 days over two years, 'Its
My Party and I'll Die if I Want
To' definitely had its
share of ups and downs throughout
its adventurous creation.
Writer/director Tony Wash (and
founder of Scotchworthy) recalls
that they originally filmed for
32 days with the ultimate
realization that what they had
captured didn't work. Wash
rewrote and filmed an additional
6 days and, once again, came away
with a cut that he wasn't happy
with. The final 7 days of filming
produced the "best
stuff" according to Wash and
this driven awareness is obvious
in every frame captured in this
cartoon accentuated fright fest.
Of
course, as is often the case in
low budget features, it was
balls-to-the-wall cold on the set
of the film's main location - the
house where all the horribly
bloody party action occurs. It
probably didn't help that the
house was being utilized in
January and February in Western
Pennsylvania - or that the fuses
in the house were 70 years old
and were only strong enough to be
used to set up a shot or heat the
actors. Patrick recalls that
quite often the crew was wrapping
the scantily clothed actresses in
blankets immediately after a take
was completed.
Though
- it does help if you actually
have an actress to cover up! The
film's creature, beautifully put
together by Todd Malnar and Steve
Winsett, was initially designed
to be played by a female. Of
course, once it came time for the
shoot, she was unavailable.
Eventually, an actor, Angel
Marquez, was found who could just
about fit into the costume. In
the circumstances providing
golden opportunities category, it
turns out that the tight quarters
Marquez had to override, only
adds to the creature's
exaggerated gruesomeness.
Another
favorite crew war story involves
the night that only 9 people
showed up to film the movie's
climactic, titled party. Wash
ultimately shot the scenario that
way, but unsurprisingly realized
it wasn't effective. So, a week
later, after advertising a kegger
- the scene was re-shot - with 35
in attendance. Success!
Success
was also assured when Wash
finally landed the acting
services of horror legend Tom
Savini. In fact, while Wash and
Patrick (and many of the crew
involved with Its My Party)
attended Savini's Special FX
School in Monesson, PA, it was
not a shoe-in that Savini would
appear in the film. Due to
Savini\rquote s busy schedule, a
large number of emails were
exchanged before Savini found his
way onto the set. Once he was
there, though, Savini proved to
be a professional influence that
ultimately inspired the young
filmmakers.
Inspiration
was also found in the
production's use of sets outside
of the primary house. A brief
scene where Fischer's Sara greets
her mother and heads upstairs to
her bedroom involved 3 different
locales. Patrick's house was also
used frequently. Patrick, who
majestically plays the
legendarily evil Mr. Burkitt in
the film, thoroughly cleaned up
one night after one of the film's
legendary blood baths was shot. A
week or so later, as the weather
shifted, Patrick realized red
drops were beginning to fall
everywhere. He investigated and
eventually discovered that some
blood had flown onto his ceiling
fan and as the temperatures
increased it was starting to
melt.
Importantly,
the one thing that did not fall
apart despite any production
difficulties was the crew's tight
camaraderie. Fischer, an
accomplished stage actress and
magnetic presence onscreen, still
actively promotes the project.
Stephen Wymer, the associate
producer and production
coordinator, and Doug Rice, an
effects man and actor, were also
at Fangoria Fest, in and out of
costume, promoting the film.
Wymer, an affable and talented
guy, claims that the production
was "run like a tight
ship" hence its ultimate
success.
Rice,
who contributed a great deal to
the film's second shoot,
originally auditioned for the
male lead, Travis, and ultimately
stuck around to help out. Rice,
who along with Patrick, is
founder of the influential
Winterland FX (their My Space
page contains an awesome death by
barbwire effect), also,
contributed to the project in a
more roundabout way - his wife
appears in a lesbian zombie sex
scene in one of the DVD's
alternative "chose your
own" adventures.
Though
the film successfully won a Full
Moon production deal, Wash was
determined to put the film out
independently, first, to realize
his dream of releasing the film
with the above mentioned
"Choose Your Own
Adventure" options. This
enables the viewer to send Sara
off on different paths and
perhaps even alter her fate.
While
some beginner film companies may
have scoffed at such an
additional effort, Wash wants
Scotchworthy, whose name was
inspired by a friendly bet that
determined whether a film was
good enough to be considered
worthy of a Scotch, to be held
far above the norm. He prides
himself on the fact that
Scotchworthy relies on physical
effects not CGI. Wash and Patrick
are, also, going beyond the norm
with their promotion efforts. To
begin with, the two are putting
together a troupe of Scotchworthy
Girls to help bring notice to the
company. The girls were in full
swing at the Fangoria Fest,
parading down the halls in a
variety of ghoulish disguises.
Wisely, Wash and Patrick have
chosen young women like Elena
Picavoli. Picavoli, who has a
background in dance and
children's theater, and the rest
of the girls have "great
personalities and a really good
heart" according to Wash.
This same compliment could be
applied to everyone involved with
Scotchworthy, it seems.
In
fact, 'Its My Party and
I'll Die if I Want To'
has already proven itself to be
the little film that could! It is
the winner of multiple film
festivals, has received prize
reviews and has found itself
within the pages of Fangoria
magazine. Not bad for a start,
but of course the Scotchworthy
engine has just begun revving up.
A visit to www.scotchworthy.com shows the
company has several other
thrilling projects in the works -
proving that if blood spill is
good for the soul then
Scotchworthy just may be dangling
the grue strewn keys to the
kingdom. |