Owen: Jason Voorhees, Freddy
Krueger, Pinhead, or Michael Meyers and
why?
Suzi: Freddy Krueger. His character always
intrigued me - he was the coolest. So
damn scary in "Nightmare on Elm
Street" - I saw that movie so many
times growing up. And the reality factor
made it scary - he was not some cheesy sci fi
monster - his face was all burned off, he was
this evil child abuser, and he attacked people
when their guard was down (in their
dreams). Then he evolved a bit in
subsequent "Nightmares",
cracking jokes and combining a badass sarcastic
attitude to go along with all the carnage, but he
was still Freddy!
Owen: What scream
queens inspired you and continue to inspire you
today?
Suzi: My favorites
are Jamie Lee Curtis, Heather Langenkamp,
Jennifer Tilly, and Adrienne Barbeau.
Owen: What has
been your favorite role to date?
Suzi: My favorite role so far was Maryann in "Day
of the Ax" (4th Floor
Pictures). It was a brief but powerful
role. Similar to "The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre" my character had
been beaten and tortured by the red neck maniacs
in the woods. She comes into contact with
the main characters while she is walking
(actually wandering/stumbling, in a daze) down
the road. Maryann is approaching madness at
this point, as she's seen her friends
slaughtered right in front of her. So she
basically comes unwound during the interaction
with the other characters, and gets to run the
gamut of emotions from distracted and dazed, to
nonsensical and crazy, to desperate and
completely psychotic.
Owen: Tell me a little something
about your delicious role in 'The Night they
Returned'.
Suzi: I play Tawny
Taggart - one of the crazy cannibal
sisters. Tawny, along with her sister
Brenda (played by Melantha Blackthorne), gets her
kicks by luring unsuspecting strangers to our
cabin in the woods, and then dismembering and
eating them. My character switches from
sweet and demure to saw wielding maniac in the
blink of an eye. One of my fondest
memories of the film was when our sister Jess
(played by Liz Faure) starts going into this
"psychic trance". She's a great
comedic actor, and really begins to take the
character over the top - hysterical howling
sounds, tongue lolling out, eyes crossing, you
name it. So Melantha (Brenda) and I are
supposed to be all concerned about her at this
point, and really serious, and neither one of us
could look at each other or at Liz (Jess) without
cracking up. We had to re-shoot that scene
A LOT.
Owen: Do you have a dream role
in the genre?
Suzi: I gravitate
toward really strong female characters that are
multi-dimensional and really well fleshed
out. I like the opportunity to show many
different sides to the character, thereby making
her more "real" in the viewers' eyes.
And it's always fun to play the antagonist rather
than the victim.
Owen: What's your
response to arguments that the whole label and
existence of scream queen is misogynist and
sexist? Do you think that element exists and
if so what makes something non-exploitative vs.
exploitative?
Suzi: Well I think
there's a lot of gray area there. I mean
certainly a horror film can exhibit misogynistic
and sexist elements, but there are plenty that
don't. For example, I just saw "Chainsaw
Sally" and was totally impressed by
the strength of the lead played by April
Burril. She is the complete antithesis of
your typical "damsel in distress"
helpless female. She kicks major butt, and
wields a large chainsaw. And in terms of a
film being exploitative vs. non-exploitative,
well now that's really subjective. I think
it's all good as long as there is "equal
opportunity exploitation" - the male
characters should subjected to the same level of
objectification or abuse - what's good for the
goose, is good for the gander. Personally I
think as long as the actor is comfortable doing
what they're doing, and doesn't take it too
seriously, and realizes it is JUST A MOVIE and is
not indicative of what they would do in real
life, then there's generally nothing wrong with
it. Doesn't mean I would necessarily choose
to watch a strictly exploitative film, but to
each his own.
Owen: Well put. What projects do
you have lined up in the future?
Suzi: I recently
wrapped "She Demons of the Black Sun"
with SVBI Films in Montreal. For those who
are familiar with my work, they know I have done
several other films with these guys - including
"Cold Blonded Murder",
"The Night They Returned",
and Purple Glow".
They are definitely great people to work with -
we all share similar interests and goals, and it
is always a blast to work with them. We
just found out that "Purple Glow"
will be premiering at the Fantasia Film Festival
this summer! And "Day of the
Ax" just won first place in the
best horror feature category at the Indy
Gathering Film Convention in Cleveland! It
will be officially released the end of this year
by Brain Damage Films. I'm heading back to
Montreal again in August to work on "Hell
Jail: Rise of the Ghosts" -
which will be one of Sv Bell's most ambitious
projects to date. Really excited about
that!
Owen:
As someone who is up-and-coming in the field what
advice do you have to give to someone who is
looking to break into the indie horror scene?
Suzi: Do it
because you love it, not for the money.
Choose your projects wisely, and remember that
film is permanent. Don't let anyone
pressure you into anything. Work your
hardest and do your best no matter what you are
working on - everyone has to start somewhere.
Owen: And finally,
what's something that makes you scream in real
life?
Suzi: Cockroaches
and mullets, or better yet, cockroaches with
mullets.
Thats very scary!
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