"I have always been a die-hard feminist when it comes to the horror I love. I fist pump in triumph every time Jennifer Hills mutilates a perverted mountain man in I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE. Ripley and her alien-whoopin’ ways will always hold a tender spot in my heart. Danielle Harris’ portrayal of Marybeth in HATCHET II offers one of my all-time favorite “fuck you!” moments, when she goes berserk on Victor Crowley at the end of the film.
Thus, it should come as no surprise that a film made about two bad-assed chicks by two bad-assed chicks would rank amongst my top favorites. The Soskas’ driving force and my deep-rooted love for the bad-assed X chromosome is a perfect match. When Sylvia snarled the epic line “like dying could kill me”, I immediately made room at the top of my 'Most Bad-Assed Moments in Horror' list."
-Justin Hamelin, Ravenous Monster
My sister, Jen, has given me so much strength in my life. I lived a nightmare for two years when I was 21 years old when a customer at the Starbucks that I worked at became infatuated with me. He was thirty years my senior and decided he wanted to fuck me. He would show up constantly, grab at me, even touch himself while watching me work. You'd think a big corporation like Starbucks would have done something to protect me, but they simply transferred me to another location where the harassment could continue.
Despite the police reports, despite all my efforts to stop it, this went on for two years before the circumstances and reports would allow me to take the case to court. The judge was so angry that he could barely speak and the ruling was five years - no contact. The event left its mark on me and I wasn't myself anymore. I didn't want to leave my room. I got rid of my apartment and Jen and I returned home. But Jen would never allow me to feel weak for long. She forced me into private, hardcore martial arts training and created Badass.
When we wrote the script, I had to be that character in her mind, even though - Jen more appropriately would get those parts. All these feelings came back to me when I stood in front of the flame bar and said Jen's fucking ridiculously tough line "Like dying could kill me." Ironic that I saved her, because she's always been there saving me.
I am one of the luckiest girls in the world because I have the most amazing people in my life. One such amazing gentleman is Justin Hamelin who took the time to do a massive interview with us. He's one of these people that honest to fucking goodness love the genre and when he speaks about it - you tend to like even your most beloved favorite flicks that much more. Speaking of incredibly kind, love the genre, gentlemen - here's a little peek at the part two of our interview --
RavMon: Eli Roth is a big time supporter. I love the fact that he seems very pro-“women can be bad assed, too”. How did you get in touch with him?
Jen: Eli is amazing. He’s been incredibly supportive and a very good friend to us. We sent our DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK trailer around to every director from GRINDHOUSE as they had each inspired us. We couldn’t believe that only two days after we messaged him, Eli Roth wrote back to us and asked if he could see the finished film. We spoke back and forth and he gave us some really good advice. And you know what? He still does.
His films are very pro-feminist. We loved HOSTEL 2, especially the Blood Bath part. It was incredible. It was so empowering to see a female murderer that was every bit as blood thirsty as any man.
Sylvia: Eli Roth has to be one of the nicest, most down to earth, honest to goodness horror nerds in the world. He started with CABIN FEVER, so he knows what it’s like to be there. What I love about his work is that it isn’t the same shit you see in every other movie. In the first HOSTEL, you’ve got an openly gay, crazed doctor-wanna be. He wasn’t some outrageous stereotype with a lisp; he was a badass, creepy motherfucker who liked to cut people up. In the second part, you get this beautiful, intelligent female protagonist and guess what? There’s an evil bitch that gets her into the hostel. There’s a sequence in that film with the bloodbath that has to be one of the best horror scenes I’ve ever seen. With two incredibly talented actresses that killed it in that scene.
I hate when you see a film and the female characters are just written so pathetically that it’s fucking annoying. Give me a strong character that I can watch and say I wanna be like her. Eli writes women like that and he’s been an amazing supporter of our stuff. The script for AMERICAN MARY came from him asking about what other scripts we had. He’s a great guy.
No more previews, click here to read the entire lovely piece. If you missed the first part, get caught up here.
A very humble and sincere thank you to Justin for taking the time and dealing with our crazy schedule to have this chat. It was a wicked time and hope to come back and bug you with news about AMERICAN MARY!
~Sylv
