'BLEEDFEST' TO BE DHIAT'S LA PREMIERE

Love love love LA. Jen and I try to head south to California as much as we can. Living in beautiful, but often rainy Vancouver, makes the sunny state just even sweeter.

It is with great pleasure that we announce the LA premiere screening of 'Dead Hooker in a Trunk' to take place at this year's 'Bleedfest'. 'Bleedfest' is a film festival created by Elisabeth Fies -- a fellow filmmaker and activist -- who is keeping the spirit of 'Women in Horror' month strong all year long. Elisabeth's new film, 'The Commune', looks sick by the by. But I'm the kind of gal who is a sucker for coming of age, psychotic new-age cult thrillers that fuck up your head. Who isn't?



'Bleedfest' will be take place Sunday July 18th at the Two Roads Theater in Sherman Oaks in Los Angeles. It will be playing as an adjunct to Pretty/Scary's 'Viscera Festival' on July 17th, which will feature horror shorts by women -- even a little Dead Hooker for you, boys and girls. Speaking of which, it was Pretty/Scary's Heidi Martinuzzi that first introduced Hooker to Elisabeth during WiH month which was beyond rad.


For those of you who aren't familiar with her work, Heidi is the co-creator and editor-in-chief of Pretty/Scary -- the web community devoted to the study of women in horror. You can see her sharp intellect and smart writing everywhere from numerous online and print entertainment magazines like Film Threat, CFQ, Femme Fatales, Zink, Bloody-Disgusting.com, Dark Side, ShockTillYouDrop.com, Hustler, Fangoria, and About.com. She is also on the nomination committee for the Scream Awards. Currently, she is directing and producing a documentary about women who are married to horror filmmakers titled 'Brides of Horror'. Last time we were in town we missed meeting Miss Martinuzzi, this time we get to hang.

There looks to be a weekend long cool selection of features and shorts from female horror filmmakers from all over lined up, so come on down. See the indies, support the artists, meet some rad film folks. Looking very forward to this event -- this will be the first time we see the new cut of Hooker play in front of an audience, so if you can make it down, we would dig to see how you dig the film!

xo
Jen and Sylv

RUNNING AND SCREAMING

I remember once, when we were younger, our mom took us to go see 'The House on Haunted Hill'. I love seeing movies in the theaters. When the lights go dark and the music gets loud, anything can happen. You never know if you're going to see something that leaves a mark on you.

There was another similar movie out at the same time (both were remakes of the still creepy today, 1959 House on Haunted Hill) called 'The Haunting' and it was pretty dull. Too many obvious effects, predictable story, you all know what a bad horror is like.

Well, maybe that's the movie the girls' birthday party that sat two rows ahead of us had meant to see because they really made this trip to the theater memorable.

So, the lights go out, the trailers play, the movie starts. It begins with a flashback to the old insane asylum that the 'house' was originally used as. Doctors are operating on patients without anesthesia, experimental surgeries that birth evil in horror stories, the crazies seem to be especially excitable tonight. A man in an office is sharpening pencils. There is a birthday party of about twelve girls sitting in front of us. They are giggling and talking. Their moms are also chatting.

Jen and I both know that shit is about to go down. Those crazies are just a little extra crazy tonight. They start to break free. A patient grabs the pile of newly sharpened pencils and uses them to stab a man through the throat. Screams.



CHECK THE 4:52 MARK ;)

One girl starts screaming, they all start screaming. Some get up and run out of the theater. The head mom stands and starts acting like a traffic director, she motions for the rest of the girls to run out of the theater with a scared chant of, 'Go, go, go, go, go!'

My sister, my mom, and I all exchange looks and giggles. We love horror movies. Jen and I grew up on them. Sometimes, you get lucky, and get to witness people actually getting scared at one of them. The rest of the film was pretty rad, a CG monster towards the end soured it for me, but overall it was a cool flick. I heard that during the throat slit scene of 'Interview With The Vampire' that many people walked out of the theater.

I haven't witnessed a walkout/ runout in a long time but it just adds to the charm of horror. Sure, people might walk out of a truly crap movie. But only horror makes them run out screaming.

Jen and I are writing a new project. It's coming together quickly. My mind is wandering to all sorts of happy horror memories and I felt like sharing. Thanks for reading, boys and girls.

Talk soon,

xo
Sylv

Pollygrind Awards for Dead Hooker In A Trunk

DEAD HOOKER IS A SMASH HIT AT THE POLLYGRIND

Dead Hooker in a Trunk has been one hell of a ride.



The over whelming support of the film from reviewers, horror sites, and fans has been incredible. We Twisted Twins couldn't have been happier when we were heard that DHIAT was selected to have its Vegas premiere at this year's Pollygrind Grindhouse Film Festival. It was with great regret that we were unable to attend, but after the film screened Friday, May 14th, we were delighted to hear that the film rocked the festival and received much love from all in attendance! Today, we received another great honor.

We are happy to announce that Dead Hooker in a Trunk has won the Pollygrind Jury Award for Best Screenplay, the Audience Award for Favorite Feature of the Pollygrind, and Everette Hartsoe's Bad Girl Award! Such a great honor, we had this to say when we received the gore~geous news...



We would like to humbly thank Chad Clinton Freeman for not only selecting DHIAT to screen at the 2010 Pollygrind Film Festival, but for being such a huge supporter of us and our work. We'd like to thank all the judges of the Pollygrind. We'd like to thank Everette Hartsoe for bestowing this awesome honor on we Twisted Twins. And we'd love to thank the incredible audience of the Pollygrind. We hate that we were unable to make it this year, but we promise that we will make our way one day, one day soon, to lovely Las Vegas and would love to meet every single one of you! Thank you to all the fans of the film who have made it into the beast that it has become. Without your support, kind words, emails, messages, and sharing of the film with your friends and the online world, Dead Hooker in a Trunk wouldn't be the independent sensation that it is! We really can't thank you guys enough!



Dead Hooker in a Trunk will be showing at festivals around the world this year. Stay tuned for more dates and locations. And, please. If you want the film to come to your town, drop us and line and let us know! We will do our absolute best to make it happen!

Thank you!
Bloody best,
Jen and Sylv

XO

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE FOR A (HORROR) GIRL

The world can feel like a very lonely place in adolescence as you develop your interests and personality. Youth is filled with cruelty from your peers. My sister and I always stood out because we were twins.

From a very young age we were drawn to horror, movies and books. The more haunting the fright, the more unpredictably fucked up the better. Often, we were called weird. We were spat on in private school for seeming too dark. They called us witches because of our dark hair and love of the horror genre. Even though we had each other, there were many times we felt out of place. Fuck, I wish Ax Wound Zine had been around back then. It would have been nice to know that there are so many strong, intelligent, and insightful women out there that also love horror like we do.


For those of you who aren't familiar with Ax Wound Zine, it is a feminist (everyone can be a feminist, too, boys and girls) horror zine. The term 'ax wound' is a derogatory term for a menstrating vagina -- fits pretty perfect with the theme, doesn't it? It opens an enlightened discussion about gender in the horror/slasher/gore genre bringing together women (as opposed to the typical girl versus girl culture that tends to tear us ladies apart) and men in different discussions, interviews, and reviews.

I recently received my first copy (and now I am a hopeless addict and must get all back issues because it is so fucking good), and I must share. The #3 Issue is 'Gender and the Horror Genre', edited by Hannah Neurotica. Firstly, Hannah is an incredible writer -- she knows her shit inside out and she unapologetically gives us her thoughts with a high level of wit and gritty good humor -- as seen in her interview talking maggot vagina corpse soap with 'Girls and Corpses' editor, Robert Rhine. Her interviews are smart, current, and the questions are so interesting that you have this feeling of intimacy with the people speaking because it is such an honest open discussion.


Speaking of baring your soul, all you need do is read Hannah's intro to the zine to realize that she has gone through a personal hell as she lost her best friend and the person who nurtured her cunning approach to horror; her father, Michael H. Foreman. Such a fucking cool guy. His article about the Twilight series had me in stitches. I remember watching the film and thinking that the imagery of vampires created in my childhood were being violated by this sugar-coated bubble gum bullshit, how nice to read an article that reviews this phenomena with such fun wit.

Being Hungarian, the article on 'Elizabeth Bathory: The Bloody She-Wolf of Hungary' written by Mimi Honeycutt and beautifully illustrated by Rachael Deacon was a personal favorite. It is unbelievable that such horrific carnage actually took place in the world, that a woman could go so blood-lustingly insane and get away with it because of her rank in society. The details in the article remind me of a twisted metal wreck, too awful to look at but impossible to pull your eyes away from.

There are so many great articles written by such strong, smart women - 'Chucky, Chainsaws, and Girl Survival' by Clementine Cannibal (made me furious at the cesspool of society and also made me appreciate Chucky in an entirely new way), 'Gender Transgression in Hellraiser' by Nia Edwards Behi (Pinhead and I go WAY back, but I want to rewatch the entire run now), interview with Fangoria's Rebekah McKendry (their discussion on horror and the perception of the horror genre is brilliant), 'The Origin of NOS' by Jessie Seitz (how cool to hear what a 'Gore Whore' knows and isn't afraid to say), poetry and an interview with Marnie Colton (her words are lovely, poetically and in conversation), 'Valerie Castro's Period' an interview by Andrew Shearer with Valerie Castro (indie film making at it's most badass and best -- there was even a real accidental electrocution on set!), 'Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter' interview with Shannon Lark (she is a writer/director/producer that the Viscera Film Fest is the brainchild of), 'Mother Blood': A Look INSIDE' by M. Brianna Stallings (this will be the next movie I see because of this review, if you can stomach it - rent it too), 'Horror Queen and Unusual Desires in MAY' by Lindsey Campbell (it is so refreshing to see a film that feature a complicated and multi-layered female protagonist, this I am also renting asap) followed by an interview with writer/director of the film, Lucky McKee, 'Too Neagative' a comic by Jenny Gonzalez (whimsically dark and rad), 'Consummate' by Mary 'BloodSoaker Goff (I don't want to ruin anything in this short story, just read it, it's bloody brilliant), 'Create a Wound' by Angel Young (FX tips for everyone), an interview with Reyna Young (she made a documentary about women in the horror industry, very rad, trailer to be out soon), interview with Sarah Jahier (creator of the horror review site 'Fatally Yours'), 'The First Girl' written by Hannah Neurotica and illustrated by Rachael Deacon (a preview on radness to come, think Final Girl), and an interview with horror artist Rachael Deacon (the woman responsible for the magnificently haunting images through the zine). With so many mediums out there that dumb down content, censor language, and consist of inane information -- it is a real fucking pleasure to read something that not only gives you very thorough, informed reporting, but also treats the reader like a free-thinking adult. The pieces felt so candid and personal.


It was thanks to our friend, Eli Roth, that this wonderful zine came into our lives. He has a massive interview in this issue where he talks about everything from his early film making to his current films, feminism and the roles that gender plays in his films, and of course the term 'torture porn' that the media coined after the popularity of his film, 'Hostel'. In his interview in this issue with Hannah, he speaks about us and our film, 'Dead Hooker in a Trunk'. This led to our own interview with Miss Neurotica, also in this issue. Something I am eternally grateful for because we have developed a very close friendship since then and with people like Hannah Neurotica in the world -- I don't feel all that lonely anymore.

If you've read it, you already know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, fork over that ten bucks and buy it already. Its grindhouse brilliance will rock your read!

xo
Sylv

TIMES THEY ARE A'CHANGING

After the launch of the new 'DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK' trailer - Mayhem, we continue with the film being sent to film festivals around the world. We will confirm each location as we are made aware, so please come out and check out the film for yourselves! If you want this film in your city send us a message and let us know. We will do our best to get it into a festival near you!
The DHIAT site -- www.deadhookerinatrunk.com -- has gotten a facelift and features the new trailer. Please check it out and tell your friends. Thank you so much for your support!This Thursday, DHIAT's Goody Two-Shoes, Geek, and Badass (CJ Wallis, and Jen and Sylvia Soska) will be chatting with Hannah Neurotica host of Ax Wound Zine Radio. Check it out. There will even be some musical selections from the film like "I Need You Now" performed by Goody Two-Shoes.

Talk to you soon!

Sylv

DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK OFFICIAL SITE

We Twisted Twins would like to thank everyone for all their support of DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK. By now, most of you have seen the new trailer for the film (and those of you who have not can check it out right HERE). Additionally, we've revamped our OFFICIAL FILM SITE and we'd love for you to treat yourself to a little look. See it HERE!

A special thanks to graphic designer CJ Wallis of FortyFPS for the gore~geous new site!