Who would be your ideal leading actor or actress?
J: Wow. That’s so hard! There are so many actors I admire and would love the opportunity to work with. It would be very dependent on what I would write. I have so many performers on my wish list. I have wanted to work with Katharine Isabelle (pictured) so badly. I am blown away to have the opportunity to work with not only such a talented, brilliant, mature, and strikingly beautiful actress, but to have her as our ‘American Mary’.
She is pitch perfect and I think those who already know and admire her will be very happy to see her in this role. Those who are unfamiliar with her will fall in love with this intoxicating and talented actress. She is simply wonderful. We couldn’t have genetically created a better Mary in a lab.
What is your fav all time horror movie?
S: ‘American Psycho’. All time personal favorite. I find myself watching ‘Antichrist’ a lot lately as well as other work from Lars Von Trier. There is a haunting elegance and rawness to his work. He is a great artist.
J: It’s SO hard to pick just one! I have quite a few that is just love. Inside, Suicide Club, Audition, Let the Right One In, Both Hostel films (though I do love the sequel because of the “blood bath” and Beth, the badass!), Man Bites Dog, A Serbian Film, Phantom of the Paradise…
If I had to pick my all time number one, it would have to be American Pshycho. Sophisticated, stylistic, satirical, sexy, scary, smart…. um, I’m running out of “s” words, ha ha. Mary Harron (director) is a hero of ours. A personal favorite. We are always quoting that film. We just love it to death.
Being twins do you know what each other are thinking?
S: Almost all of the time. It’s weird when we have completely different thoughts or visions from the other. It’s like, ‘Really? Where the fuck did that come from?’ But it’s good too, in that respect, because if we were the same then we couldn’t challenge the other as much.
J: We do. We joke that we share a brain, but more specifically, we think the same. It’s part of the reason we have such a good working relationship. We can communicate a lot with just a look or a few words. We never had a “twin language”, though in school we would talk about the other students in Hungarian when we finally realized only we knew what we were saying.
We can communicate with a look or a simple gesture. It’s very subtle, but if you see us together, you can pick up on it. Beware if we ever make eye contact with one another. We’re using twin talking…. ha ha
Eli Roth is a fan of your work, was he an influence to you?
S: Eli Roth is an adamant feminist and supporter of indie filmmaking. He is also a complete horror encyclopedia but has the good graces to not make you feel stupid when you have no idea what he’s talking about. His support and advice has really changed the world for us. It’s amazing to be able to tell him what’s going on, because he’s been there before and he knows shit that helps me and Jen get ahead of the curve. He takes a lot of shit for some reason, and that really annoys me because he is one of the most down to earth and nicest guys in the industry.
Robert Rodriguez, Carlos Gallardo, Mary Harron, Takeshi Miike, Rob Zombie, Wes Craven, and Quentin Tarantino were huge influences with ‘Dead Hookier in a Trunk’. You can go to film school with your favorite directors when you listen to their commentary tracks on your favorite movies. It’s insightful and consider the astonishing source.
Lars Vin Trier is huge for me right now as well as a lot of European and Asian cinema. I try to watch new movies from around the world as much as possible because it gives you a broader scope of the art of filmmaking.
J: Eli is a huge supporter of our work, but I would say we fall more into the fall category than he does. He is simply wonderful and has supported us and our work since we first sent him our ‘DHIAT’ trailer. He challenges us to be the best we can be. He doesn’t just come out and say, “great work, girls”. He’ll be the first to tell us not to fuck up or that something isn’t working. Of course, he’ll let us know when something awesome, but he is far from a “yes man.
I am so grateful to him for that. Without someone pushing and challenging you to be better, you won’t ever grow as an artist. He is a great inspiration to us. Eli is always pushing the envelope and uses strong female characters. I know that statement may catch some off guard, but just look at Beth from HOSTEL II or the woman with the scythe in the blood bath. That’s some empowering shit right there if I’ve ever seen it.
In addition to Eli, Tarantino and Rodriguez are huge influences to us. I’m sure that’s pretty obvious. Their work is so stylish and captivating.
“The way Tarantino uses music in his films is astounding. he once said that if you use a piece of music right, no one can ever hear that music again without thinking of the scene it appears in. Nobody does it better than him…”
Rodriguez is an indie film maker’s greatest inspiration.
I love Joss Whedon for his writing especially. His strong female characters and his whimsical word usage and creation of slang. It’s awesome. I especially love it when he does musical numbers. I’d love to work with him someday. I also love Hideo Kojima. For those unfamiliar with the name, he is the master mind behind the ‘Metal Gear Solid’ franchise. His work is beautiful with stunning visuals, incredible action, unforgettable dialogue, and deep and complicated characters.