News

Horror Pride Month: Writer/Director/Photographer Michelle Hanson

Published

6 years ago

June 12, 2018

“I’ve been a horror fan all my life,” Michelle Hanson told me during our interview for iHorror’s Horror Pride Month. “I’ve been gay all my life, too, but I didn’t know it until I was 19.”

And with that, we were off to the races.

Hanson, who works with a theater troupe in Columbus, Ohio, wears a lot of hats in the entertainment business. Not only is she a writer and director of both plays and films, but she’s also a published author and part-time photographer.

Of all the things she loves to do, however, horror is pretty close to the top of the list.

“I grew up mainly on slasher flicks,” she said. “I grew up in the 80s and 90s so there were plenty at my disposal, but I also love the more psychological films like Silence of the Lambs. When a movie gets into your head and sticks with you, it’s kind of like psychological torture and I love that.”

Looking back on those horror films that she grew up with, Hanson says she realized that coming out and really accepting herself didn’t change the way she viewed them, but it did make her realize a few things about her relationships to the characters.

“I think with so many of those characters, there was a physical attraction that I just hadn’t realized before my coming out,” Hanson explained. “I loved the Freddy films as a kid and all of the females in those films are gorgeous but it never took away from their strength or their intelligence.”

As for that layer of psychological horror, it plays out in some of Hanson’s own filmmaking, and she was eager to share the details of some of the projects she had been working on recently.

One, a short film called Veho, deals with a ride-share driver whose latest fare turns out to be a serial killer.

“Due to copyright, I couldn’t use Uber,” she laughed, explaining the title. “So the ‘Veho’ driver picks up the serial killer and the audience knows what the guy is from the beginning. The guy, instead of backseat driving, he starts psychologically torturing the poor driver.”

So, what about the portrayal of lesbians in horror films?

“What I’ve realized is that lesbianism in horror films is there to keep straight male viewers watching,” Hanson said. “There’s nothing there that really even hints at what it’s like to be actually be a lesbian.”

She pointed to the hyper-sexualized nature of most lesbian characters she’s seen in the genre, and one particular instance of sexual experimentation between two female leads that really got under her skin.

“I was convinced a 12 year old boy wrote Jennifer’s Body,” Hanson explained. “When I found out that it had been written, not only by a female writer but also one that I highly respected, I was shocked.”

For those unfamiliar, Jennifer’s Body contained one of the most incongruous uses of a sudden and pointless girl-on-girl scene that I’ve ever seen, and it clearly struck a chord with Hanson, as well.

It’s this type of nonsense that helps inspire Hanson to keep creating, however, and she even wrote a short sketch that she’s expanded into a short film based around the idea of the final girl.

“If a final girl was actually in a lesbian relationship and they were together at the end of the film, how would it play out? Would one of them have to die?” she asked. “It ended up being a sort of parody of Friday the 13th in its original sketch form and we had a great time playing on that trope.”

The short film, Final Girls, has since been completed. The entertaining parody is a lot of fun and we’re excited to share it with you at the end of this article!

Dallas Ray, Cat McAlpine, and Michelle Hanson on the set of Final Girls

The questions the writer/director posed turned the discussion to the future of LGBTQ inclusion in the horror genre, and there were a couple of points she was eager to make.

One, queer inclusion in horror is important for visibility, but the LGBTQ community members who want that inclusion also have to realize that it means we’re going to have to wholly embrace the fact that sometimes we might be the villain and sometimes we might be the victim,

In other words, just because a queer person dies in the film doesn’t make the film homophobic.

“If the gay character is being killed because they’re gay, then that’s a hate crime,” Hanson pointed out. “If they’re killed because lots of people in the movie are being killed and they just happen to be one of the many, then that’s equality. That’s what we’ve been fighting for all this time.”

And, Hanson says, in some ways we’re beginning to see progress on this front, even when it comes to the language we hear in films, and she specifically points to the films The Collector and its sequel The Collection as examples.

“There was this point in the first film where Josh Stewart calls the killer a ‘fa**ot’ and it gets this really visceral reaction out of him. You can tell it made him angry to be called that even though the other names Stewart had used didn’t phase him,” she said. “The sequel came out a few years later and I noticed that even though Stewart called the guy all kinds of names again, that word wasn’t used. That’s not the only example we could talk about, but it feels like that’s a signal that the vocabulary, at least, is moving in the right direction.”

For all our sake, I hope that Michelle Hanson is right.

Don’t forget to check out Final Girls below. You can also see the first season of Red Rue, Hanson’s web series, on YouTube!

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News

A24 Creating New Action Thriller “Onslaught” From ‘The Guest’ & ‘You’re Next’ Duo

Published

2 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Cameron McFarland

It’s always nice to see a reunion in the world of horror. Following a competitive bidding war, A24 has secured the rights to the new action thriller film Onslaught. Adam Wingard (Godzilla vs. Kong) will be directing the film. He will be joined by his longtime creative partner Simon Barret (You’re Next) as the scriptwriter.

For those unaware, Wingard and Barret made a name for themselves while working together on films such as You’re Next and The Guest. The two creatives are card carrying horror royalty. The pair have worked on films such as V/H/S, Blair Witch, The ABC’s of Death, and A Horrible Way to Die.

An exclusive article of out Deadline gives us the limited information we have on the topic. Although we don’t have much to go on, Deadline does offer the following information.

“Plot details are being kept under wraps but the film is in the vein of Wingard and Barrett’s cult classics like The Guest and You’re Next. Lyrical Media and A24 will co-finance. A24 will handle worldwide releasing. Principal photography will begin in Fall 2024.”

A24 will be producing the film alongside Aaron Ryder and Andrew Swett for Ryder Picture Company, Alexander Black for Lyrical Media, Wingard and Jeremy Platt for Breakaway Civilization, and Simon Barret.

That’s all the information we have at this time. Make sure to check back here for more news and updates.

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News

Director Louis Leterrier Creating New Sci-Fi Horror Film “11817”

Published

3 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Cameron McFarland

According to an article from Deadline, Louis Leterrier (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance) is about to shake things up with his new Sci-Fi horror film 11817. Leterrier is set to produce and direct the new Movie. 11817 is penned by the glorious Mathew Robinson (The Invention of Lying).

Rocket Science will be taking the film to Cannes in search of a buyer. While we don’t know much about what the film looks like, Deadline offers the following plot synopsis.

“The film watches as inexplicable forces trap a family of four inside their house indefinitely. As both modern luxuries and life or death essentials begin to run out, the family must learn how to be resourceful to survive and outsmart who — or what — is keeping them trapped…”

“Directing projects where the audience gets behind the characters has always been my focus. However complex, flawed, heroic, we identify with them as we live through their journey,” said Leterrier. “It’s what excites me about 11817‘s wholly original concept and the family at the heart of our story. This is an experience that movie audiences won’t forget.”

Leterrier has made a name for himself in the past for working on beloved franchises. His portfolio includes gems such as Now You See Me, The Incredible Hulk, Clash of The Titans, and The Transporter. He is currently attached to create the final Fast and the Furious film. However, it will be interesting to see what Leterrier can do working with some darker subject material.

That’s all the information we have for you at this time. As always, make sure to check back here for more news and updates.

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Lists

New to Netflix (U.S.) This Month [May 2024]

Published

5 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Timothy Rawles

atlas movie Netflix starring Jennifer Lopez

Another month means fresh additions to Netflix. Although there aren’t many new horror titles this month, there are still some notable movies well worth your time. For instance, you can watch Karen Black try to land a 747 jet in Airport 1979, or Casper Van Dien kill giant insects in Paul Verhoeven’s bloody sci-fi opus Starship Troopers.

We are looking forward to the Jennifer Lopez sci-fi action movie Atlas. But let us know what you are going to watch. And if we have missed something, put it in the comments.

May 1:

Airport

A blizzard, a bomb, and a stowaway help create the perfect storm for the manager of a Midwestern airport and a pilot with a messy personal life.

Airport ’75

^{Airport ’75}

When a Boeing 747 loses its pilots in a midair collision, a member of the cabin crew must take control with radio help from a flight instructor.

Airport ’77

A luxury 747 packed with VIPs and priceless art goes down in the Bermuda Triangle after being hijacked by thieves — and time for a rescue is running out.

Jumanji

Two siblings discover an enchanted board game that opens a door to a magical world — and unwittingly release a man who’s been trapped inside for years.

Hellboy

^Hellboy

A half-demon paranormal investigator questions his defense of humans when a dismembered sorceress rejoins the living to wreak brutal vengeance.

Starship Troopers

When fire-spitting, brain-sucking bugs attack Earth and obliterate Buenos Aires, an infantry unit heads to the aliens’ planet for a showdown.

May 9

Bodkin

^Bodkin

A ragtag crew of podcasters sets out to investigate mysterious disappearances from decades earlier in a charming Irish town with dark, dreadful secrets.

May 15

The Clovehitch Killer

^{The Clovehitch Killer}

A teenager’s picture-perfect family is torn apart when he uncovers unnerving evidence of a serial killer close to home.

May 16

Upgrade

After a violent mugging leaves him paralyzed, a man receives a computer chip implant that allows him to control his body — and get his revenge.

Monster

_Monster

After being abducted and taken to a desolate house, a girl sets out to rescue her friend and escape from their malicious kidnapper.

May 24

Atlas

^Atlas

A brilliant counterterrorism analyst with a deep distrust of AI discovers it might be her only hope when a mission to capture a renegade robot goes awry.

Jurassic World: Chaos Theory

The Camp Cretaceous gang come together to unravel a mystery when they discover a global conspiracy that brings danger to dinosaurs — and to themselves.

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