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‘Vengeance Is Her Name’ Trailer Plus Q&A With Filmmaker Ryan Swantek

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Vengeance Is Her Name

Vengeance Is Her Name is an independent horror film about a woman who wakes up in Hell and must find out why. That logline is very intriguing, and I am sure that you want to know a lot more; well, we’ve got you covered. Check out the trailer and poster below for Vengeance Is Her Name and a Q&A with filmmaker Ryan Swantek on this film and others that he’s worked on.

Synopsis

A woman wakes up in a confined location with no memory of who she is or how she got there. Desperate for answers, she meets two people from her past who are also trapped in this location. As she learns more about her new reality, or lack thereof, she tries to come not grips with what is and isn’t happening. All she can do is listen and watch what is shown to her about her past and present. There is no fighting back, no amount of screaming matters, and nothing she can do to escape.

Vengeance Is Her Name – Poster
Trailer: Vengeance is Her Name

Q&A With Filmmaker Ryan Swantek

Filmmaker Ryan Swantek

iHorror: Where and how did filmmaking begin for you? (How’d you get into it)? 

Ryan Swantek: Filmmaking began when I moved to beautiful Sarasota, Fl, from Toledo, Oh, at the end of 2015. I had always wanted to get into the industry, but there was no film scene in Toledo, no film schools, or any way to get on sets and start learning. Toledo is a very sports-based city; that’s what people care most about there. I’m not saying I don’t like sports, but I was no star athlete, and I was well aware of that. It’s crazy because everyone can name the athletes who have come from the city, but I bet a lot of people have no idea that Katie Holmes is from Toledo. You think that would be a huge deal for the city, considering she is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, but it’s just how it is. Sports are the dream that is sold to you to get you to bigger and better things, not movies. I had no idea what type of film scene was here in Southwest Florida when I got here, but I knew it had to be better than what was in Toledo. In 2016 I got on my first few film sets and started learning how everything works at multiple levels, from big-budget sets like TNT’s Claws to micro-budget passion projects. In 2017 I directed my first short film White Willow, and from there, I have been all in on trying to make a name for myself in the industry.

iH: Ryan, we last spoke about your horror short White Willow six years ago. Tell me, what have you been up to? 

Short Film – White Willow

RS: There’s been a lot going on for me! I have done four other short films since White Willow, and I am extremely proud of each of them. They all taught me so much along the way leading up to my first feature. I never went to film school, so in a way, those short films were my film school. You can read articles and watch videos all day about filmmaking, but nothing compares to actually writing and directing something. It’s invaluable, and each short film taught me so much about every aspect of the industry. I have always prided myself on being a doer and not a talker. The entertainment industry is all about “show, don’t tell,” and I wanted to show what I was able to do with limited resources in my short films while building an audience. It already feels like a lifetime ago since White Willow; I was 24 when I directed that, and I’m 30 now. Every day I have tried to learn and take in as much as I can and get better at the craft of filmmaking, and ultimately get to the point where I can say I am a feature film director.

iH: You have a new trailer for a film you are working on, marking your first indie horror feature titled Vengeance Is Her Name. Where did the idea originate from? Why did you make this film? 

RS: I am going to have to go back a few years to 2020 for this question. This is going to be a pretty long answer, but I hope this can give some insight into the brutal realities of the industry.

At the beginning of the year in January 2020, just before the pandemic, I directed a short film titled Rosary. This was a proof of concept type short that starred Alexis Knapp (Pitch Perfect franchise), who was also a producer on it with me. This project also had an original score by Joel J. Richard, who worked as a composer alongside Tyler Bates on this franchise called John Wick.

Short Film – Rosary

This was the biggest project I had done at that point in my filmmaking career. This was my first time working with a Hollywood actress, my first time working with a Hollywood composer, and my first time directing an action film; there was an immense amount of preparation that went into this project.

We wrapped before the world shut down and ended up finishing the project by the end of 2020. With this being a proof-of-concept film, the goal was always to get the feature made. This is where many realities of the industry punched me directly in the face and proceeded to stomp my head in while I was down. I never make anything to look good to people; I was making female-fronted films before it became a big issue in the industry. With that said, Rosary has everything that people started saying they wanted more of.

When we started taking it out to people, it was rejected across the board. I personally took it to a company run by one of the top actresses in Hollywood. From their inception, they have been talking about female-fronted action films and discovering emerging talent. They talked so much about it in the media that it seemed like a perfect fit for this film.

I genuinely thought it would be something they would like and want to take on. How could they not? It’s a badass film with Alexis Knapp and has music by Joel J. Richard; how could they say no? Also, to clarify, when I say I took it to them, it wasn’t an Instagram message; I spoke with the person in charge of content, went through the actress’s agency, filled out all the legal paperwork, and had it sent to them. It was rejected without any consideration. I’m not sure if the person I had been speaking with even watched it all the way through, which is ironic because they also mentioned in interviews that they all decided on a project together as a team. It was literally just a “this is cool, but not for us” type of answer. It was such a horrible feeling, probably comparable to when you think a date is going awesome, and then the person is like, “Didn’t feel a connection, bye!” It felt like we lost; this company that seemed like the right fit said no, everyone else said no, and nothing happened with it for the time being. It really hurt, but one big lesson I learned was that timing plays a big role in everything. I guess it wasn’t the right time, so I thought I would move forward with a new feature script.

I decided to cold email every producer/production company that dealt with action films; I probably sent upwards of 300+ emails. My response rate was really good; pretty much everyone asked for the script since I had some successful short films under my belt.

Behind The Scenes. Short Film – Rosary

To try and bring this lengthy answer to an end, no one cared. I think two people got back to me and said it wasn’t for them. It was the end of December 2021, and I had nothing moving forward at that point. Nothing, no short films, no feature films; it seemed like this was all pretty much over. I started researching micro-budget films, something I would never have considered previously, and saw that Christopher Nolan did a micro-budget film and even talked about his process with it. If Christopher Nolan did it, then what makes me too good for it?

I eventually decided I was just going to make a feature film myself through any means necessary. I am not going to talk about making a feature for the rest of my life like so many do, I am going to make one, and I am going to make something awesome. I literally just started with the idea of “A woman wakes up in Hell” and just started writing. I started writing Vengeance is Her Name in January 2022 and started shooting a year later, in January 2023.

iH: What makes Vengeance Is Her Name different from anything else you’ve worked on or perhaps seen?

RS: There’s a lot that differentiates this from my previous projects and from other films out there. This is the first time I’ve really been able to show my writing abilities. In my short films, I always try to tell a story in under ten minutes and keep it entertaining, which is very difficult. There are a lot of dramatic moments in this film that I’ve never been able to show in my short films. I enjoy getting into the characters’ psyche and showing a more realistic side of human nature.

Many films out there these days follow a formula that starts at the top of the production with the producers. I understand that good business decisions need to be made, but when a movie becomes entirely formula based, the end result is usually very bad because movies aren’t a math equation.

With Vengeance is Her Name, I didn’t have to follow any equation; I was able to make the movie as I saw it. I didn’t have any producer telling me, “Zombies are hot right now! Add a zombie in there!” I tried to give the film a healthy balance of horror and drama with an art house-type flare. I didn’t want to make the film so obscure that it would just confuse and upset people, but I did my best to contribute something new to the genre.

Vengeance is Her Name

iH: What was the most challenging part of this shoot, and how did you overcome it? 

RS: I could literally answer this question with “everything.” I was a one-man crew on this film. I didn’t intend on being a one-man crew in the beginning, but that was where it ended up and what needed to be done to get this made. I already had experience with post-production and knew I could do most of that myself, but I have never had to work as a cinematographer on any of my previous shorts or as the grip, the gaffer, or the sound person. 

It was a huge undertaking to do all of these things myself. It’s hard enough just directing when you have a full crew, but now having to do everything else is pretty brutal, to say the least. There was no downtime; I had to keep the show moving at all times. I had no one to ask for professional input on anything, so I had to know everything I wanted each day and how it needed to get done. I really didn’t know much about cameras or lighting before this, and once I realized I wasn’t going to be able to have a cinematographer, I had to learn everything myself.

I started watching videos, reading articles, literally anything I could to learn about lighting and how to do it with very little money. I had to learn everything about the camera I used, which was the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4k. I also had to do all of this two months before shooting. It all came down to how badly I wanted it and if I was going to quit in the face of an adversary or keep going.

Vengeance is Her Name

A lot of people would have quit because their ego needs to have a crew, and they need to feel like a big shot, but that’s not what this film was about. It was about making something and showing what can be done when you give your all. Every obstacle came down to just pushing through it and not letting anything bring the film down.

iH: What are you working on next? 

RS: To be completely honest, I have nothing I’m working on at the moment aside from this film. I always have ideas that I would love to pursue, but my main goal right now is to finish Vengeance is Her Name and make sure it is the best it can be. Once this is all finished and it goes out to the world, everything goes out of my control.

I am going to do everything in my power to get this film seen and on the radar of horror fans. I want to give it the best chance of success possible, and I really do hope I can get it in front of people who will like it. I have been wondering if the career I had envisioned for myself is even a reality anymore with how much things are changing in the industry. I don’t want to make another film the way I made this one, and as much as I learned and as happy as I am that I did it this way, it isn’t a healthy way to live.

I want to do bigger projects and continue to move up the ladder, but if the people at the top of the ladder aren’t going to allow that, then I’m still determining what will be next. Film is very much a team sport, even at the independent level. The film and television world has only been around for a little over a century, which is nothing in the grand scheme of time. We are seeing massive movies with A-list stars tank on levels we haven’t seen before. Fans have been rejecting what has been put out with their wallets and their subscriptions. I’m not sure what the future holds for me or the industry, but I am still going to give this film everything I can to show people that good films are still being made.

iH: Thank you, Ryan! You can find Ryan on Youtube, Facebook, & Instagram.

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Interviews

Tara Lee Talks About New VR Horror “The Faceless Lady” [Interview]

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The first ever scripted VR series is finally upon us. The Faceless Lady is the newest horror series brought to us by Crypt TV, ShinAwiL, and the master of gore himself, Eli Roth (Cabin Fever). The Faceless Lady aims to revolutionize the world of entertainment as we know it.

The Faceless Lady is a modern take on a piece of classic Irish folklore. The series is a brutal and bloody ride centered on the power of love. Or rather, the curse of love may be a more appropriate depiction of this psychological thriller. You can read the synopsis below.

The Faceless Lady

Step inside Kilolc castle, a magnificent stone fortress deep in the Irish countryside and home to the infamous ’Faceless Lady’, a tragic spirit doomed to walk the crumbling manor for eternity. But her story is far from over, as three young couples are about to discover. Drawn to the castle by its mysterious owner, they have come to compete in historic Games. The winner shall inherit Kilolc Castle, and all that lies within it… both the living, and the dead.

The Faceless Lady

The Faceless Lady premiered on April 4th and will consist of six terrifying 3d episodes. Horror fans can head over to Meta Quest TV to watch the episodes in VR or Crypt TV’s Facebook page to view the first two episodes in standard format. We were lucky enough to sit down with the up and coming scream queen Tara Lee (The Cellar) to discuss the show.

Tara Lee

iHorror: What’s it like creating the first ever scripted VR show?

Tara: It’s an honor. The cast and crew, the whole time, just felt like we were part of something really special. It was such a bonding experience to get to do that and to know that you were the first people doing it.

The team behind it has so much history and so much fantastic work to back them up, so you know you can rely on them. But it’s like going into uncharted territory with them. That felt really exciting.

It was really ambitious. We didn’t have a ton of time… you really have to roll with the punches.

Do you think this is going to become the new version of entertainment?

I think it’s definitely going to become a new version [of entertainment]. If we can have as many different ways of watching or experiencing a Television series as possible, then fantastic. Do I think it’s going to take over and eradicate watching things in 2d, probably not. But I think it’s giving people the option to experience something and be immersed in something.

It really works, in particular, for genres like horror… where you want thing to be coming at you. But I think this definitely is the future and I can see more things like this being made.

Was bringing a piece of Irish folklore to the screen Important to you? Were you familiar with the story already?

I had heard this story as a kid. There is something about when you leave the place that you are from, you suddenly become so proud of it. I think the opportunity to do an American series in Ireland … to get to tell a story I heard as a child growing up there, I just felt really proud.

Irish folklore is famous all over the world because Ireland is such a fairytale country. To get to tell that in genre, with such a cool creative team, it makes me proud.

Is horror a favorite genre of yours? Could we expect to see you in more of these roles?

I have an interesting history with horror. When I was a kid [my dad] forced me to watch Stephen Kings IT at the age of seven and it traumatized me. I was like that’s it, I don’t watch horror movies, I don’t do horror, that’s just not me.

Through shooting horror movies, I was forced to watch them … When I choose to watch these [films], these are such an incredible genre. I would say these are, hand on heart, one of my favorite genres. And one of my favorite genres to shoot as well because they are so much fun.

You did an interview with Red Carpet where you stated there is “No heart in Hollywood.”

You’ve done your research, I love it.

You have also stated that you prefer indie films because that is where you find the heart. Is that still the case?

I would say 98% of the time, yes. I do love indie movies; my heart is in indie movies. Now does that mean if I was offered a superhero role that I would turn it down? Absolutely not, please cast me as a superhero.

There are some Hollywood movies that I absolutely adore, but there is something so romantic to me about getting an indie film made. Because it is so hard… it is normally a labor of love for the directors and the writers. Knowing all that goes into it makes me feel a little bit different about them.

Audiences can catch Tara Lee in The Faceless Lady now on Meta Quest and Crypt TV’s Facebook page. Make sure to check out the trailer below.

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[Interview] Director & Writer Bo Mirhosseni and Star Jackie Cruz Discuss – ‘History of Evil.’

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Shudder’s History of Evil unfolds as a supernatural horror thriller filled with eerie atmospheres and a chilling vibe. Set in the not-so-distant future, the film features Paul Wesley and Jackie Cruz in leading roles.

Mirhosseni is a seasoned director with a portfolio brimming with music videos he’s helmed for notable artists such as Mac Miller, Disclosure, and Kehlani. Given his impressive debut with History of Evil, I anticipate that his subsequent films, particularly if they delve into the horror genre, will be equally, if not more compelling. Explore History of Evil on Shudder and consider adding it to your watchlist for a bone-chilling thriller experience.

Synopsis: War and corruption plague America and turn it into a police state. A resistance member, Alegre Dyer, breaks out of political prison and reunites with her husband and daughter. The family, on the run, takes refuge in a safe house with an evil past.

Interview – Director / Writer Bo Mirhosseni and Star Jackie Cruz
History of Evil – No Available on Shudder

Writer & Director: Bo Mirhosseni

Cast: Paul Wesley, Jackie Cruz, Murphee Bloom, Rhonda Johnsson Dents

Genre: Horror

Language: English

Runtime: 98 min

About Shudder

AMC Networks’ Shudder is a premium streaming video service, super-serving members with the best selection in genre entertainment, covering horror, thrillers and the supernatural. Shudder’s expanding library of film, TV series, and Original Content is available on most streaming devices in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Over the last few years, Shudder has introduced audiences to groundbreaking and critically acclaimed films including Rob Savage’s HOST, Jayro Bustamante’s LA LLORONA, Phil Tippett’s MAD GOD, Coralie Fargeat’s REVENGE, Joko Anwar’s SATAN’S SLAVES, Josh Ruben’s SCARE ME, Kyle Edward Ball’s SKINAMARINK, Christian Tafdrup’s SPEAK NO EVIL, Chloe Okuno’s WATCHER, Demián Rugna‘s WHEN EVIL LURKS, and the latest in the V/H/S film anthology franchise, as well as the fan favorite TV series THE BOULET BROTHERS’ DRAGULA, Greg Nicotero’s CREEPSHOW, and THE LAST DRIVE-IN WITH JOE BOB BRIGGS

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‘MONOLITH’ Director Matt Vesely on Crafting the Sci-Fi Thriller – Out on Prime Video Today [Interview]

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MONOLITH, the new sci-fi thriller starring Lily Sullivan (Evil Dead Rise) is set to hit theatres and VOD on February 16th! Written by Lucy Campbell, and directed by Matt Vesely, the film was shot in one location, and stars only one person. Lily Sullivan. This basically puts the entire film on her back, but after Evil Dead Rise, I think she’s up to the task! 

 Recently, we had the chance to chat with Matt Vesely about directing the film, and the challenges behind its creation! Read our interview after the trailer below:

Monolith Official Trailer

iHorror: Matt, thanks for your time! We wanted to chat about your new film, MONOLITH. What can you tell us, without spoiling too much? 

Matt Vesely: MONOLITH is a science-fiction thriller about a podcaster, a disgraced journalist who worked for a big news outlet and has recently had a job taken away from her when she acted unethically. So, she’s retreated to her parent’s home and started this kind of clickbaity, mystery podcast to try and claw her way back to some credibility. She receives a strange email, an anonymous email, that just gives her a phone number and a woman’s name and says, the black brick. 

She ends up in this strange rabbit hole, finding about these weird, alien artifacts that are appearing around the world and starts to lose herself in this possibly true, alien invasion story. I guess the hook of the film is that there’s only one actor on screen. Lily Sullivan. It’s all told through her perspective, through her speaking to people on the phone, lots of interviews holed up in this palatial, modern home in the beautiful Adelaide Hills. It’s kind of a creepy, one person, X-Files episode.

Director Matt Vesely

What was it like working with Lily Sullivan?

She’s brilliant!  She’d just come off of Evil Dead. It hadn’t come out yet, but they had shot it. She brought a lot of that physical energy from Evil Dead to our film, even though it’s very contained. She likes to work from within her body, and generate real adrenaline. Even before she does a scene, she’ll do pushups before the shot to try and build up the adrenaline. It’s really fun and interesting to watch. She’s just super down to earth. We didn’t audition her because we knew her work. She’s extremely talented, and has an amazing voice, which is great for a podcaster. We just talked to her on Zoom to see if she would be up for making a smaller film. She’s like one of our mates now. 

Lily Sullivan in Evil Dead Rise

What was it like making a film that’s so contained? 

In some ways, it’s quite freeing. Obviously, it’s a challenge to work out ways to make it thrilling and make it change and grow throughout the film. The cinematographer, Mike Tessari and I, we broke the film into clear chapters and had really clear visual rules. Like in the opening of the film, it has no picture for three or four minutes. It’s just black, then we see Lily. There’s clear rules, so you feel the space, and the visual language of the film growing and changing to make it feel like you’re going on this cinematic ride, as well as an intellectual audio ride. 

So, there’s lots of challenges like that. In other ways, it’s my first feature, one actor, one location, you’re really focused. You don’t have to spread yourself too thin. It’s a really contained way to work. Every choice is about how to make that one person seem on screen. In some ways, it’s a dream. You’re just being creative, you’re never just fighting to get the film made, it’s purely creative. 

So, in some ways, it was almost a benefit rather than a drawback?

Exactly, and that was always the theory of the film. The film was developed through a Film Lab process here in South Australia called The Film Lab New Voices Program. The idea was we went in as a team, we went in with the writer Lucy Campbell and producer Bettina Hamilton, and we went into this lab for a year and you develop a script from the ground up for a fixed budget. If you’re successful, you get the money to go make that film. So, the idea was always to come up with something that would feed that budget, and almost be better for it. 

If you could say one thing about the film, something you wanted people to know, what would it be?

It’s a really exciting way to watch a sci-fi mystery, and the fact that it’s Lily Sullivan, and she’s just a brilliant, charismatic force on the screen. You’ll love spending 90 minutes sort of losing your mind with her, I think. The other thing is that it really escalates. It feels very contained, and it has a kind of slow burn, but it goes somewhere. Stick with it. 

With this being your first feature, tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from, what are your plans? 

I’m from Adelaide, South Australia. It’s probably the size of Phoenix, that size of a city. We’re about an hour flight west of Melbourne. I’ve been working here for a while. I’ve worked mostly in script development for television, for the last  like 19 years. I’ve always loved sci-fi and horror. Alien is my favorite movie of all time. 

I’ve made a number of shorts, and they are sci-fi shorts, but they’re more comedy. This was an opportunity to get into scarier stuff. I realized doing it that it’s all I really care about. It was kind of like coming home. It felt paradoxically so much more fun trying to be scary than trying to be funny, which is painful and miserable. You can be bolder and stranger, and just go for it in horror. I absolutely loved it. 

So, we’re just developing more stuff. At the moment the team is developing another, kind of, cosmic horror that’s in its early days. I just finished up on a script for a dark Lovecraftian horror film. It’s writing time at the moment, and hopefully getting onto the next film. I still work in TV. I’ve been writing pilots and stuff. It’s the ongoing grind of the industry, but hopefully we’ll be back really soon with another film from the Monolith team. We’ll get Lily back in, the whole crew. 

Awesome. We really appreciate your time, Matt. We’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for you and your future endeavors! 

You can check out Monolith in theaters and on Prime Video February 16th! Courtesy of Well Go USA! 

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