Horror movies &stuff Interviews Filmmaker James Cullen Bressack
HM&S.com recently chatted with filmmaker James Cullen Bressack. Possibly, if not...THE youngest horror director working today! At age 19, James is quickly making a name for himself in indie circles. His latest effort of record -- being a psycho-slasher that'll be making the festival rounds later this year. Entitled "My Pure Joy". In this interview, we get the scoop of "My Pure Joy", Jameses path to filmmaking, and much more!
MR. H:As some people already know, you were raised around a filmmaking family. But was that what originally inspired you to actually become a filmmaker?
James:Truthfully and honestly? I've loved movies my entire life. But what really pushed me to become a film maker, because as a child I seriously wanted to be a professional wrestler, was when my dad got very ill when I was in the 5th grade. He was bed ridden for years so all we did together was watch movies. It was our escape. Sick as he was, he could still discuss movies better then anyone else. I would come home every day from school and go to his room and we would watch a movie. It's how we spent our time together. Before that we use to play baseball and go bowling and stuff, but once he got sick all we could really share was film. That is when I was inspired to make movies. I wanted to give someone, in the off chance that they were in my same situation that I was in when I was little, just one extra movie they can watch and talk about with a sick loved one.
MR. H:As the youngest filmmaker currently in the genre at age 19...do you find it difficult sometimes to earn or get respect from producers, actors, etc at times?
James:It's funny you should say that. I've been getting complete respect from my fantastic actors and crew. Where the respect doesn't come from as much is the outside world. When people hear I have made a film they immediately ask if it was a student film. But who cares? As long as there's respect on the set I can do my job.
MR. H:Lets talk about "My Pure Joy". Your break out movie. If you would call it that. Where'd the idea for this film originally come from?
James:I wrote the first five pages of the film and introduced this family of characters I really didn't want to write a full film about, but I also didnt want to throw out the pages I had written. I weighed my options and decided they all had to be brutally murdered. That is how the idea of writing a movie about a serial killer came to be.
MR. H:What's the base premise/plot for "My Pure Joy"?
James:The basic premise/plot of the film is getting to know Adam. In the first 10 minutes you watch him do these horrible things and you spend the rest of the film getting to know him and getting to know why he does the things he does. Essentially, he appears to be a normal teenager, but underneath his mind has been so rotted by trauma from his past and the gorey films he watches that he has blurred the lines between reality and pretend. So he decides to start killing people in the way they do it in the films he watches, with his own little spin on it. So, basically, his character is like Humpty Dumpty; he has fallen off the wall and broken apart, and he is trying to put himself back together again but he doesn't quite know how.
MR. H:Where'd the idea for such a title come from? And should the movie receive any kind of major DVD distribution, how much would you fight to keep the title from being changed to something cheesy and "video store'ish"?
James:The title shall remain the way it is. It has to. It's Tattooed on my chest! When I was younger I worked for an event company that was later given to me and that company was called MY PURE JOY. So I thought it was personally relevant and yet had this dark twist to the film too. Why does a killer really kill people? For his own pure joy of course.
MR. H:Who's in "My Pure Joy"? Any familiar genre faces we should know about?
James:I have a cast of fresh faces to the genre, but I'm sure you guys will want to see them in other stuff again very soon!
MR. H:How'd you originally become immersed into horror as a genre?
James:I became obsessed with horror movies as a youngin' because I wanted to be scared. I don't really know why, I just did. I started watching them every day by myself, as well as with my dad, and the films just stuck with me. Horror is the most stylistic genre there is and I LOVE IT.
MR. H:What will and is going to...set "My Pure Joy" apart from the average weekly/bi-weekly independent slasher film that comes to DVD?
James:The thing is this film isn't a slasher mystery, we don't guess who the killer is, we know who he is the entire film. The film is a character study of the depths of the human mind's insanity.
MR. H:What has the process been like, getting the promotional ball rolling on this movie? Has it been difficult considering you making the movie an NC-17 effort? Have distributors cringed at the thought of even touching it?
James:Well I lucked out with a producer like Jarrett Cohen, who saw something in me as well as the script and decided to pour his money into it. And when he decided to invest I told him "The film needs to have the [deleted spoiler]... scene. It will set the movie apart from everything ever done (a scene that guarantee's the NC-17 rating)." His reaction was "Of course! That scene makes the movie." So we have been Gung-ho about keeping the art in it's original form and we have some interest from distributors already but we are hoping to gather more interest on the festival circuit.
MR. H:Speaking of that. Your desire to make "My Pure Joy" an NC-17 film. Was that just an accident of fate? Or are you trying to make a statement that horror as a genre, needs to return to it's "extreme" roots, so to speak?
James:It was purposeful. I am a huge fan of the ULTRA GORE 80's and think horror should not be watered down. Film is an art form, and there should be no censorship in art. I think horror has always been the genre that pushes the boundaries, but recently the filmmakers have been going more for money makers then real extreme thrills. So I thought to myself why not start pushing boundaries again? I wanted to make a movie for horror fans, by horror fans. This movie is for the true fans of horror.
MR. H:What horror genre elements did you try and incorporate into the making of "My Pure Joy"? And what horror genre elements, at the same time...did you try to avoid including into the film?
James:The main thing I excluded from the film is the whole WHO DONE IT mentality. From the first 10 minutes of the film, you know who the serial killer is and you spend the rest of the film getting to know him. He is in every scene. So in the beginning you watch him do these horrible things and you spend the rest of the movie getting to know why. I kept a lot of the Stanley Kubrick elements of horror with strange angles. But I really kept the idea of ULTRA GORE. The violence is realistic and I don't shy away from showing you close up gore. We don't imply some of the stuff here, we just do it. You'll understand what I mean when you reach the HALFWAY point of the film, but just remember, we do show a nipple getting sliced off in our teaser trailer!
MR. H:Will we see a sequel and or followup to "My Pure Joy" coming in the future?
James:Honestly? I feel that the film could possibly end up with sequels or prequels, but I kind of want to leave the film as a stand alone character study of a serial killer.
MR. H:What does the future hold for you as far as horror films are concerned? Working on any big mainstream stuff in the near future?
James:Well, I just received a signed agreement and will be co-writing the newest draft as well as directing a film called BAD DENNIS or THE CIDER PARTY. It is a horror movie being made by a British company in England, I can't talk much about it right now but it should be a lot of fun. I also, with my business partner Jarrett Cohen, have opened up PSYKIK JUNKY PICTURES. It's a production company that will be the vehicle for a lot of my own films as well as the films of others. I want to produce a lot of horror films as well, and am already in talks about producing a few films by some cult faves. I also have a project that I may start filming pretty soon called DRURY LANE, which I wrote and shall be directing. We shall see what specifically the future has in store.
MR. H:Who are some of your biggest influences when it comes to horror movie directors, writers, and actors?
James:As you will notice when you see my film I am very heavily influenced by the horror genre and other directors and films. Frank Hennenlotter, Eli Roth, Chan Wook-Park, Joon Ho Bong, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, George A. Romero, Jorg Buttgereit, and of course Takashi Miikie are probably my biggest influences, though. Frank Hennenlotter headed up the ULTRA GORE era and added some amazing stylistic creatures to his films, which I have become obsessed with. While I know Eli Roth is a newer name and face in the genre, I believe he totally redefined horror with HOSTEL.
No longer was an audience scared by pop out thrills. Instead they were forced to see horrible things and just sit there and watch them. We knew what was going to happen and we just kept watching. It instilled a sense of dread into the audience rather then a cheap thrill. We dreaded the inevitable. As for Takashi Miikie, that man is just pure insanity and probably the most prolific director in a long time. His films, most of them, are pure genius. Then we have Chan Wook-Park, a director that has such a distinct style and has never made a bad movie yet.
His movie OLDBOY is probably one of my favorite films of all time. Stylistically he has been a huge influence. Jorg Buttgereit is a huge influence because his films pushed any and every boundary possible. Joon Ho Bong added a splash of actual dark comedy to his twisted films which I very much enjoy as well as his brilliant visual style. As for the other names on the list, not much can be said about Hitchcock, Kubrick, and Romero that hasn't already said by a million people.
MR. H:There's still a lot of horror left to go in 2011. Give us the title of three horror movies set to be released this year, that you're excited for, and plan to check out in cinemas.
James:Well, it has already come out but I haven't had a chance to see RUBBER yet, so I would like to see that. Anything about a killer tire sounds like fun to me. I also really want to see WRECKED. I tend to like movies with Adrian Brody in them. Lastly, DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK. Del Toro has a great eye for what horror is. ALSO if you guys haven't seen it yet see HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN. That movie is insane!!!
MR. H:Thanks for chatting with us man!
James:Thanks for having me here at Horror Movies and Stuff and thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @Jamescullenb for more movie updates and my random ramblings. Also like our movies fan page on Facebook if you want more up to date info! Take care everyone!
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