Having just been released in a short-film version, writer/director Pablo C. Vergara is trying to use the project to fund a feature-length version of the short. In honor of the shorts' new release, I sit down to talk with him about growing up in Mexico, his early experiences and shooting the film short.
Me: Hello, and thank you for taking the time to do this. We'll start off in the beginning, where did you get your love of movie-making?
Pablo C. Vergara: I’ve loved movies ever since I was a child. I come from a broken home so, my mother was busy working so we had a really cool Nanny - Isabel, and she would let us watch all these cool movies that my mother wouldn’t allow us to watch cuz of our early age, so I was just a kid and I was drawing Freddy’s mutilated victims or flaming skulls or punk rocker druggies being annihilated by Terminator or Robocop... You get the idea. It just opened a lot of doors in my mind and it became my ultimate form of escape, watching movies, that is. I was always drawing stories in the form of graphic novels, they were more kinda like storyboards. I had a very creative mind and used to write plays for my friends or record radio spots, my mind was always going full speed. Until the day I got my hands on a camera, then all hell broke loose. I was always shooting stuff. I did some music videos and experimental film work during my college years, then I joined the New York Film Academy to get an MFA in Filmmaking and that’s when it all took shape and things ascended to a more professional level. I’ve written a bunch of short film screenplays, 4 feature screenplays and I have few more in the mix and in the queue, some have got to the semifinals on international screenwriting contests, you can buy them at my store. I just love anything related to film, to me, it’s the most complete form of art, the ultimate form of art.
Me: What specifically drew your interest towards horror and extreme films?
PCV: I just love horror because of its diversity, it’s boundless and has infinite possibilities. I love the feeling of being shocked and creeped out, it doesn’t happen too often to me but there are a few movies that have truly made me jump out of the seat, and those are my favorite. It takes a special kind of writing and production to achieve something this, people have been fascinated by the shock value of entertainment since ancient times, it’s inherent in human nature. We have horror films now, back in the day they had Gladiators butchering each other, people thrown at lions, etc, and people loved the spectacle no matter how bloody it was. It’s in our nature to be attracted to danger and the unknown and the things that make us wonder, I think.
Me: Growing up in Mexico, did that hinder your interest in the genre or force you to turn to the local cinema for inspiration?
PCV: It’s true, there’s some good Mexican horror cinema, but it's scarce. Back in the day, I had to turn to many different sources to get my hunger for horror satisfied. I'm talking back then when we didn’t have any of this VOD platforms, not even Facebook. The craziest thing I did was to get on mIRC Servers in my town where people sold all kinds of underground stuff and I got this user with a list of all these crazy oriental VHS bootleg copies of really dark and bizarre films, he arrived to my address in a black car with a bunch of women whose profession could be questionable. He handed me a black bag with all these VHS movies, they were gold... Man the movies I found! And the grittiness of the crappy VHS copy made them even more cryptic. I showed it to friends and everyone was over their heads with them! Ever since I would do anything to expand my horror library and it covered films from all over the globe. Japanese horror movies are pretty brilliant. I was a frequent customer at the cinema too, naturally.
Me: When you entered the university for your studies, was there any kind of push towards a specific style or format?
PCV: I was always the rebel doing crazy films. Noir stuff and just real dark films. Back then I was looking to cause a reaction on people, I wanted to shock. My teachers would be really inquisitive of my ways, but I didn't give a damn. I was proud of my works and they were truly very good in my eyes, one of those was picked by Trent Reznor himself for his Ghosts album and hosted in their official Nine Inch Nails youtube channel. That’s been a highlight in my career since I am a huge NIN fan... There are still some old videos floating on the web. I lost my main youtube channel due to some internet scandal and most of my stuff was lost in oblivion... I have a hard drive somewhere that may contain some of the material. I travel too much and leave a lot of stuff in boxes or they get lost. When I was at NYFA I did a lot of fantasy films, with Cyborgs, Vampires, Undead Rockstars, etc.. Some filmmakers would question my style but I didn’t care. I’ve always been the rebel in everything I do. Trying to work ‘out of the norm’ and do things my way. Like it or hate it. No compromise.
Me: Having performed as many roles in filmmaking as you have, do you have any particular preference towards performing any?
PCV: I love screenwriting and directing. Then I also love to act, but I don’t like doing all at once like I did in Necromurder. I’d love to stick to one thing per project. I also enjoy doing cinematography and editing but if you’d ask me to pick my top 1, that would be Directing.
Me: That brings us to your new short, 'Necromurder.' What can you tell us about the film in general?
PCV: This is a very intense and wild film and the story behind its conception was that one of a famous murder that occurred in a European Black Metal band in Norway called MAYHEM. Where the bass player murdered the guitarist. It’s been a very well documented story throughout decades in countless articles, books and documentaries and now there was a Hollywood movie that was made about it, called 'Lords of Chaos’ which deals hands-on with the real story of what happened with that band. My version is more fictional and it includes biographical elements where I used some of my own life experiences and put them in the mix. It’s a combination of a very famous murder story and my own personal horror story, as a struggling musician, father and also, being part of the whole Black Metal movement in the real world, with my band Dynasty of Darkness, which we used the music from our ‘Empire of Pain’ LP to do the entire musical score of the film. That in itself it’s a monster of its own; A unique piece of orchestral and metal music combined to create a very rich soundtrack with a lot of ambiances and soundscapes that are truly mesmerizing but also very Rock ’N Roll!
Me: Where did the inspiration for the film come from? Where there any unique stories about its conception?
PCV: It’s a very integral piece of cinema since it deals with the real struggles that musicians go through when they are starving artists or unsigned acts and they are trying to break through. Me as a professional musician for 20 years I’ve dealt with a lot of the complications it involves to have a band and all the business around it. It’s also kind of an homage of two of my favorite films that influenced me since my younger days, those are The Crow and The Doors, mix them together and you’ve got 'NECROMURDER.' One of the most unique stories about its conception was that the original artist, arsonist and murderer who I was supposed to portray in the film (using his real name and story) actually contacted me and was upset about it. I wouldn’t wanna piss off a criminal like him, so I tweaked the story around and created my own, it turned for the best in the end.
Me: How would you describe the style of the film based on what you've developed during your career?
PCV: I consider it to be a Film-Noir type of story, I put extra emphasis on creating a ‘mood’ with the music, visuals and colors, someone once told me it reminded them of ‘The Cell.’ I can see the reference. It’s a very unique piece, perhaps even a bit experimental in a way, tho I am terrible in labeling my works!
Me: What was the set like while shooting the film? How did the cast and crew react to the type of film being made?
PCV: They all knew from the get-go what they were stepping into. During the crew interviews and cast auditions, I made it clear what type of film this would be so I took extra time chasing my team well. Most of them had that ‘vibe’ I was looking for, they either liked Rock and Metal or they were just true rebels. We had many months of rehearsals before rolling cameras so everyone was very tight and sharp when the time had come to start working. I couldn’t be more grateful for the people I worked with, the film wouldn’t be what it is without their amazing efforts.
Me: Do you recall having any odd or funny on-set stories about yourself or any of the other cast/ crew members?
PCV: There was this time during the final fight choreography where I accidentally hit my co-star AC Donovan with my spiked gauntlet. He got hit really hard in the forehead and started bleeding (watch the behind the scenes bloopers on Youtube). We were fighting under the most extreme conditions, wearing heavy clothing, big boots, wigs and it was snowing and cold, really hard to see and control your movements. It was very challenging but to my surprise, we only did a couple of takes for everything and it turned out amazing. AC Donovan is a real-life fighter and an MMA Champion, so he was no stranger to getting hurt onstage, he demanded for the cameras to keep on rolling and the blood you see in his face is mostly all real. The dude is a badass.
Me: Lastly, what are you working on that you'd like to share with our readers?
PCV: We are currently trying to raise funds to keep on shooting, we’ve released a fundraiser and we have a brand new screenplay, the continuation of the first story, a truly wild and incredible new setting on the narrative, including Black Magic, Zombies and trips to the Underworld, all that with a Metal setting, of course. Just over the top material. We also invited Mark Rolston (Shawshank Redemption, Aliens) and Tom Sizemore (Heat, Natural Born Killers, Saving Private Ryan) to the project. You can check everything about it in our Kickstarter campaign. You can also watch the entire short film there as well. Please support our fundraiser and help us keep Necromurder alive!
If you're interested in helping out, here's the link to do so: KICKSTARTER
As well, you can also check out the film's other social media sites:
Official Website
Youtube
Bandcamp
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