An up-and-coming indie director with plenty of experience working in a variety of genres in the independent scene for the last few years including numerous genre films. Now, in preparation of the upcoming release of his latest project, Cry Havoc, the fourth film in his Playing with Dolls franchise, I talk with him about his start as a director, the creation of the franchise and the filming of the movie itself.
Me: Hello and thank you for taking the time to do this. First off, where did you get the urge to go into directing?
Rene Perez: I don’t recall. It’s always been there. Even when I was little kid. My GI Joe’s were my actors. My eye was the camera. I was artistic so I used to write and draw comic books . Then when I was a teenager, I became a musician. My need to be artistic flowed through music at that point. It was only in the early 2000’s when camera technology became some what affordable that I could even think of trying to make actual movies. I started making short fan films and music video’s for my band. So the artistic drive was always there. The tools for actual film making weren’t available until I was a grown man.
Me: Were you always into genre films growing up? What films specifically got you into watching horror movies?
RP: I like all genre’s. I like anything that’s good. Luckily when I was growing up in the 80’s almost every movie was good. I loved it all. And since I was a child in the 80’s, I had time to watch TV and movies. When I was around 12 I really started to love the idea of horror movies. It was like a wild frontier. I think one of the reasons that so many film makers like Horror, is because it’s an unclaimed genre. For example, if you were a sci-fi film maker, you could probably never make anything better than Star Wars or Star Trek. No one has ever even come close. But Horror has no equivalent. There is no Horror masterpiece. Except for maybe The Exorcist 1 and 3 or Halloween. But even those movies are no longer scary to modern audiences. Unlike Star Wars which was so perfect that even when they make new ones, they look just like the originals. No need to re-design the ships or the storm troopers because they’re master pieces. Unlike with Horror. Michael Myers’ mask and level of carnage are out dated for todays audiences, who respect spectacle above all. Phantasm and NightBreed had some of the right building blocks to be Horror royalty but they are laughable to film goers now. So I think the fact that Horror is an unclaimed frontier, with no definitive master piece, makes it an appealing world for creatives to want to inhabit. Makes you want to go for the gold. I love making horror movies and hope to never stop.
Me: Having worked on various aspects of film production, do you have any particular preference for working on any? How do you balance those priorities during a shoot?
RP: I give things I can control 100% of my energy. Things that I cannot control, or other limitations get very little of my attention. I make the cheapest movies in the commercial release world so I have no choice but be a one man film crew. My preference is to be just the witter, director, Cinematographer and music composer. But since the budgets I’m given are so low. I have no choice but to do it all. I’m even the costume lady at times. LOL. On extreme horror movies like Cry Havoc, I do hire gore Effects people to come in for a day or two so I can film their gore FX. And I do have a great sound guy, Guthrie Lowe who does all the sound in post production. He’s a great sound designer. But on set, it’s just my actors and I and I’m so appreciative of them. They’re are all great people and they help a lot. I love my job and my actors.
Me: When writing a new project, what's the one fall-back tactic that you're always able to draw inspiration from?
RP: Writing is never a chore. I never have to look for inspiration. Writing and creating is my default position in general. When I’m given an assignment, in this case the assignment was to make another Havoc movie, I was ready and had many story idea’s in my head to choose from. What I ended up choosing was one that was within the budget I was given. I guess the inspiration come from what could be.
Me: Who are some of your directorial influences that helped form your own style for your films?
RP: I don’t know. There are directors that I’m a fan of. But my fandom and my film work are two completely separate things. Some times I choose to make homages to certain genre’s like grind house or exploitation films. That’s about the extend of my inspiration from others. I don’t study other directors or anything like that. There are some movie’s that I love that I don’t even know who the director was. I might be more of a music buff. I know all about my favorite composers and I do draw inspiration from them. But strangely, not from movies. Movies are the ultimate artistic creation. They have sound and image. I think it’s important to be yourself.
Me: So, that brings us to your latest project, 'Cry Havoc.' Being the fourth film in the Playing with Dolls franchise, where did the original concept for the series come from?
RP: Oh a few years back I was given the assignment to make a slasher movie for a
German distributor that I was working for at the time. I was given no other instruction other than to create a new slasher horror movie and add lots of boobs and blood. That sounded like the 70’s and 80’s style to me. So I got to work on creating what I was hoping, could be a slasher with some staying power. One who could have been popular in the 70’s or 80’s. I was intrigued by creating a slasher who was more realistic. Someone who wasn’t super natural in any way. Slasher that you didn’t need to make excuses for. So I developed a perfect world in which Havoc could do what he does best and have it be realistic. Using only real world homicidal psychopathies.
Me: Speaking of this one in particular, where did the inspiration for the film come from? Where there any unique stories about its conception?
RP: I’m not big on traditional forms of inspiration. For example, I don’t watch new movies, I haven’t had TV since 1993. In the case of Cry Havoc, I was given a boots of energy from a huge fire we had in my area right before filming. The fire left a completely burned out forest. So burned out that was nothing like I had ever seen. The fire was a huge holocaust. It left nothing but black trees and ash. I guess you can say this burned out canvas on which to film was my inspiration.
Me: Having worked with Robert Bronzi on several occasions, is there anything special you can credit to that partnership that helped to flesh out the characterizations in the film?
RP: Bronzi and I are a well oiled movie making duo at this point. All I ever ask of him is to play his characters the way Bronson would have and he knows how to do just that. He’s so good at it. The best. The reason he and I are such a great fit is because I truly see it as a privilege and a responsibility to Bronson’s legacy to make something good and artistic. People will try to emulate what Bronzi and I have done, but they don’t do it from the heart.
Me: With a cast of experienced and talented indie actors, how'd you settle on the cast getting involved in the film?
RP: Well my movies are so low budget, I’m lucky if I ever get any good actors. In the case of Cry Havoc, a lot of great actors joined in. Some new, some returning like Richard Tyson, who has been the main villain who is Havoc’s master in all of these movies. He was even in the first one. Richard is an actor that everyone has seen. He’s been in huge movies so I’m lucky to have him. He’s been in many of my little B movies. Not just the Havoc movies. He’s one of the most artistically talented actors I’ve ever worked with. I was also lucky to have Emily Sweet. Another artistically talented actress who also happens to be a beautiful leading lady. Then I have other various local actors in the movie who play the co-starring and stunt roles. All great performers and friends. Including Havoc himself who inspite of being just a man in a mask, our actor takes it to a whole new level and gives Havoc a unique style. He’s the unsung hero of the movie.
Me: What was the set like while shooting the film? How did the cast and crew react to the
type of film being made?
RP: There is no crew. Just my actors and I on the set. Most of the cast had worked with me before. They are used to seeing macabre things. Haha. Some of the girls who played the victims were new. Strangers. But we’re filming a movie. There’s a camera, lights and actors. It might seem scary looking from a far but once the girls arrived, they saw that I and the actors were just interested in making a scary movie. I’m sure it was un-nerving to them being naked in front of strangers but it must be all okay because we’re all friends to this day. I’ve filmed with all of them again. All very professional girls with great work ethics. If they were scared, they didn’t let them effect their acting. I applaud them.
Me: Do you recall having any odd or funny on-set stories about yourself or any of the other
cast/crew members?
RP: Oh we laugh the entire time during filming. At times it’s difficult to stop laughing in time to get serious for the scene. I filmed Cry Havoc in early 2019. I’ve filmed several movies since then. All the film shoots get tangled up in my memory but Cry Havoc was nothing but happiness and joyous filming with great friends and incredible locations.
Me: Lastly, what else are you working on that you'd like to share with our readers? Thank
you again for your time!
RP: Thank you for the fun interview, and yes, please also check out my other recent movie called “The Insurrection”. You can find it here: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/theinsurrection and you can fine me here: www.thedarkestmachines.com and www.facebook.com/thedarkestmachines/
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