13 Questions with Director Dante Tomaselli

For a while now, we’ve been chronicling the production of a film here on The Film Connoisseur, I’m talking about Dante Tomaselli’s fourth feature film Torture Chamber which is just about ready to be released onto the world. Mr. Tomaselli is the director behind Desecration (1999), Horror (2002) and Satans Playground (2006). He has just finished post-production on Torture Chamber and I was curious as to how he felt about the finished film, he was kind enough to grant an interview for The Film Connoisseur. 

This is our third Dante Tomaselli interview, on the first one, he was just getting ready to start shooting Torture Chamber, on the second interview he’d just finished principal photography and was getting ready to start editing, and now, finally I offer you the third interview in which Dante Tomaselli reminisces about the shoot and tells us a little bit about how he feels with the final cut of the film, from sound and music, to editing, to the over all final product. He even tells us how he feels about Torture Chamber when compared to his previous films! 

So, as a X-Mas present from The Film Connoisseur, I leave you guys with horror director on the rise, Mr. Dante Tomaselli ladies and gentlemen! 

The Film Connoisseur - What motivated you to write a film like Torture Chamber? What was the seed of the idea? 

Dante Tomaselli- I was supposed to direct a horror picture called The Ocean, it was all ready to happen, but didn't. So I was feeling angry; I was hurt and well, tortured. I wanted to conjure a Euro-horror-like experience on a low budget. Something very different. Something weird and frightening. Of course scary is subjective, but a movie that was at the very least very creepy and dark and out-there. A serious horror movie...with surrealistic tendencies. My mind kept going to visual metaphor. What do I want to symbolize? There's always been a torture chamber in every one of my films. In Desecration, it was in that nightmare childhood room with the cage, the heart and soul of the movie. In Horror, there was a religious family's home...and deep inside a torture chamber hidden behind a mysterious door. Even in Satan's Playground, the Leeds family had a backroom where there was a ramshackle torture chamber. 

TFC- You are a filmmaker with your very own unique vision, but were you inspired by any films or directors for Torture Chamber? For example, Satan’s Playground was obviously inspired by Evil Dead (1981) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). What were your influences this time around? To me, the film seems to have a real 70’s vibe to it, at least visually. 

DT- Thanks. I think this film was about me being myself. It really is an explosion of my earlier films. I like to replicate my childhood nightmares. Torture Chamber definitely has a 70's vibe, it could even be 60's. I made sure there were no cell phones...There are even records, LP's in the background... little things to help put you in that mind set. I really don't like modern, corporate horror films with teenagers looking all trendy and hip. I strive for a kind of 60's, 70's design. Torture Chamber is nothing if not different. If I had to cite some influences that were floating around in the back of my mind, I'd say Halloween, Black Sabbath, Suspiria, The Beyond, The Pit and the Pendulum, Alice Sweet Alice, Don't Look Now, The Brood, The House With Laughing Windows, Carrie, Tourist Trap, Bloody Pit of Horror, This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse, The Fog...and The Exorcist. 

TFC- Was shooting this film a smoother experience, considering this is your fourth film and you are now more experienced? 

DT- It was a lesson in tenacity...getting Torture Chamber made. I had almost given up after not shooting The Ocean, so it felt very much like my first film all over again. I felt raw, awake. 

Tomaselli Directs!

TFC- Now that it's finished, how do feel about Torture Chamber when compared to your previous films? 

DT- I value this film most. I can watch it and...for the most part...not feel uncomfortable. I know that it was the next step. Torture Chamber needed to be created, maybe more urgently than anything I've ever pulled out of the pit of my psyche. These bubbling images needed to be unlocked. The glowing soundscapes too. It's a journey through the halls of hell. An interior journey...It's the furthest down into hell that I've reached. The budget was $200, 000. That's actually less than Satan's Playground and Horror. Somehow, though, this film appears more polished and expensive than anything I've done. If I had a higher budget, I'd be able to deliver much more, expand upon everything, but, you know, you have to work with what you have. 

TFC- How was that experience of turning the images you’d written into moving images? Seeing your words come to life? 

DT- That's the best part about it all but it's also tricky because things pop up on the day of shooting that you never planned...and I've learned to be flexible. It can be frustrating. I get disappointed in myself when I can't pull it off. It feels magical when it's working. We're all creators. It's a human instinct. When I was a little boy, I used to dream about having my own funhouse in my backyard. Dante's Inferno. Now in a sense, that's what I'm striving for. Maybe these films are psychedelic funhouses. 

TFC- Last time we spoke you had just finished filming and had not edited yet. Now that the editing is done, what challenges did you face during the editing process? What was the approach with it? 

DT- After I shot Torture Chamber, I spent three months getting to know the footage. The first cut that I made was too long. Close to 2 hours. It was a challenge trimming it down, very painful. All the while, I was constantly changing the music or tweaking it. In the beginning, the sound design is a sketch...and then it becomes more and more fleshed out. John Carpenter once said it's like laying down carpet and it's so true. The movie is like a sculpture. I needed to trim the beginning and ending of many shots. After I did that, all of a sudden, it moved faster, like an acid trip. It's shadowy and tactile...hallucinogenic. You won't need drugs. Or maybe that's exactly what's needed (laughs). At times it should feel like an out-of-body-experience. 

TFC- You mentioned in your last interview that though Torture Chamber does have its gory moments; it’s not really a gore fest; that you were aiming for suggestive scares and unconscious dread. Taking a look at your finished film, do you think you achieved it? 

DT- I think so. It's a mixture, definitely both. Mostly it's a kind of under-the-skin feeling...the accumulation of the pictures and sounds...telling the tale of a religious family that wants to kill itself. The film is really about peeling back layers of pain and guilt buried in the unconscious mind. From beginning to end, it's a trance movie. I try to pack each shot with as much detail as possible. I want the viewer lost, not knowing what to expect next. Torture Chamber is a psychological horror film that is a bit of a mind-fuck. 

TFC- How would you describe Torture Chamber? 

DT- Hopefully a step above...It definitely appears to be the most watchable out of my works but I'm sure some people will still like my earlier stuff. I understand that. I always tend to like the oldest works of filmmakers or musicians. Definitely the strange world of Torture Chamber intrigues me the most right now. It feels like Desecration and Horror in a blender. 

TFC- Can you speak to us about the benefits of making a film like Torture Chamber independently? 

DT- I only make films independently. To me, it's the only way to go. Why spend years of your life working on a film and then someone else has the power to change it? You want creative control. 

Dante in the set of Torture Chamber

TFC- Have you seen the film with an audience yet? What’s the experience of watching your finished films with an audience like? 

DT- I've been having private screenings since Halloween. Michael Gingold from Fangoria was over a few weeks ago. I've watched it with complete strangers...friends of friends that are not even into horror. The feedback has been generally good. It's a low budget $200, 000 film. The visuals and soundtrack are its strengths. Torture Chamber is really about family sickness, being trapped in childhood and the confusion of being alive. 

TFC- What was it like to work with Lynn Lowry? 

DT- I really loved working with Lynn. She didn't realize it but her scenes had some unconscious nods to Mario Bava's Black Sabbath...the mood and feel. She's trapped in a lush, colorful world that is turning itself on her. I really enjoyed her behind-the-scenes stories about working with Cronenberg and Romero. Lynn's so pleasant and good natured. A really nice lady. She's a doll. In Torture Chamber, she's an art therapist at a Juvenile Detention Center for the clinically insane. She's like a wounded angel. Her story is told through a series of dreams, flashbacks and hallucinations. 

TFC- Any lessons learned while making Torture Chamber? Do you feel you’ve grown as a filmmaker after this fourth entry? 

DT- I've learned...Never ever ever give up. Hold on. It's so important. It's everything. You have to go through the darkness to get to the light. I think I've grown...but weirdly I feel like I'm at the beginning all over again. 

TFC- What can we expect in near future from Dante Tomaselli? Is the remake to Alice, Sweet Alice (1976) still in the cards?The Ocean? Salem? I was really curious about Salem. I’d love to see what you’d do with a film about witchcraft. 

DT- Thanks. I completed four features so far. I'm grateful that I got the opportunity to make them, especially Torture Chamber. What's next? Alice, Sweet Alice, a re-imagining of my cousin, Alfred Sole's film. The Ocean is somewhere in the future. It's just a matter of financing. I never really moved forward with Salem and now with hearing about Rob Zombie's film, Lords of Salem...I definitely wouldn't call it Salem. I do want to set a future picture there and explore witchcraft. I've purposely set all my movies in a kind of New England gothic atmosphere. I'm interested in locations that reverberate pain and suffering...a state of torment...you can feel the psychic footprints.

Well that's it ladies and gents, 13 Questions with Dante Tomaselli. I want to thank Dante Tomaselli for giving us this interview, it's been fun and educational following the production of Torture Chamber, all that was missing was a set visit! Who knows, maybe we'll have one of those for Dante's next film! In the meanwhile remember kids, Torture Chamber will be released sometime soon, so expect an announcement for it as soon as it happens! 

Horror (2002)

Title: Horror (2002)

Director: Dante Tomaselli

Cast: Danny Lopes, Christie Sanford, Lizzy Mahon, Vincent Lamberti, The Amazing Kreskin, Felissa Rose

Review:

Horror is director Dante Tomaselli’s second feature film, his first one being Desecration (1999) a film about a kid who accidentally kills a nun, unleashing a series of supernatural events that lead him to the gates of hell. He is also haunted by this creepy evil nun through out the whole movie. Desecration is the kind of film that makes you feel like you are in a dream like state all the time, hovering somewhere between reality and nightmare. It’s extremely hallucinatory; we are constantly being bombarded with nightmares and horrifying visions. For his second film, Dante obviously wanted to go deeper into this dreamlike/nightmarish state, adding a little bit of drug induced paranoia to the mix.

In Horror we follow a group of druggies who escape a drug rehab clinic. Their escape plan includes going to the home of a priest named ‘Reverend Salo Jr.’ who visited the clinic a couple of days earlier preaching about the end of the world being near. Thing is this preacher doesn’t just talk about the end of the world; he also hands out bags filled with drugs to whoever is willing to take them! These being kids who are trying to rehabilitate from the drug addiction, they are more than happy to accept the drugs and chow down on all the mushrooms and pills contained inside. Not only that, they start smoking weed as well. Basically, these guys are buying the ticket and taking the ride, they don’t care about the consequences, they just want to be as high as they possibly can. Which of course isn’t a good thing when you are driving into the house of an evil preacher from hell!

There are a couple of things you should know before going into a film like Horror. First of all, it’s an independent horror film; it was made for a budget of 250,000 which is of course an extremely low budget to make any film. But if you are a crafty, creative director, and if you pull in a dedicated crew of demented individuals willing to follow you diligently, you can make a decent horror film. Secondly, Dante Tomaselli was aiming to make the kind of film where nothing feels right, where more questions are made than answered, where nothing is explained and things feel a little ‘off’ all the time. Is this a dream? Is this reality? Are we in some kind of Twilight Zone? So you should go in to this movie expecting that kind of time displacement feeling. In this film, no rules are set, time and space move at the beat of Dante Tomaselli’s drum. This is precisely why I enjoy this movie.

Felissa Rose of 'Sleepaway Camp' fame cameos in 'Horror'

 A Dante Tomaselli film will always have a couple of things at its core: one of them is a family in pain. Every single one of his films has been about a dysfunctional family unit. On Horror we meet the Salo family, a truly messed up family to say the least. The father is a preacher, but he isn’t a good one. By that I mean that he keeps his daughter in a drug induced state all the time, it is hinted that he sexually abuses her, and he keeps her locked up in her room all the time. He preaches the word of God but is really serving the devil. One creepy scene has Grace, the evil reverends daughter, looking down at her father from her bedroom window. He is preaching away and supposedly healing the sick when suddenly he realizes that she is looking at him from her room. Then while looking at her he does an inverted sign of the cross…which causes her to faint! To me, this evil preacher was the creepiest of all the characters in the film. The way religious characters are always depicted in Dante Tomaselli’s films show us one thing: Tomaselli films always criticize religion somehow. They always talk about the psychological pain that comes from Christian guilt and the façade put on by preachers and nuns. On this one we have an evil preacher who hands out hallucinatory drugs to kids! On Desecration we have a demonic nun who tortures a child! Tomaselli loves to exploit the horror elements that come from Christianity.

Dante Tomaselli and The Amazing Kreskin on the set of 'Horror' 

One of the things I love the most about Horror is the feeling of dread. That deadly serious vibe that it has going for it. It reminds me of the kind of vibe one would get from supernatural horror films of the 70’s. There is not a single smile, or positive vibe in this film. Horror is an onslaught of nightmarish atmosphere and psychological terror. Situations that happen in this film seem to have no explanation whatsoever; they are there simply to creep you out. This film kind of reminded me of a David Lynch film in that sense, there is always some symbolism involved with the imagery, but it won’t be easily explained to you. This is definitely the kind of film you have to watch more than once to get. I have seen it a couple of times and understand it a whole lot better now, but upon my first viewing of Horror I was left asking myself what the hell I had just seen. So it’s that kind of a movie where questions are made, but not easily answered. It isn’t the kind of horror film you can easily digest. It’s doesn’t spell things out for you. It is also a very circular film; you have to watch it all the way to the end to fully comprehend it. I loved how it actually kind of connects to Dante’s first film Desecration (1999) when it comes to ‘Luck’ the character played by Danny Lopes. Both films are about his character going into ‘hell’.

But this isn’t a perfect horror film, it does have its flaws. Some of the situations and dialog don’t come off as real at all. Take for instance the teens who break out of the drug clinic. They kill the security guard with a shot to the head, steal a van, and walk away as easy as one two three, nobody chases, no cops, no nothing. And then, to top things off, they decide to take all these drugs that a creepy preacher gave them, and they just gobble down all these mushrooms and on top of that they smoke weed and take pills all while on their way to the preachers’ house! With that many drugs in their system, they wouldn’t be able to even breath, much less drive a van. I mean would anyone use that many drugs with such reckless abandon? I guess we could chalk it all up to the nightmarish dream logic of the film. Acting wise some of the actors don’t do so good, especially The Amazing Kreskin, who in my opinion isn’t much of an actor. I mean a great illusionist sure, but an actor? Not so much. Tomaselli probably chose him because of his illusions and abilities in hypnotism, which he uses on more than one occasion in the film and that’s all cool, but his character doesn’t come off as evil to me, and it should have. Kreskin is too much of a nice guy in real life to play a truly evil character. This is where actor Vincent Lamberto as the evil Reverend Salo Jr. did so well, he truly came off as evil. And so did Christie Sanford an actress that Tomaselli has used on all his films since day one, she comes off as a twisted demented mother, I liked her. These actors to me where the two highpoints in the film.  

All in all, this is a film that I like for its nightmarish qualities and dreadful atmosphere and it’s my favorite Tomaselli film to date. It is also a film that I feel could have been better had it had a bigger budget. Tomaselli is an imaginative director who needs to get his hands on more money to make his movies. Working on a limited budget can sometimes help the creative process, especially when it comes to not having producers breathing down your neck asking you to make your movie in a certain way, I mean having artistic freedom is a priceless thing and I can definitely understand that. But sometimes working with a limited budget can also hinder a project; especially when your story is an ambitious one and I know that Tomaselli has some ambitious stories to tell up his sleeves. Still, I think Tomaselli got away with making a decent horror film that proves he has the talent and ambition to make more horror films in the future. Actually, Tomaselli is currently putting the final touches on his next film Torture Chamber which I’m looking forward to seeing soon. I’m looking forward to seeing his growth as a director. Horror isn’t a film for everyone. If you don’t like Indie horror films or films that are more inclined towards the artistic, non-linear, surrealistic side of things, then don’t bother. But if you are open to the kinds of films that are more free form with their storytelling techniques, then by all means indulge.

Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 

Enter The Torture Chamber! Exclusive Interview with Horror Director Dante Tomaselli!

Today is a special day here at The Film Connoisseur, I have a very special something in store for you guys today! Thats right boys and girls, today Im giving you guys a break from my usual onslaught of awesome movie reviews. But you need not worry, its for a good reason! Today I bring you guys an exclusive interview with horror director extraordinaire Dante Tomaselli. Tomaselli is the indy horror director behind Desecration (1999), Horror (2002) and Satans Playground (2006). Dante was kind enough to fill us in on the status quo of his upcoming supernatural horror film Torture Chamber. So, strap yourselves on tight cause were gonna be taking a ride with Dante Tomaselli down his own personal Torture Chamber! On this exclusive interview, Dante Tomaselli shares his impressions on what it was like to make his fourth feature film and what we can expect from it. I want to thank Dante for doing this interview, its always an interesting experience to see how a directors mind works and where his films come from. Dante has just wrapped principal photography for Torture Chamber and is hard at work scoring and editing the film, yet he was kind enough to grant The Film Connoisseur an interview just a couple of days after he had finished filming. Hope you guys enjoy it! And remember to keep a look out for Torture Chamber which should be seeing the light of day sometime soon! And now, on with our interview: 

The Film Connoisseur - This is your fourth feature film. How was this a different experience for you?

Dante Tomaselli- I felt the hungriest. I was craving to make another film with every fiber of my being. I also felt the most excited and inspired. There was a clarity. I've been around the block now...I just felt the most balanced. And jazzed. It's never easy, that's for sure, but I definitely know I need to extract the images from my mind. It's a compulsion that I don't understand but I'm a slave to it. I would have crawled over broken glass to get here...wherever here is. 

Ellie Pettit plays Heather in Dante Tomaselli's Torture Chamber

FC- As a director, are you satisfied with what you've filmed?

DT - For $200, 000...yes. We filmed in 19 days. It was the most intense shoot I've ever experienced. 6 day weeks. 20 hour days. Of course, there are two or three scenes I didn't get to shoot. And I had to pare down here and there. But I shouldn't complain. That happens on all my films, I'm used to it. It's kind of part and parcel to all independent filmmaking. There are always some compromises due to the budget. As usual, I had to condense some scenes that were longer in the script. I've been watching the footage non-stop. I can't wait to add the sound design. I have it all exactly planned out. I made it through the war. Production, principle photography is over.

FC - Was the transition from screenplay to film what you expected, how close was what you filmed to what you envisioned? Because you know how sometimes what gets written on a script doesn't always translate the same way once you are there, on the set, actually filming, with actors. New ideas tend to pop up, was this the case on Torture Chamber?

DT - Yes and no. Mostly, I followed the screenplay but there were times where I welcomed Ad-libbing. I think I'm both a conservative and experimental filmmaker. Old school and no school. I'm instinctual, really. I fantasize. I've always been fantasizing. I see the images first and follow through. And then I send out a vibration to the universe to attract the most passionate, able people. One thing, I wasn't able to use the wolf spiders that I wanted. They were deemed too dangerous by Insurance. That made me sad. I wanted those spiders! There was a scene where a mechanical drill was supposed to lower from the ceiling and impale a character but the drill looked limp...something about it was not working. So I thought of a new sequence where the character is bodily forced into an old Iron Maiden. Torture Chamber is really not an all-out gorefest as it might sound. It's closer in spirit to Phantasm, Halloween, Carrie, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Brood...It's more about suggestion, unconscious dread...punctuated by visceral, in-your-face jabs. The balancing of both elements was intense. I wanted the film to be maze-like, like a Chutes and Ladders game...or Candyland...and visually...painterly. Subliminally scary. Lots of visual metaphor, under-the-surface stuff. Yes, it's my bloodiest movie, but that's not saying much because my films were never incredibly grisly. Honestly, I've always respected the model for horror films like Halloween, Psycho...and Texas Chainsaw Massacre...where the films seemed gory but they really weren't. Torture Chamber has lots of hypnotic horror imagery. I'm working on post production and I can say it's a ride through a frightening funhouse. 

While shooting on set, you start to try to justify all sorts of things in order to move ahead. Internal dialogue galore. You have to balance decisions and think a lot on your toes. I've worked so many years...sometimes flailing in thee darkness...to get to a certain point... to this period of actual filming, so I feel electrified even being there, seeing it all finally...in motion. I'm aligned with the person I really am. Because if I'm not filming, I'm dead. I'm not really here. I'm waiting for the trip. Planning for it. It's like I'm an airplane pilot...When I'm gone, I'm gone. 

Storyboards for a gory death scene in Dante Tomaselli's upcoming Torture Chamber

FC - Where the actors given freedom to run a bit with their characters and performances? What do you request from your actors? What was the dynamic between you and the actors? 

DT- Um, I pretty much pick a particular actor because I know what he or she can bring to the role. I like actors who enjoy being left to their own devices, for the most part. I don't want to have to spoon feed everything. That's very distracting...and there's no room for awkward debate on such a rigid schedule. At the same time, I'm always there...guiding in some kind of way, whispering motivational words into the actor's ear before a take. I'm always there...on the actor's side. The performer will always feel my presence, almost subliminally. I respect actors. I could never do it. I'm not an in your-face-director. I feel I work almost telepathically with my actors. 

Dante with one of the actresses for Torture Chamber, Raine Brown

FC - Like John Carpenter, you are a director known for being completely involved with the musical score of your films. How is the music of this film going to be achieved? Are you involved in the music this time around?

DT - Interesting because I was just listening to the soundtracks to Halloween, Halloween 2, Halloween 3, The Fog, Christine and Prince of Darkness. I have them on heavy rotation on my stereo IPod. I love John Carpenter's brooding synth music...it reminds me of my childhood...I've listened to Carpenter for as long as I can remember. I'm very influenced by his early stuff. The low moog synth bass. Will I be involved with the music this time around? Of course! It wouldn't be my movie, if I didn't design the soundtrack. The soundtrack is 50% of the film's equation and I can't imagine leaving that to someone else entirely. I'm a sound hunter. My approach is a bit different from some other directors. I like to work with a small group of composers, four or five. I won't let them see the footage but they should read the script...and focus on different specific sequences. I want their fresh perspectives. I'd like to see...or hear...what the imagination creates without seeing the images. What the mind conjures interests me. I give them some direction...and they create horror pieces, sometimes elaborate compositions, sometimes just tones and drones...and then I mix them together, like hallucinogenic salad, on my own, in the sound studio with an engineer, creating my unique mutation. I have a huge, ever-growing library of soundscapes that I mix and layer. I can't separate the visual from the sound. For me, they form a kind of virtual sandwich. If one layer, one ingredient, is missing, then it's not whole yet...and there's more work to do. More hunting. I'm obsessive about the sound design. With each movie, it's like I'm creating an album.

FC - Any unexpected surprises pop up during shooting? And how did you overcome them?

DT - Well, shooting for me, is a pure team effort. I was blessed with a spectacularly hard working crew on Torture Chamber. Every department shined. Camera, art, special effects make-up, the producers....This film really was a lovefest because everyone who was there really wanted to be there. There was a back and forth flow of supportive energy. The budget is low and it's tense and fragile, yes. You just have to make every moment count. You have to try to keep it all together through force of will. Because of child labor laws, I found out that we couldn't shoot our lead 13-year-old actor, Carmen LoPorto, as consecutively as we wanted...So I came up with the idea of a masked figure. It fit nicely into the script and the terrain of the movie. It actually kind of added a Giallo-like feel to some of the scenes. This mask concept came up unexpectedly, about two weeks before actual shooting. I thought it would be interesting if the art therapist at the institution had a special link with Jimmy. Her eyes. She reminds him of his religious mother...her eyes. Eyes...are very powerful, as we all know. So one day she teaches a class where she asks her students to create their own masks. The art therapist owns an ancient tribal mask...called Baalberith...It symbolizes blasphemy and murder. And Jimmy steals it. 

FC - What was the experience working with child actors? Did it make shooting the film more difficult? 

DT - The lead characters, Jimmy, Heather, Andy, Ken....They were all around 13, 14....We had to have tutors on set. Yes, it was very challenging, scheduling wise. The whole film's schedule was made around child labor laws. They could only work certain hours and there were restrictions. The actual young actors were uniformly talented and took direction very well. Carmen LoPorto, Ellie Pettit, Steven Lobman, Andrew George. An east coast casting director, Pamela Kramer, helped me find them.

FC - How will Torture Chamber distinguish itself from your previous films? 

DT - I didn't lose the visual emphasis of the earlier films, but there's a new energy, a new pace. I think it's more engaging; there's more of an emotional pull with Torture Chamber. It feels more intimate. It's a colorful nightmare landscape vibrating with feeling. At the core, there's a family in deep pain. Torture Chamber is really about peeling back layers of pain and guilt buried in the unconscious mind. I tried to keep the movie overflowing with shapes, symbols, colors and textures. A family dinner scene that turns violent is the centerpiece of the film. Everything is going down, down, down...This is a film that illustrates eternal damnation. A journey through the halls of hell. An interior journey. 

Christie Sanford plays Mrs. Morgan in Dante Tomaselli's Torture Chamber

FC - How are you dealing with the editing process? And what’s the approach you are taking with the pacing of the film? 

DT - The past few weeks I've been transcoding and watching the footage non stop. I'm about to begin the one month picture edit. Then there's the soundmix, my favorite part. For the picture edit, I have a log book with my notes and the script supervisor's notes. Mostly I have it all in my mind...like an imprint. I've learned the key moments of 20 hours of footage.

FC - Up to now, all your horror films have been independent horror films; are you hoping to one day make a film produced by a major studio? How do you feel about making a studio film? 

DT- It's not a goal. I'm not hoping for it. No...but if it happens, it would have to fit like a glove. I have an independent spirit. Mainly, I want to keep everything moving full steam ahead so I can create more horror movies. It's all about making more films...whatever it takes. 

FM - When can we expect to see Torture Chamber? 

DT - The film should be ready for screening by Halloween or Christmas. 

FM - Future projects you have in mind?

DT - I really shouldn't jump ahead. Torture Chamber is only on my mind.

Interview with Horror Director Dante Tomaselli

Dante Tomaselli is a horror film director who has made his mark in the horror genre with his three independent horror films: Desecration (1999) Horrror (2002) and Satan’s Playground (2006). Now he is gearing up to start production of his next horror feature entitled Torture Chamber, which according to Tomaselli will be his goriest and most frightening film yet.

Tomaselli’s films have a surreal nightmarish vibe to them. They are cerebral, hallucinogenic. Like having a horrible nightmare while under the effects of LSD or something. Tomaselli’s films are of the “religious horror” variety, where Catholicism and its religious icons are seen as horrifying and frightening. Bloody ghost like nuns, religious leaders who hypnotize their followers, satanic rituals, torture devices (such as the ones used during the Inquisition) and a huge, evil looking black goat are some of the images that you can expect to see in a Tomaselli film. His new film, Torture Chamber will still focus on religion as a tool for telling a horror story. Torture Chamber centers itself around a fragmented religious family, with a rebellious son.

This religious horror vibe in Dante’s films make perfect sense when you take in consideration that he is cousin to Alfred Sole, the director of Alice Sweet Alice (1977) which is also a religious themed horror film.

Dante has got horror in his blood. He is slated to direct the remake for Alfred Soles Alice Sweet Alice.

The Film Connoisseur had a chance to interview Dante Tomaselli, to get to know what makes him tick as a horror director, and to see what he has in store for us horror fans in the near future. But first, Id like to tell you guys a bit about his first three films, just in case you haven’t heard of them yet.

Desecration (1999) - Is the story of a young boy named Bobby who is being tormented by his mothers death and his repressive Catholic upbringing. Bobby accidentally kills a nun. This death triggers a chain of supernatural events that lead Bobby on a path that leads straight to hell! Pretty soon, he is tormented by the ghost of the dead nun and horrendous nigthmares. The boy must pay for his sins. His destiny? Hell! This is a very hallucinatory film, Bobby has many visions, many nightmares, and Dante Tomaselli wastes no time in showing them to you.

Horror (2002) - Horror is about a group of teens who escape a drug rehabilitation clinic. Unfortunately for them, they choose to hide out in Reverend Salo Jr’s household, a mad priest who has invited them to his home. This reverend is an evil religious leader who enjoys torture, drugs, and like many religious leaders, promises his followers "salvation" . Will the group escape the clutches of the evil preacher? Will they escape their own horrific nightmares and drug induced hallucinations? Another fine trip down the psychological corridors of hell. This movie has some cool visuals and lots of surrealism. Stars, non other then real life mentalist “The Amazing Kreskin” as Reverend Salo Sr. In one amazing scene, Kreskin actually hypnotizes a large group of people, for real!

Satan’s Playground (2006) - This story revolves around a family going out into the woods for a bit of R&R with the family. Unfortunately, they never reach their destination because their car breaks down and they come face to face with the Leeds Family, a family of wacked out psycho’s. The family is warned that outside in the woods a deadly invisible force lurks! Could it be that the legend of  'The Jersey Devil'  is real? Will they ever escape these haunted woods? This film is heavily influenced by films like Evil Dead and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it stars Ellen Sandweiss (Evil Dead) and Edwin Neil (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp). It is Dante Tomaselli’s tribute to slasher films from the 70s and Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead.

And now, on with our interview with horror director Dante Tomaselli:

How did your career as a horror film director begin?

When I was about 3 or 4-years old, actually. Since then I've been fantasizing, visualizing...being a film director, specifically, a horror film director. I lived in a fantasy world. My dreams and nightmares were spinning out of control. I had bona-fide out-of-body experiences where I'd leave my bedroom and float out the window and glide over my neighborhood. All my book reports in school were about the supernatural, every topic, every book I read, every movie I watched. It was a lifestyle, I lived in a parallel universe. My room was decorated like a carnival funhouse. I definitely marched to the beat of my own drummer. I didn't really fit in and I felt isolated...alien...I had some friends who were loyal but I was very happy just going deep into the woods alone, getting completely lost. I loved nature...Trees, rocks, soil, wind, birds chirping, clouds, lakes

Dante on the set of Desecration

...Outdoor landscapes...Of course my favorite holiday growing up was Halloween. It was my favorite movie too. Every day for me was Halloween. I had a huge collection of masks and horror posters. When I graduated high school, it was just a natural progression for me to major in film. I took courses at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and lived on campus. After a few years I transferred to the NY School of Visual Arts and graduated with a B.F.A. When I was out in the real world all I could think of was going back to my horror movie roots. I didn't want to direct commercials. I wanted to direct my own films. I placed an Ad in the NY Village Voice Bulletin looking for a film crew to work on a horror film. From that Ad, I met many key people who worked on my shorts throughout my early and mid twenties. After my short version of Desecration was screened at the IFFM, The Independent Feature Film Market, I met my investor for the full length version.

How was your experience directing your first film, Desecration?

Frightening, magical. Since I made so many Desecration shorts, I had the film, the full length film...so planned out...the images were like slides projected in my mind...When we were shooting the feature there was never an awkward debate. I was just following what my inner voice was telling me. I knew there were lots of images and sounds to conjure on an ultra low budget. Faceless nuns, psychedelic nightmares, ghostly woods...a boy with a damaged relationship with his parent...and a psychic bond with his grandmother...All flickers of my own childhood. I feel like the movie made itself. The visions were like shattered glass in my psyche...I was seeing the colors of emotional violence. Making Desecration was an intense experience...It was like an Ouija Board session. Something else was speaking through me. Desecration was like automatic writing.

You consider yourself an old school horror director? Who are your influences? I see a little bit of Argento, Bava and Lynch in your films.

I'm really not influenced by one director...I don't know...I mean of course I've been unconsciously influenced by many horror films across the spectrum. Overall, I feel my visions are my own. Argento, I love him. I idolize him. Suspiria is one of my favorite films, though I didn't see it until my twenties. Sometimes I feel that the movies I grew up with are the films I am most inspired by, like John Carpenter's Halloween and The Fog. I was 9 and 10 when I saw those films...and in heaven. Brian De Palma's Carrie...I'm in awe of it. 1976. I was 6. David Cronenberg's The Brood...deeply unsettling. Also Drive-In horrors like The Sentinel and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I'd cut out all the newspaper movie Ads for horror movies I loved and and taped them to the refrigerator. In the 70s, as you know, there was a boom of horror treats, one week after another. I was only six years-old in 1976, but I already saw The Omen at a Drive-In. My family went to Drive-Ins all the time. I saw everything. My mother took me because she knew how much I loved these movies and she knew I wanted to be a horror director. Everyone around me knew. I didn't have to dress in all black or look a certain way to be strange. I'm conservative...physically...it's what's inside my mind that's completely, umm...out-there. In my twenties and thirties, I was introduced to the films of Italian horror directors like Mario Bava and Lucio Fulci. Beautiful horror poems. Incredible. Black Sunday...Black Sabbath...The Beyond. Wow. They were master craftsmen. They don't make directors like that anymore.

Which directors do you think are making good horror films today? Where do you see the horror genre going in the next couple of years?

A filmmaker named Chris Garetano is doing really hallucinogenic films. Also Jeremiah Kipp, Adam Barnick...I think horror is going to enter an experimental stage. A wave a dreamlike horror films...I hope...

How has your experience as an independent horror filmmaker been? What are the ups and downs of making independent horror films?

It's full of strange highs and strange lows. I remember being 26 years-old and taking a plane trip from New Jersey to be a guest at The Chicago Underground Film Festival. This was for my short version of Desecration. I felt such anxiety leading up to the screening, I was ready to combust. I was crawling out of my skin...My body went into all-out panic mode. It was really my first dramatic semi large-scale film festival screening experience. When the lights dimmed and they announced my film, I noticed that the volume was low...way too low...And the lights were still on...People were talking...walking in and out...The screen looked dim and none of the colors popped. It sounded bad, I couldn't really hear it! I was in Hell. I wanted to die. I left the screening in a huff and just stalked the Chicago streets...And...on the other end of the spectrum...the world premiere screening of the full length Desecration at the Fantafestival in Rome Italy. That's another story.

Would you say you have evolved as a horror director over the past few years? Do you think your films have changed somehow?

I hope I've evolved. I think you'll see my films take on a more serious, darker tone.

How do you plan on making horror films worth watching, since there is such a large amount of bad horror films being made out there?

I have to listen to my own inner voice. When the time is right, I know I'll be aligned with a horror film in the stratosphere. I guess what I mean is...theatrical release. Not limited, but, you know top 5 movies for the week. That sort of thing. I know it's in the cards. Inadvertently or not...at some point of my career. One of these low budget horror films...One of them...I just want to keep making my films. I'm a Scorpion. We move between the rocks in the shadows.

What would you say is the one element that makes a Dante Tomaselli film a Dante Tomaselli film? What element in your films gives them your own personal stamp?

I guess certain themes threading through my films...Adults as monsters, madness, imprisonment, weird family dynamics, repression, anxiety, drug addiction, paranormal nightmares, hypocrisy, religious fanaticism...I like a lot of swirling fog, mist and pulsating lights. I want scenes to segue into the next. I see doll-like dream figures teetering on the edge of consciousness...Colors. I see colors in my mind...that I cannot separate from the image. And certain sounds trigger certain colors. Or patterns. Hazy light...silhouettes. Even though my films are very low budget, I try to place a big emphasis on atmosphere, mood. I'm trying to construct a nightmare in which we experience the protagonist's damnation. Visually, I like to pack each frame with a lot of detail...a stylish gothic horror film. When the vision is working, it glows, like it's electrified. Hopefully, the eye can move all around the frame and find texture and stimulation.

I've noticed that most of your films have some sort of religious theme tied to them. Why is that? Do you find religion terrifying somehow?

Absolutely. I think religion will be the death of us!

Which of your three films is your favorite? And Why?

Umm...I really see attributes and deficits in all three for different reasons. It's like saying which child do you favor over the next. Maybe Desecration, though. Desecration.

Teaser Poster for Torture Chamber

The next film you start shooting is called Torture Chamber. It sounds really interesting! Want to fill us in on Torture Chamber? Give us some juicy details!

Torture Chamber is about a 13-year-old boy possessed by unspeakable evil. It's an independent horror film in the vein of The Exorcist. The demon manifestation attacking the child is called Baalberith, which if you believe in demonology, tempts its host to blasphemy and murder. This troubled boy, Jimmy Morgan, is a pyromaniac, horribly disfigured from experimentation with drugs. His mother believes he's unholy. His older brother is a priest who tries to exorcise him. This is a Catholic family in deep psychic pain. When Jimmy murders his own father, he burns him to death. After this, he's sent to a children's mental hospital. While there, Jimmy dominates the other kids from the burn unit. Together, they escape and Jimmy finds an old abandoned castle for shelter. That's where the burned kids find a secret passage way that leads to a medieval, cobwebbed torture chamber.

You got any future projects lined up? I’m personally still looking forward to seeing The Ocean get made at some point.

Well, I'll be shooting Torture Chamber next month. April 19th...we'll start principle photography in Connecticut, New Jersey and upstate New York. The budget is around the range of my other films. I've been waiting more than a few years to shoot a movie, so I'm excited. I feel electric. I feel aligned with who I really am when I'm on the set, directing one of my hallucinogenic horror films. The Ocean...is in the cards. Torture Chamber, my first all-out horror shocker, will pave the way.

Shooting 'Horror'

Your advice to future horror directors and filmmakers out there?

The Law of the Universe...or the Law of Attraction says what you put out...you get back. The vibration. I firmly believe that. Send out those rockets of desire to the universe and it will obey. Negative feelings of believing that it's impossible, you'll never do it, it'll never happen...blah blah...those feelings will hold you down and create blockages in alignment. Keep making films. Try to be a decent person, worry about your own business...and keep fantasizing about what you love to do. Visualize yourself as a magnet.

Well, there you have it folks, Dante Tomaselli! I want to thank Dante for giving us this great interview. Be on the look out for more information on Torture Chamber on this blog in the near future and if you havent checked out any of Dante Tomasellis films and are in the mood for something surreal and trippy, then waste no time and check them out!