EatSleepLiveMary: Twisted Twins Interview

"As well as sitting down with American Mary star Katharine Isabelle at this year’s FrightFest, I also had the opportunity to talk with the equally humorous and insightful ‘Twisted Twins’ Jen and Sylvia Soska (following the obligatory hugs of course), about their new film. They spoke about creating a movie for a reason, their retirement from acting, a possible piss take on the romantic comedy genre, and the only reason to get out of bed: prosthetics and gore."

EatSleepLiveFilm is a remarkable site for insight in all things film with professionals who are aficionados and lovers of the art form. So, it was an absolute pleasure and delight when we had the opportunity to sit down with Paul Risker of EatLiveSleepFilm for an interview with my twisted twinnie where we had the chance to really get into the world of AMERICAN MARY.

You directed and starred in DHIAT. With American Mary you have been almost exclusively behind the camera apart from a cameo appearance. Do you feel this impacted the final look of the film and would you consider taking a starring role in future films?  

Jen: Our cameo in American Mary has been kind of our retirement from acting. As much as we love acting, it really was our real passion, but it’s a real challenge to be able to direct and do all of the other responsibilities that go along with it, and be on the camera. Even if you’re going back and forth, it was very stressful to be like, “Am I using the right light?” It’s not like an actor thing when you’re directing as well to be concerned with. It’s, “Did I get the shot? Was it clearer enough? Was there another sound going on while I was talking?” We really wanted to focus on the story of American Mary, and all the different elements, so as a choice we wanted to take a step back. But we had such good support from DHIAT that people said, “We want to see you do something.” So we said, “Okay we’ll let you see us do something, one final something.” I would say we could be talked out of retirement for something really amazing, like I challenge anybody to take us out of retirement, but right now we really want to focus on our directing and our writing.  

Sylvia: Actually in all of our other scripts that we have there is nothing at all for us to do in it. This was it that was the one final time. So we decided to do things we really like. Jen loves prosthetics so she got a lot of prosthetic work on that. I wanted to kiss a girl and I got to do that because I guess I don’t date ever. It was really fun, but the whole time in the back of my mind I wanted to be behind the monitor, and there were a few little things that were very different from how… looking at it I wish I’d done this or I wish I’d done that, you can’t do that when you’re actually in the seat, especially when you’re working on an independent. You have so little time to get everything done. So its fun, I love acting, and I hope people enjoy the final cameo. I hope it wasn’t too narcissistic like, “Everyone stop the movie, the twins are going to make their cameo now.”

Check out the whole utterly rad piece here! Thank you to Paul for taking the time to talk to a pair of completely insane Canadian twins - you were just wonderful, sir.

And do not miss the interview with the intoxicatingly talented, Katharine Isabelle, here where she gets under Mary's skin as she describes how she brought the final girl/every girl to life.

-Sylv

Mary Mother of Mod, Reviews from Fright Fest

"The terrifyingly talented twins from Canada, Jen and Sylvia Soska, deliver the most original film of the festival with American Mary. Their first outing, Dead Hooker in a Trunk, was a raucous, DIY, violent action film, but for their sophomore effort they deliver a radically different and even more impressive product. If Dead Hooker was all raw, wild energy, American Mary is all about cool, subtle control." - Beth Accomando, About Movies (full review)

"The most pleasing thing about American Mary is that we are given a truly original horror film, which is a rare beast indeed these days. That the Soskas have provided a genuine female voice in the genre is almost a mere bonus when put next to the film itself, a skilfully shot and thoughtfully written black comedy piece that has so much to offer its audience beyond the splatter it would have been reduced to in less capable hands." - Sam Faulkner, Screen Geek (full review)

  "American Mary should be considered as the Soska Twins declaration of intent. It’s a declaration that says that these twins are a real talent to keep an eye on and who have shown a maturity with American Mary that may just surprise many people." - Andy Stewart, Andy Erupts (full review)

"With directors on top form, a stunning performance from lead actress Katherine Isabelle (between this and Ginger Snaps she should be a much bigger star) and an original story that balances horror and humour to perfection, American Mary is one of the years best films and proves once again that Canada knows how to make great horror movies." - Everything Geek (full review)

"American Mary is the rarest thing which you always hope to find at a festival like this, an original horror movie. It’s about a young female med student studying to be a surgeon who falls into the underground world of body transformation, initially as a means of making money, but later for darker motives. It is a film told from a female point of view, and about issues that impact on women. It examines misogyny and presents surgery fetishism and body modification as something positive standing in contrast to the twisted undercurrents of the normal world. An extremely entertaining film and the highly striking Soska sisters aka The Twisted Twins, swept into FrightFest like a breath of fresh air." - Chris and Phil Present (full review)

"Anything by the Twisted Twins has to be outstanding, but team them with Katharine and we have an unstoppable force of nature."- Rhiannon Irons, Truly Disturbing Horror (full review)

"This is the Soska Sisters' calling card; with such a wicked sense of fun and a killer sense of aesthetic, they look set to carve themselves (no pun intended) a niche slot in the genre, but it would be thrilling to see their subversive eye turned elsewhere." - Becky Reed, This Is Fake DIY (full review)

"American Mary is a thoughtful film, and one that does not have a singular interpretation. Too it defies categorisation. Predominantly a psychological thriller, it incorporates elements of comedy and horror to go along with a narrative that can be viewed as a critique of the American Dream, a modern retelling of the Greek Myth’s, of the relationship between the God’s and mortal man, or even a postmodern fairy tale. Original and thought provoking, the film informs through entertainment, providing us a window through which we can gain an insight into the world of body modification; a world that has no reason to be thought of as subversive or its inhabitants demonised. This is the potential of cinema, of art, to simultaneously entertain and inform, to challenge our pre-conceptions, and American Mary as entertaining, as it often is, goes beyond simply embracing entertainment value." - Paul Risker, The London Film Review (full review)

-Sylv