Jace Anderson is one of the most successful female horror screenwriter in the horror industry at the present moment. Besides being one of the writers behind the June 6th theatrical release of Dario Argento’s latest horror film Mother of Tears (the third in his “witchy” trilogy along with Suspiria and Inferno), she’s also penned Tobe’s Hooper’s The Toolbox Murders and Mortuary, and the upcoming Autopsy, with co-writer Adam Geirasch.
Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni began her work as an actress in Lamberto Bava’s Demons 2, and from there went on to star in Argento’s Opera and Phantom of the Opera, as well as Bava’s Ghost Son. Mother of Tears is her third paring with Argento and is released at the same time her short film The Dirt is making its way around horror film festivals. Directed by Simona and Claudio Simonetti (Claudio is the lead musician of Goblin, from whom Argento likes to get his soundtrack music), The Dirt is a strange and frightening macabre story of one woman’s obsessive nature.
Coralina and Jace share some insight into their careers and especially on the release of their newest film Mother of Tears...
While Coralina met Argento through her work on Bava’s Demons 2, Jace has a completely different story.
“Adam and I met Dario when he was in town editing Jennifer [the Masters of Horror episode] because our buddy Mike Williamson was working as an assistant editor there,” she relates. “We went in as total fans, but Mike must've told Dario we were writers, because he asked to read a script of ours. We brought one in the next day and didn't think it would go further than that -- but a month later we were emailing treatments back and forth to him. We spent a good month or so doing that, and then Claudio Argento (Dario's brother and producer) called us up and said ‘We were wondering if you could come to Rome to write the screenplay’. Ten days later -- after scrambling for passports and packing frantically -- we were in Rome, where we spent a month writing the script.”
This amazing twist of fate and luck led us to the story of Mother of Tears. Starring Asia Argento, Dario’s daughter, the movie is a vague and frightening story of witches and demons that infest Rome when an ancient cask is opened in a museum and its artifacts examined.
“It's funny, I can't even think of the film in terms of what was ‘ours’ vs. what was Dario's,” Says Jace when she’s trying to figure out how much she personally is responsible for in the storyline. “Dario, Adam and I were true collaborators on the project: we wrote all the drafts together, though we'd do our passes in English and he would do his in Italian. (We kept the translator very busy!) We'd talk things through and he'd act out ideas for set pieces. Some of the gore scenes were our ideas, others were his...but in the end we all worked on them together. Even when we returned to the States we were emailing drafts back and forth and debating ideas over the phone.”
I’m wondering how much of what ended up onscreen was what was in the script, and was Jace happy with all of it?
“The final film was the script, so there weren't any big surprises -- except for the very end. The scene all three of us had written was exactly the same -- Sarah and Enzo emerging out of the catacombs and into a Roman street -- but the tone was darker, more somber. Initially I didn't know what to make of the bright colors and the two characters laughing, but I've grown to like it.”
Coralina, don't open the cask!!!!
Coralina has the honor of being the first character killed in a gruesome and horrific way by the demons that have been released out of the cask. In fact, her scene is so disturbing and unexpected it is worth the watch just to see what happens to her mouth.
“My death mutated as time went on, she explains. “Demons were cast away and their shadows outlasted and completed my final cut.” Says Coralina. “I always love to die... (On film naturally)...I wake up the next day and I am alive. I found a way to be immortal.”
Crap, Coralina!
I told you so!
Suspiria, Inferno, and now Mother of Tears follow the story of three witches from an unknown time that all come back and try to take power again. The story is a bit confusing. I mean, we never really learn who they are or where they come from, which Gods they worship or if they have anything to do with actual witchcraft as history knows it. What we do know is that they are all incredibly evil and they like to hang with demons.
“The idea was that the Mother of Tears' followers have been among us all this time, and they're drawn to Rome by her return. After years of being in hiding, they finally get to come out in the open.”
If you haven’t seen Mother of Tears yet, one thing that stands out is that all of the “demonic” female witches are young, and mostly nude, most of the time.
“Initially the witches were a variety of ages -- there were haggard old crones as well as beautiful young women -- but at some point in the first draft Dario decided that they'd all be young and gorgeous,” sighs Jace.
Sexy Witches in Mother of Tears
Coralina, who exudes artistic sensibilities and a European lifestyle, explains the story of Mother of Tears as “A mystery of unknown Gods and Lands.”
For any horror fan, the idea of being able to write a story WITH the Dario Argento, perhaps the most appreciated Italian horror film director of all time, would super amazing awesome. For Jace, in her fangirldom, it was exactly that way.
“I'm a huge fan, and it was thrilling to work with him, especially on this project. And the fact that we spent a month in Rome writing it...it was definitely an once-in-a-lifetime experience. I don't know if I'll ever top it!”
One of the most amazing aspects of being a horror fan is that most of our heroes are accessible, at conventions or through other avenues in ways that other celebrities just aren’t.
“It's interesting, though,” injects Jace, “how quickly a ‘legend’ becomes just another person when you're working with them. You see other sides. When we first arrived in Rome, Dario came over to welcome us -- and then had to hurry off to catch the football (soccer to us) game, because he writes a sports column. Who knew?! I also had a great conversation with him once where we compared notes on scaring ourselves during writing.”
Jace not only got to write alongside Dario Argento and create the script for his new film, she was flown out to Italy to watch the filming onset.
“Shooting began about a year after the first draft of the script was done,” she begins. “We went to Torino for ten days during shooting, and it was a great experience. It's fascinating to watch Dario shoot: he doesn't get coverage. The movie is already edited in his head: he shoots the angles he's going to use and nothing more. It was also the quietest movie set I've ever been on: no one spoke above a whisper. It's also one of the cleanest: they shot in an actual museum and you never would have known that a movie crew had been there.
We were lucky to meet some great people during the shoot. The crew welcomed us with open arms and indulged me when I tried to practice my pathetic Italian with them. (I've blocked out the mistake I made that caused one of the P.A.'s to practically fall on the floor laughing.) Adam James and Cristian Solimeno (Michael and Enzo Marchi, respectively) were two of the funniest people I've ever met, and we became fast friends with Dario's biographer Alan Jones and dialogue coach Lynn Swanson.” Of course, “Meeting Coralina was the highlight, though -- I've declared her my long-lost sister.”
After the release of Mother of Tears, you can see Jace and writing-partner Adam’s new horror film Autopsy – which Adam directed. Recently at a convention in Los Angeles, scenes from this gory gore fest proved it was intensely violent and downright sick – in a very fun way!
“Gory deaths in a hospital, that's for sure!” admits Jace enthusiastically. “Adam just had to cut some of the gore back for the "R" rated version, but I believe an unrated version will be released as well. It's got some really brutal parts and a very cool visual look to it. I'm hoping people will enjoy the more twisted parts of the story.”
And one of the more twisted parts of the story includes the cast! “Our bad guys -- Robert Patrick, Jenette Goldstein, Michael Bowen and Robert LaSardo -- give great performances and are really creepy. It's not a movie for people who are already afraid of doctors!”
The movie Autopsy was actually written long before Mother of Tears was even an embryo, even though it’s being released later.
“Back then it was a different story: the kids were punk rockers, and the evil doctors were actually ghosts. We decided to change the antagonists to flesh and blood villains after Adam and I got back from Rome, so that required a major overhaul.”
A still from Jace's upcoming
Autopsy
Jace and Adam have worked together on many projects – from Crocodile I and II to Spiders and Mortuary, and now these recent films. It was a change of pace to have Adam act as director on one of their writing endeavors.
“It's interesting watching Adam shift into a director's role,” says Jace. “As my co-writer, he's now got a trump card when we disagree about a scene -- he's the director, so in theory he's got the final say. (I'll stress the "in theory" part and leave it at that!) Now that he's completed his first movie and we're working on another for him to direct, he brings a different perspective to it. He's much more aware of what's shoo table and what's not. The real challenge comes when he starts trying to "direct" our normal life... that's led to more than a couple of fights!”
Jace herself though is a writer through and through, not a filmmaker. “I'm not interested in directing myself right now -- it'd take me away from writing for too long, which I love.”
Coralina’s other current project,
The Dirt, is an amazing little short film with some gorgeous imagery and violent moments. Read a review of the film on our site
here.
Directed by Simona and Claudio Simonetti, the film was shot in Italy and Coralina was given a really juicy role to sink her teeth into. When she describes the way she was asked to do the film, her poetic nature is easy to see.
“One cool spring day, under a beautiful Roman sun,” she begins, “as we sat on the lawn of a Villa drinking tea and eating delicious cookies, Claudio looked over to Simona and gave her a wink: that was her cue to express their desire to have me perform a role they believed was meant for me.
I agreed because it was meant for me and I love them.”
Simona Simonetti has never directed a film before The Dirt, but according to Coralina, “Since she was a little girl, Simona has loved to come up with contorted and uncomfortable stories that are surrounded by something magical. Working with her gave me strength and comfort.”
Coralina in The Dirt
Coralina’s favorite part of the film is “All 14 minutes of it. I am proud of it.”
The Dirt is making the rounds of European and US Horror film festivals in 2008. Make sure you don’t miss it – or this chance to support women in horror.
So what comes next for Jace when Mother of Tears and Autopsy are both completed projects? She just finished writing a remake of Night of the Demons with Adam Geirasch, who is also directing.
“We've finished the script and are about to start casting. It's going to be a crazy, fun movie...and yes, there will be lipstick involved...”
And when that’s done, and her writing partner is busy directing, will she work on a solo project?
“I'm tossing around a couple of ideas to write when Adam's off directing. He tends to go darker and I tend to go wackier, so it'll be interesting to see what happens when I work solo.”
Jace is more elusive online. But she can be found if you “search” hard enough! Check out her IMDB page (
www.imdb.com/name/nm0026829) to keep updated on this incredibly talented and smart woman who writes horror films for a living. Aren’t we all a little jealous??
