Susan Montford ('While She Was Out', 'At the Mountains of Madness', 'Deadman')

Susan Montford made her directorial debut last Christmas with the horror/thriller While She was Out. Adapted from a short story, Susan decidedly wrote the screenplay herself, making the lead character, Della, a full flesh-and-blood character even though she was a suburban housewife in her 50's - not the standard of horror movie heroines. Montford's and often nerve-wracking little movie screened in several theaters and is out on DVD April 28th. It stars Kim Basinger as Della, who proved that as she gets older, she really is trying to concentrate on awesome roles and good acting (did you see 8 Mile?) instead of just standing around being a pretty face. Susan stopped by Pretty/Scary to talk about her upcoming movies Faces of Death, Deadman and Guillermo Del Toro's upcoming At the Mountains of Madness, and more specifically, her female-helmed surival tale While She Was Out. "It's such a clear little story, so unpretentious and tough..."

While She Was Out begins with Della (Kim Basinger) as a loving mother subject to the anger and violence of her demanding husband. On Christmas eve she leaves her home to buy more wrapping paper in the crowded, annoying mall when she is harassed by 4 young men. Their increasing hostility turns violent when one of them (played by a chilling Lukas Haas) shoots the parking lot security guard and sets off on a chase after Della, the only witness.

Kim Basinger as 'Della'

I knew I could make Della into a very interestingly subversive character," says Montford of her onscreen representation of a woman forced to survive a violent attack by men, "a fragile and down-beaten woman who throughout the course of the movie transforms herself into the female version of Charles Bronson in Death Wish or Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry. You rarely see this type of female character in movies but I believe she lives within us all. Creating a character like Della allowed me to subvert all those frat boy fantasy movies where women are victimized and killed without raising a finger in their own defense while the audience laughs."

Della reaches for her only weapons - those inside a toolbox, and systematically cuts, smashes, and screwdrivers her way out of close calls while being pursued by the boys. Della's courage is amplified by her intelligence - she may just be a housewife, but she's been around the block and she's going to use her brain when she knows she doesn't have the brawn to secure her life.

While She Was Out sports some very gruesome scenes of carnage, mostly those of Della against her attackers, but also some very close calls against Della herself. There is the constant threat of rape, amongst other, worse, things, when a woman is a victim of male violence, but Della manages to protect herself in the best way she can. How does Susan decide how much violence to show, and how far she wanted to go?

Things get bloody for 'Della'

"I hate to see violence on screen when the victim can't or won't fight back," she says. "There is always a way to fight back even if you lose and I get really angry when films exploit the vulnerability and helplessness we all feel at times without showing us a way to combat it. With I Spit On Your Grave, Camille's revenge is very very satisfying and the level of black humor throughout the film is off the charts. Every time I watch it I laugh and feel empowered; I couldn't resist injecting my own strange brand of black humor into the film especially when Della fights back.

Susan's first feature film was the action flick Shoot 'Em Up and she acted as producer. She and her husband began Angry Films together to produce their own films, and Shoot 'Em Up was her first producing gig.

"When Shoot 'Em Up was submitted as a script to Angry Films we unanimously fell in love with it. It was a dementedly humorous script and we immediately saw its potential."

The poster for 2007's 'Shoot 'Em Up'

Scottish Girl Susan grew up knowing she wanted to work in film.

"When I was a kid films were this exotic other world that beamed into our tiny living room tempting me with all the wonders and excitement that growing up in a dull Glasgow suburb would never be able to provide. I went to Art School dreaming of one day making films. I mustered the bottle and applied for a Scottish Film Council grant and made my first short. From that point on there was no going back for me. I'm pretty relentless about pursuing my dreams in my own quiet way.

Her first two films as director were shorts, Hairpin and Strangers. She describes them as "arty, as in visually experimental, and both have central female roles."

While she's not directing, she's working on getting a few more genre movies off the ground!

"I've always been attracted to a good, and where possible subversive, story regardless of what genre it belongs to".

Subversive is a good word to describe Faces of Death, named after the notorious series of real human deaths shot on film.

"J.T. Petty, who is a masterfully creepy film director, is attached to write and direct," she explains. "He's working on a script polish right now and then we'll be ready to shoot. It has a really strong female protagonist."

Another horror film, Deadman, "needs a rewrite so we are looking for the right writer to knock it out of the park."

And the film to be directed by Guillermo Del Toro (he produced While She Was Out, so now Montford is returning the favor to him) is the Lovecraftian At The Mountains of Madness.

"While Guillermo Del Toro is off filming The Hobbit it sits patiently at Universal waiting for him to return and shoot the shit out of it," she laughs. "This may be a good thing as green screen VFX technology is improving constantly making it more likely that when the time comes to shoot, this film could be one of the most amazing visual event movies ever."

Susan does have a script she'd someday like to direct, called The Family Jam. Described by her as a version of the Manson Family through female eyes; it's currently not in preproduction. But it could likely be Susan's next project.

3 of the Manson gals

"The story of the Manson Family is like an American folk tale to the rest of the world," says Susan. "The story synthesis the cults of personality and religious beliefs so synonomous with the history of America itself from the first settlers and their religious aspirations to the cult of celebrity we're experiencing now. I've been thinking lately about what an amazing TV show it could be. The screenplay deals with how tight the Family were in the Hollywood community and how close Charlie was to making it as a rock star. It's told through the eyes of Mary Brunner, Charlie's first girl."

Keep an eye out for Montford's upcoming projects in theaters, and check out While She Was Out if you like gripping fear and awesome female characters played by people who can act (I never thought I'd say that about Kim Basinger).

Watch the trailer to While She Was Out: