Sonja aka She Devil...
It’s October, and you know what that means… Ghosties and ghoulies and Darkwing Duck and other random things that go bump in the night. ‘Cos it’s Halloween. And it’s also HorrorFest, Cape Town’s iconic celebration of all things offbeat and bloody and scary. I managed to track down Paul Blom and Sonja Ruppersberg and get them to answer some questions about their brainchild… Which they did quite thoroughly, despite being up to their elbows in last-minute preparations and dramas! Enjoy… And if you’re in Cape Town, go support!
What’s the main goal of HorrorFest?
To cater for people with odd, alternative and off-centre taste – like ourselves! And while it is not yet a South-African tradition, we want Halloween to become more prominent.
Have you got anything special planned this year?
Definitely! The Makabra Ensemble live movie soundtrack is always a highlight and is also the setting for the Halloween dress-up competition.
The short films are unique in that 99% of the 6 hrs+ worth of amazing movies from around the world won’t be seen anywhere else in South Africa.
On Wednesday, 20 October we have an exclusive pre-release screening of Robert Rodriguez’s much-anticipated Grindhouse flick Machete, starring Danny Trejo, Jessica Alba and Robert De Niro.
We’ll be showing the classic Nosferatu in its conversion as Orlok The Vampire in 3D (if the 3D glasses get here in time from the USA!) with a tongue-in-cheek approach. We’re awaiting word on filmmakers from two of the feature films flying to SA for their movies.
We’ll create another limited edition red wine with a special HorrorFest label (with Provoyeur Wines from Stellenbosch).
We’re also having our first after party/ closing event, in conjunction with the Lovecats animal charity concert at Mercury Live, featuring Terminatryx, Cold Hand Chemistry, and Witness To Wolves live on stage, plus the Black Orchids Beasties Burlesque troupe. There will be loads of prizes for audience members too!
Sonja in the werewolf short for HorrorFest 2009...
Why horror movies? What got you into it?
No one was stepping up after decades of other countries running festivals like this, so we elected ourselves. And like our music choice, we’ve just always loved things that are out of the ordinary, and some of us have a more macabre sense of humour and find shocking screen elements invigorating. The make-up FX are fascinating and everyone has a dark and twisted side that can be exorcised by watching these movies. A fright is almost always followed by laughter of relief. We can get into psychological analysis, but it boils down to a fun 90 minutes in a dark room of strangers staring at a screen throwing scares, thrills, and gross-outs at you, while munching on popcorn (or in the case of the Labia Theatre, sipping on a drink from the licensed bar), maybe with a date, a bunch of like-minded friends or even alone, and just escape into some freaky entertainment – relieved by the fact that you’re still alive and intact when the lights come up!
Would you say there is a particular type of fan that goes in for horror?
No. Anyone who has a fascination with the macabre, or likes the adrenaline rush of getting scared can get into it. As mortals we are all aware of our fragile lives and inevitable death, so we’re drawn to it, sometimes blatantly (almost like extreme sports), other times subconsciously. We get a wide spread of fans attending the HorrorFest, from younger kids trying to sneak in, to pensioners, Metal fans, Ravers, movie buffs, totally regular folk, everything. While one would expect it, we get very few Goths attending the festival…
What’s your fave horror movie of all time?
There are several, but it’s hard to pin down one, so we’ll give 5 of our favourites each.
Paul: Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, David Cronenberg’s Videodrome, Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy, George A. Romero’s Dawn Of The Dead, F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu
Sonja: Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Nightmare On Elm Street franchise, The Shining, Jacob’s Ladder, Event Horizon
And your worst?
Paul: Scared Alive
Sonja: Things
Things start getting hairy...
The one scene from a movie, good or bad, that’s stuck in your head?
Paul: There are many, but the creepy twins in The Shining, and the blood gushing from the elevator in slow motion made quite an impact.
Sonja: In Salem’s Lot – the light goes out and when it comes back on the vampire is in the room with the family.
Five things you’ve learnt about survival from horror movies…
Paul: Have access to weapons; Keep your keys with you at all times; Do not investigate if something seems odd; Have a back exit; Trust no one!
Sonja: Never run up the stairs; Never say ‘who’s there?’; If the intruder/monster/alien looks like it is dead stab it a couple more times just to be sure; Close cupboard doors – leaving them slightly open will open up a porthole to another dimension; Never look under your bed…
Who’s the most iconic horror actor/actress?
Paul: Bruce Campbell - mainly because of his epic performances in The Evil Dead movies – hilarious in his serious delivery of it!
Sonja: Robert Englund – Freddy Krueger’s nasty sense of humour and flamboyant character traits (Nightmare On Elm Street)!
What are your favourite tagline(s) from a horror poster?
Paul: The original Dawn Of The Dead – ‘When there’s no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth’
Sonja: A Nightmare On Elm Street 3 – ‘If you think you’ll get out alive, you must be dreaming’
Who’d you rather take on: vamps, zombies or werewolves, and why?
Paul: Nowadays, vampires, because they’ve become sensitive vegetarians!
Sonja: George Romero zombies, one at a time because they’re slow and easy to kill, but not in a mob! (28 Days Later-style infected are too quick)
The most bizarre moment you’ve ever had in working on HorrorFest…
It’s bizarre from start to finish!
And when are you coming to Jozi?
We’ve been gunning for that since we got started, but it’s a matter of logistics and cost.
It may be sooner than you think!
Ever wondered how much work it would take to get something like HorrorFest off the ground? Read this and weep!
Who are the people involved?
Paul Blom and Sonja Ruppersberg: founders, organizers and coordinators.
The Makabra Ensemble is the Terminatryx-driven musical project that gives classic silent horror movies a new soundtrack, performed live to the screen. The Makabra Ensemble is Paul & Sonja from Terminatryx, Simon & Sean from LARK, and violin virtuoso Matthijs Van Dijk – and it involves a wide range of instruments from electric guitar, live drums, programming and various flutes and woodwind instruments, to vocals, violin, bass, programming and keyboards.
And there she goes.
The Labia Theatre has been the venue of choice since the festival’s inception in 2005. Since our 5th event (2009) we started bringing in additional assistance, as two people simply cannot manage a growing event like this! Instead of again doing the poster ourselves, we got Dr-Benway to photograph poster-girl Sonja, and artist Vernon Swart to paint the 2009 poster. Dr-Benway also assisted us this year (2010) in creating the event poster (with red devil make-up, hair and horns by Daleen Badenhorst & Clinton Smith from Cosmesis Advanced Prosthetic Studio and Masque Make-Up & FX)
Since 2009 Nerine Dorman has been running the Bloody Parchment literary chapter of HorrorFest, which includes the live author reading event at the Book Lounge (Roeland Str. on 27 Oct), and the short story competition. She may also tackle the arrangement of a Zombie Walk / Flash Mob.
Additional judges for short films include the guys from Visual Impact & HD Hub, as well as Something Wicked Magazine. I always compiled the 3 feature-length short-film collections myself, but since last year editor Leon Visser has taken that load off. Making movies ourselves, but simply not having enough time, in 2009 we did a double exercise of getting behind the camera again, and at the same time producing a HorrorFest promo clip, with the assistance of Clinton Smith and his Cosmesis team (make-up FX), Marnus Tredoux (camera), and Leon Visser (editor). We picked up on it again this year by expanding this werewolf transformation piece (starring Sonja and directed by me) into the short film Marked – it will have its premiere at the 2010 HorrorFest. The movie is also further transforming into a Terminatryx music video for the song Virus.
Visual Impact also helped with the supply of the Canon 5D camera.
With the festival being almost wholly independently funded by us, various sponsors and affiliates do assist in a range other ways, like Visual Impact, HD HUb, Cosmesis Advanced Prosthetic Studio, Masque Make-Up & FX, Something Wicked Magazine, New Rock Boots South Africa, Wolf Clothing, X Box, Ster Kinekor, Global Discs, SLD and Phantom Sambuca, Penguin Books, Fangoria Magazine, Mystery Ghost Bus Tour etc.
Then of course there are the moviemakers from around the world that make these crazy, fun movies we love to watch and get frightened by!
Paul and Sonja have created several off-centre film festivals & events since 2005, check them out here:
The X FEST Extreme / Underground / Cult Film Festival
CELLUDROID Sci-Fi / Anime / Fantasy Film Festival
SOUND ON SCREEN Music Film Festival
DARING DOCCIES Documentary Film Festival
CINEMANIACS Special Cinematic Events
