Interview with Indy Horror Queen Reyna Young Part 3
Today we do part 3 of our interview with Reyna Young, Miss Misery on the Last Doorway Show and owner of Last Doorway Productions.
Dave: As a film producer and director, do you find that the actors that work the best in horror films are actually horror fans themselves, or can an accomplished actor produce a decent performance in spite of not actually liking horror films?
Reyna: A good actor is a good actor. If they don’t like horror it doesn’t mean that they’re not going to put in one hundred and ten percent. I think it doesn’t matter if you’re a fan at or not; it’s all in the skill. However, I think that a horror fan doing a horror film is more exciting to them then if they weren’t.
Dave: Do you see a shift in types of horror movie roles for women from the 50’s until now?
Reyna: I think that every generation is going to have a shift change. From then until now yes females have gotten stronger roles, they have had more of an input in the films and an opportunity to voice out and be behind the camera if they wanted too. So yes we are not just victims to be killed we also do the killing ourselves. (Invasion of the Saucer-Men image courtesy of the horror movie t shirt category)
Dave: Recently there have been a couple female horror antagonists, but they are few and far between. In fact, the only ones that come to mind is the girl from The Ring and Carrie. Any idea why the killer in the majority of films is male? Is it just tradition or does the role of slasher/killer naturally seem to fall onto men?
Reyna: I guess men are viewed as being strong so they are automatically considered the killer. In independent films women seem to be playing the killer more. But yes in Hollywood films it seems to be more male. I think it’s because men are viewed as being stronger but at the same time as a good friend of mine put it that she feels men are stronger but women seem to take more pain then men can in the films.
Dave: How did you get started on your documentary?
Reyna: Well I saw a documentary called Something to Scream About hosted by Brinke Stevens and it was interesting to watch but there were only 8 women in it. There was nothing ever since then to watch and I wanted to learn more about these females. So I decided why not ask independent females their thoughts and take on the genre. I also wanted to find more females who are in the genre to connect with and talk too. I knew a lot of the females in the genre but there were more out there if I looked deep enough. Yes I found a whole bunch of women and they were so happy to be a part of this documentary. I am happy to know them love them all. I cannot thank them enough. By just contacting these females they contacted other females I didn’t know about and from there the list of women grew. There are still so many women I couldn’t get that I wanted to have. I guess I can always do another one. 🙂
Dave: How long did the production take?
Reyna: It took over two years to make and it was worth it. I am very happy with the results. It’s been a long journey of computer crashes, fixing footage, and arguments between John and me. John has been amazing through the whole process helping me with editing and doing camera work while I interview these women. He has been nothing but supportive.
Dave: Was he a horror fan before or after meeting you?
Reyna: He was a casual fan. He really didn’t watch them a whole lot until he met me. I showed him a whole different world. He loves horror now. MUHAHAHAHAHA I polluted his mind…
Dave: How did you get the resources together?
Reyna: I contacted every single woman I knew in the industry. They all jumped at the opportunity which was great. A lot of the women I could not travel to see or had scheduling conflicts so they filmed their answers and sent them to me. This was very helpful (yes they all get credited for it, as did who ever helped them with the footage). We did do some traveling and it was so nice to meet the women face to face or just see them again. I got a lot of good answers in this doc from these women and their insight into the genre. I was very impressed with all these women. They are all a big influence on me.
Dave: How many interviews did you conduct?
Reyna: Well there are 34 women in the doc and I cannot even remember how many I interviewed. It was so long ago but it is in the credits. LOL. I wish I could have interviewed every female. I really do. There are so many I have not met yet and wish I could have. I’m sure I will in the future.
Dave: Who was the best interview, and why?
Reyna: They were all great to interview. I loved hanging out with the girls and learning more about them. The one woman who just amazed me was Lynn Lowry. (http://www.lynnlowry.com/) She had so much to say and I learned so much from when she started out in the horror genre to now. She is wonderful. I cannot wait to see her again.
Dave: How many film clips did you include in your documentary?
Reyna: I tried to include whatever was given to me. Anyone who agreed to have their footage showed I included. I wanted to show a vast variety of the films the women were in and again promote their films and the film makers.
Continued tomorrow
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