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Horror Pride Month: Writer/Director Marc Cartwright

Published

4 years ago

June 1, 2020

There are few things writer and director Marc Cartwright loves more than a good suspenseful horror film with a well-placed twist, and anyone who has seen one of his films knows he’s very good at creating them.

The co-owner of Glass Cabin Films has a handful of short films that have won major awards at festivals around the world including Best Director at last year’s iHorror Film Festival. Though he’s constantly working, he took some time out of his busy schedule to chat with me for Horror Pride Month, a celebration of LGBTQ creatives working in horror.

“I’ve always loved horror movies,” he explained as we began. “Horror movies tell another side of life. They’re the parts of life that we sometimes think about, but hope we don’t see playing out in front of us. I’ve always seen them as a way to explore the darker sides or the twists in life. I think my first inspiration for that would be more like the Alfred Hitchcock type. Things are going along seemingly fine and then there’s that sort of horrific twist.”

If suspense and tension are your cup of tea, there are few filmmakers who ever did that better than Hitchcock, and Cartwright said that Rope particularly stands out for him.

“For a film to occur in one room and to have you on the edge of your seat the entire time? That’s really hard to do,” he said, and anyone who has seen the film is sure to agree.

Cartwright with his iHorror Award which he won for Best Director at the 2019 iHorror Film Festival.

Still, loving horror films and making them are two different monsters. Cartwright was primarily a photographer, and until he met his business partner–actor and co-owner of Glass Cabin Films Baker Chase Powell–he had not entirely considered filmmaking as a creative outlet.

“Baker was doing a web series,” Cartwright said. “I saw what they did in their first go at it, and I thought I could make it look better. So I said, ‘Let me try the cinematography on this.’ We did that and I ended up directing it. And then Baker and I were talking and I said, ‘We should do more of this. Let’s make some short films.’ We both had a love of horror, and that sort of started that whole process.”

Cartwright is still a photographer but since the decision was made, he’s been developing his voice as a director, and you can see that progression watching his work.

The director said he loves looking at characters who are in some sort of downward spiral, pointing to his film We Die Alone as an example.

In that film, Powell plays Aidan, a young man with crippling insecurities who craves connection, but who compulsively ghosts every woman he meets on dating apps out of fear. When he meets Chelsea, a young woman who moves into the apartment across the hall from him, he finds himself dangerously obsessed with her which leads to an brutal, emotional ending you have to see to believe.

“I love watching that kind of character play out,” he explained. “Someone I like who does that a lot would be like Daron Aranofsky in his movies. Black Swan and The Wrestler or even like mother!, someone trying to get stability in this crazy situation.”

On the set of We Die Alone

Cartwright says he’s also learned a great deal about collaboration and sharing control by working in film.

“It’s definitely been an adventure, and it’s been a learning process for me,” he said. “Learning to hand off something and trust that someone is going to do it with integrity. You learn how to get what you need while still empowering people. You want it to be a collaboration.”

Clarifying his voice as a director has also helped to focus his thoughts on LGBTQ representation within the horror genre and filmmaking in general, and looking back on his own coming out as a gay man, points him toward a future he hopes that every member of the LBGTQ community can experience.

“I was fortunate. It wasn’t a negative experience for me,” Cartwright said. “I know a lot of people go through so much whether it’s an unsupportive family or a bad environment. It’s scary when you realize who you are in that kind of situation, but I didn’t really have that pushback that I know a lot of people have.”

And where the film and television world is concerned, he hopes that we can leave behind some of the tired tropes that have plagues so many queer characters in the past.

“I think a lot of LGBT films and characters before now were always about the same thing,” he pointed out. “It was always either sexually driven or they were experiencing some personal crisis around coming out all the time. I think now, it’s time to create shows that show that LGBT people are just like everyone else. We aren’t all either dying or constantly clubbing. They say Hollywood is opening up and telling more diverse stories, but I find that they still act like they have to tell you if they’re doing a show about a Latin person or a black person or gay person. They feel like they have to underline that point heavily, but in my experience people don’t live their lives like that.”

That sort of normalized representation both inside and outside of the genre is something many of us in the community are striving toward and having a filmmaker like Cartwright on the front lines of that feels like the work is actually being done.

To see some of Marc Cartwright’s film work, check out the Glass Cabin Films YouTube Channel.

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Movies

‘The Strangers’ Invaded Coachella in Instagramable PR Stunt

Published

9 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Renny Harlin’s reboot of The Strangers isn’t coming out until May 17, but those murderous home invaders are making a pit stop at Coachella first.

In the latest Instagramable PR stunt, the studio behind the film decided to have the trio of masked intruders crash Coachella, a music festival that takes place for two weekends in Southern California.

This type of publicity began when Paramount did the same thing with their horror movie Smile in 2022. Their version had seemingly ordinary people in populated places look directly into a camera with an evil grin.

Harlin’s reboot is actually a trilogy with a more expansive world than that of the original.

“When setting out to remake The Strangers, we felt there was a bigger story to be told, which could be as powerful, chilling, and terrifying as the original and could really expand that world,” said producer Courtney Solomon. “Shooting this story as a trilogy allows us to create a hyperreal and terrifying character study. We’re fortunate to be joining forces with Madelaine Petsch, an amazing talent whose character is the driving force of this story.”

The movie follows a young couple (Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez) who “after their car breaks down in an eerie small town, are forced to spend the night in a remote cabin. Panic ensues as they are terrorized by three masked strangers who strike with no mercy and seemingly no motive in The Strangers: Chapter 1 the chilling first entry of this upcoming horror feature film series.”

The Strangers: Chapter 1 opens in theaters on May 17.

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Movies

‘Alien’ Returning to Theaters For a Limited Time

Published

11 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Timothy Rawles

It’s been 45 years since Ridley Scott’s Alien hit theaters and in celebration of that milestone, it is headed back to the big screen for a limited time. And what better day to do that than Alien Day on April 26?

It also works as a primer for the upcoming Fede Alvarez sequel Alien: Romulus opening on August 16. A special feature in which both Alvarez and Scott discuss the original sci-fi classic will be shown as a part of your theater admission. Take a look at the preview of that conversation below.

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Back in 1979, the original trailer for Alien was kind of terrifying. Imagine sitting in front of a CRT TV (Cathode Ray Tube) at night and suddenly Jerry Goldsmith’s haunting score begins to play as a giant chicken egg starts to crack with beams of light bursting through the shell and the word “Alien” slowly forms in slanted all caps across the screen. To a twelve-year-old, it was a scary pre-bedtime experience, especially Goldsmith’s screaming electronic musical flourishes playing over scenes of the actual movie. Let the “Is it horror or sci-fi?” debate begin.

Alien became a pop culture phenomenon, complete with kid’s toys, a graphic novel, and an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. It also inspired dioramas in wax museums and even a frightening setpiece at Walt Disney World in the now-defunct Great Movie Ride attraction.

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The film stars Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, and John Hurt. It tells the tale of a futuristic crew of blue-collar workers suddenly awakened out of stasis to investigate an undecipherable distress signal coming from a nearby moon. They investigate the source of the signal and discover it’s a warning and not a cry for help. Unbeknownst to the crew, they have brought a giant space creature back on board which they find out in one of the most iconic scenes in cinema history.

It is said that Alvarez’s sequel will pay homage to the original film’s storytelling and set design.

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The Alien theatrical re-release will take place on April 26. Pre-order your tickets and find out where Alien will screen at a theater near you.

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News

Home Depot’s 12-Foot Skeleton Returns with a New Friend, Plus New Life-Size Prop from Spirit Halloween

Published

12 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Cameron McFarland

Halloween is the greatest holiday of them all. However, every great holiday needs amazing props to go with it. Luckily for you, there are two new amazing props that have been released, which are sure to impress your neighbors and frighten any neighborhood children who are unfortunate enough to wander past your yard.

The first entry is the return of the Home Depot 12-foot skeleton prop. Home Depot has outdone themselves in the past. But this year the company is bringing bigger and better things to their Halloween prop lineup.

This year, the company unveiled its new and improved Skelly. But what is a giant skeleton without a loyal friend? Home Depot has also announced that they will release a five-foot tall skeleton dog prop to eternally keep Skelly company as he haunts your yard this spooky season.

This bony pooch will be five feet tall and seven feet long. The prop will also feature a posable mouth and LCD eyes with eight variable settings. Lance Allen, Home Depot’s merchant of decorative Holliday gear, had the following to say about this year’s lineup.

“This year we increased our realism within the animatronics category, created some impressive, licensed characters and even brought back some fan favorites. Overall, we are most proud of the quality and value we are able to bring to our customers with these pieces so they can continue to grow their collections.”

But what if giant skeletons just aren’t your thing? Well, Spirit Halloween has you covered with their giant life size Terror Dog replica. This massive prop has been ripped out of your nightmares to appear frighteningly on your lawn.

This prop weighs in at almost fifty pounds and features glowing red eyes that are sure to keep your yard safe from any toilet paper throwing hooligans. This iconic Ghostbusters nightmare is a must have for any fan of 80s horror. Or, anyone who loves all things spooky.