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[Interview] Actress & Filmmaker Alexis Kendra Talks -‘The Cleaning Lady’

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The new horror-thriller The Cleaning Lady just released this month and iHororr.com had the opportunity to speak to actress and filmmaker, Alexis Kendra. We speak about the origins of the film, future projects, and of course her top five scary movies! Go ahead and check out the interview below and read our review by clicking here.

Synopsis:

“On the surface, Alice (Kendra) seems like a woman who has it all: a gorgeous apartment, a booming career, a stunning physique, and a handsome boyfriend. The only problem is he’s married to someone else. Looking for a way to simplify her life, Alice hires Shelly to clean her house. As Alice begins to confide in Shelly about her illicit affair, their friendship grows… and so does Shelly’s twisted obsession with her new employer. It soon becomes clear that Shelly has motives that reach further than a normal cleaning lady. Shelly wants to cleanse Alice’s entire life and will stop at nothing until she’s done.”

The Cleaning Lady is now available On Demand, Digital HD and DVD 

Interview With Alexis Kendra

Image IMDb – Alexis Kendra

Ryan T. Cusick: Hi Alexis how are you?

Alexis Kendra: Hi, I am good how are you doing?

RTC: I’m doing well, thank you so much for taking my call today.

AK: Yeah, of course, no problem.

RTC: This movie was great and I just found out this morning as I was thumbing through your IMDb page that you actually wrote it as well and I got really excited over that.

AK: Oh thank you, thank you so much. That means a lot.

RTC: Now I wanted to ask you real quickly the short that you did back in 2016 can we see that on the internet?

AK: I think that it is still up there. I think if you google “The Cleaning Lady short” I believe it should pop up.

RLJE FILMS – ‘The Cleaning Lady’

RTC: Perfect. You wrote, produced, starred – how did it all come together for this film?  

AK: The director Jon Knautz and myself we made the short as you were just previously mentioning and we used that as a proof of concept we wanted to use that as a way of raising the financing for the feature, that was the goal ultimately. The goal was never to make just a short, the goal was to make a feature. We had the screenplay but just based on that alone we were unable to secure the financing – everybody wanted visuals. Everybody wanted to see what Shelly would look like, who Alice was and what actress would play her. John and I decided that we are just going to make a proof of concept and we are going to try to do it on a dime, which of course it never is.

RTC: Yeah, something always happens.

AK: Yeah, we were really happy with it because, in the end, what ended up happening is that we ended up finding an executive producer who jumped on board who ended up finding the rest of the financing for us based on that short and the previous feature that we co-wrote together, produced, and made together as well. That is how it pretty much all came together.

RTC: I actually noticed in the short you actually played Shelly, who is actually the opposite that you played in the feature. Did you want to play Shelly again in the feature [The Cleaning Lady]? What really got you in tune with the character you did play Alice? How did Alice’s character appeal to you?

AK: I wrote this film to play Shelly, one hundred percent, I was going to play Shelly those are types of roles that I gravitate towards. Those are the roles that I write for me in mind. It was getting closer to day one of principal photography and we did not have our lead, we did not have our protagonist, we don’t have Alice what are we going to do? I was in a meeting with the director and we were sitting in this conference room at a table and he was just staring at me. I thought to myself, “Oh no, I know that look – I just know that I have to play Alice.” He asked if I was sure and I said, “Yes, I am absolutely sure.” I had to totally do a one-eighty on everything and I did know of an actress that I had cast in my first film in Goddess of Love that I had previously mentioned. I knew that she would nail it, once you find a good actress you never let them go. I knew that I had wanted to use her in another film that I would produce and this was the chance, so I gave her a call to come in and read for us and she nailed it, as I knew she would so we gave her the role. For me to now play Alice I had to do one-eighty on the approach, just with my might set and mind frame of this film. Once I really wrapped my head around who Alice is and how she is this woman who is struggling, on the outside she has it all together. She is attractive, she has a beautiful apartment, great career, and everything looks so nice but then when you dig deeper you get to know her a little better and this is a very sad woman with a lot of pain who is in a love affair with a married man and not only is she participating in that, she is trying desperately to get out of it. She is in a twelve-step program to deal with that. Once I wrapped myself around all of that, I had a ball playing her.

RTC: I really enjoyed the writing of that character [Alice] Normally these type of characters embrace that type of behavior but this one like you had mentioned did the exact opposite. She wanted to seek help and I thought that was a pleasant twist on it.

AK: Thank you so much. Yeah, we didn’t want her to be one dimensional. I don’t know of any protagonist on any film that I am a fan of when the protagonist has it all together and is perfect. I don’t know them in real life and I don’t want to write them and I definitely don’t want to play them.

RLJE FILMS – ‘The Cleaning Lady’

RTC: Rachel Alig that played Shelly [Cleaning Lady] got really creepy with her performance. It was very disturbing and I really enjoyed the last two acts of the film because of that performance. [Laughs] I think that you created a new villain. Do you plan on writing a sequel? Do you plan on going further with this at all?

AK: I don’t know. We haven’t been approached for a sequel but if we are we will definitely put our heads together and write it. I have some ideas. But what I find cool about this particular film is that it is left open-ended in a way for a sequel, that would be possible.

RTC: Endings like that are always fun because it allows our imaginations to run wild, we are left wondering “what’s next, what could happen?” That’s always fun when filmmakers do that for us. Speaking of the writing part you wrote with the director John, how is your dynamic with a writing partner? Is it difficult? Did you two just bounce ideas off each other? 

AK: We have a wonderful working relationship especially with the writing area. When it comes to writing we have opposite skill sets and I believe this is why we partner so well together. The way that it works we get together for several months and we sit down over cigars and talk story. This is kind of where the plot comes to life, I have a hand in helping the broad strokes of the plot. John then takes it further and beaks it down scene by scene making sure that the story arch is complete. I then end up writing every word of dialogue, of course, John will have some lines in there. We cross over sometimes. For the most part, I handle the dialogue and he handles the plot story and by the end, we have a screenplay and that is our dynamic.

RTC: And it does show in the final product. I remember making notes – “the storytelling, the storytelling” it was superb. I loved the back story that you gave Shelly, I enjoyed how you dove into her childhood and explained what had caused everything.

AK: Thank you.

RLJE FILMS – ‘The Cleaning Lady’

RTC: You’ve done a few horror films. Valentine’s Day, Hatchet II, Big Ass Spider, are you a fan of horror films?

AK: [Laughs] I should hope so or I really shouldn’t be writing them, right?

RTC: [Laughs] True, True.

AK: I’m a horror girl, totally.

RTC: What’s your favorite one?

AK: I have a top five. I could never pick one. Off the top of my head and not in order I would say, Audition, Marauders, Tale of Two Sisters, Rosemary’s Baby, and The Shining.

RTC: Very good. Was there any particular film you saw as a young child that hooked you in and got you started

AK: No, I didn’t watch horror when I was little. I was watching Adventure’s In Babysitting, Red Sonja, that’s what I was watching.

RTC: You were still watching good stuff [Laughs]

AK: [Laughs] Yeah, I was watching some quality, for sure. I really didn’t start watching horror until I moved to L.A. What I found about the horror genre was that every time I watched a horror film it was the ultimate escape for me. I am not a huge partier I am not a huge drinker, for me, a horror film really puts me in another world, another realm, another life in a way that nothing else does for me so that is why I am drawn to horror over any other genre.

RTC: That makes sense it fills that void. What’s next, what are you working on right now?

AK: We are shopping scripts right now. This part is not my favorite, but this is what Independent Filmmakers go through. We write scripts, we get financing, we make a film, publicity, festivals and then we wait and see if people liked the film and then write another one. So that is where we are right now, in the financing stages of several stories.

RTC: Well Alexis, thank you, thank you so very much for speaking with me.

AK: It was a pleasure, thank you.

RLJE FILMS – ‘The Cleaning Lady’

 

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New Poster Reveal For Nicolas Cage’s Survival Creature Feature ‘Arcadian’ [Trailer]

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Nicolas Cage Arcadian

In the latest cinematic venture featuring Nicolas Cage, Arcadian emerges as a compelling creature feature, teeming with suspense, horror, and emotional depth. RLJE Films has recently released a series of new images and a captivating poster, offering audiences a glimpse into the eerie and thrilling world of “Arcadian”. Scheduled to hit theaters on April 12, 2024, the film will later be available on Shudder and AMC+, ensuring a wide audience can experience its gripping narrative.

Arcadian Movie Trailer

The Motion Picture Association (MPA) has given this film an “R” rating for its “bloody images,” hinting at the visceral and intense experience awaiting viewers. The film draws inspiration from acclaimed horror benchmarks like “A Quiet Place,” weaving a post-apocalyptic tale of a father and his two sons navigating a desolate world. Following a catastrophic event that depopulates the planet, the family faces the dual challenge of surviving their dystopian environment and eluding mysterious nocturnal creatures.

Joining Nicolas Cage in this harrowing journey are Jaeden Martell, known for his role in “IT” (2017), Maxwell Jenkins from “Lost in Space,” and Sadie Soverall, featured in “Fate: The Winx Saga.” Directed by Ben Brewer (“The Trust”) and penned by Mike Nilon (“Braven”), “Arcadian” promises a unique blend of poignant storytelling and electrifying survival horror.

Maxwell Jenkins, Nicolas Cage, and Jaeden Martell 

Critics have already begun to praise “Arcadian” for its imaginative monster designs and exhilarating action sequences, with one review from Bloody Disgusting highlighting the film’s balance between emotional coming-of-age elements and heart-pounding horror. Despite sharing thematic elements with similar genre films, “Arcadian” sets itself apart through its creative approach and action-driven plot, promising a cinematic experience filled with mystery, suspense, and relentless thrills.

Arcadian Official Movie Poster

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‘Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 3’ Is a Go with Enhanced Budget and New Characters

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Winnie the Pooh 3

Wow, they’re churning things out fast! The upcoming sequel “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 3” is officially moving forward, promising an expanded narrative with a larger budget and the introduction of beloved characters from A.A. Milne’s original tales. As confirmed by Variety, the third installment in the horror franchise will welcome Rabbit, the heffalumps, and the woozles into its dark and twisted narrative.

This sequel is a part of an ambitious cinematic universe that reimagines children’s stories as horror tales. Alongside “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” and its first sequel, the universe includes films such as “Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare”, “Bambi: The Reckoning,” and “Pinocchio Unstrung”. These movies are set to converge in the crossover event “Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble,” slated for a 2025 release.

Winnie the Pooh Poohniverse

The creation of these films was made possible when A.A. Milne’s 1926 children’s book “Winnie-the-Pooh” entered the public domain last year, allowing filmmakers to explore these cherished characters in unprecedented ways. Director Rhys Frake-Waterfield and producer Scott Jeffrey Chambers, of Jagged Edge Productions, have led the charge in this innovative endeavor.

The inclusion of Rabbit, heffalumps, and woozles in the upcoming sequel introduces a new layer to the franchise. In Milne’s original stories, heffalumps are imagined creatures resembling elephants, while woozles are known for their weasel-like characteristics and a penchant for stealing honey. Their roles in the narrative remain to be seen, but their addition promises to enrich the horror universe with deeper connections to the source material.

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How to Watch ‘Late Night with the Devil’ from Home: Dates and Platforms

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Late Night With The Devil

For fans eager to dive into one of this year’s most talked-about horror films from the comfort of their own home, “Late Night with the Devil” will be available for streaming exclusively on Shudder starting April 19, 2024. This announcement has been highly anticipated following the film’s successful theatrical release by IFC Films, which saw it earning rave reviews and a record-breaking opening weekend for the distributor.

“Late Night with the Devil” emerges as a standout horror film, captivating audiences and critics alike, with Stephen King himself offering high praise for the 1977-set film. Starring David Dastmalchian, the movie unfolds on Halloween night during a live late-night talk show broadcast that disastrously unleashes evil across the nation. This found footage-style film not only delivers scares but also authentically captures the aesthetic of the 1970s, drawing viewers into its nightmarish scenario.

David Dastmalchian in Late Night with the Devil

The film’s initial box office success, opening to $2.8 million in 1,034 theaters, underscores its wide appeal and marks the highest opening weekend for an IFC Films release. Critically acclaimed, “Late Night with the Devil” boasts a 96% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 135 reviews, with the consensus praising it for rejuvenating the possession horror genre and showcasing David Dastmalchian’s exceptional performance.

Rotten Tomatoes score as of 3/28/2024

Simon Rother of iHorror.com encapsulates the film’s allure, emphasizing its immersive quality that transports viewers back to the 1970s, making them feel as if they are part of the eerie “Night Owls” Halloween broadcast. Rother lauds the film for its meticulously crafted script and the emotional and shocking journey it takes viewers on, stating, “This whole experience will have viewers of the Cairnes brothers’ film glued to their screen… The script, from beginning to end, is neatly sewn together with an ending that’ll have jaws on the floor.” You can read the full review here.

Rother further encourages audiences to watch the film, highlighting its multifaceted appeal: “Whenever it is made available to you, you must attempt to view the Cairnes Brothers’ latest project as it will make you laugh, it will creep you out, it will amaze you, and it might even strike an emotional cord.”

Set to stream on Shudder on April 19, 2024, “Late Night with the Devil” offers a compelling blend of horror, history, and heart. This film is not just a must-watch for horror aficionados but for anyone looking to be thoroughly entertained and moved by a cinematic experience that redefines the boundaries of its genre.

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