News

INTERVIEW: Keegan Connor Tracy on the Horrors of ‘Z’

Published

4 years ago

August 27, 2020

Keegan Connor Tracy found something irresistible in Z, a horror film co-written by Brandon Christensen (Still/Born) and Colin Minihan (Grave Encounters) with Christensen also directing, and she sat down this week to discuss the film with iHorror in advance of its release on DVD on September 1, 2020.

She was at home when she got the call from her agent about the film telling her there was no money involved, but she needed to read the script.

“Sometimes when I get things something will pique my interest and other things won’t that might appeal to something else,” she explained. “I have to see something in it, you know, if I was going to be away from my kids for a month and do it for no money. I saw some place that I could go as an actor that was really going to challenge me. I saw a psychological journey that this woman was going to go on and I wanted to challenge myself. So, I was in.”

That psychological journey was a natural fit for the actress who has a degree in psychology, and as she dug into the script, she had to set aside the more fantastical aspects of the film and look at the character she was playing and ground the role in something from the real world.

Z tells the story of a woman and her husband whose lives are turned upside down when their son’s imaginary friend is suddenly terrifyingly real. More than that, there is a real metaphor here not only for mental illness but also in generational, hereditary mental illness and how it affects entire families.

“While I’m the first person to call up magic in everything I write and the work that I’ve done as an actor, I have to have a basis for why she was doing the things that she did,” Tracy pointed out. “For me, I came up with schizophrenia based on the research that I’ve done. It is sometimes hereditary so it made a lot of sense to me. Sometimes I would say to Brandon, ‘Okay, wait, is Z real or not? Okay, it doesn’t matter.’ Even if he’s not real but she thinks he’s real, it might as well be real and how do I ground that?”

The realness of her performance in the film and the grounding she brings to it makes the scares all the more intense as Z becomes more and more a menace in the family’s lives, and Tracy said she had a wonderful time observing audiences watch the film and react to those elements when it was making its way through various festivals last year.

It was one of the first times she had experienced the festival circuit, and certainly the first time she had attended horror genre festivals despite her appearance in numerous genre films.

“Sitting in the audience and watching them experience that build up of tension and then the jump scare where they would laugh and scream,” she said. “The way that people would laugh afterward. I realized that’s what they were after, right? They want that release after. Kind of like when you get off the roller coaster and you’re like laughing and in a great mood even though you wanted to pee your pants while you were on it. It’s that part that makes you say, that was great.”

There are plenty of screams to be found in Z. The film has been available on Shudder previously but non-subscribers will have their chance to bring the terror home September 1, 2020 when the film hits VOD and physical media.

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News

Watch ‘The Burning’ At The Location Where It Was Filmed

Published

17 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Fangoria is reporting that fans of the 1981 slasher The Burning will be able to have a screening of the film at the location where it was filmed. The movie is set at Camp Blackfoot which is actually the Stonehaven Nature Preserve in Ransomville, New York.

This ticketed event will take place on August 3. Guests will be able to take a tour of the grounds as well as enjoy some campfire snacks along with the screening of The Burning.

The Burning

The film came out in the early ’80s when teen slashers were being churned out in magnum force. Thanks to Sean S. Cunningham’s Friday the 13th, filmmakers wanted to get in on the low-budget, high-profit movie market and a casket load of these types of films were produced, some better than others.

The Burning is one of the good ones, mostly because of the special effects from Tom Savini who had just come off of his groundbreaking work on Dawn of the Dead and Friday the 13th. He declined to do the sequel because of its illogical premise and instead signed on to do this movie. Also, a young Jason Alexander who would later go on to play George in Seinfeld is a featured player.

Because of its practical gore, The Burning had to be heavily edited before it received an R-rating. The MPAA was under the thumb of protest groups and political bigwigs to censor violent films at the time because slashers were just so graphic and detailed in their gore.

Tickets are $50, and if you want a special t-shirt, that will cost you another $25, You can get all the information by visiting the On Set Cinema webpage.

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Movies

‘Longlegs’ Creepy “Part 2” Teaser Appears on Instagram

Published

22 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Neon Films released an Insta-teaser for their horror film Longlegs today. Titled Dirty: Part 2, the clip only furthers the mystery of what we are in for when this movie is finally released on July 12.

The official logline is: FBI Agent Lee Harker is assigned to an unsolved serial killer case that takes unexpected turns, revealing evidence of the occult. Harker discovers a personal connection to the killer and must stop him before he strikes again.

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A post shared by NEON (@neonrated)

Directed by former actor Oz Perkins who also gave us The Blackcoat’s Daughter and Gretel & Hansel, Longlegs is already creating buzz with its moody images and cryptic hints. The film is rated R for bloody violence, and disturbing images.

Longlegs stars Nicolas Cage, Maika Monroe, and Alicia Witt.

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News

Exclusive Sneak Peek: Eli Roth and Crypt TV’s VR Series ‘The Faceless Lady’ Episode Five

Published

22 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Cameron McFarland

Eli Roth (Cabin Fever) and Crypt TV are knocking it out of the park with their new VR show, The Faceless Lady. For those unaware, this is the first fully scripted VR horror show on the market.

Even for masters of horror like Eli Roth and Crypt TV, this is a monumental undertaking. However, if I trust anyone to change the way that we experience horror, it would be these two legends.

Ripped from the pages of Irish folklore, The Faceless Lady tells the story of a tragic spirit cursed to wander the halls of her castle for all of eternity. However, when three young couples are invited to the castle for a series of games, their fates may soon change.

So far, the story has provided horror fans with a gripping game of life or death that doesn’t look as if it will slow down in episode five. Luckily, we have an exclusive clip that may be able to satiate your appetites until the new premiere.

Airing on 4/25 at 5pmPT/8pmET, episode five follows our final three contestants in this wicked game. As the stakes are raised ever higher, will Ella be able to fully awaken her connection with Lady Margaret?

The newest episode can be found on Meta Quest TV. If you haven’t already, follow this link to subscribe to the series. Make sure to check out the new clip below.

Eli Roth Present’s THE FACELESS LADY S1E5 Clip: THE DUEL – YouTube