Dante Tomaselli interview in
"Are You Going?" Magazine

AYG: How does Satan's Playground differ from your previous projects?

This is like a detour for me. My first two films were dreams and hallucinations. They were poems...I wasn't trying to please anyone but myself. Satan's Playground will be more straightforward, more realistic, a little less fantasy driven. It won't skip around between past, present and future like Desecration and Horror did. Those films were time/space dislocations. I'm just going to try to entertain an audience with Satan's Playground by making a stripped-down, no-frills monster movie. It's a survival tale, really. In a way, Satan's Playground is a little like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in that there's a rural setting and evil backwoodsy characters. Also, like those films, there's a relentless feeling of being followed, of being watched...and chased. You get some of my usual images of family dysfunction, sleep paralysis and Satanism, but all in all, it's a popcorn scare film...a spookshow. I just want to make it as frightening and engaging as possible. That's my goal.

AYG: Tell us a bit about your cast and why you chose them.

Well, Felissa Rose, who was born in 69, the same year I was born, was going to be in Satan's Playground no matter what. We loved working together on Horror and share a very deep connection. We can't wait for our Satan's Playground 'imagination sessions'. On set, she'll have to scream and cry and run over and over and over. It's going to be a very emotionally harrowing role and we plan on keeping the horror -- onscreen. I'm going to try to stay very steady, very calm, almost Zen-like, so is Felissa. We like to keep a light set and try to bulldozer over conflicts with a stare and a smile. Damn the negative people, the Internet message board know-it-alls - - screw them. I know we'll be making horror movies together for a long time.

I sought out Ellen Sandweiss for a role and she accepted. It really had a lot to do with the fact that The Evil Dead touched me so deeply, when it came out in 83...I was thirteen. That movie was a staple of my youth. I must have watched it on tape a thousand times throughout the years. Ellen's sequence with the Book of the Dead coming alive and automatic writing really struck a nerve. There are so many other scenes, of course the vine-attack...Ellen's performance as Cheryl was raw, really fantastic. The Evil Dead rules. When I found out through Rue Morgue Magazine that she was touring horror conventions with the other 'Ladies of the Evil Dead,' I thought, well, here's my chance. I sent her an introductory email with a link to my site. After that, I mailed out Desecration and the trailer for Horror. We talked on the phone and hit it off. Then I mailed her a portion of the Satan's Playground script. She had good things to say about Desecration and the Horror trailer and dug what she read of the Satan's Playground script. She also agreed that she'd be perfect for the role I offered her to play, so it was a go...pure synergy. As a horror fan and fan of The Evil Dead, I was psyched. I mailed her some Horror behind-the-scenes-footage, so she'd get a feel for how my productions run. I wanted to make her 100% comfortable. Of course, she hadn't done a movie since The Evil Dead. That made it even more potent. Just like Felissa Rose, it was an honor to have Ellen Sandweiss on board. These are two early 80's scream queens from cult horror classics.

Danny Lopes (Desecration, Horror), a very wild, psychedelic actor, will return in another role in one of my movies. This time, he'll play Sean, an autistic, telepathic teen. In the movie, you'll get the sense that he's like this because of some kind of childhood trauma. Sean is really Bobby and Luck, characters from my previous films, all rolled into one.

AYG: Where are you shooting? What's the location?

Somewhere in Jersey. It hasn't been confirmed yet.

AYG: When should we expect to see Horror released on DVD?

Horror will premiere at certain film festivals nationwide around Halloween. Most independent films have to ride the festival circuit before they get a release. I'm thinking for sure 2003. If not in some theaters, on DVD and VHS.

AYG: The media seems to perpetually blame violent cinema. Have you ever felt that the violence in motion pictures could effect a person in a negative way?

No, I think horror films are good for people. They provoke us and we get to go into some intense state of consciousness where all these pent up emotions reverberate...there are no bruises, slash marks. It's all fantasy. Horror can be cathartic...or a release. Horror films allow us to appreciate how safe our lives are. I just don't think they're harmful in any way. Evil emotions come from within. The idea that they are stimulated by the media, by movies and music is so overrated.

AYG: How do you feel about the "Big Budget" horror filmmakers and their inclusion of humor in terror films?

I can't stand it. It's what has ruined horror films since the mid 80's.

AYG: Will you be shooting Satan's Playground on super 16 mm?

Yes, I love super 16 mm. It's better than regular 16 mm and less expensive than 35 mm film. With the right production values, super 16 mm can look like 35 mm. I plan to shoot my fourth film, Apparition, which deals with the ocean and supernatural riptides, on 35 mm, but for Satan's Playground - super 16 mm is perfect. It will give it a kind of 70's vibe - - that faded-yet-color-saturated look.

AYG: How do you feel about the advances of Hi Definition video used in a film like Session 9? And would you ever consider shooting on that format?

You know, I never saw Session 9, though I heard a lot of great things about it. Still, I can't get that excited about Hi Definition video. I'm just way too in love with film. I understand it's economical but I refuse. I'll always use film. Even the best video to me looks flat, thin-looking...one-dimensional. I have to say, though, my dislike for the format wouldn't prevent me from seeing another horror film shot on Hi Definition video. I'm not prejudiced about it. It's just my personal decision as a filmmaker. I prefer film.

AYG: Tell us a bit about the look of Satan's Playground. Sets, Photography, lighting, etc.

Overall, very dark and shadowy. Few special effects. Just an old creepy house and the mystery of the woods. Stripped-down. Emphasis here is on suggestion and mood, not gore, though it will definitely have its moments. The film will be mostly shot in the woods. It'll be atmospheric, with lots of fog and eerie lighting. There'll be a devil lurking in the forest. I'm in love with the visual of trees in late October, early November. Trees in the woods at that time are so skeletal. I hope Satan's Playground will be beautiful to look at. And scary.

AYG: Please give us some words of wisdom.

The key is to believe in yourself. That's life's secret. If you don't, the gate stays closed. The door, locked. Though, I know, there is a long journey to get to that door. That gate. I still haven't reached it. I see it ahead of me like a mirage but then the hallways distort and dissolve. I understand now, the journey to get to it, may never end....


-- Are You Going? Issue #4




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