CINEMUERTE'S LAST STAND

KIER-LA JANISSE TALKS TO KRYSHAN RANDEL ABOUT LAST YEAR OF HER LEGENDARY VANCOUVER-BASED HORROR FILM FESTIVAL

(Introduction wholeheartely stolen from my article on last year's CineMuerte )

There are no shortage of film festivals and fast film contests in this town, and no shortage of producers that put on these events to inspire Vancouver's independent filmmakers and film lovers, get their names, businesses and causes known, etc. There is only one person I know, however, that supports and admires a particular brand of filmmaking so much that she puts on a film festival every year knowing that she will lose hundreds, if not thousands of dollars doing it. One woman that willingly programs almost exclusively obscure to completely unknown films, in order to get them seen. One woman who buys her own prizes, flies in special guests from around the world on her own dime, and organizes everything herself, without a co-producer or assistant, and only a handful of loyal volunteers to help her. That woman is Kier-La Janisse, and the festival is the Cinemuerte Film Festival, devoted exclusively to showcasing horror and fantasy films that range from works to art, to cinematic atrocities banned around the world, to solid genre cinema. In my humble opinion, Cinemuerte is the greatest film festival in Vancouver (with the exception of the Vancouver International Film Festival), and when it comes to bringing out my inner movie geek, nothing else comes close.

Kier-La knows the horror / fantasy genres inside and out, and since she began Cinemuerte in 1999 (when I was just old enough to legally see this stuff), the festival has introduced me to dozens of extremely well made (often with an emphasis on the extreme) one-of-a-kind films, including Wisconsin Death Trip, Punishment Park, Uzumaki, Dagon, Nekojiro-so, Don't Look Now, Pretty Poison, The Day Of The Beast, Tattoo, Zero Day and the legendary Cannibal Holocaust (banned in over fifty countries). Her festival is also terrific because of her tireless devotion to making the event as, well, eventful as possible for its attendees, including fantastic prizes, special guests, short films, old movie trailers and many many surprises. This year her festival event's included a Buffy sing-along night, two screenings of her own 48-hour horror filmmaking challenge, and an all-night exploitation marathon. Did I mention she also organizes the entire fest from Texas? She has been working there for the last two years as a programmer for the Alamo Drafthouse.

I spoke with Kier-La shortly before the launch of her seventh and final CineMuerte event. Why final? Read on...

KRYSHAN RANDEL: In a nutshell, what is the Cinemuerte Film Festival?
KIER-LA JANISSE: An annual film festival devoted to horror and exploitation cinema, both premieres and retro obscurities.

KR: What motivated you to start Cinemuerte?
KJ: The lack of horror films that played theatrically in Vancouver, and the inaccessibility (at the time) of 95% of the world's horror films.

KR: What is your criteria and/or selection process for the films that are shown at Cinemuerte?
KJ: I try to find films that I find engaging on both a visceral and intellectual level. With older films, the audience is more demanding; the film has to really stand out, be innovative, have great dialogue or cult actors. If it actually scares them, even better. But for new films, people almost don't even care how good the film is, they're already willing to give it more of a chance because it's new. So for new films I can pick things that are more silly. And for older films, they are picked according to these two criteria:
a) Has it been made available on DVD in the last two years? (if so, then I usually pass on it)
b) Is it such a universal favorite that a substantial audience have/will watch it over and over again? (i.e. THE THING, FRIDAY THE 13th)

KR: What are some of the notable reactions to some of the more "extreme" films you have shown at Cinemuerte (e.g. fainting, hate mail, creepy reactions, etc.)
KJ: Well this year I've gotten some hate mail for showing CASUISTRY: THE KILLING OF A CAT, but not as much as I expected. I ignore letters about CASUISTRY, because only idiots who haven't seen the film protest it. They have no idea how pro-animal cruelty laws it is. CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST - one guy fainted and got taken away in an ambulance, and a woman ran out crying. I was nice and gave her a refund. But at the same time, some people left that screening because they thought the film was boring and "not harsh enough". I also got one guy who was very upset at the cover for Year 2's programme. It was a still of a woman who had killed her whole family being electrocuted. I think her name was Ruth Snyder. Basically it was this weird picture that was taken with a covered camera strapped to a reporters ankle. The image is very blurry, and you wouldn't necessarily know what it is unless you knew it was a famous photograph. I chose it because there was something abjectly horrifying about it - and I say that because you couldn't tell what it was, but it was still unsettling for some reason. But if you found out the history of the picture, it would have additional meaning, and I guess at that time, that was what I was trying to do with the programming - horror films may superficially be "scary", but when you know their history and the history of the people who make them, it creates this whole new level of interest. For example, that picture of Ruth Snyder was widely published, and as a result capital punishment was abolished in many states. Also because I sometimes play documentaries, I thought it wasn't out of line to use a picture of a real thing rather than a still from a fictional film.

KR: Talk about the incredible guests you have brought to Cinemuerte in the past, and some of the cult legends we can expect to see this year.
KJ: Jack Taylor (this year) is a legend. If any horror fan doesn't know who he is they should feel embarrassed. Udo Kier was a maniac, Jean Rollin was a sweetheart, Jim Van Bebber scared the audience, and that made me happy. John Saxon could be my dad. Ed Neal has decided he IS my dad. Too much awesomeness to even recount in such a small space.

KR: What is different about this year's program than previous years? I've noticed that there are far more recently made horror and sci-fi films at your festival, for example...
KJ: More people like the new shit, as stated above...

KR: Why is this the last year you intend to bring Cinemuerte to Vancouver?
KJ: The films are too expensive for the amount of attendees I usually get, the DVD explosion killed me, and this is the first year The Georgia Straight will ever have done an article on CineMuerte! If the Straight had treated the festival as a serious entity every other year, it may have attracted enough people to keep it going.

KR: To all the Vancouver filmmakers and filmlovers reading this...why should they go to Cinemuerte?
KJ: Because if they've lived in Vancouver for 7 years and NEVER gone to CineMuerte, they are movie-poseurs! When Quentin Tarantino and Rodriguez make their GRINDHOUSE movie you might actually have a clue as to what they're getting at instead of just having to pretend to. And all the people who HAVE gone already know the reason.

More information about CineMuerte can be found at www.CineMuerte.com. The festival ran from Oct 27 to 31, 2005.

Kryshan Randel