Speaking out about his unrated remake
A few years back, when a horror remake was announced nearly every week, I figured if “they” (those Hollywood suits calling the shots) felt The Last House on the Left could get a modern facelift, then it was only a matter of time before it was deemed okay to retell the tough-as-nails, merciless and infamous Meir Zarchi film I Spit On Your Grave (aka Day of the Woman). Sure enough, it happened. Quietly, however, in Louisiana under the direction of Steven R. Monroe who’s resume is riddled with creature features like Wyvern and It Waits. Prior to those efforts, he helmed House of 9 and The Contract.
Monroe gathered up a cast for Grave that includes Sarah Butler, Daniel Franzese, Jeff Branson, Rodney Eastman, Chad Lindberg and Andrew Howard. On the surface, the film is a much more technically polished account of a young writer who is repeatedly raped, humiliated and discarded until she returns to seek revenge, but it packs just as much bite as its predecessor. Shock spoke to Monroe about his departure from his usual giant monster fare to focus on human evil.
Shock Till You Drop: Glad to hear the Los Angeles New Beverly screening went well last week. It’s rare you get to see the original film and its remake presented on the big screen in a double-feature.
Steven R. Monroe: It’s rare you get to see double-features in general!
Shock: If one were to bring up the original I Spit On Your Grave to an audience of cinephiles, the reaction from them would be divisive. You either dig it or you don’t, so what stance have you always had on the film?
Monroe: I come from a film family, so very young in my life I was watching dark, disturbing films. I like movies that push buttons and make people think. I like movies that raise questions. I Spit On Your Grave did all of that, but dramatically it left a mark on me, too. I don’t get it when people get on their soapbox about this film and what I’ve found is, most of the time, it’s about sex and everything else seems to be okay. The minute you touch on that, they fly off the handle and they want to tell you about what you should feel and think.
Shock: This is a return to the “human” story for you after having done a spate of monster films…
Monroe: The CG-based things have all been television movies, but I did a drama and a psychological thriller about people turning on each other after being trapped â even before Saw came out. I like to direct a lot of genres and CG isn’t my thing, I’ve just done a lot of it. I prefer more people and personal/emotion-based films with violent textures. I grew up on a lot of Sam Peckinpah and Martin Scorsese, people like that. I love dark stories.
Shock: As a director, you need to find a strong cast to dig into those stories and reach those dark depths. Was it difficult to find actors willing to address the material in Grave?
Monroe: It turned out to be really easy. I thought it was going to be the most difficult casting job I’ve ever had to do. Sarah, Jeff, Chad and Daniel were all within the first handful of casting tapes I had been sent, and I put them down as âthese are the ones.â They all came in and auditioned in front of us later and that more than confirmed my feelings. Andrew Howard was a friend of one of the producers and she asked me to take a look at him. And I knew he was the sheriff â put some weight on him and a mustache and that was him. I remember calling Andrew and saying, âHow do you feel about putting on weight and a mustache?â And he said he had already started. We wanted these characters to be believable and not cartoon bad guys, which I hate.
Shock: The level of brutality in this film almost feels like the final word on horror’s torture craze, a bookend, if you will, because you really go full-tilt extreme.
Monroe: When I came on board, there was already a script and a thought process of where the producers wanted to go from the original. Their main thing is that they wanted to take the revenge sequences and amp them. In the original, they were a bit mild. The decision was that here she was going to go back at these guys with everything she could imagine. My whole thing is I didn’t want to turn it into too many gizmos and gadgets. That’s where it landed. I just felt like it should be a no fear sort of movie.
I’ve been facing plenty of it. People are going to react the way they will. I can’t control that. There’s no intent of exploitation here, no intent of misogyny. I totally support everything done with this film. I’ve sat with women during the rape sequences and they had tears in their eyes, but then they’re standing up and cheering during the revenge sequences. The women I’ve seen this film with have said they don’t see any misogyny here. The British Film Board said we were showing some titillation in the sequences, but their approach is if you show any nudity in a rape scene, you’re presenting a level of titillation and I think they’re as high as a f**kin’ kite. [laughs] To me, horrible things happen to people every day and film isn’t exempt from showing that. If it weren’t for movies, there are a lot of things people wouldn’t understand. It’s our responsibility to portray horrible things and show how screwed up our world is. This just happens to be a film people can call different names because it’s a genre film, because horror fans love it. Yet, they don’t do that with Irreversible which I think has a far worse rape scene and, I think, is worse because in the final moments he’s beating her, but that’s called brilliant art. When people come at you with that stuff, they’ve got an agenda. Films are an art form and it comes down to an opinion.
Shock: The script obviously prepared your cast for what was to come, but how did you lend them assurance and trust that everything was okay?
Monroe: That’s a tricky dance for a director. You’re also dealing with everything technical on set, too. I’m a true believer in having a lot of discussions prior to landing on the set. So, I talked quite a bit, especially with Sarah. On set, everyone was quiet and we made sure only the people who needed to be on set were there â the technicians. Then I just walked them through. I shoot scenes from start to finish, this played out in real time. That first day was through the roof. Everyone had to take a few minutes to settle down. But, it was just about telling them, you’re going to do this and feel this. Not too much, though, because if you cast right, actors know what to do. Sarah knew where to go. For the guys, it was about tapping into their dark place – that was the hardest part for them.
Shock: Your film is the second horror title arriving in theaters unrated. Are you happy to be a part of this movement to get uncut films in theaters?
Monroe: Yes, but there are a lot of director’s that might use that the wrong way. I think it’s the best thing not just for the horror genre but any dark and disturbing film. Let the audience decide what they can and cannot see and should or shouldn’t see and not let someone make that decision for them. The trick is to get people to travel far to see these movies. The whole trend can change. Unrated releases can become wide releases, but only if audiences come out. And if they come out, then the theater chains who once said no will say yes, because it will make them money. I hope it becomes a trend. It’s like looking at a photograph, you should be able to make the decision of what you’re looking at and not somebody else.
For clips and trailers from Monroe’s film follow this link.
Source: Ryan Turek, Managing Editor
