vampire film

Note: Once again, technical problems reared their ugly heads throughout this podcast. Around the 30 minute mark, there are some mic and connection issues, which did not deter anything from the interesting things Ms Shea said. So bear with them, and you will have a good time listening to it.

Katt Shea is someone whose films and style I have admired for quite some time. So it felt like a jolt of electricity through my body when she agreed to come on and talk about her experience in making her films with me on this week’s episode of Binge Movie Aftertaste. First thing’s first though. Before getting Shea on the line, I had to get a co-host.

With the lovely Jason Morris out on location and Johnny Moreno out of town, I was left co-hostless. Luckily, my friend and former Adventure Amigos cohort Matthew Goudreau answered the call and turned out to be more than up to the task. After introducing Matt and covering how things are going at the Amigos, we get into a discussion about the Wachowskis and where they can go now that Jupiter Ascending has flopped.

We then get Shea on the line, and she launches into stories about her early acting and modeling career, along with what it was like on the sets of Psycho III and Scarface. After covering what it was like working for the legendary Roger Corman, Shea mentions that her experiences directing plays at a young age set her up for what the next stage of her career would bring.

We briefly cover Shea’s directorial debut Stripped To Kill, and then get into a  discussion about her 1989 film Dance of the Damned, and how Shea had to film the entire film in 15 days. Stories about a young Wally Pfister and meeting Christopher Nolan follow, and then Shea answers the question of whether her long in development remake of the vampire film will ever come to fruition. She concludes this segment of the conversation by giving her two cents on whether she prefers film or digital filmmaking.

We then talk at length about Shea’s 1992 Drew Barrymore starring thriller Poison Ivy. Stories about Shea’s struggles to convince the studio to hire Barrymore, along with what a 15 year old Leonardo DiCaprio was like to work with follow, and then Shea discusses how she feels about the three (!) subsequent sequels. Hint: she doesn’t like them.

The Rage: Carrie 2,  a film which Matthew says ‘screwed up his childhood,’ is brought up. Revealing the film to be yet another stressful shoot, Shea still has great things to say about it, including a particular scene she is incredibly proud of. Taking the reigns of Brian DePalma is never easy, but Shea also reveals that she had to get the approval of both him and Stephen King (as well as Amy Irving) in order to direct the film, which shows up in blu ray format April 14th.

All of this plus how she enjoys her current gig of teaching actors and directors, if she ever saw the recent Carrie remake, if she will ever direct another film, and so much more get covered here in this interesting hour plus interview.

Check Amazon for information on how to pre-order the The Rage: Carrie 2 blu ray, and  check out Katt’s official site for information on how to enroll in her acting/directing classes.

Special thanks goes out to Goudreau for coming through on such short notice. Check the Adventure Amigos for his reviews and podcasts.

And an extra special thanks goes out to Shea for not only proving to be a great interview subject, but also for being patient through some bad technical issues.