Horror guides
FrightFest regulars Sarah Appleton and Phillip Escott return with another horror documentary Generation Terror; this time exploring 21st-century horror. From ushering out the 20th century with the likes of The Blair Witch Project and Hideo Nakata’s original Ring, we soon descend into the collective trauma of a post-911 world as the likes of directors Joe Lynch, Xavier Gens, Neil Marshall and Christopher Smith track the technology, the industry and the societal changes behind the next generation of horror films via the more torturous origins of Hostel, Saw and Wrong Turn to the Final Destination franchise. Sarah and Phillip recently took some time out before the festival to answer some questions on their latest film and working relationship as documentary filmmakers.
I understand that this documentary grew from a couple of initial ideas that were shelved. How did you eventually settle on this broader theme?
Sarah Appleton: Originally, we really wanted to do a follow-up to found footage as we didn’t want that to be a one-off. Phil and I are constantly having to come up with original ideas to produce for Blu-ray extras, so we tend to just discuss what would be good for us next. As you know, we began thinking about ‘Rape Revenge’ as an interesting topic, but it became a bit too contentious with some people very early on. In all honesty, it always comes down to how much we enjoy doing these documentaries and we wanted to make something we would enjoy and not have to constantly fight or defend. Now it seems so clear to me that covering the entire noughties for my third horror doc horror has wrapped up the era in a trilogy of documentaries… something that an exploration of rape-revenge movies wouldn’t have.
Phillip Escott: Yeah, the ‘Rape Revenge’ doc was gaining some momentum, but we also found out another similar project was already in the making — which I was glad I found out about early on! — so it seemed pointless continuing with it. As a horror nerd myself, I’ve always wondered why we aren’t celebrating more recent filmmakers and their films. There’s so much love for the ’70s and ’80s, but it’s been done to death... and you take a step back for a moment… that it’s crazy we are looking at ‘modern’ horror when we’re 15-25 years on from the decade!
Co-directors Sarah Appleton and Phillip Escott
Which documentary filmmakers or documentaries are an influence on how you have worked on your films to date?
SA: I don’t know if I could say any specific documentary filmmaker is an influence, but I have always appreciated Werner Herzog’s documentaries and one day would love to make something a little more weird and ‘out there’ as Herzog explores. I do recall this stupid TV thing when I was about eight — something along the lines of “100 scariest Movies of All Time” — but the one that has always stuck with me the most around that time is Adam Simon’s The American Nightmare documentary from 2000. These totally got me into horror movies when I was a kid, so I can imagine they might be somewhat of an influence.
PE: I’m a hardcore Ulrich Seidl fan, but that’s more from a film lover perspective. Same for Andrew Jarecki and Billy Corben. Those guys kick ass. In terms of influences on work, I would definitely say Mark Hartley; his documentaries Not Quite Hollywood, Machete Maidens Unleashed and Electric Boogaloo are all amazing and the energy that radiates from those films continues to inspire me. Speaking of Mark, it’s been 10 years since his last doc — I need another!
You both interview a lot of people across various projects and can imagine this helps immeasurably in shepherding individuals you feel will lend the perfect voice to your documentaries. How long do you tend to spend organising who is available and wanting to be involved?
SA: It often takes a long time to approach everyone we want involved and we have to have a strict structure and plan in place beforehand. Often, we’ve found we end up confirming people late in the day when we’ve already shot a lot of interviews. Honestly though, if you haven’t interviewed a specific person before, it’s hard to know who would be the best person to carry the doc. I think it’s fair to say Joe Lynch carries Generation Terror, and we had no idea when we set up the interview that he would be so integral.
PE: Given how broad the doc is, it helps getting interviewees who can cover multiple topics, which is why the Final Destination guys were so great to have onboard. They kickstarted the first big original franchise of the decade but also dabbled in remakes, so they were able to provide context on a number of things for us. When you get into it, availability isn’t that big an issue as the process is so long!
Amber T and Zoe Rose Smith
The documentary lends a great deal of context to noughties horror and post-911 collective trauma. What did you both learn from making the documentary and listening to the interviewees’ perspectives that weren’t necessarily in your initial treatment?
SA: I learned that a lot of filmmakers were really in tune with what was happening in the social and political landscape when conceiving their movies. Some directors will say they don’t think about these things, but I was definitely shocked at how deeply, for instance, Christopher Smith thought about the context in which his films (and other filmmakers’) were landing.
PE: For me, it was critics using the term ‘torture porn’ to describe films that have people strapped to chairs, that’s the only (specific) connective tissue that collection of films have… and I didn’t notice it at all until Thom Fenton mentioned it!
As producers, writers and directors on this film, I’m interested to hear about your process — specifically how you initially map out the touch points of the narrative. Is this just sketched out, to begin with, and prompted by key questions you ask your interviewees… that you are confident those moments will align in the edit? Or is there some room for allowing what grows out of a conversation?
SA: One hundred percent. it’s always got to be open, ready for an interviewee to completely change the narrative or throw in ideas we hadn’t originally considered. I mean, if we knew it all to begin with, why wouldn’t we just film ourselves, or write a book? I always say making documentaries is very much like writing a book, but the difference being, we are learning through all the interviews and amalgamating that research into one full picture.
PE: Yeah, we map out the topics we want to discuss so the film will have a spine in terms of structuring but there’s nothing set in stone… so things can change. For example, we had people discussing topics that didn’t make it into the doc, such as the direct-to-DVD market and how important that was to filmmakers, but it just didn’t work — purely because it felt like it sidetracked from the bigger (and more important) topics.
“… it’s nice to see that horror
has become respectable.”
— Phillip Escott
In terms of skill set and experience, how do you work together as co-producers and co-directors? I’m interested to hear how you assist each other and the discussions you have around ideas in pre-production through to post.
SA: Personally, I find Phil really easy-going and we are often on the same wavelength about what we want to explore in the documentaries. I think this is partially because we have a very similar experience in our background work and know how these things need to go. I especially noticed how we both complement each other with our 2021 doc The Found Footage Phenomenon because we hadn’t done any long-form projects together before then. I will do stuff and Phil will do stuff… and it always kind of just fits together into a whole. We of course discuss things, but we don’t tend to tread on each other’s toes at all, which is really nice. I mean, I say all this… but I have no idea if my working methods annoy the shit out of him or not!
PE: No comment.
Nah, we’ve worked together for a number of years now, so that shorthand really helps. Sarah is so talented and knows her shit, plus she’s really motivated and driven so I know that if I’m a little busy during certain stages, she’s there to keep things moving along! And vice versa, if Sarah has a lot going on workwise, I’m there to keep things progressing.
Joe Lynch and Koji Shiraishi
What do you feel the future of horror is now we are a quarter of a century into the millennium and how do you feel it has evolved since that first decade?
SA: Personally, I feel that vampires are fully coming back. We’ve had enough time elapse since Twilight killed vampires stone dead, and recently seeing the likes of Abigail and Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu remake coming out, I am just sure we will have a massive vampire resurgence, which is exciting. I also think we might see some more creative ideas such as Longlegs managing to push through as well. We might actually be in kind of a ’90s-era again where you need a big star (Nick Cage for instance) to help greenlight a horror movie, and so we will see more genre mash-up films and horror trying to push through other genres as they did throughout the ’90s. Let’s see!
PE: For me, it’s nice to see that horror has become respectable. People always say that porn is the only type of film lower than horror, but seeing as the horror genre is saving cinemas around the world with its box office takings, it seems that the people with the money are paying attention all of a sudden and aren’t letting marketing people run things as much. Just to add to what Sarah highlighted about Longlegs; the marketing strategy for that film felt like it came from people who truly understood the film, the genre, and its audience. That’s been missing for a long time! Companies like Neon and A24 are certainly to thank for that, they noticed a gap in the market; that people want fresh, mature horror, and they’ve been serving up bangers ever since.
What advice do you have for anyone who watches your documentaries in wanting to make their own independently?
SA: Advice is always: “Just make it.” Nobody is funding this stuff, and if they are, they will want some control. Docs are relatively cheap to make and if you have a good idea and some talented people, you can do it! I do think the market for documentaries in general might be saturated now though. The past few years were amazing for film docs… and maybe just maybe the interest is waning now.
PE: Yeah, there’s a lot being made at the moment but if the topic isn’t stale then go for it. I’m a huge documentary fan, but I don’t want to watch another documentary about Freddy or Jason… unless it’s a documentary about the long and painful road to making Freddy vs. Jason. Damnit, okay so I will watch another documentary about Freddy or Jason!
You can follow Sarah and Phillip on Instagram via @sarahappleton and @phillip.escott and keep up to date on other projects via Sarah's official site caprisarproductions.com and Phillip's work as a producer for Second Sight Films.
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