Dylan Greenberg talks ReAgitator!
If you’re anything like me, you love a good all-you-can-eat buffet, and when you make your weekly appearance at Golden Corral, you line your heavy-duty coat pockets with garbage bags so you can rob their dessert section after gorging yourself senseless.
ReAgitator: Revenge of the Parody is a lot like those buffet trips, but instead of delicious greasy foods being served, it’s a feast of horror tropes garnished with a medley of subgenre love letters and hardcore schlock, and gorehounds will leave the theatre salivating for more.
The director, Dylan Mars Greenberg, is known for her ultra-trippy absurdist films that seek to broaden audience’s minds while simultaneously blasting their souls from their bodies with sick, eclectic soundtracks. Greenberg has no qualms with walking the less-travelled path of “strange” filmmaking; in fact, as demonstrated in her previous film Dark Prism (2015), she actively finds ways to engage audiences in her gleefully gratuitous directorial style and unleash the freak in all of us. With plenty of blood, beasts and, most importantly, big bouncing boobies, Greenberg’s films are always something to look forward to.
Not only is ReAgitator Greenberg’s most ambitious film to date, it also mixes numerous rock stars into Disck Pictures’ usual ensemble cast. This two-hour treat features Aurelio Voltaire (of goth cabaret band Voltaire), rapper Schoolly D, Jurgen Azazel Munster (of The Slut Junkies), and Alan Merrill, who originated the rock culture hit “I Love Rock n’ Roll.”
Dread Central had the chance to interview Greenberg and the cast of ReAgitator, which premiers July 1 at the Anthology Film Festival in New York City.
Dread Central: How did you all come together to make ReAgitator? What was the process like this time around for the ensemble?
Dylan Mars Greenberg: So, the film was originally supposed to be a lot smaller of a production that would maybe have only taken three months to shoot. Many of my cast had acted in my previous movies Amityville: Vanishing Point and Dark Prism. We sort of kept coming up with new ideas while we were shooting that led us into making this grand sort of catastrophe of just crazy shit. We ended up going to another country to shoot scenes, several different states, and we went from shooting in little houses like my last movie to big locations like this massive mental asylum we shot in.
DC: With your change in scope, did you keep to a stricter script or was it all improvised like in your previous movies?
DMG: We had an outline of stuff which I have to say really helped. I had the whole movie written out in like eight pages, and it just kept sort of evolving from that. I think like half of the movie isn’t even from the plot outline, but I think unlike previous films, where I basically just had everything in my head, I was physically crossing off each scene as we did it. A lot of the dialogue was improvised, though. I guess the actors felt it was pretty improvised though!
Yolpie Kaiser: I know sometimes it varies. Every day we are working on specific scenes that Dylan has pre-planned but, yes, a lot of the dialogue is improvised.
Sofe Cote: This one definitely felt more structured.
YK: Some of my favorite parts of the movie were lines that Dylan came up with on the spot
DMG: Amanda Flowers, who’s starred in a few of my movies ,and is also a Tromette, had a lot of her lines written out in the outline but also came up with a lot of her lines on the spot. I think the same would go for Jurgen, and Max Husten has a whole seen where he just said weird stuff – that was his only prompt!
DC: Sounds pretty loose and freestyle!
DMG: I’ll say this much, I don’t view scripts as some god I have to worship. However, I’m also not really a writer, so perhaps I take the idea of a script a bit for granted.
DC: What would you say influenced the creative direction of this movie? The trailer says “Lovecraftian;” is the monster a play on Cthulhu?
DMG: Oh yeah, the monster is a big spoof of basically Cthulhu and Godzilla. I don’t want to say too much, but he’s resurrected by a really silly Lovecraftian ritual. I think he’s adorable, and I think the girls thought so too. I think a lot of girls and femme people think monsters are really cute, maybe because they’re like big bugs, or because it’s just the very thing you’re not supposed to find cute.
DC: Speaking of cute, scary, and loved by females – HOW did you get so many rock stars involved?
DMG: Well, Aurelio Voltaire I reached out to online, I had seen so much of his work and knew he was a real independent artist and might find something like this interesting. To my surprise, he was down to be in it! He even came up with his own character name: Verum, a love-struck butler. Alan Merrill, who is basically the rock star of all rock stars, got involved after we were on the same talk show together, the Rew and Who show. He had been friends with Jurgen for years. I originally was going to have him make a small cameo as a doctor and then I changed the script around and gave him a much bigger part. I’m glad I did, because he’s a great actor. He also contributed two songs to the soundtrack, which can both be heard on his album DemoGraphic, which is out now. Schoolly D was another person I reached out to online. I didn’t hear back for a while, but then suddenly I did and I was so happy! We drove up to Philly to shoot his scenes. He really cared about the scene, and very carefully read through his lines before we shot, he really put everything into the role. Jurgen is a really fantastic actor. He plays Dr. Orbert Wescraft, and he gets so into the role he’s basically a method actor.
DC: Being that you and your entire production team have rebelled against the standardized filmmaking system, made great art on a shoestring budget, and resisted any opportunity to sell out to mass consumption, would you say you’re a punk rock band of sorts?
DMG: I’d say we’re more of a funk jazz post shoegaze reverse progrock sort of deal.
SC: Oh, man, yes!
DMG: It’s not even that I’m not interested in the mainstream. It’s more so that I think the mainstream would really enjoy things that are different, and they’re missing out. So I hope some people who consider themselves “normal” or don’t really expose themselves to much watch this and enjoy it. Otherwise it’s just preaching to the choir. I want this to be something that’s not just a weird movie, but also a fun experience you can share with your friends.
DC: After viewing this trailer, I think fans can safely say you’re comfortable in your unique brand of absurdity, and you’re all still finding unexpected ways to stay fresh as artists. So, where do you go from here?
DMG: Well, we’re going to be making a new film soon called Spirit Riser, and we’ve actually already shot three scenes for it already, with Lynn Lowry, Patti Harrison, Dorian Electra and Weston Getto Allen. The movie’s gonna have a lot of people returning. Alan will be back, Amanda Flowers is going to play a half Porcelain Doll Demon, half human, and Alan Merrill’s going to have some badass scenes. Jurgen Munster is gonna do some crazy stuff as this evil demon character, it’s gonna be totally off the wall, and is going to be my first film that I think a whole family can watch. A weird family, yeah, but a young kid will be able to watch it and not feel alienated.
DC: Sounds exciting! What was the experience like for you actors?
Amanda Flowers: In previous roles I got to tap into darker characters and enjoy the shadow side of these characters, but in re agitator, I got it all, and got to be a super human kind of woman on top of it. I love playing twisted characters that transcend the thin line between horror and fantasy and Dylan is one of my favorite directors to work with because she has such a unique vision in this realm that is consistent in all of her movies and only gets more vivid and complex and deeply funny.
Alan Merrill: Rock music is sort of acting, and I actually did act in Encyclopedia Brown (HBO) as rock star Casey Sparkz in the production in 1989. I also played guitar with Meat Loaf for a few years, and was on stage with the Rocky Horror original cast members at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1988, I played standing next to Rocky Horror creator Richard O’Brien. Playing in a theatrical band like Meat Loaf was good preparation for anything! With a director/producer like Dylan Mars Greenberg, very little preparation was necessary. I find actors are as good as their directors, and Dylan is great at setting up scenes. Dylan allows for improvisation to a point but is sharp focused on the end game and we actors generally follow the script closely in her productions, from what I’ve observed.
YK: I had a really fun time playing a news reporter with Mickala (Mcfarlane). I love the way our characters moved the story along, and the clash between unions and our motivations!
AF: This movie was a lot of fun, I was able to really enjoy playing a character that felt very close to some of my favorite aesthetics – sort of odd colorful 60s and 70s retro psychedelic style – I put a lot of effort into the wardrobe and makeup for myself and for others acting in the film, much of what I’m wearing is actual vintage donated from the private collection of Rachel Jensen, an avid vintage collector.
DC: Alan, will horror fans see more of you on the big screen soon?
AM: Yes, In fact I’ve been working on another horror film with Dylan titled Spirit Riser, and I got to work with an actress I’ve always been a fan of, the legendary beauty Lynn Lowry. We have quite a few scenes together in the film and that’s very exciting for me.
DC: And what part does Lloyd Kaufman play in ReAgitator?
DMG: He plays the chief of police! He drinks does coke and loves guns.
DC: I think he’s been waiting his whole life to play that role! Is there anything you’d like to add?
DMG: I’d say, give weirdness a chance.
Categorized:News
