BITS 2018: HE LIKES IT ROUGH SWINGS THE PENDULUM

Kat Threlkeld in He Likes It Rough

One of the films that we really enjoyed here on FERNTV was from a duo that we previously covered several years ago at Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival.  That duo is none other than co-producer and co-director Lance Fernandes and director Kat Threlkeld who were back just recently at the same festival with their latest instalment called He Likes it Rough.  Things are much more different this time around as the film focuses on the aftermath of a date that has gone south between a man played by Steve Kasan and a woman played by Kat Threlkeld who goes in front of the camera as well in this short horror film.  While the man goes back to his residence, the woman conjures up her revenge by picking up her voodoo paraphernalia and a voodoo doll that resembles that man.  You can only imagine what happens next in this film and so we caught up with both Kat and Lance to dive deeper into its inspiration that may come from frustration.

FERNTV:  So tell us both how you came up with the concept of the film which is a lot different than Seiren.  

Kat: It was actually my friend Shari Archinoff and I who wrote it.  It was just after the Brock Turner and Jian Gomeshi rape trials. Although these cases are nothing new, it sparked an idea.  As women, we are subjected to a lot of uncomfortable and unnerving images, music and media. This content is so automatic that sometimes women aren’t even aware that they are uncomfortable until further examination.  When I was younger I had watched a film that had a horrific rape scene that’s still burned in my memory today and I have since seen a lot of sexual assault in film and television. I have also had a number of male friends and partners find it impossible to understand why rape scenes are uncomfortable and disturbing to me.  I feel that rape needs to be shot in a very specific way to avoid the whole pornographic vibe.

I wanted to create something on the flip side so men could understand where we are coming from.  At the same time, I wanted to express that often times sexual assault/domestic abuse survivors feel a sense of detachment and lack of control over their bodies and minds from the trauma they experience.  There can also be physical pain and permanent scarring from rape. This is all symbolized in one of the graphic scenes of the film.

FERNTV:    I have seen many short films where the directors are using it as a strategy to scare or creep you in a short period of time.  Comment about that it in “He Likes It Rough?”

Lance: Coming from a 20 minute short (Seiren), we wanted to make this one shorter and to the point so that right off the bat, we could dive into the story.  I feel like our short is a little bit of a jolt to the system. I think it starts off with a certain curiosity, then jumps to creepiness then jumps to the gore and does it pretty quickly.

FERNTV:  Comment on bringing back that the traditional horror of voodoo dolls and voodoo spells?

Kat:  Since I was a child, I have been deeply fascinated with witchcraft and the idea of Satan(ism).  Right now I believe we are facing the darkest period in human history that has ever been known (the end of humanity through climate change and the current political climate as well).  I don’t think there could be a better time to bring back Satanism, witchcraft and of course a simple little doll that you can use to control other people with.

Voodoo dolls created to harm people were actually based on European witchcraft and have nothing to do with the religion of Voodou.  The entire religion has (generally) been portrayed in a negative and exploitative way in cinema. With this film, I wanted to spin that around a bit and show how witchcraft can bring about justice as opposed to just causing evil.

The use of this type of magik allows the female character to control her abuser’s body.  Since women (on average) are built smaller than men with less muscle mass and have no one to turn to when they are victims of sexual assault and abuse, magik seemed the best way to bring about power for my character.  It is also an invisible force that defies physics which I find really neat!

FERNTV:   The cell phone seems to be an integral part of horror nowadays.  Can you comment on that?

Lance: For us, the cell phone was important because it introduced communication with the outside world while still being present with the main characters on screen.  Through the phone, you see the woman attempt to get help and with the man, you see he is married. I don’t think it’s just horror films who use the use of cell phones as an integral part of the film.  Technology, in general, is a large part of our lives in many ways now so it makes sense that it is a large part of visual storytelling.

FERNTV:    I can see that there was plenty of visual effects in the film so comment on the opportunity to put that in the film?

Lance:  Well I am a visual effects artist by trade so having a supernatural character gave us a lot of fun possibilities. At the same time, we wanted to do as many practical effects as we could. The biggest effect we really wanted to do was the levitation. We tried out several ways of doing it which weren’t quite convincing. Eventually, we were introduced to a stunt coordinator Simon Fletcher Li, who set up a wire system to hoist our actor for the levitation. It was the biggest shot in the film. The whole sequence ended up being a combination of VFX and wire work.

FERNTV:  Kat, can you tell us what you feel about the festivals in Toronto like TIFF has done for women filmmakers like #ShareHerJourney and how much more work needs to be done?

Kat: I think TIFF’s #ShareHerJourney is very important right now.  We need to keep up the momentum of the #metoo movement because the work is far from being done.  There is a lot of work to be done because right now we are still being met with a huge amount of resistance.  We aren’t even in the eye of the storm, I feel like it’s just beginning. Waves of feminism ebb and flow in history with victories being completely undone the next generation or century later.  I’m not sure there will ever be an end to the fight.

There are many great festivals that support women in Toronto and I have been proud to be a part of them.  Two of them off the top of my head are The Bloody Mary Festival and The Blood in the Snow Festival. They are always so inclusive and supportive of everyone.

FERNTV:  How does it feel to be here the second time around at Blood in the Snow?

Kat: It’s awesome!  I love the staff, the people who I get to talk to and the whole vibe.  Every staff member I’ve ever met have been so kind and really made me see that this is a true community where you can openly talk to one another and share your love of film and horror.  I feel so comfortable/like I fit in at BITS.

Lance: it’s always great to screen here because in our hometown, it’s the first chance we get to see the film with an audience.  It is always nerve-wracking and exciting at the same time.