Let’s talk about some of those references. Like “Don’t Look Now,” this is a very colorful horror movie, even with the nighttime photography. Was that the goal?
Yes, yes, yes. We also wanted to challenge this idea that the harmonious pastel domestic life can be terrifying, and that we wanted to give that colorful world a horrific aspect to it. And then on the other hand, having a world from the punk scene being a dark world, even though it was colorful in many aspects. Octavia’s (Mayra Batalla) world tends to be a darker palette, but that world in the film holds more freedom. The less terrifying world is that one in the film. We were really working on color, trying to change the concepts, I guess, of what is impregnated to each color’s significance, if that makes sense.
Now that you mention the punk scene, that’s very much like the party scene in “Jacob’s Ladder.”
Totally, yes. I love the people that recognize that because I know they’re film lovers, but there’s been you and other three people that have been like, “Oh my God, ‘Jacob’s Ladder.'” It was what inspired that punk scene. “Jacob’s Ladder” is the biggest reference in the visuals. It’s the way of storytelling that I like the most.
You really tap into how scary children can be, just the fact they haven’t developed a filter or are just learning to be a person.
[Laughs] I love that.
How did you want the kids to heighten the anxiety and horror in the movie?
For example, in the case of “Don’t Look Now,” there’s a curse around Valeria, she wants to connect with children, but there’s something that is hostile from those figures, and it feels like it’s in her surroundings. We did build from that, and it comes from the fact that she hasn’t been able to look at them as what they really imply. The climatic moment in the film, I don’t want to reveal spoilers, but it has to do with Valeria looking directly into an infant and understanding that’s another human being. It’s about taking a decision because of a social expectation that regards the life of another human being is maybe not the best way to go.
I wish we could talk more about the climax of the movie without spoiling it.
You mean the woods part?
Yeah. How did you get that done with the resources you had?
As I was saying, the rewrites gave form to how the entity of La Huesera should work for the film. I knew I wanted to show the poker cards at a certain point, and to take La Huesera to a final form. It was hard with our budget. I also don’t like CGI, and I didn’t have the budget for that. I realized I could really do it with a group of dancers, and I thought that sticks with the rules that we’ve set up for the entity, and that’s something that I could film, literally. It was amazing. It was a very cool process with a very cool choreographer from Mexico. His name is Diego Vega, and we had a long process of casting dancers and rehearsals. It was super fun.
I’m with you: CGI usually feels out of place in horror movies.
You know what, I’m actually not really against it. I am more the kind of director that if I can, I would love to have a great mix of practical and CGI. I don’t know if you watched the film “Hatching”? It’s from Denmark, I believe. The monster is really a 50-50, and it’s magical, because it feels real. It’s practical, but the details help from the CGI. What I’m trying to say is it’s more 60% practical, and then only 40% you help out with the CGI. I’m not against CGI. I think that you can do very cool things, but it’s not easy to do it. For me, I need to have a lot more experience to learn to do it in a way that I like, because most of the time I don’t like it, as you mentioned as well.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m working on my second feature, which is going to be filmed this year. It’s more in the cosmic horror world. I will use some CGI, but I’m trying to see which will be the best way to do it. There’s a TV series coming out in April, and if you’re in the U.S. you can watch it on this platform, ViX+. It’s a cool project because we are nine directors in the horror world from Latin America, and each one of us directed a 30-minute episode. They gave us a lot of freedom, and I felt my episode was very authoritative, and I can’t wait for it to be out. It’s actually a reboot of “La hora marcada,” which was a TV series where Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón directed episodes. I think it’s going to be an exciting project. I haven’t watched the other episodes, but they’re very good directors there, so I really recommend that.
