Shooting Horror: A Conversation with Katharine Isabelle for the Home Entertainment release of Torment
Newlyweds Cory (Dunne) and Sarah (Isabelle) take Cory’s son Liam to the former’s country retreat for some much needed family bonding. When it appears that Liam has run away, psychological suspense switches to all out horror as Cory and Sarah are forced to confront a deadly mask-wearing family headed by Mr Mouse who have been hiding in the abode all along with special plans for Liam...
A genre-twisting psychological horror, TORMENT will have you at the edge of your seat while Mr Mouse welcomes you to his family with its alternative, twisted values.
With Torment released today on DVD, The Fan Carpet’s Marc Jason Ali had the pleasure of speaking to Katharine Isabelle. In our interview Katharine tells Marc what attracts her to the horror genre, how she got started in the film industry and what is on the horizon for her...
You’re somewhat of a scream queen at the moment, what is about the horror genre that keeps you coming back to it?
Katharine Isabelle: It’s kind of an odd thing because I’m not really a horror movie fan necessarily; they’re kind of scary and I kind of avoid them [laughs]. Shooting them is an entirely different matter; they’re really fun to shoot and they’re really an adventure. I’ve said once or twice before that I’m not going to do any more horror movies but then something like American Mary comes along where I go like, I guess it’s going to be classified as a horror movie but to me it’s not a horror movie. I don’t necessarily have a favourite genre to work in, I like interesting characters; I like strong independent female characters who are multi-dimensional and layered like a normal human being. Oddly enough, I have found a few of the best ones in the horror genre like Mary and Ginger Snaps. So, it’s not necessarily that I keep getting drawn back to horror, it's that I go to where the best character is and the most interesting possibility for adventure lies. The horror genre just seems to keep popping them out in my direction.
Well you’re fantastic at them so keep making them...
Thank you.
Well you are. Going back a bit one of my first interactions with you was The Ginger Snaps series, which was absolutely fantastic, then I obviously saw you in Insomnia with Robin Williams and Al Pacinio and now you’re in Hannibal as well. You’re very talented and always just a pleasure to watch.
Thank you.
So in terms of Torment, what drew you to it?
It’s always a combination of do you like the script? Do you like the character? Do you like the people you’re going to be working with? Like Robin Dunne is great and Jordan Barker, the Director, is great. Do you feel like getting stuck with these people? Running out of time, as you always are on low-budget independent films. Do you feel like going on this adventure? And I almost always do. The script and the characters are always very important but equally as important are the people you’re going to be stuck out in a freezing cold forest with having this experience. I think all those things came together for me with Torment. You know it wasn’t something I had done before as far as the character and the home invasion-y type film, I thought it would be fun and it was it was a really good time. It is an entertaining and fun film to watch; you know it is not only intense and dramatic but the sort of the thrill of it all stays with you throughout the film and that’s all you really hope to do at the end of the day.
What else is on the horizon for you?
I’m currently shooting the third season of Hannibal with NBC. I just finished a movie that is sort of a sex-comedy called How to plan an Orgy in a Small Town that Jeremy Lalonde directed which is really really funny -It also stars Jewel Staite from Firefly and Serenity. I’ve got a movie called 88 coming out early next year that stars Christopher Lloyd and myself. It’s about a girl who witnesses a traumatic event and goes into sort of a fugue state, suffers from dissociative-amnesia and goes on a revenge kick. Christopher Lloyd plays the bad guy and it’s really cool. Then I’m heading to Ireland at sometime next year to do a sort-of post-apocalyptic movie called Origami. Right now however, I’m lying on the couch with my dog.
So if we go back to the beginning what actually drew you into this career? Was there a defining moment for you?
Well it’s a family business, my parents are both below the lines filmies. I grew up around set, with teamsters and grips, that was kind of where my family was. I grew up to learning math with Jujube and teamsters. You know it was the family business and I think when you grow up in a family business you either run the other way or you see that there is nothing else for you. Film was the only thing I was ever going to do because that’s where I were I’m most comfortable that’s where I am the most happiness; I’m not really sure what to do with my life other than it. If I’m not on the couch with my dog I’m working. That is my life. My parents never pushed me into it; they didn’t want me to do it. Someone talked them into letting me audition for a movie, it was a big-budget wedding movie with Isabella Rossellini and Ted Danson, it was called Cousins. It was this huge-budget movie with mansions and dresses, I was like six thinking I could totally do this forever and not have to go to school. You know I liked it and it was where I was happiest so my parents continued to let me do it not really having any foresight myself. Cut to 15-years later and you’re being dragged through the forest with a rope around your ankle, it’s cold and miserable and not for much money but it’s the adventure, it’s the life. I’m a travelling gypsy adventurer and that’s what I do and that’s where my world is.
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TORMENT IS OUT NOW ON DVD COURTESY OF ALTITUDE FILMS DISTRIBUTION