INTERVIEW – MATTHEW REEL talks Art & Cinema

Published on: 13th September, 2009

INTERVIEW - MATTHEW REEL talks Art & Cinema  | read this item

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Few filmmakers revel in exploitation cinema as much as Matthew Reel. Having made several shorts such as The Goat Sucker and All the French Are Whores, his feature debut was the modern grindhouse classic Jessicka Rabid, a sleazy and violent tale of abuse and vengeance that has been acclaimed by horror critics.
Matthew discusses his early work, the making of a feature film and his various other projects...

Did you have any ambitions when you were a child before you developed an interest in cinema? Can you recall a precise incident or experience that turned you onto the idea of making films and how did you take your first steps?
“Yes and no. When I was a kid, I was more interested in sharks. I had ambitions to be a marine biologist. Of course, as a result I watched Jaws as much as I could, read the book by the time I was six and made a tape recording of the film so I could listen to it as I didn’t have a VCR yet. Over time, my obsession with sharks grew more into an obsession with film. I’d be in the public library looking through as many film books as they had, I found a slight obsession with the Flash Gordon movie when I was a child, as with Superman II, Tron and Super Fuzz. I’ve developed a curiosity for filmmaking itself from the behind-the-scenes documentary made about Star Wars at the time, soon I had developed affinity towards certain filmmakers like John Carpenter. My taste in horror films came from the film books I was reading in the library and staring at the big-box VHS covers in the horror section of the local video store. My love for the obscure happened in high school, but I’ll save that story for another day.”

Legend has it you studied opera for nine years before turning to filmmaking. Do you have any intention of combining the two, and have you or would you considered shooting music videos or promotional films?
“That’s quite a legend, more of a footnote in my life. It was intensive study and pretty much was shaping what my future goals in life would be. For a great deal of my life, filmmaking was a dream whereas opera was a way of life for me. Funny how things change. As for combining the two, there are some possible opportunities out there. I have been discussing with Clive Jones about the possibility of doing a music video for the Black Widow reunion album. I’ve liked what I’ve heard so far. There are some other ideas floating around, but nothing concrete at the moment.”

Your first notable attempt at making a film was Oubliette, which you began working on back in 2001 with a Fisher Price PXL-2000. Was this a creative decision or due to a lack of budget, and under what conditions was this short made in?
“It was most definitely a creative decision. When I was making Oubliette, I had no formal training in filmmaking and I was working on a lot of assumptions about how it was done. I remembered as a child watching an odd episode of Siskel & Ebert where they were doing reviews of upcoming Christmas gifts. One of the reviews was for the PXL-2000, I remember the picture looked strange in the episode so I decided that I would track one down. Let me tell you, it wasn’t for a lack of budget, they’ve become collector’s items since. I had to find one on ebay, I sold a few items before I could finally get my hands on it. Basically I was flying by the seat of my pants for that project, I even went as far as composing the music with my friend Randal King. Still, I didn’t know what I was doing, I ended up learning a lot about filmmaking that why. Especially when you start asking yourself “why isn’t this scene working?” Then after some experimenting I figured it out.”

How would you compare your work on that film to your next project, Klotho & Widdershins, and were shorts an ideal training ground to feel your way through filmmaking?
“By the time Klotho & Widdershins came around I had already some formal training at the University of Arizona. I had already made a few short films for some other classes and Klotho was a film I made for my film production class. It was most definitely a step up because for that film, and its counterpart October March, I had shot that on 16mm. Also, my ideas were becoming a bit more formalized, even if somewhat sophomoric in my absurd approach. 20I was trying to capture some of the feeling I had felt in some short films I admire by Kenneth Anger and the music video for The Third Reich & Roll by The Residents. Short films really are the best area to develop your voice. They provide a smaller palette to develop ideas and techniques which you could utilize later.”

How did the concept for The Goat Sucker first originate and did you always feel the need to create provocative work?
“The Goat Sucker came at a time in my life when my camera was broken and I was in a creative stranglehold. I wanted to try my hand at the exploitation film, most notably the ones you would see from Something Weird Video. Whether or not you would call it provocative I suppose that is up to the viewer. It isn’t some driving need for me to create such things, I simply make films that I personally would like to watch. There were a lot of strange ideas in that film, I couldn’t tell you if they were entirely successful but there are a lot of elements in that film, such as digital manipulation and the use of found footage which have sort of settled into my work since.”

Of all the shorts that you had made earlier in your career, which are you most proud of and how did these pave the way for you to direct your first feature?
“All the French are Whores is probably my favorite work. I think it has tremendous pacing, the effects are great, the acting is good and all my ideas, no matter how abstract or esoteric, came out as I was hoping if not better. I wanted to create an Easter Passion Play, but instead subvert it into a surreal S&M exercise in which the martyr makes a trek across the city wearing shoes filled with broken glass. It really helped me as far as my editing, I think my ideas were much more polished here than they had been previously and the incorporation of the other elements such as the found footage and music, I larned how to create a concrete idea out of the abstract. The next step would be to add a straightforward narrative and yet keep the Avant-garde elements intact, the end result is Jessicka Rabid“.

With Jessicka Rabid clearly inspired by the exploitation flicks of the seventies, what prompted you to pay homage to these and which in particular would you cite as your main inspiration during the writing and making of the movie?
“Well, most of my work is inspired from that time period. Jessicka simply has been the first opportunity for me to apply those elements to a feature film. There were three films that were sort of behind Jessicka, two of those were actually from the nineties. The Baby, Sonny Boy and Bad Boy Bubby. I’ve been wanting to write a film about a feral child as the result of years of mental and physical abuse. The idea disturbed me, and to apply the subject matter to an exploitation film just seemed lurid and nasty to me. Exploitation films from the late sixties and early seventies leave me with the feeling that I need to take a shower with brown soap, they’re very dirty films and show very little. Other films such as Last House on the Left and The Touch of Her Flesh were players here.”

Although Jessicka eventually exacts revenge against her bullies, the first hour of the film focuses on the abuse that is inflicted upon her at the hands of men. Do you feel that the treatment of the female character is justified by her turning the tables and what kind of reaction have critics given, particularly due to the fact that your co-writer also played the role in question?
“No, it’s not justified and that’s the point. The film lives in the gutter and plays in the trash, I don’t want to pretend that this film is more than what it is. That is what an exploitation film is, any moral underpinning was simply a disguise for subject matter that normally would not make it past the censor boards. Every character in this film is human filth or the result thereof. It has been interesting the reactions to the film because the critics are finding the moral underpinning I’ve placed as a veil worthy of analysis on the subject of sexual abuse. I guess my approach is even if my film’s mind is in the toilet doesn’t mean it is stupid.”

What doors has this movie opened? Have you received any major offers from studios or other filmmakers and what direction do you plan to take next?
“I’m not really sure, to be honest. There is a great deal of excitement from many people who have seen the film, but there’s also a hushed anticipation I’m sensing as well. My work has afforded me the opportunity to teach film to underprivileged children this past summer as well as other probabilities. For the time being I’ve been wrangling a few ideas for what will be my next film Countess de Sade as well as a focus on promoting my artwork with Cult-Stitch, both of which I have been collaborating with my wife. I am also hoping to collaborate with fellow filmmaker Ritchie Anasky on a project this spring.”

There has been talk of a sequel, rumoured to be titled Jessicka Rabid 2.0. How far through the writing/production process is this and what can you reveal regarding the plot and tone of the story?
“Well, I am more than likely not going to be directly involved with the production of Jessicka 2, however I had offered to work on the screenplay for this project. As of right now I have a few ideas for the story and where I will take it, but that’s it for the moment. All I know about the idea is that in the first film we were witness to a downward spiral, if it is to continue that path it needs to completely spiral out of control. My main priority this moment, however, is on Countess.”

Among your other talents you also do various artwork for your website Cult Stitch, in which you cross stitch classic movie posters such as Zombie and Suspiria. An unusual interest, how did this come about?
“That’s right, I started making these back in 2003. I used to go to estate sales and I would always find a cross stitch item, the subject matter were always puppies or cottages or something religious. I saw a medium that could be used for something else, so that’s how that came about. My wife has even started making these with me.”

What other projects do you currently have in development and what new challenges do you hope to face?
“Countess de Sade is the major project, my wife had come up with the story for that and it’s quite a twisted and sordid tale. I’ve also have a few other ideas I have been poking at, all of them books. There Will Be Demons is my spaghetti western/exploitation idea which I think I want to put in book form, I just don’t have the resources to properly make it a film. I have other ideas as well, but I don’t know where they will go.”

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