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Interview WITH ALEXANDRA AJA Interview by: Steven West Interview Conducted on: 4/11/2008 .
In a short space of time, Alexandra Aja has risen to prominence in the international horror genre. His feature length genre debut was HIGH TENSION (HAUTE TENSION), a visceral and terrifying homage to old-school slasher movies with a fashionably mind-fucking final ten minutes that changed our perception of everything in the preceding 80. Somewhat tamed for an R-rated American release via Lions’ Gate, the movie made enough waves to win Aja the job of directing the controversial HILLS HAVE EYES remake, produced by the original director, Wes Craven. Aja’s take on HILLS was, inevitably enough, graphic and powerful, and it still ranks as among the very best of the seemingly endless cycle of Hollywood remakes of 70s horror. Aja is back in the genre eye again this year as co-writer of the parking garage-set psycho-horror P2 (now on Region 1 DVD) and director of the upcoming Kiefer Sutherland vehicle MIRRORS, a mainstream American remake of the creepy Korean ghost story INTO THE MIRROR. I was lucky enough to have 15 minutes with Mr Aja in England and he proved to be an intelligent, thoughtful and chatty interviewee as he discussed his growing body of work and its place in the 21st century horror genre. Here are some excerpts of our conversation, with thanks to John Dunning of Tartan Films UK for arranging the interview |
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Q: Mr Aja, you’ve said in the past that it was very hard to make a horror movie in France. Did High Tension change things? Since your film’s release there have been several extreme French horror films including INSIDE and FRONTIER(S). [In the latter’s end credits, Aja gets a “Special Thanks” credit] A: There have been intense horror movies coming out of France but I think it is still very hard to make a horror movie in France. It is difficult to get funding simply because of the types of films being made in France and the types of audiences that go to them. Audiences tend to wait for this kind of film to come on TV or on DVD. If I go back to France to make another movie I don’t think it will be a horror movie.
Q: HAUTE TENSION, THE HILLS HAVE EYES and now P2 are all violent survivalist horror films with strong female leads. Is this your preferred type of horror and what are your key influences for these films? A: Yes. HAUTE TENSION came about because I was frustrated from the horror films that had been coming out in the nineties. And it came about from a love of 70’s American horror films like LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and (Wes Craven’s) THE HILLS HAVE EYES. My new film MIRRORS kind of continues in the same vein, it is a survivalist film though with more supernatural elements this time.
Q: As co-writer is P2, did you see it change much in the transition from the page to the screen? A: The script was faithfully translated to the screen. If anything [director] Franck Khalfoun added a lot of the crazy stuff and humor that is in the movie, so I think it improved along the way. Q: What inspired the choice of Wes Bentley as the villain of P2? A: It was very difficult to find the right actor but [Wes] was perfect for the role. He had a kind of dark charm and menace that reminds me of Jack Nicholson in THE SHINING. It was sometimes difficult to work with him, he is a very troubled young man, but so talented. When I watch the movie again I find lots of subtle nuances and layers in his performance.
Q: Did you face any censorship problems with P2? A: With HAUTE TENSION and THE HILLS HAVE EYES we had to submit the films many times to the MPAA, but with P2 I think we only submitted it twice. There were no major issues. I think it is more of a suspense movie than a bloodbath. Q: The use of music in your films is very distinctive. With P2 you again used Tomandandy, who composed the score for your HILLS HAVE EYES remake. A: Yes, again it comes back to the idea of going old-school. The sound [they created] was very distinctive and effective, and it just seemed to fit the [material] so well.
Q: British journalist Alan Jones coined the term “splat pack” as a group term for contemporary filmmakers like yourself, Neil Marshall, Eli Roth and Rob Zombie. Are you proud to be in this crowd of extreme horror filmmakers? A: Yes, certainly. I don’t know any of them personally but I loved THE DEVIL’S REJECTS and HALLOWEEN and I think THE DESCENT is one of the best horror films of the past few years. We all share that sense of frustration about how horror had changed and a desire to return it to the old-school roots. Q: What is your opinion of the state of horror movies at the moment? A: There’s always someone who comes out and says horror is dead but then every month or so something big or exciting comes along and the whole cycle starts over again. I think this will always happen, the genre [will never die]. Many thanks to Alexandre Aja for his time - Steven West
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