Interview by Geno McGahee
Recently, I interviewed one of the filmmakers, Francesco Longo, from the collection of short films turned feature: 17 TO MIDNIGHT, which will be gracing the FANTASTIC HORROR FILM FESTIVAL 2014 in California this year. Federico Ichi Scargiali, is a horror filmmaker with big ambitions and hopes that his short film “THROUGH YOUR LIPS” will make some serious noise in the states, paving the way for a feature film that will have worldwide appeal.
Italy and horror have a storied relationship. The Italian style of horror is unmistakable and it is evident in 17 TO MIDNIGHT. Federico Ichi Scargiali spoke with Scared Stiff Reviews about his film, his influences, and his aspirations as a filmmaker.
GM: You have created a film 17 to Midnight. Could you tell us a little bit about it and what inspired you to make i?
Davide Pesca created the project. After he contacted me, I said why not? Never thought that it could be shown in the states. As for the question, I can answer what inspired my segment, THROUGH YOUR LIPS. As you can see, and as I can see from the reviews, the first thing you’ll think watching my episode is “it’s surely something that reminds Cronenberg”. That’s also a little bit of Lovecraft I think. You know, the breeding of two different species that generates something terrible.
GM: Italy and horror go hand in hand and the standard has been set remarkably high with directors like Dario Argento and Lamberto Bava as notable mentions. How have their artistry affected you and your style?
I was grown with the Giallo genre. I can say that surely Argento made some badass stuff, but many years ago, like the immense SUSPIRIA and L’uccello dalle piume di cristallo. As for the Bava family I, for sure, prefer the father Mario. He has done some of the most amazing horror of all time. I can’t go away without mentioning Lucio Fulci. When i was a kid ZOMBI 2 was one of my favorite with L’aldilà… e tu vivrai nel terrore. Last but not least Joe D’Amato with his ANTROPOPHAGUS. Did they affect my style? For sure. In particular, when speaking of graphic violence, but as a lover of the genre you have to watch almost everything right? I’m a genre movie collector since VHS-time. From that period I can tell that Jorg Buttgereit, Frank Henenlotter, John Carpenter (of course) had an important role for my formation as a director. The list could be longer than that but I’m stopping right here.
GM: After watching your trailer, I see a lot of the Italian sort of horror style with the imagery and the shock value. How do you think that this sort of filmmaking with work with the modern American audience?
I think that’s a lot of stuff going on in 17 TO MIDNIGHT. If you don’t like some of the segment, you surely can appreciate others and vice versa.
GM: How important is the American audience to your career and are you planning any productions in English?
American audience is uber important. I think that having a product in English language is a must these days. And yes, we are in pre-production of our first full length with VisceraVisions and it’ll be entirely in English, with UK actors.
GM: There is a modern trend in the states where found footage, remakes and re-imaginings and torture films have replaced the slasher and atmospheric sub-genres. What do you think of these Hollywood trends and what will it take to bring back the true art to horror?
I personally hate with all my being the found footage genre. With tons of movies made like that, you can save a couple at most. For example, I was so pissed-off when i found out that Frankenstein’s Army was a FF. It could be a damn cult without that terrible decision. Remakes could work, even if they’re pretty much pointless. I think about Maniac of Franck Khalfoun, yeah it’s a very good one, but again, what’s the point? Lustig’s one is a masterpiece. Couldn’t you use that money for something new? When you find yourself without a big budget, you start truly to work on a kickass script. You don’t have necessarily to write something new. You can manipulate some existing genre and give birth to a good movie. I’m thinking to “Battery”. Damn those guys did a really great job…more exciting than the fourth season of The Walking Dead. A middle finger to the big Hollywood’s production.
GM: You are having your North American premiere of your film 17 TO MIDNIGHT. How exciting is it for you to be dropped into a different market with a new audience?
Every time I’m going to a festival with one of our works, I can see how big the American productions are, in particular for short movies. There’s a tremendous difference of budget. Despite this, we’ve received always good feedback. So I’m very excited and I hope that everyone will have a good time watching our movie.
GM: Being a filmmaker, there are many things that you have to do that most do not recognize. Can you speak of the difficulties you had in making 17 TO MIDNIGHT, what you learned, and what you have taken away from the production itself?
We started our segment right after finishing a short funded with Indiegogo. This one: LIFE. LOVE. REGRET. starring a magnificent Eileen Daly is around for festivals right now and it’s going very well. On the other side we found ourselves doing THROUGH THE LIPS with practically no budget. As i remember well, we shoot it with 200€. It was a good experience anyway and i think we came out with a good enjoyable product.
GM: What are your future plans? Any feature films on the horizon?
In the end of May we have in program a videoclip for an American horror rock band. I can’t tell the name yet. We’re going with something like monster, boobs, blood and… A fighting priest. It’ll be funny, gory, you know, in pure Troma Style. As i was saying before we’re pre producing our first feature with VisceraVisions I’m very happy with how the things are going.
GM: What advice would you give a person that wants to start making films?
Always, always, always concentrate on the story. Rewrite it till you are satisfied and obviously remember that you have to shoot it. If you have a solid script in hand you probably came out with something good. Don’t think “we’ll adjust this in post” and finally in time to time a placed tripod is a good solution to not overdo.
GM: Any closing thoughts?
Thanks Geno and thanks to the staff of FANtastic Horror Festival for the selection.