Red Christmas, as the name suggests, is a Christmas horror film. How broad is the Christmas horror tradition in cinema?
One of the first ever ‘slashers’ was a Christmas horror: 1974’s Black Christmas. Since then Christmas horrors have been messing with childhood memories (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Gremlins) and turning Santa Claus into a horrible villain (Silent Night, Deadly Night, Krampus). I also really love Die Hard and The Family Stone, which are not horrors, but are full of difficult situations. Just like Christmas.
Were you inspired by any particularly horrific family Christmases of your own?
My family is very charitable, so one Christmas my father invited a loner type home from church. The guy spent the entire time complaining about the government and blaming his ex-wife for destroying his marriage. My family just kept smiling through it, until Dad drove him home after lunch. The same thing happens in my movie, but the family gets fed up and kicks the guy out – bad move.
This is your directorial debut – how daunting was the process of turning your screenplay into a finished product?
I’m lucky to have directed some TV in Australia, so I’ve gotten used to moving from page to screen. Daunting for me was the writing – how do you make a horror film about abortion, starring one of the screen’s favourite mums, and not look like a religious psychopath? It took two years to get the script right, but in the end I think I got there.
Who’s starring in the film?
The lead is played by Dee Wallace, who most people know as the mum from E.T., but she’s also in The Howling, Cujo and The Frighteners. The rest of the cast is made up of Australian actors that I’ve worked with including Geoff Morrell (Cloudstreet), David Collins (Umbilical Brothers), Sarah Bishop (Skitbox/Activewear), Bjorn Stewart (Black Comedy), and the unwanted villain is played by young comic talent Sam Campbell (Winner Best Newcomer Sydney Comedy Festival 2015).
Red Christmas (dir. Craig Anderson) plays at Dendy Newtown and Event Cinemas George Street,Saturday June 11 and Friday June 17 consecutively,as part of Sydney Film Festival 2016.
