When I wound up meeting "Samhain" director Christian Viel, he looked so familiar to me and vice versa. It winds up that I had auditioned for him a few times in the past. What a small world the showbiz playground is. Christian took a couple of minutes away from the set to talk to yours truly and amidst all the damn noisy trucks blaring around us, I still managed to get these few words out of him.

A: First of all, I’d like to know what kind of genre "Samhain" is? Is it a slasher, is it more akin to "The Blair Witch Project"? What should we expect?

CV: It’s a slasher with a twist because we’re going much further with the violence and the gore but in a funny way. We’re going much further than any film I’ve seen.  

A: There’s a lot of humor in the film?

CV: Well...yes and no, the violence is so exaggerated and cartoon-like and that’s where the sense of humor lies in. The actors themselves…

A: They take it seriously…

CV: That’s it,  they take it seriously. It’s what happens to them that’s funny. Think Wile E. Coyote…

A: From Road Runner?

CV: That’s it.

A: You’ve got some adult film stars acting in this film. How did that come about?

CV: Marketing reasons; there seem to be lots of crossing over between adult film stars and horror fans. There’s a sort of complimentary feel it seems. All the adult film stars we talked to were all big horror fans so they all wanted to do it. So we thought it would be a good marketing ploy and I think it worked because the casting is generating lots of interest.

A: Don’t you think it might backfire on you? Where people will think that the movie is some sort of horror porn hybrid and stay away from it?

CV: No, some of the porn stars are not even used in porno style in the film, Ginger Lynn, for example, keeps her clothes on. Other ones are naked obviously but some of the local actors strip down too. We just thought they would make cool cameos.

A: Richard Grieco...how did that come about? Was he your first choice?

CV: I  just came back from LA, I was living there for a year. I knew Richard’s agent through a common friend because we were supposed to do a project with him. The project in LA didn’t turn out but when "Samhain" came about I told the producer that I knew Richard’s agent. We called him and he said "yes", it happened very quickly.

A: What’s your visual approach in terms of directing? Should I think Argento?

CV: It's more Sam Raimi-ish. Some stuff will be less stylized because we have a shorter shooting schedule than most Hollywood films but we’re trying for a very different feel. 

A: It’s a very gory film, I would assume?

CV: Yes, it is. You’ll see stuff you’ve never seen before and the people who’ve seen the rushes can attest to that.

A: Why did you chose to shoot in Montreal?

CV: Montreal has good technicians. That’s the main reason. They work very hard and get you good results on a tight budget. That’s something you can’t get anywhere else, in my opinion.

A: Sequel? Franchise? Any word?

CV: A sequel is being talked about. I already have the opening sequence for the sequel in mind. Franchise? Definitely, that’s what we’re all hoping for.

A: How will "Samhain" be treated in terms of distribution?

CV: Since we have a lot of their actors in the film, “Vivid” has offered us to do a theatrical premiere in Hollywood for Halloween, the way that a big movie would get. Then we want to do a small release like they did for  “Halloween”. A few theatres, a few cities and let the word of mouth grow. The film will go theatrical in Canada as well but probably at midnight showings because we’re most likely gonna get a NC-17 rating.

A: Nice! You won't cut it for an R?

CV: No.

A: Good, good that’s always pleasant for a horror fan to hear. My last question would be: what can you tell me about the film’s main creature “The Shape”. You guys are keeping the beast such a secret it's not even funny.

CV: {laughs} All I can tell you is that he’s very ugly. This is what I told Adrian Moreau who designed the special effects because they’re supposed to be a family of inbreeds. People who have committed incest with their own children will hopefully never do it again after they see this creature.

A: Thanks Christian.

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It was a tough interview to conduct with all the ruckus around me but I still managed to get most of it on my recorder. Muchos gracias Christian for the interview and keep shoveling that gore our way! We dig it the most!

Check out the Official SAMHAIN Official Site here