We caught up with the Argentina-based horror duo Guille Gatti & Pedro Cristiani to talk about their recent success with Deus Irae and what it takes to make great horror films.
The exorcism genre is a familiar one but the premise of Deus Irae is so unique. Add to that, it feels like the short is part of a larger story (not unlike my own film). Where did the idea for the story come from and what were your intentions?
Deus Irae is unique in the sense that it leaves no taboo untapped in the “exorcism genre”. We’re going all out brutal and realistic because we really think thats what an exorcism looks like and because horror needs stories like this. Nothing halfway, but using every possibility to scare the audience. We really think that this gritty and “balls to the wall” style of horror with high production value is the future of the genre.
Let’s talk techniques for a moment. The traditional effects and creature design are fantastic. How did you do it so well (on what I’m assuming was a low budget) and make the other creature shorts out there look amateurish by comparison?
Creature design for Deus Irae.
Youre assuming correctly. We knew right from the start that our budget was to be very low. The film was financed basically by me and Pedro with a little help from our families on the economic part and our friends on the creative part. So one of the ways we found to afford all the things the script demanded and do it right was to contact Rabbid EFXa very experienced effects company based here in Argentina where low budget is the only budget. They agreed to co-produce the short, adding their know-how and materials pro bono. Happily they gave us what we wanted and more. They basically kicked ass! Also it’s very important to recognize the work of Gilberto Zhu, our effects guy who we brought aboard through a recommendation from the Rabbid people and was able to achieve pretty impressive results.
What advice would you give to other filmmakers out there trying to get something made and into the world?
Start when you say youre going to start. Everything else will fall into place. Don’t be afraid! Follow the vision you have from 0 to 100%dont compromise. First and foremost, we learned that this is the sort of things we want to continue doing for as long as we breathe.
What’s been your distribution strategy (particularly online & digital) and what do you hope to get from Deus Irae?
Our online strategy is kind of nonexistent, we have the script, we make the film and started to send it to different genre and non genre film festivals all over the world. Lucky for us, the short really captivated something deep in peoples minds, so we have over 40 official selections in a number of big festivals in Canada, USA, Sweden, South Korea, Greece, Turkey, Brazil, Sitges, Spain, Transylvania (Big deal for us!!!!!). We wound up collecting almost 20 awards so far, including 6 “Audience Awards” at different festivals. Those “people’s choice” awards are the ones that really keep us going. We keep sending the short to the festivals, but feel it’s time now for the online community to have a taste of it. We really wanted to work with the best, and thats when we contacted you guys. We really know very little of how to plug and exploit a film online, so any suggestions are more than welcome.
For our next project, another horror short, we are trying a new strategy to raise funds thats almost exclusively web-based. I just opened an account at IndieGoGo for a new short, The Box, so we will see if we can get another horror project rolling. We dont know much about this kind of crowdfunding. It’s not as instilled in Argentina as it is in the US, so we’re trying to learn as we go along.
I’ve heard rumors of a feature version in the works. Is it true?
Most def! Deus Irae is not nearly done. Pedro is working hard on the script of the feature film with fantastic results so far (I can’t spoil the storyline but it’s all uphill from here). We know we have a winner there and we’ll keep going till is done. In the meantime, we are trying to get some new projects rolling: The Box/Primitivos/Echoes. You should never restnot when your dreams of making a difference in the world by doing what you love are right there in front of you.
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Andrew S Allen
I’ve heard rumors of a feature version in the works. Is it true?