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GRUE ROMANCEAlexandre Aja has made a kick-ass slasher movie in Haute Tension, known outside of France as High Tension or Switchblade Romance. We call him to talk ultra-violence and his Hills Have Eyes remake...
Your movie - Haute Tension, High Tension, Switchblade Romance, whatever you wanna call it - seems to be part of a new wave of hard-hitting, non-ironic horror movies, alongside the likes of Wrong Turn and the remade Texas Chainsaw. Why do you think this is happening now?Alexandre Aja: "I think that I, and a few other film-makers of my age, feel a little bit frustrated about the '90s. I feel nostalgic for the very radical spirit of the '70s and the beginning of the '80s. I'm not alone in this: there's also the producer of the Texas Chainsaw remake and the people behind Wrong Turn, which is also a little bit more savage than usual. Films like this are more true to the '70s spirit - that Maniac feel. Today, a lot of different young directors are getting back to that spirit and have little relationship with the '90s movies." How did you go about finding Cecile de France for the lead role of Marie? "One of the advantages of the French film business is that it's very easy to meet all the young actresses. That's a definite good point (laughs)! We met all the young, rising stars, if you like. Cecile was simply the best. She's amazing, and she's the only one I met in France who can play the fear without repeating herself. From the beginning, we wanted a Ripley from Alien, or a Linda Hamilton from Terminator 2. An actress who was very strong and tough. We knew that the protagonist of Haute Tension was the key, because without her you don't believe the film. Cecile just carries the film by herself - she was, without doubt, the right choice." The movie is in French language, with English subtitles. Did you ever consider dubbing it, to maybe gain a wider acceptance? "Yeah, it has actually been made, but we're not very happy with the dubbed version. I wanted to make the film in English, because the storyline isn't really linked to the French culture. I also knew that an English-speaking movie would be more readily accepted in countries other than France. But our producer Luc Besson pushed us to make a French-speaking film. The advantage of that was it enabled us to use Cecile de France. But at the same time, I would have liked to shoot in both languages. There's only seven minutes of dialogue in the whole film! Luc thought it wasn't necessary. The good thing about the French language is that it gives the movie an exotic touch - people are not used to seeing French horror movies. So for Haute Tension, that's a plus-point overall." 
You do forget about the subtitles."Yeah, and I think that Lion's Gate is releasing the movie in US theatres with the subtitles. They realise that it's a pretty much a thriller without any words. It's like The Passion Of The Christ - they made a thriller with two sentences! Nobody knows that it's not in English. It's a very tricky way to sell a film!" You grew up as the son of a film director. "Yeah, I grew up on set. I'm still learning, but what I've learnt so far came from two places. Firstly, from my father's directing work and being on set, but my father is also a screen-writer, and I would often sit in with him and other people in writing sessions. But before being a film-maker I'm a film fan, you know? I eat films: about a dozen a day! I have them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There's no better way to learn how to make films, than to watch them. Even if you watch films without sound, you can see how the film is put together. You also need to be open to different styles - we are making a horror movie right now, but we are watching all different types of film." Would you like to remain a horror director? "No, I just want to work on the genre a little bit more, because I think we have more to say within it. I think we can push the fear process and its effect much more. I want to try another couple of films. I'd love to find a good ghost story, because I'm also afraid of supernatural situations. It's a very different kind of fear. After the straight, realistic fear of Straw Dogs and Deliverance-type movies, I'd love to make a movie like The Others, or this new Japanese wave of movies. That Japanese stuff is very interesting, because they're taking it back to primal fear from your childhood." There haven't been many great supernatural movies since (arguably) Blair Witch. "Yeah and I'm still scared of ghosts in general, in life! I'm still worried about seeing ghosts whenever I look in the mirror! In terms of scary movies, I think The Shining is still the best. So I want to try a movie like that. Afterwards, I don't know. It depends. We really need to fall in love with stories, and there are so many types! I like it when you're asking a question to the audience: 'What would you do, in this case?'. I'm really interested in getting them on the edges of their seats, feeling as though they're making choices, along with the protagonists." 
You mentioned earlier that you're making a new horror film. This must be the remake of Wes Craven's classic The Hills Have Eyes. What approach are you planning to take?"The storyline will probably be much the same - we're still finishing the script. But at the same time, there'll be a lot of different stuff in there. It's going to be very scary, wild and violent. Like Haute Tension, it will take place over one night. Actually, the original Hills was a major influence on Haute Tension, so this is like a dream come true! We're currently scouting around for the best possible desert in which to shoot this Autumn (2004), but whether that will be in America, I still don't know." Some might say that only the second Hills Have Eyes movie should be remade! "Yeah, it's kind of… (laughs). I'm not going to say anything bad about my boss, Wes Craven. No comment!" [Order High Tension on DVD at Amazon UK] [Check out Switchblade Romance on DVD at Amazon UK] [Back To Top] [Features Menu] [Home] © Copyright Slasherama 2002-present |