Jay Lee may be best known as the director of Zombie Strippers, but he has a new psychological horror movie, Alyce Kills, that is out on DVD next week. We had the opportunity to have Jay take part in our Q&A series and he told us about getting back to psychological horror, working with Jade Dornfeld, and the possibility of us seeing a Zombie Strippers sequel:
Thank you very much for taking the time to talk with us. Alyce Kills is very different from a movie like Zombie Strippers. What made you want to go into this more serious/psychological direction?
Jay Lee: Actually it was the other way around. Alyce Kills is more of a return for me from the detour that was the over-the-top gorefest comedy horror films. The latter was just better business (my prior psychological thriller that actually premiered at Sundance is indeed a sad tale of distribution woe). But for me Alyce Kills isn't that much different than Zombie Strippers. They're both social satires. One is just in the guise of a trashy B-movie, the other in a dark twisted indie. The budget for Alyce Kills was also much smaller, so this film dialed down the scope and in response cranked up the psychological intensity. Sometimes the stage is set for you and you just need to embrace it and use the strengths and weaknesses to their full potential. That meant go psychological for this one.
You wrote the script, as well as directed the movie. What inspired the characters and events that take place?
Jay Lee: Originally the script was started for an actor friend who was a wonderful actor but never really got the opportunity to show it in a real meaty role. So I started working on something that would challenge an actor to the Nth degree. So I began with a collection of scenes then strung them out into a very loose plot. The intensity of the individual scenes definitely suggested a "down the rabbit hole" aspect so I started using Alice in Wonderland as a reference to start flushing out a supporting cast and direction for the rest of the script. Then I personally had a very bad year and used my personal sense of despair and fatalism to create the mood. I eventually lost contact with that original actor, interest in the script came around, a little money was procured, Jade was found and the rest is history.
Can you tell me about casting Jade Dornfeld in the movie? Why was she perfect and what did she bring to the role?
Jay Lee: I believe Jade being brought to the project started with proximity. She had lived next door to one of the producers who remembered her and through she's be good for the part. I was sent her headshot and was instantly captivated by her look. I checked her credits and saw she'd won major accolades in the LA theater scene and had actually done a small indie film. I found the film, watched it and saw that in an otherwise forgettable movie she definitely was anything but. She was hypnotizing, her character arc was strong and every scene she was in she was mesmerizing. Being that she was the only element of the film that caught my attention I felt it safe to attribute that to her and her alone, so I was suspecting she as and actor would bring so much more to the character of Alyce than I could ever imagine. This definitely proved to be the case. She's also a very unique person (in oh-so many ways) but in a way that you could pick her out of a line-up instantly and you could close your eyes and recognize her voice. This was perfect for Alyce, a person who, for better or worse for the character, stands alone and doesn't blend in with the masses.
One of my biggest hopes for the character was that she could travel through this huge character arc as effortlessly as possible. Jade as an actor nailed every emotional and psychological aspect of the character's arc in her performance. But visually she was able to transform from socially awkward to smoking hot without the aid of prop glasses, wigs or prosthetic warts. Most of it was all in her poise, her sense of presence, the way she imbued the character's states of self-confidence (or lack of). Jade can do more in a single glance then most can do with Hamlet's soliloquy, and that was what Alyce was more about, the mutation of essence, than anything else. That was what made Alyce real, a REAL transformation instead of gimmicks, and that's what makes Alyce Kills effective. And that was Jade.
Did you find the slow building aspects of this movie more challenging than some of your past directorial efforts? Can you tell our readers about your approach to setting up scares and building tension?
Jay Lee: When it comes to logistics the slow burn psychological stories can be much easier - small, dark and intimate. I've been very lucky in the past to work with very supportive and creative actors. So though the content and subtextual layers of the slow burn are more challenging it's always been something that we can really sink our teeth into. There's a great satisfaction in working that way. As much as I enjoy making the over-the-top gorefest comedy horror films Alyce Kills is closer to my natural instincts. But in a way that's what makes it more challenging, that you have to expose more of yourself in the work, you have to be more honest with yourself, you have to trust yourself.
With Alyce Kills I tried to create a sense of tension and unease in the uncertainty of events. Very anti-Hitchcockian. I was hoping to drop the audience down a very dark rabbit hole where they had no idea what they were going to hit on the way down. Jade was brilliant in her personal transformation so the character arc I feel is completely unpredictable. Then it was going as far as to actually change the genre of the film multiple times to keep the audience on very shaky grounds. The final trick was just to "go there" and try and shock, appall and horrify the audience with each progressive scene, first psychologically then physically. A simple off-camera stab is VERY effective when the audience is already tweaked psychologically. Take the gore to the next level and the response can grow exponentially. It was a gamble to make the film this way. Some really dig it, some don't. But I think the folks who do get it have really appreciated what we did and how we did it.
I understand your involved with Area 407: Part Two, which is going to give us zombies and dinosaurs in the same movie. What else can you tell me about this movie and why was it something you wanted to be a part of?
Jay Lee: [Cringe] I've been working on developing a film with WWE wrestler Gene Snitsky called Man Hunt and we got involved with the production company of Area 407. Well, 407 was doing decent business and they needed to make a sequel post haste and asked if I'd be involved. When I heard dinosaurs vs zombies I paused, then realized the potential for fun Cormanesque B-movie lunacy and agreed to do it. Then I was told that that was not the direction the buyers wanted to take the film. I'm sure there was a very blank look on my face when I read that email. Before even trying to dig into the various subtexts of dinosaurs vs zombies I promptly removed myself from the project.
We have many zombie fans reading Daily Dead and I'm sure they're curious to hear about the possibility of a Zombie Strippers sequel. Is there any movement on a sequel?
Jay Lee: Ah, the lost franchise. When the offer from the studio was given for the first Zombie Strippers the deal was Sony pays for the movie only if I give up all the rights, which I did. It was a great opportunity to make the film and I was pressed for time because of the relevance of the political satire so I have no regrets in making that choice. But now it's out of my hands. My sister (who was one of the producers on the first) and I were working on a sequel, I wrote a script, we had a reading and much of the returning cast were very enthusiastic about it (Zombie Strippers II: Attack of the Clones). Unfortunately the producing partners we are contractually obligated to work with didn't agree with me (I guess being the writer, director, DP and editor of the first meant I was unclear on the concept of ZS 1 and didn't "get it" and so my sequel ideas were not what they were looking for). I did hear at one point from a friend of a friend that they had auditioned for a Zombie Strippers 2, but that was happening totally behind my back. Needless to say producers and studio, as far as I know, never came to any agreements and thus my script (now hopelessly outdated) and my dreams of a lucrative franchise have passed, and I fear won't be rising from the dead anytime soon.
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"Life takes a downward spiral for Alyce after a night of partying goes terribly wrong and she accidentally pushes her best friend off of a building. Panicked, Alyce lies to the police about her involvement. When she later learns that her friend miraculously survived, she begins to unravel; losing sleep, her job, and eventually her sanity. When she eventually decides to take control, she unleashes enough chaos to satisfy any gorehound."
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