Witch Tales (Cuentos De La Bruja) (2019)
Director: Mike Lyddon
Writers: Mike Lyddon, Ruth Roche
Stars: Magally Aramburu, Oscar Babilionia, Renato Babilonia, Carmen Cabrera, Erik Carillo, Mayella Lloclla
On Halloween night, a charming and seductive witch introduces 3 macabre stories based upon pre-code horror comics of the 1950s ala Tales from the Crypt.
In the first of a series of interviews leading up to the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival, I got a chance to ask Witch Tales (Cuentos De La Bruja) co-writer/Director Mike Lyddon a few questions about what we can expect from the film.
Witch Tales (Cuentos De La Bruja) will be playing at Horror-on-Sea on Friday 10th January at 10:00am
Q. Your latest horror film Witch Tales (Cuentos De La Bruja) has been selected to play at Horror-on-Sea. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film?
First off, I want to say “Thank you” to the fine people at Horror-on-Sea for selecting our film. I’ve been aware of the festival for some time and it was a thrill to receive the notice!
If you love a good comedic-horror anthology movie, I think you’ll enjoy Cuentos de la Bruja. The stories are from 1950s pre-code horror comics much like EC’s Tales from the Crypt, but instead of a hideous host we have a seductive witch played by the marvellous Peruvian actress, Mayella Lloclla (The Last Bastion, Reshinn: Blood of the Anaconda, Belly). Much of the content in the stories is also very original and sometimes shocking as we have witnessed in the reactions of film festival goers this year. This is not an extreme horror film, but there are a few grisly and squirm-inducing surprises!
Q. What were your influences when writing the original script for the film?
The pre-code horror comics of the 50s. I am a total fanatic of these lost gems which also happen to be highly sought after because most of them were banned and/or burned back in the day before the comics code authority was implemented effectively putting a lot of the smaller competitors to EC out of business. This was one of the biggest single acts of commercial censorship in history, and I’m doing a documentary on the subject for 2020.
Q. You filmed Witch Tales with a bilingual cast so it could be filmed in both Spanish and English. Are there any other differences between the two versions and do you have a preference as to which version works best?
Hands down the Spanish language version is best, largely because the casts’ native language is Spanish. I am thrilled with this version which is playing at Horror-on-Sea because after God knows how many hundreds of hours of editing, I finally got it to a point where I sat back and thought “Man, that is freaking good.” And you know, when it’s freaking good, you’ve got something! I am nearly finished with the English language version which is decent and certainly good enough to merit the idea of releasing the movie on blu-ray as a dual Cuentos de la Bruja/Witch Tales package or as separate films. Speaking of which, I think the distributor who picks this film up is going to have access a rare and very effective way of selling it, something that horror film enthusiasts – collectors will be very interested in.
But perhaps I’ve said too much…
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
I am a big Dario Argento fan and every time I revisit one of his films I’m amazed by two things – his use of light and his camera movements. I love experimenting with colours, angles, air density, etc., and there is a bit of that in Witch Tales. As with those old pre-code horror comics of the 1950s, there were certain aspects of the framing and lighting I wanted to maintain. Granted, we didn’t have the budget to bust out a Louma crane (Argento was a pioneer of the Louma Crane, see “Tenebrae”), but there are some nice moves and tricks in the film which I think turned out very well. I also like shooting on film when I can. My previous feature, First Man on Mars (2015, Summerhill Films) was shot on super 16mm, and with Witch Tales I shot the Witch scenes on super-16 with some rather old film stock which had to be shipped to the States for processing. Unfortunately, much of it had been damaged with age and handling…but I did manage to salvage one filmed witch scene and I hope people pick up on it when they watch the movie. I think film is superior to digital, the problem is budget. When you have nine thousand dollars for a feature, shooting it all on film is out of the question.
Q. Apart from the language were there any elements of the original script which were adapted during filming?
As a whole, the process of adapting the pre-code comic book stories to screenplay was a challenge, moreso simply trying to find three good stories that I could do on a micro-budget. But once I found them, I tried to keep as many of the great angles and action from the comic book panels for direct translation to the screen. I think that is apparent in some scenes in the first segment, “Cycle of Horror.” The visual set up is so simple yet so cool and I think it played beautifully in the adaptation.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A few, yes. Things like filming at the end of March in Lima (when it’s still hot) in an enclosed hotel room with live rats, very ripe chicken parts soaked in blood, and having to rotate back and forth, scene to scene, from Spanish to English. I have a fair handle on Spanish but I am not fluent, and I can only imagine how difficult it is for an actor to have to do an about-face and suddenly do his part in another language. I could never do it and I expect many actors couldn’t either, except for the great Christopher Lee who was fluent in 6 languages!
On set it was good to have a solid crew including actor/sound recordist Raul Chamorro, camera assistant Diego Fernandez, seasoned special make up effects wizard Nanistronix Crimson, and production assistant Ygor Javier Sants Mayorca, the latter two of which helped me tremendously during the Witch Tales events here in Lima, Peru. Of course, the producers Mary Galvez, Rubi Dioses Chavez, and associate producer Emilio Obregon all came through in a big way on what was a difficult production.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
The rat handler (after this we called him the rat whisperer, truly amazing) and filming those scenes even though the conditions were harsh. The gallons of blood used in the space of a few minutes in the second segment “Experiment in Terror” starring Raul Chamorro and Erick Lopez, which was quite the sight to behold, and of course the scenes with Mayella as the Witch. Actor Juanjo Rodriguez played a particularly effective “character” in the final sequences.
In the wraparound story, the witch scenes take place during Halloween night and I hope that in the future the film catches on as one of those “Halloween” films on peoples’ watchlist.
Q. What makes Witch Tales stand out as something different in the horror genre?
The fact that these crazy U.S. comic book stories were adapted and filmed in a South American country. That doesn’t happen very often. Cuentos de la Bruja has a different flavor than other horror anthology movies and I think that’s been a key to its great reception during the film festival season this year. We picked up some major awards including best picture and best make-up effects, and I loved hearing feedback from the audience. I like my horror-comedy rather dry with a twist of joyful insanity, and I think this film hits the mark beautifully.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
I hope they say, “Wow, that was a quick 80 minutes!”
More importantly, I hope they see that not only is Peru the home of such wonders as the incredible Machu Picchu, some of the best food on the planet, a stunning variety of indigenous cultures, and a diverse geography that is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in one country (Pacific coast, mountains, desert, Amazon jungle). There are also many talented people here who are capable of bolstering a film industry which barely exists today.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
The aforementioned documentary on the “other” (non EC) pre-code horror and science fiction comics of the 1950s called “Haunted Thrills,” which was the name of one of those other comic books of the period. I have already interviewed three living artists who drew comics for a variety of those publications, and they are all in their 90s and all still active artists!
I’m also very pleased to say that I sold my first short story called “Thing in the Shed” to indie publisher “Deadman’s Tome” now available in the “Monster Party” horror anthology on Amazon.com. I originally wrote Thing in the Shed as a script which I made into a short film for “Horror Anthology Movie vol. 1” several years ago. It received some critical praise which propelled me to adapt the script into a short story. After a few dozen rejections I finally sold it and I have three more short stories in the pipeline for 2020 – 2021.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
Try adapting one of your favorite stories (if you can get the rights) which keeps in line with your budget, or check out the many online resources for public domain horror stories available to filmmakers. There are so many great stories out there just waiting to be adapted, and chances are they’re going to be far better than the “Friday the 13th” fan film you’ve been plotting. Also, avoid “film school.” With filmmaking, the only way you are going to get better is by making the next film and learning from your mistakes on the last one. Alas, I still screw up and repeat mistakes from previous films, but that’s probably because I’m a complete gumby.
You can find out more about films by co-writer/director Mike Lyddon and actress Mayella Lloclla on IMDB. Mike Lyddon IMDB Mayella Lloclla IMDB
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You can also find out more about the film on the website: http://www.horroranthologymovies.com/
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
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