What do you get when you cross a bunch of foul-mouthed, debaucherous religious figures, an ungodly amount of drugs and sex, and a pile of demons? That's right, it's the Republican National Convention!
Just kidding. You get the world premiere of JT Petty's hilarious take on the exorcism horror, Hellbenders 3D. Ian Goring took his trusty camera to the red carpet on that holiest of all holy days, Sunday, for the event!
JT Petty three-peats at Midnight Madness!
The one and only Dan Fogler!
Did you know that Clancy Brown is in two Midnight Madness films this year? He's also in Saturday's John Dies At The End!
Another caffeine- and carnage-fueled day has come and gone. Yesterday we caught Room 237, which convinced me (at least for a few minutes) that everything that ever happened is part of a weird conspiracy that probably involves Nazis and dick jokes, and DePalma's latest split-screen sleaze-a-thon, Passion. As usual, though, the highlight of the day wasn't even part of the day at all—it was the Midnight Madness premiere of JT Petty's Hellbenders.
Midnight Madness programmer Colin Geddes and Hellbenders writer/director JT Petty. I don't remember what they were saying, but it looks like it was beautiful, man--just beautiful.
Dan Fogler demonstrates proper hellbending technique.
Who's cooler than Clancy Brown? Not me, that's for damn sure.
Next up: tonight's premiere of Rob Zombie's Lords of Salem, with the man himself in attendance. I'm expecting it to be a quiet, low-key event.
One of the most unique and exciting storytellers in current American cinema returned to the Midnight Madness stage last night for the third time. J.T. Petty (S&Man, The Burrowers) with his latest film HELLBENDERS.
An uproarious exorcism comedy that really displays a great cast playing off each other, Clancy Brown, Dan Fogler, Clifton Collins Jr. to name a few. The film also really showcases the capabilities of 3D as an added visual tool beyond that of a gimmick. Armed with Holy Water, two microphones quickly duck-taped together to form a make-shift cross and a bottle of bourbon Robert A. Mitchell took to the red carpet and returned with this video....
After bringing S&Man and The Burrowers to Midnight Madness, JT Petty--and Clancy Brown--return in glory with Hellbenders 3D--premiering tonight at the Ryerson!
Not this kind of Hellbender...
Bending, maybe even hellbending, but not bending hell.
Or these Hellbenders...
Too busy cramming coffins full of cash to bend hell, thanks.
No, these Hellbenders...
Open robes are crucial in Hellbending!
Seems like he's passed out, but actually--Hellbending!
Hellbenders are Gentlemen of the Church who fight the agents of Hell using Hell's own rules--in 3D!
Fellow Midnight Madness blogger Sanjay and I will be teaming up for a few combo interviews this year, twisting our brains together in a Hellraiser kind of way... here is the first!
We got a hold of Three Time Midnight Madness Alumni Director JT Petty (S&MAN, The Burrowers) to ask him about his new film Hellbenders premiering in this year's programme!
MM: I have to say, Hellbenders has one of the most insanely compelling ideas that I’ve heard in a while; Priests in essence playing Hell’s rules against themselves to keep an open line and literally drag demons through the fiery gates themselves. Pretty badass!
1. Tell us about the magic moment that you knew you were going to make Hellbenders...
JT: Soon as the concept struck me I knew I needed to make a story about it in some format, and from there just trusted that God would make me strong so long as I was doing His work.
2. Describe the relationship you now have in working with your leading man Clancy Brown over two feature films!
JT: In THE BURROWERS, Clancy Brown was my crutch. In HELLBENDERS, he's my wings. That's probably a bit much, but I'm honestly surprised and humbled every time he agrees to work with me. Clancy's an icon and I knew he'd be good in the movie, but had no idea he could be simultaneously so funny, scary, and ecstatically blasphemous.
3. You already have an extremely diverse body of work; do you consciously strive to challenge yourself with vastly different material, or do you feel your tastes are organically changing?
JT: I certainly wouldn't want to make the same movie twice, and have even less interest in making something somebody else already made. I try to avoid too much navel-gazing, but I guess I'm mostly concerned with subverting expectations. A lot of my favorite movie experiences, like ODISHON, LITTLE MURDERS, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, or this year's LOOPER are all real conscious of the genres they're fucking with without ever descending into cynicism or post modern shenanigans. I love feeling like I'm being led through unexplored territories.
4. Midnight Madness is a tough program to get into and this is your 3rd appearance. What advice would you have for genre filmmakers who are making a film that connects with this audience?
JT: Don't make any safe bets.
5. What was it like shooting 3-D? Was it something you considered while writing the film, and are there any cool effects we can look forward to?
JT: I knew HELLBENDERS was going to be 3D from the start, but wanted to use it responsibly. I didn't want it to be a gimmick any more than the fact that we shot in color or with sync sound. Mostly I was thinking about texture and physicality; comedy and horror both benefit enormously from a sort of tactile experience of watching. And real 3D is all about texture and space. Think about the shot of Ben Stiller's nutsack getting caught in his zipper in THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, then think about how much more painful and hilarious that would be with real 3D volume. It's not about throwing ping pong balls at the audience, it's about immersing them in intimate physical space.
There are a bunch of 3D-specific effects we're doing, especially in the more subjective moments of the exorcism scenes, thought they're a little hard to describe. There are some sequences where we're intentionally using an “incorrect” interocular to make impossible 3D space. My experience of it is a harder-to-grok version of the zoom-in-dolly-out from VERTIGO. Something you want to use sparingly, but real effective in small amounts.
6. Any memorable stories from set in putting the more complex shots together? (You may talk in code to avoid spoilers!)
JT: I was hiding behind a dresser and holding onto the hind leg of a rabbit who really hated all the lights and the smell of baby oil, while one of the Hellbenders on the bed above me was asking the DP if the camera was seeing his bare ass or if he needed to prop his hips up on a pillow, and one of the producers was angling a small 3D monitor down so I could check frame without letting go of the rabbit. Getting that shot right felt good.
Bonus: Be honest--do you make these wonderfully deranged movies just so you can come back to Toronto and hang out with us?
JT: You say that like it's a joke, but I couldn't honestly express how much I love the whole Midnight Madness experience without sounding like I was blowing smoke up your ass. But yes, absolutely.
MM: No smoke up ass inferred. We are delighted to have you back! Thanks so much for your time JT! We look forward to having our minds expanded, morals tested, and eyeballs melted--with your brazen new film!
Clifton Collins Jr. in JT Petty's Hellbenders. If exorcising shit never got rougher than this, I could totally handle the job.
I've been thinking a lot about exorcisms lately. It’s JT Petty’s fault – of all the movies screening at Midnight Madness this year, Petty’s 3-D horror-comedy Hellbenders is one of the films I’m most excited about. It’s been described as Animal House meets The Exorcist, with liberal doses of Ghostbusters—I could only be more jazzed if every ticket came with a free plate of hot, syrupy waffles.
So let's talk about exorcists. This doesn’t seem like an appropriate place for the same old exorcism movie list; who among us has not seen William Friedkin's 1973 classic and its sequels or, for better or worse, more recent fare such as Constantine and The Last Exorcism?
Instead, let’s talk about the dudes who don’t get the props they deserve. Let's face it: being an exorcist has got to be one of the most thankless jobs in horror. Kids talk shit about your mom, the pay sucks, and good luck not ending up on the business end of a demonic possession when you punch the clock at the end of the workday. Take Abby, for instance—a woefully under-appreciated 1974 flick featuring Blacula himself (the great William Marshall) as Dr. Garrett Williams, a professor who must save a young marriage counselor from the West African deity that has possessed her. Written and directed by William Girdler (he of Three on a Meathook and Grizzly fame), Abby is often and unfairly dismissed as an Exorcist rip-off. In fact, in spite of its initial box office success, it was pulled from theaters when Warner Bros. sued its distributor for copyright violations. The devil you say, Warner Bros. Abby is a damn good time, and it’s well worth seeing.
Next up is an Argentinean short film called Deus Irae, about a group of rabblerousing, punk-rock priests who face off with a monstrous demon. I freaking love this film. Think of it as Constantine done right—batshit gore, gnarly creature FX and creepy atmosphere to spare. Very NSFW, and not appropriate for kiddies (unless they’re possessed, in which case this is a cautionary tale and you should totally make them watch it).
Finally, there’s this guy. It’s just a commercial so maybe it’s cheating, but it’s still a hell of a lot of fun squeezed into a minute and a half.
So be sure to check out Hellbenders at Midnight Madness. It'll be good for your soul.
Found footage of JT Petty holding a contest seeking found footage to include in Hellbenders. What does it mean? If the camera's not shaking how can I tell if this is fictional or not?
