As the founder of Deadly Underground Studios, Gwendolyn Kiste produces, directs, writes, edits, and co-stars in all of the films her company creates. Gwen is also an actress and a model. She also started who own clothing line called (Guess What?) Zombie Apparel! She is hot, smart, and makes horror films. She's exactly the kind of woman that needs the recognition her rare kind so often don't get. Deadly Underground has a reputation for making innovative horror films, because Gwen has been driven to be a horror filmmaker since she was a kid...
"We are not
dealing with the seventies and eighties slasher films where the girl
is sitting half naked in her bedroom and starts getting hacked to bits
when she turns the other way."- Gwendolyn Kiste
I had wanted to start making horror films when I was about twelve, but
I came from a small town in Ohio where there isn't much interest in
filmmaking. During my second year in college, I moved to the Akron
area, and it became much easier to recruit actors and actresses.
Thus, Deadly Underground Studios officially began. For Outside of
Nowhere, the first film, I did virtually everything: writing,
directing, producing, editing, acting, etc. While I am still in
charge of the aforementioned duties, I have had much more help on the
set with Edge of Midnight, which has made the overall experience
much less stressful.
It's' important to Gwen that she doesn't make movies that re-hash the same old crap that studios and other indie companies churn out; tits, gore, and ass with nothing inbetween to make it coherent.
I would like to make horror films that focus more on characters and
motivations but in a supernatural setting. As a psychology major, I
always like to examine situations from a very human perspective. I
have always felt that that angle is missing too often in the horror
genre.
But making films is a difficult thing, especially with budgetary restraints!
The experience has at once been interesting, enlightening,
challenging, and rewarding. Now I can't imagine not making films. My
opinion of independent cinema is definitely different. You have to do
so much on your own and learn as quickly as you can in order to
produce the best possible film. It is a rough, competitive market out
there, especially with horror films. But I have also met some great
filmmakers who have been doing it way longer than I have, and they
help to inspire me and keep me going.
Outside of Nowhere is Deadly Underground's first completed feature film.
When I was in the process of filming Outside of Nowhere a friend
and I decided that I was making a 'supernatural drama' even more than
a horror film. There isn't very much blood, and it is more of a
psychological exploration of the characters, so to speak. The story
is broken up into five interlocking tales and told out of order, so
the audience doesn't see exactly how everything fits together until
the very end. Some of the scenes are even broken up between the
different sections, so you don't figure out the character's exact
motivation until you see a later section.
Edge of Midnight is a follow-up to Outside of Nowhere.
Edge of Midnight is about two supernatural bounty hunters (played by
the lovely Tina Jane Goldfarb and myself) who are sent on several
assignments at once and ultimately end up dealing with a well-guarded
vampirism cure, a runaway teenage werewolf, and even the devil
herself. Although those could make for some heavy issues, it is
definitely a dark comedy. The supporting cast includes Robyn Griggs
(as Satan), Amy Lynn Best, and Lilith Stabs along with newcomers Steff
Mascaro, Leslie Ann Kuder, and Xan Heaton. I find myself writing
characters who may have smaller roles but ones that are very
interesting. I don't like the idea of an actor or actress leaving the
set and feeling as though their part in the film was insignificant in
any way.
Edge of Midnight should be available soon, and they'll have another one on the way soon after that.
We are over halfway through filming, and we hope to be done with
production by the beginning of August. Edge of Midnight has
definitely been a more detailed process since I learned a lot about
what worked and didn't work while making Outside of Nowhere. It has
all been a learning experience as a filmmaker.
Pretty/Scary has a mixed stand on nudity in horror film. Some of us are okay with it, some are offended by it, and some of us love it. How do you feel?
Obviously, the nudity is almost always female. My actresses and I
have a running joke that we want to have one of our actors briefly
appear nude in a scene, and then put a disclaimer on the film that
nudity is involved. No one would expect that. All in all, I
personally don't want my films to be associated with an abundance of
sex and nudity, but that's some people's thing. I say to each his
own, but I certainly am not a fan of overdone sexuality.
What do you think of horror that portrays women in eviolent and abusive situations?
In my opinion, violence toward women in horror films has decreased at
least somewhat in recent times, thankfully. I feel that over the last
decade, female characters are expected to be stronger. We are not
dealing with the seventies and eighties slasher films where the girl
is sitting half naked in her bedroom and starts getting hacked to bits
when she turns the other way. In my opinion, that kind of scene is
almost a parody at this point. It is somewhat complimentary to
audience sensibilities I suppose that we'd rather have our women as
the gun-toting hard body heroine these days rather than the screaming,
helpless victim of yesteryear.
When someone like Gwen emerges in the indie horror scene, the first question that comes to mind is, Why aren't there more female horror directors out there?
This is a question that does not have an easy or definite answer
obviously. I think, or at least hope, that over the next ten or
twenty years, more female horror directors are going to emerge, and
then the ratio between directors and producers will be about even. At
the moment, though, I find myself as a female filmmaker questioning
the comparatively small number of directors.
Gwen is an actress, herself, in er films. She, as a female, experiences all of the things her female characters do by the very fact that she plays them.
Originally, when I was younger, my main passion in regard to film was
acting, even though I have been writing screenplays since junior
high. After seeing an overall lack of interesting roles for women in
Ohio independent cinema (let alone the horror genre), I decided that I
would rather create more unique parts for actresses. That, in turn,
led me to be able to write any sort of role for myself. Not to say
that there aren't great films being made in Ohio, but nothing that
really resonated with my sensibilities.
It can sometimes be very difficult to be an actress in a scene while
still directing yourself and the other actors. Overall, though, I
have been very satisfied with all of my cast's performances, including
my own. While it is always a learning process, I feel that everyone
has done very well in both
Outside of Nowhere and
Edge of
Midnight.
Who do you think is the hottest man in horror?
Even though it has been a couple years since Buffy and Angel were on
the air, I am still going to have to say James Marsters. That's a
nostalgic answer now, but I'll always be in love with Spike.
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