Screamfest Horror Film Festival 2011 - Interview Julia X 3-D Feature Film

Cast:-Valerie Azlynn (Tropic Thunder, Poseidon, Surrogates),

Kevin Sorbo (Hercules and Xena, Kull the Conqueror),

Alicia Leigh Willis (National Treasure, How High, American Heiress),

Joel David Moore (Avatar, Dodgeball),
Ving Rhames (Surrogates, Pulp Fiction, Mission Impossible).Courtney Rawls (debuts)

Director: PJ Pettiette (The General, If I Die Before I Wake, Jennifer’s Shadow)
Music composer: Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill-Movie & Video games, Rumble Roses)

Interview with P.J Pettiette Director,Writer, Claudine Viguerie, Producer & Courtney Rawls Actress, Producer.

Interview by Jasmina Nevada

Two sisters devise a wicked game of cat and mouse after one is abducted on a blind internet date gone wrong. Julia (Valerie Azlynn) meets 'The Stranger ' on her third internet date. However all is not what it seems and is abducted by 'The Stranger' (Kevin Sorbo) and branded with an X. An action packed cat and mouse game ensues in various locations from an abandoned school to derelict houses, and 'The Stranger is subdued. The tables are turned on 'The Stranger' when Julia and her sister Jessica (Alicia Leigh Willis) are actually internet predators and have never caught a predator before. 'The Stranger' is brought back to their house for games of torture and mayhem, whilst at the same time other men are lured in for the kill (Joel David Moore and Ving Rhames). The girls have a dark past, and Jessica's real colors are displayed by her true vicious and jealous nature, which results in a violent, tragic and oddly ironic funny end. A modern day 'Godzilla' and 'King Kong' story. However 'The Stranger' and the two sisters in this feature film are oddly enough, searching for love......but of course in their own way...

-Where did you come up with the idea for this particular film?

(P.J Pettiette) That's going to be a long answer....I will try to make it short... its a throwback to some of the old 70's kind of films like 'looking for Mr Goodbar'.  I tried to combine some of Pyscho and 'Whatever happened to Baby Jane' those kind of old movies. I really was thinking, what if I could come up with something scary..... if I was a woman and was on an internet date, and the date turned out to be a serial killer.... then I got abducted... but then what if the woman turned out to be even worse than the man. Then it becomes like this crazy sister meets maniac man, meets maniac woman, meets maniac girl/woman...

-Awesome! This sounds to me like you took some old elements of Psycho and combined it with the modern day man and woman so to speak in terms of modern relationships?

(P.J) We do, a lot of people have described it as,  like Saw meets Home Alone meets Mr and Mrs Smith. It becomes this weird kind of romance during the movie.

-How long did this film take from the beginning to the end?

(Claudine) Well we had 30 days of production but at first I was very shocked, as it was very fast so we did great. We had a long period of time of development and we are completely independent, so we went from the story with P.J Pettiette to looking for financing and pre-production and post-production. This was all in 3D.We had to learn quite a lot about 3D beforehand.

-It's a very intricate process?

(Claudine) That's right. It is shot in Real 3D and by the time we decided to go 3D we were looking for 3D companies and it was not that easy to find someone who would fit the budget. We managed to eventually and we are very proud of the result 3D..... is fantastic 

-What is next for you?

(Claudine) Julia Y of course!….I am very excited about Julia Y...Courtney Rawls will have a big role we might have Ving Rhames again .....we don't know yet, as we are talking about this...

-What advice do you have for aspiring young filmmakers who are looking to go into the 3D market?

(P.J) Just do it!...

-That's short and sweet and encouraging for filmmakers to take the plunge!...

-In your opinion as an actress in the film, would you say that it is comedic, full of horror or a mix of both and romantic also?

(Courtney) I don't think it is as much horror as it is a black comedy..... a very bloody black comedy....

-What attracted you to this particular script?

(Courtney) Well, I don't know but I really liked the diversity of the characters and I liked that everyone is killing each other and punching each other in the face. However, they are so very vulnerable and they all are looking for love at the same time, so you don't know whether to laugh or cry basically.

-What are your future projects?

(Courtney) Julia Y ! Definitely and you will see how the alphabet ties into everything in the movie and I am definitely here for the sequel ...

-Do you concentrate mainly with acting or are you involved with other things also?

(Courtney) I also wear a producers hat, I have done a lot of behind the scenes with this movie as well 

Thank you for your time

Links

Blog

http://juliax3d.blogspot.com/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1533058/