Sawa Suicide explains why SuicideGirls Must Die!

I am fairly positive that every single horndog of a man has heard of the ever-so-popular website SuicideGirls, an internet domain that features softcore pin-up photographs and profiles of young women whose style echoes that of Bettie Page with the cutting edge goth punk prowess of today.

What many people might not realize is that a lot of these women are connoisseurs of the horror genre. It should come as no suprise that a group of these hotties have made a film called SuicideGirls Must Die! When the assignment came across my desk to interview Sawa Suicide, the director of the film, I jumped in with two feet and found myself talking to a woman who is as much brains as she is beauty.

Jason Bene: How did the concept of “the first reality horror movie” come about?

Sawa Suicide: Basically, we are big fans of horror, especially the 80′s campy horror. We wanted to pay some sort of homage to them and make our own horror movie, but knowing that we’re not scriptwriters and that the girls aren’t actors, we decided after brewing on it for a while, that we needed to create some sort of a reality horror situation where we just bring them out and we trick them. We make them think that they’re shooting their calendar and it’s going to be beautiful, but we really scare them and they react to that because that was the only way to really go about it.

Jason Bene: Did the unscripted nature of the film lead into any problems during production, or did it help the SuicideGirls, who are non-actors, get comfortable with the film’s set-up?

Sawa Suicide: We were constantly having to revise everything. The girls would react completely different then what you would anticipate, so you kind of have to roll with the punches. The fact that it was unscripted did keep us on our toes during production, because our idea of what the story was going to be would change day to day.

Jason Bene: Which girls were chosen for the film and why?

Sawa Suicide: There were twelve calendar girls, a make-up girl and a photographer. We wanted an interesting variety of people; we knew some of the girls were horror fans. We wanted someone to be innocent, some of them would be dramatic and overreact and freak out. We kind of wanted to have all of those elements. Just from working with the girls over the years or having them do public appearances at conventions we got to know their personalities, we chose them based on that. Or just by reading their blogs and knowing the things they were interested in.

Jason Bene: One of the producers on the film, Jeremy Kasten, is also the editor. He has a history with the SuicideGirls having directed a few of them in the remake The Wizard of Gore. How was it having him on the team?

Sawa Suicide: We came back with thousands of hours of footage because we had my camera going all of the time and we had tons of hidden cameras. All of the girls had their own camera going. We came back with so much footage that we needed someone with a good appreciation of horror and the SuicideGirls like Jeremy. He was in an immediate position to edit down all of the footage.

Jason Bene: The SuicideGirls website is known for its ‘Mr. Skin’ elements. How much of that will be seen in the movie?

Sawa Suicide: There’s definitely nudity, but it’s pretty much just boobs. It’s the typical 80′s campy horror where you get your boobage and your blood and all of the other drama that comes along with it.

Jason Bene: How long was the production and when did First Look Studios get involved?

Sawa Suicide: It was a ten day shoot and we were in post-production for over a year. First Look Studios came on after that.

Jason Bene: Is it true that one of your favorite horror films is Peter Jackson’s Dead-Alive?

Sawa Suicide: Oh my God, I love Dead-Alive! The first film to freak me out beyond belief was The Exorcist, but Dead-Alive is one of my favorite all-time movies; and The Evil Dead series. The Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 are absolutely brilliant. The amount of terror, tension, and drama they build with this one guy in that room in The Evil Dead was amazing.

Jason Bene: Those movies are very gory, how gory does SuicideGirls Must Die! get?

Sawa Suicide: It’s not very gory. It’s more like the anticipation of what’s going to happen. My favorite parts of horror movies are the build up and the tension before you see Freddy Krueger or before you see Jason [Voorhees]. Who is going to jump out at me behind the tree? We tried to really build on the tension moments. It needed to be more psychological. There is some blood, but it’s not a super gory movie.

Jason Bene: You appear as yourself in an episode of CSI: NY. Was it daunting to jump into the director’s chair for this film?

Sawa Suicide: It’s natural for me to hold a camera and tell the girls what to do. Luckily, since I have done a lot of stuff with the SuicideGirls they trust me because I’ve already worked with them. I’ve already earned their trust and I have already worked with them, and when it came to the calendar shoot they were able to trust me and believe me. I shoot for the site as well, so it was natural for me to direct the girls. The story was something all of us critiqued together, so I was there to direct the girls in the right direction. I come from a film background. I work in the film industry by trade.

Jason Bene: What kind of education do you have in film?

Sawa Suicide: I went to photo school, but I got in as a camera intern and kind of worked my way up through the camera department. Luckily, I worked with a lot of good directors and cinematographers. I didn’t go to film school. Maybe that’s a great thing to do, but I have a lot of friends who went to film school who are interns on my team now. No matter what you do you still have to start at the bottom, so I just got straight in and started working and learned the trade that way. Those on-set experiences are invaluable to anything you will learn in a book.

Jason Bene: Do we get to see you in front of the camera in the movie?

Sawa Suicide: You see me because I’m operating the camera but other girls have cameras, so you’ll see me holding my camera. There’s certain points where I put the camera down and have some fun with the girls. There’s some stuff that happens at the end where I’m in it, but it’s kind of a suprise. You have to stay tuned because at the end the shit hits the fan and it goes down for everyone.

Jason Bene: Is there a possibility of seeing a sequel?

Sawa Suicide: Never say never, but it would be hard to trick the girls again because they know what happened. If we take them to a scary forest and tell them we are shooting a calendar again, they’re gonna be like we know what’s really going on here. We’d have to figure out a new approach.

Jason Bene: For fans who haven’t seen it, what are they in for?

Sawa Suicide: It’s girl’s real reaction to being placed in a terrifying situation that’s the ultimate prank. It’s funny, it’s sexy, it’s scary, and it’s an overall fun, fun, fun ride.

Jason Bene: Were you inspired by other handheld camera approach films like My Little Eye and The Blair Witch Project? Or did you stay away from those movies and just do your own thing?

Sawa Suicide: Honestly, it was more inspirational because it captured people’s real reactions and the psychological aspects of The Game. Blair Witch was obviously the first reality type thing, but it wasn’t real. This was actually filming the girl’s real reactions to being put in stressful and terrifying situations.

Jason Bene: What are your thoughts on the current horror films that are out? Do you think they are missing something besides a little originality?

Sawa Suicide: It’s dependant on who you’re talking about. I really liked Drag Me To Hell, because I thought it had all of those different elements of humor. I’m the type of horror fan that likes to be startled, and I thought it had that as well as the gore. There are some that are over the top cheesy, but you just have to find your specific director.

Jason Bene: I thought it was a great movie as well. I’m not sure if it was the PG-13 rating that made fans think it wasn’t going to be a good movie.

Sawa Suicide: I think so too. It doesn’t need to necessarily have a ton of gore. You can take things to the extremes and have all of the blood and guts. I loved the movie Let The Right One. That was so well done because it was a vampire movie without being gory. It told this love story. It was just a great new take on an old sub-genre of horror movies.

SuicideGirls Must Die! hits DVD on June 29 from First Look Studios.