By Lori McKay - The Weekly News
'I'm not a horror fan, but I am a film fan," claims Dartmouth's Kimberlee McTaggart, co-owner of Sorcery Films. "I've grown to appreciate horror."
McTaggart, along with her partner Donna Davies of Halifax, are behind a new documentary that takes an in-depth look at the role of women in the horror genre. Pretty Bloody: The Women of Horror, made its TV debut Feb. 25 on Space.
From Vampira of the 1950s to the "scream queens" of the 1980s, women have always had an integral part in horror films.
The 60-minute documentary looks at women in all areas of horror, from writing it, to acting in it, to directing it.
"We hope the film will dispel some of the myths surrounding women and horror," said Davies. "Women have actually had a huge influence on the genre, and not just as the helpless victim running from the monster..."
McTaggart, whose role is on the producing side, with Davis doing most of the directing, said they met "some really great women working on this project."
Among them are well-known horror actress Debbie Rochon, director Mary Lambert (Pet Semetary), screenwriter Karen Walton (Ginger Snaps), and Jovanka Vuckovic, the Toronto-based editor of Rue Morgue Magazine.
Making a low-budget documentary is always a challenge, but McTaggart said they pitched it to Space, and it was an easy sell. "It took one quick call and they said 'yeah, OK.'"
She said they came up with the idea of women in horror after their first documentary, Zombiemania.
"This has actually attracted more attention than our zombies," said McTaggart. "Horror fans are huge, hard-core fans. I noticed how much of a club it is. All over North America they all know each other and what they're all doing. It's a tight-knit community and I know you wouldn't find that in any other genre."
She noted the popularity of recent horror films Saw and Friday the 13th.
"That's the thing about horror, you can put out only $8 million to make a movie with no big stars in it and nobody cares. It'll easily make all its money back."
Women are also the people filling the seats at the theatres, too.
"Times have changed - there are a lot more female horror fans these days," said Davies. "Women are making up a large percentage of audience for these films. Female fans want to see well-developed story lines with strong female leads that kick butt."
During her research, McTaggart said she watched a lot of horror films, and even though she's still not a huge fan, she's come across some she really enjoyed.
"France is doing some interesting female-centric stuff. And I?thought Cabin Fever was really well done. It was one of those films that was gory and scary and all that, but it had a 'fun' element, too."
She said Rue Morgue Magazine was helpful in sourcing subjects for the film and she has a great respect for what they do.
"The magazine has a thoughtful, intellectual approach to the subject. It's not what you'd think."
Filmed in Montreal, Toronto, Los Angeles and New York, Pretty Bloody was a year and a half in the making.
In addition to this documentary, Sorcery Films will unveil its contribution to Supernatural Investigator, a new documentary anthology series from Vision TV, on March 3. Additional Sorcery-produced episodes will air March 25 and May 12.
McTaggart claims she is the skeptic between her and her business partner. "Donna is a big follower of the paranormal," she said. "And the Maritimes are a hot-bed of paranormal stuff."
Davies and McTaggart, who only joined forces in 2006, also made a recent deal with U.S. entertainment company Starz to air and distribute their documentary Zombiemania (which will also air on Space on March 11 at 11 p.m.).
McTaggart lives in the Sullivan's Pond area of Dartmouth with her husband and two daughters. In 1996, she created her own editing company and has worked on shows such as Lexx, Made in Canada and This Hour has 22 Minutes.
lmckay@hfxnews.ca
Visit sorceryfilms.com for updated air dates.
