Hailing from North Vancouver, twin sisters Sylvia Soska and Jen Soska are carving out their names as rule-breakers in the horror movie genre. Raised by ’80s slashers, X-Men comic books, and pro wrestling, the Soskas are among the few to represent the next generation of scary movie storytellers. Their first feature, the hilariously-titled Dead Hooker in a Trunk, was a super indie grindhouse film that got them the props of horror masters like Eli Roth. The Twisted Twins, as they call themselves, are now challenging for the belt as they prepare to unleash their first studio film, See No Evil 2, from WWE Studios and Lionsgate.
In the overwhelmingly male-dominated movie industry, it’s always exhilarating to see cool, badass women take charge to create movies and art we all can enjoy. And that’s just who the Soskas are: cool, badass women.
You two are some of the more prominent names in genre horror, especially given that you are women in an (unfortunately) male-dominated field. Have there been any obstacles you’ve faced that maybe your peers haven’t had to?
Sylvia: There is constantly, every day, from when I very first started to now, and I think it’s a lack of education about women’s roles within film. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with Alice Guy-Blaché but she was the very first director of fiction cinema. But because it’s just such a male-dominated industry, a lot of her work was connoted with her male partners. Because they were all, oh, a women couldn’t possibly do this, but she was actually the one who opened the Solax company on the east coast, the only company to rival Hollywood and she did over seven hundred films.
Whoa.
Sylvia: She was kind of a role model for me. Like, if she could do it, I could do it.
Jen: Absolutely people look at our work differently. We’re four feature films in and dozens of shorts and people are still thinking, “Oh, do you think the Soskas going to be directors?” By that definition we are working directors. Although when somebody doesn’t like our films, the review slams us and not slamming the film. They’ll go into very personal details just attacking us. It’s like being in high school.
Sylvia: But it’s nice to stir up that kind of passion in people. I read a review yesterday that said we were disgusting and that we were ruining horror. I didn’t know I had so much power. Fuck yeah!
You made a name for yourselves for making Dead Hooker in a Truck for less than three grand, and you’re frequently cited in DIY filmmaking discussions. How do you feel about being examples for aspiring film students wanting to make their art?
Jen: It’s absolutely an honor, and if it wasn’t for directors like Robert Rodriguez we weren’t be where we are today. I owe huge amounts to Jason Eisner and his Hobo With a Shotgun. We dropped out of film school and we were going to see Grindhouse over and over again, because seeing the film that you love is really the best education. And we walked out one day and I said, “So, Dead Hooker in a Trunk?” And [Syl’s] like, “Dude, what the hell is that?” I said, “That’s our movie. We’re gonna make a movie called Dead Hooker in a Trunk.” And we didn’t have any movie up until then.
Actually, Syl and I are super active. If a student approaches us — and they [usually] write, “I know you’re too busy, I’m never going to hear back from you” — we always respond to those emails because you need to take a chance. In this industry, either you sit there and wait for it to happen for you, and it may or it may not and it likely won’t, or you can take the initiative. And you need that independent fighting filmmaking spirit, even when you go up into the studio system.
Sylvia: And it’s so important to pay it forward. The reason Jen and I were able to move this forward as we did is because other people supported us. When Dead Hooker in a Trunk came out, we would send it to festivals and they would reject it on title alone. And because it was so inspired by the multi-collaborative Grindhouse, we sent the trailer to every single director involved with that. Two days later Eli Roth got back to us and he said, “This is amazing, send me the movie.” After that, he started mentioning us in interviews. All of a sudden, festivals were like, “Oh, what’s that movie you sent to us? We were really excited about playing it!”
That’s why we always seek out independent films before they’re released, and if they’re good we try to help set them up with distribution. If they’re open to it, we’ll give them notes and advice on where we find there’s some challenges where the film can be improved in ways that don’t cost money or reshoots. And we tell people about it! Because it’s the very least that we can do.
Jen: But it’s not because we’re nice people. Selfishly, we just want to see really cool movies being made.
Photo: Twisted Twins Productions on Facebook
How different was making See No Evil 2, a studio film, as opposed to your previous independent works? Did you have more freedom or more red tape?
Sylvia: It’s so funny, there is so, so much more freedom. Dead Hooker in a Trunk was INDIE, guerilla, we-should-have-been-arrested-a-hundred-times, we-were-running-from-the-cops filmmaking. American Mary was more intermediate, but it wasn’t [with] people that usually make films like that, so there was a lot of fighting and Jen and I struggled so much to get that movie made. The only reason it did was because our parents mortgaged their house. So we have them as investors.
What?!
Sylvia: I know! Thank God mom and dad didn’t lose the house! Thank God people liked the movie! [laughs] And then everybody warned us [about the studio]. The studio is going to do this and this. I have never been more supported in our bat-shit crazy ideas. It was like, all of a sudden, I have an army behind me, and not only do they want us to do a great job, they pushed us more out of our comfort zone to do stuff we haven’t done before.
Jen: And they have the creative and financial support. Independent filmmaking is always going to be in our blood. We’ll do a couple studio movies, and then we’ll do a little guerilla-style movie that’s just with our friends dicking around. But there are some things you need money to be able to accomplish. On See No Evil 2 we got to shoot the Phantom camera, and Syl being the biggest Lars von Trier fan in the world…
Sylvia: Yup!
Jen: It’s been a huge aspiration of hers to be able to shoot with the camera. And she thought that it was going to be a big battle to get the camera because it’s about ten grand a day. And the studio? [They said] “No problem. You need this camera? We’ll take care of it. It’s yours. You’ll get it in one day? Do you just need it for one day?” It was amazing.
Photo: Twisted Twins Productions on Facebook
The first See No Evil was a surprise success, and I was personally excited to see a sequel announced. What’s different the second time around? What can we expect to see? How has the film evolved?
Sylvia: Well, it almost, to me, feels that now See No Evil is almost like a prequel of the character, Jacob Goodnight. Because the killer was really his mom, and at the end of the film he kills her. And it’s very B-horror schlock. Jennifer and I are so inspired by European cinema, and we’re very arthouse. So it’s a lot of homages to the ’80s slasher films, the movies we grew up on. And we take a lot of stereotypes and turn them on their heads. But at the same time it’s a love letter. It’s so different. It’s a great jumping off point. There are so many things we did just to define him. Before he was wearing slacks and a t-shirt. You can’t cosplay that! We need to make this guy something scary, like if I woke up in the middle of the night and saw this guy standing at the foot of my bed, I would shit myself.
Jen: It was very important to reintroduce him to not only the people that already knew and were familiar with and love Jacob Goodnight, but to a whole new array of audience. That is very much why we decided to make it like a 1980’s slasher. He has his own theme music now, he has an array of weapons, and not only does he have his own [musical onomatopoeia], he’s got a full orchestra! Different pieces of his music show up when Jacob shows up, which is just so cool.
Sylvia: And a big shout-out to the Newton Brothers that composed the hell out of this movie. They’re just absolutely fantastic.
Jen: Also, you are going to love every character in the film. I hate going into a movie and being like, “Well I never caught his name, so he’s going to die,” or “Well, he’s the black guy, so he’s done,” or “That person is definitely done.” You’re going to love the characters and if any of them survive or any of them die, it’s not going to be a very obvious set-up.
Sylvia: The first fifteen minutes are a John Hughes movie, and by the time you have feelings it turns into a hardcore horror slasher.
I am far more excited for this movie now than I was just ten minutes ago.
Jen and Sylvia: [VOLCANIC ERUPTION OF LAUGHTER]
Jen: Everyone loves John Hughes and slashers.
Photo: Twisted Twins Productions on Facebook
I understand you grew up as hardcore pro wrestling fans. What was it like getting to direct the Big Red Monster himself, Kane? Please tell me he’s going to chokeslam somebody.
Sylvia: Oh my God! Okay. There is definitely a chokeslam in there, and it’s amazing because a lot of the cast are huge wrestling fans, and if they weren’t they have all started watching. Glenn is absolutely phenomenal. Jen has this great saying that we went in as Kane fans and we came out as Glenn Jacobs fans. He is such a fantastic gentleman. He is so, so cool to work with. Like, we started watching wrestling when the Kane storyline was introduced, so the fact that we got to work with him, it was ridiculous! We used to be 14-year-old girls sitting on the floor when they had the house shows coming through Vancouver and I would be screaming, “Oh my God! It’s Kane! It’s Kane!” And now if I want to talk to Kane, I just text him. And he’s just like, “Hey, what’s up Sylvia?”
Jen: It was incredible. Karma, instantly, for the two girls who were bullied and beaten up in high school, now all our friends are professional wrestlers. It’s incredible.
Photo: Twisted Twins Productions on Facebook
As die-hard horror fans, what is it about the genre that allows your imaginations to run wild that other genres do not?
Jen: I really attribute it to my parents who never discouraged me from the things that I loved. I didn’t think it was weird to like horror. I guess we all grew up like Addams children, playing with spiders and not like little tiny ones, but tarantulas. We just absolutely love it. There’s so much fun in horror, and you really see that when you go to the conventions and festivals, because there aren’t any romantic comedy conventions. There aren’t even any Oscar film conventions. People who love horror just wear it on their sleeve, and they’re so passionate and so nice. And it’s a cheap thrill! And psychologically, you come as close to dying and face your fears in a safe environment and come out laughing on the other side.
Sylvia: And it’s such a fun way to tell a story. You can have such highly political messages, you can make commentaries on everything. You have one foot in reality, one foot in the fantastical, and you can tackle almost anything. And you could do so much more with it because you’re not being preached at. You’re watching people being fucking murdered! It’s a thrill.
From WWE Studios and Lionsgate, See No Evil 2 is available now on Digital HD and VOD and on Blu-ray October 21!
You can keep up with the Soskas through their official website, Twisted Twins.
Check out my interview with the star of See No Evil 2, WWE superstar Kane!