There’s nothing that defines who you are more than boundaries, whether you cross them or not, in every aspect of your life, and horror is a really great boundary.
Somebody said to me, in a very well-meaning way, at a screening, “We love the movie but it’s too violent. If you tone down the violence you could reach a great audience of kids.”.
You can always go back to not making any money, and then you get the freedom. And I’m going to continue doing it, because it really is a fantastic sense of liberation.
There are times when you are in despair, because in order not to betray who you are, you don’t compromise, you don’t make movies that would be very lucrative or prestigious or easily understood. And yet I stay attached to the most uncanny premises. It’s never been easy.
I’m the freaky version of that superhero who says, wherever there is injustice, I shall be there. Whenever there is a difficult project, I’d like to be there.
I think part of making movies is dealing with restrictions of freedom and budget. I’d rather deal with restrictions of budget. It’s better to feel free within any budget.
I think once a Catholic, always a Catholic. You never escape. I still have Catholic guilt. It is in its basis a really powerful religion and a really strong set of beliefs. They permeate my work in many ways.
