Born and raised in Montreal, Maude Michaud has been involved in
various artistic activities – including music, theatre, dance, writing,
and photography – for most of her life. When she was 14, upon spending a
summer watching
Reservoir Dogs and other indie hits from the ‘90s, Maude decided that she wanted to become a filmmaker.
She produced, wrote, directed and acted in her first short film,
Finding Hope,
which was screened as part of the official selection of the
International Teen Movie Festival in Toronto. The following year, she
directed her first horror short,
Spirits, which
screened at the same festival. She then enrolled in the Communication
Studies undergraduate program at Concordia University where she got a
hands-on training in film and video. She is currently directing her
first feature length documentary on women and horror films as part of
her master thesis in the Media Studies program at Concordia University.
Over the years, she independently wrote, directed and produced over
15 short films and video projects. In addition to the aforementioned
film festival, her films also screened as part of the Young Cuts
Festival (Montreal & Toronto), the Wreck-Beach Film Festival
(Barrie, Ontario), the Short Film Corner during the Cannes Film Festival
(Cannes, France), and the Montreal Fetish Film Festival. In 2004, she
was a finalist for the Jeunes Cinéastes (young filmmakers) contest for
which one of her films won the best original music award.
Even though she is a huge horror fan, she loves to explore a variety
of genres in the films she directs, which results in an eclectic body of
work including: horror dramas, slightly surreal quirky tales, and
explorations of unconventional relationships. She also works as a
photographer and, occasionally, as a director of photography.
Fatally Yours: How did you fall in love with the horror genre?
Maude Michaud: My love for the horror genre began
when I was a kid. I don’t know why, but I was always attracted to dark
and creepy stories, so I never missed an episode of the show
Are You Afraid of the Dark? and was an avid reader of the
Goosebumps
series (and any other similar books). Contrary to most kids my age, I
was not scared by the content, I wanted more! Then, one afternoon, I
watched
Poltergeist III on cable TV (I think I was 9 at
the time) and this marked the true beginning of my long love story with
the horror genre! I started watching every single horror films I could
get my hands on and I became totally hooked on the genre!
Fatally Yours: What does “horror” mean to you?
Maude Michaud: I find that “horror” means different
things at different moments in my life. It used to be about confronting
my fears and getting an adrenaline rush or about making me uncomfortable
and testing the limits of what I was able to watch. Right now, I feel
true horror is all about pushing psychological boundaries and giving in
to our deepest, darkest urges. We all have really sick ideas crossing
our minds at some point or another, so I ask myself: what if we followed
up on these ideas? To me this is truly horrific because there are no
limits to the human psyche and how sick or twisted someone can be. If
you can think it, then most likely other people are also thinking the
same thing (or worse) and maybe even doing it! It takes you away from
fiction because it has the potential to be real. I find this kind of
horror that slowly creeps up on you much more effective than formulaic
films that look like they’re made to show off special f/x! Of course I
do enjoy almost all subgenres of horror, but in order to be truly
bothered or horrified there need to be a twisted psychological or human
nature element involved.
Fatally Yours: How and when did you become involved in the horror industry?
Maude Michaud: When I turned 16, I decided I wanted
to become a filmmaker, so I wrote and directed my first short film using
my father’s handycam. It was a really lame ghost story shot with no
budget and no special f/x in my parents’ house with friends acting in
it. I loved the experience, but realized that if I really wanted to make
a good horror film, I’d have to get more varied filmmaking experience. I
went to film school and kept making short films projects on the side,
but I couldn’t find any like-minded people who loved the genre enough to
work on projects with me. As a result, I put my horror ideas on the
back burner and started experimenting with other genres. Then,
fast-forward to a couple of years later, I decided to rework one of
these ideas and made
Recessed with the help of my
friend and longtime collaborator Sandra Lombardi. The end result
rekindled my love for the genre and convinced me I was finally ready to
try my hand at horror again! Since then, I’ve continued to experiment
with the genre and tried to contribute as much as I can to
horror-related events by getting my films screened and collaborating on
various projects.
Fatally Yours: I’ve had the pleasure to see two of your short films, Snuff and Recessed,
and was impressed by how much you accomplished and conveyed through
mood and atmosphere (both shorts had none to very little dialogue). What
inspired the creepy, dark stories of both films and what draws you to
the darker side of life in general?
Maude Michaud: I do like to keep the dialogue to a
minimum in my projects. One of my film teachers used to say: “Remember
the basic rule of filmmaking: show, don’t tell. Cinema is a visual
medium.” It influenced my way of thinking about films, so whenever I
think of a story, I focus on how the story unfolds visually first, then
worry about what needs to be said (or not) after.
In the case of
Snuff, I was inspired by the medium
itself (8mm black and white film) and the urban legends surrounding the
idea of snuff films; I thought it would be interesting to use this
specific type of film stock to create a fake ‘snuff’ film – with a twist
at the end! The inspiration behind
Recessed is a tad
more complex. At the time, I was really into Japanese ghost films,
especially how they use everyday moments and domestic spaces as a menace
for the characters, so that inspired some of the creepy parts of the
film. I also really like the idea of telling the story from the madman’s
perspective and exploring the human psyche, which is what
Recessed
essentially is. I just love to leave things open-ended and let the
audience decide how they want to interpret what it all means. Don’t get
me wrong, I do have an explanation for what happens in
Recessed,
but I much prefer to know what people make of it as I’ve heard so many
different interesting theories! I guess I could sum up by saying that
many things draw me to the darker side of life, but there seem to be
recurring patterns such as the uncanny, the darker side of the human
psyche, and playing with people’s expectations.
Fatally Yours: Can you tell us about your upcoming films Hollywood Skin (selected as part of the Viscera Film Festival) and your documentary about women in horror?
Maude Michaud: Of course! I made
Hollywood Skin for an anthology project helmed by director Lis Fies and titled
I Hate L.A.
(as the title suggests, the different segments have to deal with a
negative aspect of life in L.A.). Inspired by my previous short film
Reflection (which is a segment of the
Frankenstein Unlimited
anthology) in which the main character is the one inflicting the horror
upon herself, I decided to follow a similar line of thought with
Hollywood Skin.
It’s a very introspective story centered on the main character’s
descent into madness as she becomes so obsessed with her body image that
she sees only one solution: self plastic surgery.
As for the documentary project (which will also serve as my master’s
thesis project), I started it because I felt that women in horror were
underrepresented (if not completely absent) from academic literature and
mainstream media. As a woman who loves horror, I felt conflicted
reading feminist critiques of the genre; was it possible to call oneself
a feminist AND love horror films? I got started researching women
actively working in the horror industry and started interviewing them to
get their thoughts on the genre, their opinions of feminist critique,
and how (if) they try to change the genre through their work. As I keep
meeting more and more female filmmakers, writers, journalists, etc, the
project keeps increasing, so I’m starting to seriously reconsider the
scope of the documentary! I can say it is slowly transforming into a
series of shorter documentary segments that will allow me to cover a
wider variety of topics! I’m aiming to release the first segment this
summer, but in the meantime you can visit the temporary website (
http://www.bloodybreasts-documentary.tk/) to get more information!
Fatally Yours: Many (though not all) horror films feature
violence that’s explicitly shown against women. Why do you think
violence against women has usually been shown more explicitly than
violence against men?
Maude Michaud: I think a lot of it has to do with
stereotypes that are the backbone of cinema: men are often represented
as being the heroes while women are typically the ones needing to be
rescued. Horror films do play with these stereotypes by usually killing
off characters regardless of their gender and by offering women the
heroic role of the ‘final girl’. However, it is true that even though
men get killed almost as often as women do, the scenes depicting the
murder of female characters are usually longer and more explicit that
those of the men characters. I don’t know why that is. I think there are
a lot of societal taboos associated with the representation of violence
against men; if we look at the news, we tend to see way more stories of
graphic and brutal violence against women, while stories in which men
are victims are usually only briefly mentioned. I don’t know why, maybe
it makes people uncomfortable, maybe it shows a certain weakness that
screws up with the stereotypes of the male’s heroic untouchable
strength, or maybe it’s just easier to represent a cat-and-mouse game
between the killer and female victims. Hopefully things are changing now
as we start having more male victims (with graphic murder scenes) and
seeing interesting reversals in terms of gender roles within horror.
Fatally Yours: In reference to the previous question, Dario Argento once said, “I
like women, especially beautiful ones. If they have a good face and
figure, I would much prefer to watch them being murdered than an ugly
girl or man.” Alfred Hitchcock elaborated by saying, “I always
believe in following the advice of the playwright Sardou. He said,
‘Torture the women!’ The trouble today is that we don’t torture enough.” What is your reaction when reading those quotes?
Maude Michaud: Wow, I think I could write a whole
essay on this weighting the pros and cons! I’d say my initial gut
reaction is that I feel very conflicted; part of me agrees with the
quotes and understands what Argento and Hitchcock mean from a director’s
point of view, while the other part of me feels like strongly reacting
to the quotes because it just furthers the stereotypes of female as
victims. Either way, I think they illustrate very well one of the
driving force behind slasher films and I think it would be interesting
to shake things up a bit by subverting these ideas and seeing if people
react differently to them.
Fatally Yours: Why do you think sex and violence are so
intertwined in the horror genre? How often would you say that nudity and
sex scenes are actually relevant to the story in a horror film?
Maude Michaud: The first thing that comes to mind is
Freud’s notion of the two basic conflicting human desires: eros (the
life/sex drive) and thanatos (the death drive). Also, there’s a very
fine line between sex and violence; sex itself can be very violent…
There is also this whole idea of struggle for power over another person,
both in sex and in violence, which is something horror films represent
very well.
In French there is this expression “la petite mort” (the little
death) that is a metaphor for orgasm; I think that is an interesting
juxtaposition of the two ideas. This might be why it is so easy to
intertwine them in horror films… As far as how often nudity or sex
scenes are relevant, I tend to say it depends on many factors such as
the story, how the scene is shot, etc. I’ve seen as many relevant sex
scenes as I’ve seen unnecessary gratuitous nudity, so I think it would
be fair to say that it’s a good half and half.
Fatally Yours: How do you respond to people that believe that
horror films can only be enjoyed by males or that feminists can’t
possibly enjoy horror films?
Maude Michaud: I don’t agree with this because I
think horror can be empowering for women; there are so many great roles
for women within horror that consist in way more than being the victim…
People tend to take horror too seriously or think of it in a way that
is a bit too literal…
I think the main problem is that when we say the word ‘horror’,
people automatically think of slasher films even though there are many
other subgenres of horror! A lot of people also see horror as a
misogynist genre because of its representation of women, which I think
is a shame because I can think of other genres that are way more
demeaning! Romantic comedies for example! (laughs) If we stop and think
about it, defeating a psycho killer is way more empowering than finding
the perfect pair of shoes or the perfect boyfriend, no?
Fatally Yours: Though the horror genre has primarily been a
“boy’s club”, it seems that more and more women filmmakers are getting
behind the genre. What is your personal opinion on why there are less
female filmmakers than males?
Maude Michaud: I think some women might be
intimidated by the idea of the horror genre as being a “boy’s club” and
as a result, do not dare to try it or do not know where to start. I
think it’s a shame because this kind of thought helps maintain the
status quo instead of allowing new voices to be heard.
That’s why I have one thing I’d like to say to women who would like
to make a horror film: “Go, pick up a camera and start shooting. Dare to
try. Tell your story like YOU want to tell it.” At first, I had trouble
finding people to work on my projects, so I went ahead and did (almost)
everything on my own. Then I started networking, meeting like-minded
people and it just went from there.
I feel like the horror genre is at a turning point where it needs new
voices and new kinds of stories to evolve. Wouldn’t it be great if
female filmmakers end up being the catalyst for change?
Fatally
Yours: Have you noticed any new trends in the horror genre that empower
women? If so, what are they and do you think they will change the way
horror films are viewed?
Maude Michaud: In the last 10 years or so, there has
been more stories that focus on women’s experiences and are told from
their points of view, which I think is a refreshing change.
Ginger Snaps and
Grace
are my two favorite examples as they both deal with very
female-centric, horrific situations in a way that is different from how
similar subject matters were represented in the past (by taking a male
perspective).
Another interesting trend is the subversion of audience’s expectations. The segment with Anna Paquin in
Trick R Treat
is a great example of that (I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen
it!). I don’t know if these trends are going to significantly change
the way horror films are viewed, but I certainly feel empowered by them
and it just makes me want to contribute even more to their evolution
through my work!
Fatally Yours: Have you faced any challenges in the film industry because of your gender?
Maude Michaud: Apart from macho comments from
classmates and the constant need to tell people I wasn’t interested in
directing romantic comedies or chick flick (the genre people
automatically assume you want to work in when you’re a woman), I can’t
really say I faced any challenges because of my gender. Well, maybe a
bit at first as I wasn’t always taken seriously when I said I wanted to
direct horror films, but it stopped when I showed people what I can do
and proved that I was serious about it.
Fatally Yours: What women in horror do you admire?
Maude Michaud: There are so many! The first one that
comes to mind is Kathryn Bigelow because she devoted her career to
genres that are traditionally considered as “boy’s clubs” so kudos to
her for that. Also, Mary Harron for her version of
American Psycho, Karen Walton for writing the wonderful
Ginger Snaps,
fellow Montreal filmmaker Izabel Grondin who always has crazy and
wicked ideas, and Marina de Van, director of the French film
In My Skin
which is one of the most disturbing (and one of my favorite!) horror
films. Of course, I also have to add Maila Nurmi (Vampira), Barbara
Steel, and Elvira on the actress side of things. I’m sure I’m forgetting
tons of others, but those are the first ones that come to mind.
Fatally Yours: What are your thoughts on the modern horror climate?
Maude Michaud: As I quickly mentioned earlier, I
feel that things are changing. It seems that the horror genre is at a
point where it needs a good rejuvenation and I think that is why we see
more films that are genre cross-over or throwbacks to older, lesser
known films. I think it’s a good thing as injecting new blood into the
genre will only make it stronger!
Fatally Yours: If you could direct one woman, living or dead, who would it be and why?
Maude Michaud: That is a really hard question; it’s
nearly impossible for me to pick just one, but I promise I’ll keep the
list short! First I’d say Tura Santana as I’ve had the chance to attend
a Q and A where she was the guest and she has a kick-ass personality
which I’m sure would make working with her super fun! I’m also a huge
Rose McGowan fan, so I would definitely love to direct her in one of my
films. In terms of Canadian actresses, I have a few that I’d really love
to approach one day to work with, mainly Katherine Isabelle and Mia
Kirshner. Lastly, I also need to include Melanie Laurent because her
performance in
Inglourious Basterds completely blew me away.
Fatally Yours: What inspires, influences and motivates you?
Maude Michaud: I’m very influenced by psychology and
perception! I love Freudian theories and I think a lot of them are fun
to incorporate in horror stories. I also have a fondness for insanity
and unstable characters, for telling the story from the
madman/madwoman’s perspective… I read a lot of psychology books about
personality disorders and I find them inspiring for characters! And of
course, I love to play with people’s expectations by twisting the story
in different ways and taking the unexpected route.
Fatally Yours: Do you have any upcoming projects you can discuss with us?
Maude Michaud: Of course! In addition to finishing
my documentary and promoting my short films, I’m also finishing the
script of my first feature film, which is definitely an upcoming project
as production will start later this year if everything goes as planned.
I’m also working on a DVD compilation of some of my short films that
I’ll independently distribute through my website later in the spring.
Fatally Yours: Where can people find more info on you and your films?
Maude Michaud: I’m currently building a website for
my production company, Quirk Films, but in the meantime people can find
basic information about my films on my main website
http://maudemichaud.com as well as my blog
http://maudemichaud.blogspot.com,
which is where I post upcoming screenings, events, news, etc. I’ll make
an announcement on the blog as soon as the Quirk website is up and
running, but until then I hope you’ll stop by and drop me a line!
