An American Satan is produced by Garriga and Carles Torras and is co-produced by Diego Rodriguez and Alf Wahlgren, With the support of ICEC (Generalitat de Catalunya) and the collaboration of Glass Eye PIx and Twelve Oaks Pictures.
An American Satan is Garriga’s third documentary feature after American Jesus (2013), an exploration of the fringes of American Christianity, and Introspective (2007), a documentary about the post-rock scene of the ’90s.
Founded in 1966 in California by Anton Szandor LaVey, the Church of Satan has often been surrounded by mysteries, scandals, and moral panics. Some of today’s active members of the church and other free-styled Satanists will share their views, memories, ritual practices, and personal stories about how they got involved with Satanism, discussing the false myths that still surround the movement.
Directed by Garriga who co-wrote the project along with Xavi Prat, the documentary features Peter H. Gilmore, Blanche Barton, Adam Cardone, Diabolus Rex, Zoth Ommogh, Neil Smith, Karen Millman, David Harris, Heather Harris, Dr. Robert Johnson, Peggy Nadramia, Ruth Waytz, Boyd Rice, Steven Johnson Leyba, Stanton Lavey, M.A. Mandrake, Aden Ardennes, Raul Antony, Milton C. Cruver, and Darren Deicide.
Wendigo*, Bitter Feast, The Trouble With Dad, Riding Shotgun, The Ranger, Depraved, Like Me, The Last Winer, Foxhole, Fever, Creepy Christmas shorts Crafty, Wild Ride; Presence; music videos for Mark Donato, Life in a Blender, Unwanted Houseguest, Birdthrower; prop shop for I Sell The Dead and Stake Land, to name just some of the motion picture projects shot and developed at Glass Eye Pix North in Upstate New York. Also has served as makeshift recording hub for albums by The Strangers, Holiday, and Still Rusty (!)…
Now, a private company in California wants to seize local land and build a hydro-electric power plant a half mile from GEP North. Write a letter in protest if you want to help stop the Dam!
Glass Eye fans know that we are radically pro green energy here, but flooding a pristine forest preserve is not the answer to energy woes. Visit the newly minted websiteSaveCatskillsPreserve.org to learn why the project is ill-conceived, and take a moment to write a letter to FERC. Sample letters and simple instructions are all available at the site. Comments from folks far and wide are acceptable, so you can make a difference wherever you are!
Remember, we can’t make these damn no-budget movies without a backyard and a barn!
* Careful viewers who know the themes of Fessenden’s Wendigo will appreciate the irony that this is happening again to the same upstate community that had taken land from the Native Americans, only to have their own towns eradicated for New York’s City’s reservoir, now the site of this new eminent domain struggle.
From Fessenden: I am pleased to present a trilogy of magical movies by a filmmaker who needs no introduction to GEP fans: Beck Underwood (animator, music videologist, production designer, graphic designer, curator, publisher, et al)
From Underwood: My only formal training in stop motion was in a class at SVA, taught by old school animator John Gati. I modified a porcelain doll into my first animation puppet. The resulting film, That Creepy Old Doll was completed in 1998 and shot on 16mm film. This short travelled to festivals around the world.
The second time I brought that same puppet out was 18 years and many stop motion projects later, in 2016. I had just finished a very complicated production for a corporate client. I was ready to make something to cleanse my palate – something unplanned and improvisational. Enchanted by the atmosphere of a friend’s decrepit barn, I dusted off my old doll puppet and conjured up An Exquisite Task. Devised without a script and shot over a period of a few days, the piece ended up reflecting emotions I had about my own empty nest and the letting go of a recently deceased parent.
I love to travel and often set out on my adventures solo. Loathe to think of myself as a tourist, I often decide to make a film, so I’m really working, not vacationing! These short projects afford me a chance to engage with unfamiliar surroundings and collaborate with folks I meet along the way.
In 2018, I decided to create something to capture the street sounds and sights of San Miguel De Allende. Souvenirbecame that movie, and again, I worked with my old friend, the fragile porcelain doll puppet, now over 20 years old. She broke an arm during this production, but stood up otherwise. Walking into an auto repair shop and having the mechanic help me repair her arm was just one of the wonderful encounters I had making this short. That creepy old doll swept her way into the hearts of everyone she met.
On the threshold of another production, as I think about my cast, I wonder will I bring this old doll out of retirement, again. At this point, I think I have to admit she’s become a muse. This time she will play a character inspired by the detectives born in the minds of great mystery writers like Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle. Her fragility and wisdom could be just what the role calls for. We shall see…
Not Your Average Monster Movies: Exploring the Many Monsters of Larry Fessenden
Sometimes, a monster is just a monster. More often than not, however, the horror genre has a habit of using terrifying creatures to explore all sorts of social, political and even psychological concepts. Over the years, ghouls, ghosts and ferocious beasts have represented everything from grief to fear of the unknown, adding substance to the age-old scares that afflict us. More recently, there’s one underrated filmmaker who’s made a career out of repurposing and resignifying classic monsters in order to tell surprisingly human stories, and his name is Larry Fessenden.
News-Block has a strange article celebrating Fessenden’s love of monsters that seems to have been translated from another language with malaprops such as calling Until Dawn “Until Sunrise” and Beneath “Under” and No Telling “Do Not Say” Still, weird press is still press!
Not Your Average Monster Movies: Exploring Larry Fessenden’s Many Monsters
by Gail Maddox
Sometimes a monster is just a monster. However, most of the time, the horror genre has a habit of using terrifying creatures to explore all kinds of social, political and even psychological concepts. Over the years, ghouls, ghosts, and ferocious beasts have represented everything from pain to fear of the unknown, adding substance to the ancient scares that afflict us. More recently, there’s an underrated filmmaker who’s made a career out of repurposing and re-signifying classic monsters to tell startlingly human stories, and his name is Larry Fessenden.
Bloody Disgusting has the skinny:Fresh from its SXSW premiere, the animated fantasy-horror movie The Spine of Night has been acquired for U.S. release by RLJE Films and Shudder. Written and directed by Philip Gelatt and Morgan Galen King, the animated film stars Richard E. Grant, Lucy Lawless, Patton Oswalt, Betty Gabriel and Joe Manganiello. Abby Savage, Larry Fessenden and Rob McClure also star.
Glass Eye Pix is the fierce independent NYC-based production outfit headed by award-winning art-horror auteur Larry Fessenden with the mission of supporting individual voices in the arts. Read more...
