Can you feel it? That ominous chill in the air?
No, my friends, I’m not talking about the creeping fear of winter heating bills – it’s time for Damnationland! The all Maine-made horror/dark fiction short film anthology is coming back just in time for spooky Halloween fun, with this year’s 13th annual showcase of Pine State terrors premiering on Friday, Oct. 13, at Portland’s State Theatre.
Oh wait, Friday the 13th? For the 13th Damnationland? Yeah, this is gonna be a good one.
In preparation for this year’s annual showcase of some of Maine’s best and most ghoulish filmmaking minds, I paid a visit to the filmmaking team of Rebecca and Emily Myshrall. The debut short film of these Windham native siblings, “Sweet Meats” will take its place alongside shorts by fellow Maine filmmakers Taylor “TJ” Hunter, Hannah Perry-Shepherd, Anthony Wheeler, Josie Colt, Caulin Morrison and Joanna Clarke. And, from what the Myshrall sisters explained during our time together, audiences should be prepared for something truly wild, scary and thought-provoking.
“It all started with this image – but I can’t tell you what it is without ruining our film,” explained Rebecca Myshrall, who’s directing “Sweet Meats,” while sister Emily is producing. Asked what they could tease viewers with about their first-ever film collaboration, Emily said that, once Rebecca came to her with that (striking but redacted) image, the two sisters collaborated to bring a truly unique and unnerving scenario to life.
“The movie takes place in an alternative universe,” said Rebecca. “It’s a matriarchy, where men are treated significantly worse, and throughout the film, you get little glimpses of that through this neighborhood.” Including, as Emily chimed in, that particular inciting image, which is, she adds ominously, “something that is acceptable there.”
It’s a heck of a pitch, one drawing on the sisters’ long-standing love of horror films, and their intimate familiarity with Damnationland’s world of high-concept, quick-hit horrors. Both have worked on various Damnationland shorts going back to 2016’s standout sci-fi spoof “Killer Spacemen from Outer Planet X,” made by another sibling team, Thomas and Peter Campbell. “This year, (Damnationland co-producer) Mackenzie Bartlett asked if we could come up with an idea for our own film,” said Emily. “That’s when Rebecca came up with that image in her head and we said, ‘Let’s go!’ ”
And go the Myshralls have, with other Damnationland producer Allen Baldwin telling me (with admiration) in preparation for a story about “Sweet Meats,” that what the sisters have come up with is very, very messed up – but, you know, in a great way.
“We’ve been obsessed with horror movies our whole lives,” said Rebecca. “I’m younger, so it took me a while, but I remember that (2007 creepy ventriloquist dummy flick) ‘Dead Silence’ was the first one I forced myself to keep my eyes open all the way through. From then, I got addicted to the thrill.” Emily added that their dad got in on the horror action, too, noting, “He’d say, ‘Emily, look at this weird Japanese horror movie about hair!’, and we’d be all-in.” (Just guessing, but that sounds like Sion Sono’s 2007 evil hair extensions movie “Exte.”)
As for what the sisters want viewers to take away from their eerie and disturbing tale of alternate realities and sexual role reversal, Rebecca noted, “Essentially I wanted to make something I wanted to watch. In horror, there are a lot of clichés, regular patterns. We wanted to avoid that, and create suspense equal to the reveals.” Emily added that the two sisters, both former students of Maine movie fixture Corey Norman at Southern Maine Community College, “are specifically big fans of humor in comedy. Not just straight-up shocking or scary, but as with favorites of ours like ‘Re-Animator’ or ‘The Evil Dead,’ something that plays between comedy and horror.”
A scene from “Sweet Meats,” a horror short playing at Damnationland. Photo courtesy of Rebecca Myshrall
Make that very dark comedy, as Rebecca explains that “Sweet Meats,” in its brisk but densely atmospheric 12 minutes, delves into some serious depths concerning gender and horror. “I’ve always been fascinated in the differences between men and women and how they’re represented. I wanted to play with that, to highlight the misunderstandings and the inconsistencies. I imagine everything I write will involve that somehow.”
The Myshralls insist that their movie, despite its intense and challenging subject matter, was a delight to shoot, thanks to a cast and crew made up of like-minded and enthusiastic Maine movie folk. “It was awesome,” enthused Rebecca. “Everyone was so communicative, and we worked really hard to maintain a safe and comfortable working situation for everybody.” Indeed, as “Sweet Meats” “dips into big sexual territory,” according to Emily, the sisters employed an intimacy coordinator to ensure that their actors’ best interests were always at the forefront.
It’s an ambitious project, just the sort of inventive and daring Maine-made movie Damnationland has attracted, with increasing reach and vision, in its 13 years of existence. The Myshralls promise a plethora of eye-opening practical effects (thanks to local VFX whizzes Maisie Biswell and Lane Filieo), and an almost dreamlike world, untethered to any one time or place, thanks, in part to cinematographer Tadin Brego, and art and wardrobe work from Belle Fall and Wade Stephens. Keeping things in the family even more, they also credit impressive soundtrack work from their cousin, Spencer Reuillard.
All this freedom is something these first-time Damnationland creators truly appreciate. “”Everyone brings something different,” said Emily. “It’s nice to see more women being involved in the local scene.” Added Rebecca, “It’s also given more opportunities to people who haven’t necessarily had a safe zone to present their personal, creative work.” As for their own contribution to Maine’s long horror legacy, Rebecca said, “I’m excited to see how people interpret our movie,” with Emily adding, “Viewers will have to figure that out for themselves – it doesn’t necessarily hold your hand through to the answers.”
The 13th Damnationland, including the Myshrall sisters’ “Sweet Meats,” will premiere on Friday, Oct. 13, at the State Theatre. For tickets, visit statetheatreportland.com.
Dennis Perkins is a freelance writer who lives in Auburn with his wife and cat.
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