Horror Favourites – The cast and crew of Forgotten Trash

Many modern films embrace 1980s nostalgia, but few embody the lo-fi aesthetic like Forgotten Trash. The shot-on-video sci-fi horror movie is available for digital download from Retro Video Pictures. Lucky of us three of the key players from this fantastic flick wanted to chat to us about their favorite horror films.

A recent film school graduate stumbles across an alien in the woods who convinces him to help with an intergalactic television show. Little does he know that the extraterrestrial entertainment involves traveling from planet to planet and killing the inhabitants.

Forgotten Trash is written and directed by Brandon Espana, whose passion for filmmaking bleeds into the storyline along with social commentary regarding media consumption. Connor McDonald and Steve Kasan (Lifechanger, Dark Side of the Ring) star.

Rather than adding digital effects, Espana shot the movie on a MiniDV camcorder then transferred it to VHS to capture the grainy visuals. It plays like a genuine relic rather than a pastiche of tongue-in-cheek nostalgia.

“I wasn’t trying to make something self-referential,” Espana explains. “It was always intended to be a straightforward, low-budget genre movie that draws influence from ’70s and early ’80s regional horror.”

Clocking in at just shy of an hour, Forgotten Trash is a brisk throwback to the halcyon days of VHS. It’s accompanied by the ghastly short film The Apparition and Ms. Delware.

Below we have a whole host of horror favorites from Forgotten Trash actors Steve Kasan and Connor McDonald as well as writer and director Brandon Espana:

Brandon Espana (writer-director):

“Without a doubt, my favorite horror film is Black Christmas (1974)! From the cold, dreadful setting and eerie soundtrack to the artistic framing of certain shots, it’s not only a great horror film but a great film in general. My favorite scene is definitely Barb’s (Margot Kidder) death. I think the kill is unique in itself, but the juxtaposition of that and the carolers singing to Jess is what really makes the sequence so great. Also Claire, with the clear plastic bag over her head… it still unsettles me.

Bob Clark, the director, made another horror film I recently watched called Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things. It’s about a theatre troupe who dig up a dead body and use it for a mock satanic ritual which actually ends up with other dead corpses rising up. I instantly fell in love with it. It isn’t in my top favorites, but I wanted to mention it because I do feel like it is a very underlooked film and I think more people should see it.”

Connor McDonald (actor):

“In my parents’ divorce settlement it stipulated that me and my twin sister Eric got to spend weekends with our dad out in Hamilton. We didn’t have that much in common except we shared a love for watching movies. Our mother tried regulating what we watched by using the MPAA parental guide as a reference. My dad didn’t really care for parental ratings and exposed my twin and I to some of his favorite R-rated films from his teenage years.

One film he took me to was a screening of the director’s cut of Ridley Scott’s Alien at the local cineplex. It was 2003 and I was seven years old and didn’t want to go. I never liked horror movies, but my dad and my sister insisted that we attend. The only prior knowledge I had of the film was its title. Alien would become one of the first film viewing experiences that left an indelible impression. The flawless filmmaking, powerful performances, ingenious set designs, and phallic imagery significantly impacted me. But it was director Ridley Scott’s decision to not prioritize any of the crew members and kill off the more successful actors first that made the film so terrifying. Any one of them could die; no one was safe. I remember curling up into a ball and covering my face with my hands every time a character was left stranded with the alien. I hadn’t seen a movie like this before. After the film ended. I did not sleep for the rest of the night.

Alien scared me so much I completely avoided watching it again until I was 16 when my high school film teacher screened it during class. After subsequent viewings, Alien continues to leave an impact and slowly became my favorite horror film of all time.”

Steve Kasan (actor):

“My absolute favorite horror film is sort of a cheat: Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II. I mix both together as one full film/story, as Hellbound really does pickup right after Hellraiser. Both are connected so closely, I’m surprised that a supercut of both films put together is not out there. (It maybe is but I have not searched for it.)

Both films highlight what Clive Barker brings or exposes with the horror genre in the pain-plus-pleasure aspect. There is a grotesqueness and cruelty in these films but also a sensuality brought to it. I feel that with horror some films have those undertones.

How many times have we seen some horror icons but in sexy poses? How many sexy (insert horror outfit) Halloween costumes are out there? Hellraiser I & II flat-out states this fact. The mythology of the Cenobites, the puzzle box, the labyrinth, and family dynamic is really rich.

I do love the classic monster films but the way Hammer did them. The entire Victorian era feel and technicolor aspects of the Hammer films just appeal to me. My favorite monster is The Mummy. The original Universal with Boris Karloff as The Mummy is my favorite out of that series. The Hammer Mummy films are great too.

The Curse of the Werewolf from Hammer I just love, and how they put their own stamp into the mythology of these characters. Surreal and experimental horror films are favorite of mine as well. Especially when it plays to the psychological aspects. There should be more Werewolf films.”

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