Horror Favourites – Edoardo Vitalelli

Recently added to their raft of rage and wraith filled titles Shudder Original The Last Thing Mary Saw, premiered exclusively on the platform and we tracked down the movies directer Edoardo Vitaletti to chat about his favorite chillers.

Southold, New York, 1843: Young Mary (Scott), blood trickling from behind the blindfold tied around her eyes, is interrogated about the events surrounding her grandmother’s death. As the story jumps back in time, we witness Mary, raised in a repressively religious household, finding fleeting happiness in the arms of Eleanor (Fuhrman), the home’s maid. Her family, who believe they are seeing, speaking, and acting on God’s behalf, view the girls’ relationship as an abomination, to be dealt with as severely as possible. The couple attempt to carry on in secret, but someone is always watching, or listening, and the wages of perceived sin threaten to become death, with the tension only heightened by the arrival of an enigmatic stranger (Culkin) and the revelation of greater forces at work.

The film stars Rory Culkin (Waco, Halston), Stefanie Scott (Insidious: Chapter 3) and Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan), and is written and directed by Edoardo Vitaletti, making his feature length film debut. The Last Thing Mary Saw was produced by Isen Robbins and Aimee Schoof of Intrinsic Value Films, Harrison Allen and Madeleine Schumacher of Arachnid Films, Stephen Tedeschi and executive produced by Scoop Wasserstein.

Edoardo Vitaletti is a NYC-based, Italian Writer & Director. His work is inspired by Italian and American genre filmmaking alike, drawing references from Scandinavian visual art as well as central-European folklore. The Last Thing Mary Saw marks his feature directorial debut.

Below The Last Thing Mary Saw director, Edoardo Vitalelli tells us about his favorite horror film:

“I have a hard time defining one horror movie as my favourite, but lately Dario Argento’s Suspiria (1977) has been the answer that comes most naturally. The wild, colourful cinematography is so inventive, and gives Argento the ability to externalise the chaotic state of mind of the characters in the movie. It creates a sense of “panicked fear” that I haven’t quite experienced in any other movie.

The setting is a gem in and of itself. The Dance Academy screams menace the second you look at it, and yet it is, at the same time, very precious looking. All the colors and the architectural details are so wonderfully crafted, that it seems rather inviting to go in. It always felt like the Devil’s home to me, and, in fact, when you go inside you do immediately get a sense that the Devil is sojourning. The aspect of the movie that I cherished the most is definitely the villain- or villains. It is a whole matriarchal lineage, which is wrapped into a supernatural conspiracy protecting a “system” we almost don’t see, but that has been present for centuries and will continue to do so no matter what you try to do to stop it. The way the coven is shown, by means of hiding behind silky veils, or corners…half entities of the dark, half real people…simply brilliant.

It is a movie that haunts me and makes me wanna dance at the same time. A dance for the Devil, that is…”

The Last Thing Mary Saw is available on Shudder now and you can read our review HERE.