Horror Favourites – Pierre Tsigaridis

If you’re a horror fan after a fright fix, this is just the ticket. There’s a killer pre-credits shock, followed by a devilishly unsettling scene set in a restaurant… but eight minutes in and you’d better buckle up, as things get REALLY scary… after that, you’re on your own!

The debut feature from writer/director Pierre Tsigaridis and executive producer/writer Maxime Rancon is a stylish, creepy and brilliantly inventive horror with genuine jolts as well as a hefty dose of jet-black humour, and some unexpected moments of sheer gruesomeness.

A delirious mix of Rosemary’s Baby, Hereditary and Drag Me To Hell – with a cheeky nod to The Blair Witch Project – the film features two witch stories interlinked by the incredible Rebekah Kennedy (To The Bone), here the spitting image of genre icon Lynn Lowry, a troubled woman with a dark secret. Also starring Kristina Klebe (Halloween), Tim Fox (Westworld) and Belle Adams (Perry Mason), the film’s a wild ride of ouija boards, witches and very weird roommates.

With its super-saturated colour palette, tenebrous art design and electrifying soundtrack, Two Witches presents two truly terrifying conjoined tales of witchery, paranoia and terror that hark back to the gory thrills of classic Euro horrors such as Suspiria, Shock and The Beyond.

Expectant young mother Sarah is convinced she has been given the evil eye from a mysterious blank-eyed old hag while she is dining with her bullish and insensitive partner Simon. When the couple go to visit his new-agey friends Dustin and Melissa, dark forces are unleashed after an ill-advised attempt at consulting a Ouija board to allay her fears.Meanwhile, tensions grow between grad school student Rachel and her new roommate Masha after a violent incident involving a man that the strange and impulsive young woman has brought home.

First-time feature director Pierre Tsigaridis, who also shot, edited and contributed to the film’s soundtrack, singles himself out as one to watch in a deft and unnerving depiction of unspeakable evil that truly delivers.

Below Pierre talks about his favorite horror film:

“If I had to pick one horror film – and since I’m a 90’s kid! – I would have to pick Scream. I know my number one pick is no hidden gem but out of all of the horror films I’ve watched, Scream plays the biggest role in where I am today.

I remember when I was barely eight years old my mother went to see Scream in the theater thinking it was a thriller… She ended up walking out of there right after the opening murder scene. When she came home she told me how gruesome this movie was. A mysterious killer wearing a ghost mask was calling his victims before murdering them. My interest peaked immediately!

I quickly became fascinated by the ghost face mask and soon I convinced my mother to let me watch the film. This was my introduction to a true horror film and I have to say it was a hell of an intro for an eight year-old. The opening scene scared and traumatized me and impacted me like no other movie. My love for horror films was born .

What I love about the movie Scream is that it made me discover a lot of other horror classics like Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Exorcist, Carrie etc. I love how Scream is a witty self-aware film about the horror genre. As a kid, I would watch Scream over and over again each time trying to understand the references the film is filled with. Eventually I knew some of the scenes by heart and that’s when I picked up my parents’ camcorder and I reenacted the murder scenes with my brother. This was my first filmmaking experience. I would wear the ghost face mask and I would always want to play the villain of course! I think this movie is also at the origin of my fascination for visual villains in horror films. I mean every horror fan has the iconic ghost face mask in their closets right?

Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson were masters at creating genuine characters that we care about and articulated them in a genius “whodunit” narration.

Scream sparked a new interest in Hollywood for horror films in the late 1990s/early 2000s and this is exactly when I was growing up so in a way we still have to thank Scream for all the amazing horror films like The Blair Witch Project, The Ring etc… that quickly followed.

In 1996, Wes Craven was at the top of his game. And that opening sequence will forever be a masterclass in terror, tension building, writing, acting, editing, music score and cinematography. With her keen eye, Marianne Maddalena’s discovery of the ghost mask was an essential ingredient . Everything feels like a perfect symphony.

The opening scene still influences me on how l want to start a horror film…that is to say, with a big bang!!”

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