The Torturer Film Spotlight
Today’s film spotlight focuses on the short film The Torturer directed by Joe Manco.
What is the title of your film and what inspired said title?
The Torturer. It is the title the short story is published under.
Tell us a little bit about the story and origins of your film.
The Torturer is written by Shadow Writer Paul Kane. Based in London, England! The story is about a man who is interrogated but for some reason isn’t able to recall anything. It stars Paul T. Taylor (Hellraiser: Judgment) & Lawrence Varnado (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For).
At the time we had been shooting commercials or Hellraiser fan films for companies Pyramid-Gallery & ConfigurationBoxes.com. One of the videos featured a red lament configuration which was inspired by the book SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SERVANTS FROM HELL. After we had released it on YouTube, we found that The Clive Barker Podcast had a write up on the video! They were promoting the short commercial as a “book trailer”. Though that was not the intent we still went along with it. Eventually we got to know author Paul Kane via social media. Then he presented us with a short 18-page script. We optioned the rights, casted the picture and then made the thing.
Any films or filmmakers that inspired this film?
Predominantly Jacobs Ladder and Hellraiser to be honest. The look and tone was something that I was enamored by. I felt like there were similar elements in its visceral story telling that I could latch onto. Clive Barker has been an inspiration of mine for several years. It’s only been in the past few that I’ve allowed the obsession to take hold. And with The Torturer being our first cinematic endeavor I didn’t want to let anything fall by the wayside. There is a sense of emptiness with The Torturer that makes it beautiful in my opinion. It’s an art piece. One that is full of macabre and riddled with fear. It’s probably the prettiest thing we’ve ever made.
What is the goal of the film for you?
The primary goal for any movie be it feature length or short is to achieve successful distribution. I personally feel that there is more to the story of The Torturer. We have toyed around with the idea of making a feature film out of the short. We have also discussed the development of a potential television series. But in the end only time will tell. Right now we just want to get the picture up on streaming services now that it’s film festival run is coming to an end.
What has the journey been like getting the film into production?
Getting The Torturer off the ground wasn’t as easy as I expected. We had already completed many five 48hr film races, several music videos, fake trailers, commercial fan films but nothing on this scale. We knew the end product would be longer than 18 pages but nowhere near the length of a feature film. I wanted to make something that was the length of an episode of Masters of Horror. Reading the script and translating the words to picture demanded more than just a simple set up, shot then cut. I wanted to show Paul Kane’s literary work in its highest resolution. We all know that adaptations can fall flat and this was to be my first. I wanted to show the source material some respect.
Finding the funding was no easy task either. At times when we thought things were looking up, we would eventually get ghosted. I personally feel that the idea of working on such an esoteric project and a punk rock film team was a deterrent for most people. We had some member changes in our production group as well. So for a minute there things were not looking too good for us. But then our producer, Catalina Querida, had booked us a shoot with Troma President and creator of the Toxic Avenger, Lloyd Kaufman!
We took our 48hr film race skills and put them to a test in less than twelve hours. We created a fake trailer for Texas Frightmare Weekend and the next thing you know, we booked our director of photography right after the screening.
One thing you learned from this project?
You can never plan enough. Originally, we were planning on shooting on a Canon C300 with LED lighting panels. After the switch in cinematographers, it threw our whole production in a spiral. We had to re-plan everything. And this wasn’t a bad thing. We just ended up having more and better toys to play with. Thankfully we had a game plan before this change. I am so happy for the change. The quality of the movie would not have been possible.
How can folks find you and your film online?
Currently the picture is wrapping up its film festival run. Two solid years and a plethora of laurels! We are working on getting it on streaming services right now. So, if you are following us on any of our social media platforms you will be kept up to date when that may drop!
Any last pieces of advice for fellow filmmakers?
Nobody is going to make your movie for you. Make the project you know you want to make. Something that you know you will love and obsess over. If you don’t and just look for the quick fix to get something out there then everyone will see you are making movies for the wrong reasons. And there is no sense in doing any of this if it’s not for the love of movies.
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