BVEW Writer Molly Rydzel interviews Ax Wound 'Zine founder Hannah Forman
BY MOLLY RYDZEL
Hello Big Vision Empty Walleteers! Molly here, co-founder of Brooklyn based production company, EdibleBrains, which focuses on the female voice in horror and science fiction performance. When I produced my first horror film, all the way back in 2008, I was told I should (nay, MUST) be in contact with Hannah Forman.
Hannah is the creator and head of the revolutionary Ax Wound 'Zine, a monthly publication which offers a forum for female voices in the horror industry. She is a trailblazer in the rapidly growing movement that promotes feminism (and femininity!) in a genre that is stereotypically ruled by men, something the founders of EdibleBrains are all too familiar with. Ax Wound ‘Zine has been featured in Rue Morgue Magazine, The Guardian UK, and Newsweek (to name just a few). She is also the founder of national Women in Horror Recognition month, the second of which will happen in February 2011.
Since the beginning of our acquaintance, Hannah has been an enormous inspiration for EdibleBrains Productions. So when I was approached to write for BVEW by its delightful female founders, I knew that the best subject for my inaugural piece would be a conversation with one of the coolest ladies I know.
An accomplished interviewer, Hannah has recently sat down with the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth, both of whom are enormous fans of her work. I was lucky enough to switch it around on Hannah and get her uniquely twisted perspective on films, serial killers and dating.
Molly: What prompted the inception and creation of this 'zine?
Hannah: When I was living in Olympia, WA and going to Evergreen, I met this guy who introduced me to Carol Clover's groundbreaking book Men, Women and Chainsaws. That book really changed everything for me because I had this weird feminist guilt about my horror obsession. Clover's book really gave me a new way to look at my interests and realize that my feminism and my love of horror could easily go hand in hand. The idea of studying culture and gender within the framework of the horror genre was so exciting to me. During this time the Olympia Sex Conference was going on and that same guy asked if I wanted to run a workshop with him on Horror and Gender. We showed different clips of 'Final Girls' (Clover's term for the female who outlives everyone at the end of a Slasher Film). We had great open discussions about the ways women are portrayed over the course of history in horror. After that workshop, I really didn't want the conversation to end. So a few months later the name Ax Wound popped into my head, and I was able to combine THREE of my favorite things: Gender studies, horror films and zine making.
MR: Your 'zine focuses on the role of the female in horror and how it has changed over the years. Is there one film or a series of films that you feel marked the onset of the empowerment of women in horror?
Hannah: I am most fascinated by how the 'Final Girl' or the role of women in a given horror film is influenced by the current state of culture and how it has changed over time. Look at the classics: from Sally in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) running and screaming and eventually being saved by a man to Laurie Strode a few years later in Halloween (1978) actively fighting back and stabbing Michael with a hanger, but still eventually being saved by a man to Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), where Nancy really takes matters into her own hands by setting up a whole obstacle course by herself to catch Freddy. You have this progression of female characters getting stronger and stronger while in American culture the same thing was happening. Horror films can be a great mirror for where we are culturally in terms of gender and sexuality.
MR: What would you like to see more of?
Hannah: Wes Craven made Nancy really capable within her situation (In Nightmare on Elm Street), just like in the 90's when he made SCREAM and allowed for the Final Girl to also lose her virginity. That is what I'd really like to see more of; the slut being the final girl. Earlier films really stuck to the Madonna/Whore archetypes with women's characterization – killing off the girl who likes sex and casting the virgin as the Final Girl. Women are only allowed to be one or the other. In reality, women are a lot more complex creatures with very intense sexual desires. There is no reason we can't outsmart the killer and enjoy some really good orgasms in the process. Film has only recently begun to reflect this – take Eli Roth's Cabin Fever, allowing the virgin to die first instead of the sexual one really reflects that the victimization of 'slutty' women is a theme that is being left behind.
MR: Cabin Fever is a film about the consequences of a poorly planned double date to a remote cabin in the woods. Please describe your most horrific date.
Hannah: When I was a freshman in college, I saw this guy in the student computer center and I thought he was pretty cute. I walked right up to him and asked him out on a date. I was all pleased with myself for being assertive. Anyway, I was all excited about it, but the moment I got in his car I realized what a creepy dork he was. In a bad way. The intense awkward energy emanating from him made me so uncomfortable, but I didn't want to be rude and jump out of the car and run for my life. But I just tried to go with the flow, ya know? So he takes me off campus to his parent's house. He took me into his room and put on The Matrix (bleck!), and I sat there bored out of my skull. His body got super stiff and I could tell he wanted to touch my hand but was too scared, and his anxiety started to feed MY anxiety, and I sat there stiff as a bored and stared at the wall. It was as if I was the first girl he had ever brought home. It was AWFUL. After that date I swore I'd never see him again, but he started stalking me. His dad was the head of the Psychology Department and he would sneak in and change my grades. He'd call my room 80 times a day and come by constantly. It got to the point where I had to hide in my closet while my roommate told him I was gone. He finally got the hint and started dating the girl who lived upstairs (!). Pretty horrific.
MR: If you were on a date (with a non-psycho, ideally) and were being stalked by a serial killer or similar antagonist would you feel comfortable sacrificing your date for the sake of your own survival?
Hannah: YES. Well, I'm not a total asshole. If it was someone I truly loved, I'd make an honest attempt for our mutual survival, but if it was just some date and we're talking serious serial killer action, I'd use him as a shield and get the f out.
MR: Speaking of men we truly love, your site is much admired by heavy hitters Eli Roth and Quentin Tarantino. How does this make you feel? If you were to go on a date with either, who would it be?
Hannah: It feels amazing. I have been a fan of Quentin Tarantino since forever and to know he and Eli were reading and chatting about Ax Wound on the set of Inglourious Basterds is crazy surreal. Eli Roth is truly a support to women in the horror industry and QT always portrays his female characters with such confidence and power, look at Kill Bill, Jackie Brown, etc. And Eli Roth also really plays around the 'rules' of the genre. Those things make a big difference to me. As far as dating is concerned, well, that would be one fun three way!
Learn more about the efforts of the extraordinary Hannah 'Neurotica' Forman on her medley of media sites:
www.hannahneurotica.com
www.womeninhorrormonth.com
www.axwoundzine.com
www.blogtalkradio.com/thezineshow