An Interview with Hedwig Schreck – Director of Manhattan Zodiac ’77

Posted on by Grimoire of Horror

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Known for his bold, uncompromising artistic vision and clear inspiration from exploitation films from the ’70s, Hedwig Schreck is a writer and director known for such films as The Devil’s Altar (2014), Delirium 13 (2017), his latest release, Manhattan Zodiac ’77 (2023), and the upcoming title Dial 1-900-4-Murd3r. Being fans of all things B-Movie, we were delighted to chat with Hedwig and discuss his creative process behind these titles.

When did you begin directing, Hedwig? Did you make short films? Did you attend film school?

I had always wanted to make movies since my early childhood in the 1980’s. Film school was something very expensive and out of reach to me so like most aspiring filmmakers, I used to make little movies with my friends on weekends, with the help of my father, who would follow us around with his huge shoulder mounted VHS camera as we splashed fake blood everywhere. My father was supportive because of my endless passion for it – I was forever talking movie ideas and creating mock posters for films I wanted to make. He pushed me to follow my dreams. Making movies back then was not considered as easy as it is today, you had to have the proper equipment and it was very expensive. This went on for a few years throughout the early 90’s, but life however got in the way, as it does and I didn’t make our first film, DELIRIUM 13, until 2009 when I could finally afford my own camera and editing equipment.

Any favourite horror directors?

Like most genre aficionados, I love all the greats – Bava, Argento, Fulci, Romero, Carpenter, Craven, Milligan, Deodato, Lenzi… I loved them all and they have all inspired me in my work at some point or another. How could they not? But if I had to pick one, it would be Dario Argento, first and foremost the biggest influence. I just couldn’t get enough of his style or movies when I was growing up. The grindhouse films of Andy Milligan taught me that you can make movies without money, so he is also a big influence in that regard.

Tell us about directing The Devil’s Altar.

THE DEVIL’S ALTAR was filmed on a very small budget – Andy Milligan small (as are all of our films). It was our second film after DELIRIUM 13 so we were excited to keep going forward. The film began originally as a Super 8 film production, however this was abandoned after we lost three cameras to sand and grit getting into the mechanics whilst filming beach scenes of the cult. We decided to just finish the film digitally and play with the ‘look’ in the editor. It was a very fun experience with great people. Everyone gave their all.

Is The Devil’s Altar based on the Manson women?

No, not on the Manson women per se, or Manson at all – The film was designed to be a ‘Satanic Panic’ grindhouse movie, as if shot for AIP by Mario Bava after BARON BLOOD – The concept was what if the Manson family were a satanic cult, complete with robes, and lived in the caves on the beach underneath the clifftop house of the local pastor and his family. I also wanted a home invasion, dinner party scene similar to the awful events of the Manson cult but played as fiction. So that’s where the Manson connection lies.

How do you give your films that gritty look? Especially for another one of your films, Midnight Zodiac ’77.

As all of our films are set in the past and ‘retro’, the look of them is very important. Modern audiences will no doubt hate the style, but that’s not who we are aiming our films at. We want our films to look like they did back on VHS, when prints were muddy, scratchy, bleached out or worse. It is the audience that remembers these things that we are truly aimed at. All of this is done in post production. For MANHATTAN ZODIAC ’77, we filmed on actual Super 8 film stock, so the grain and scratches are all genuine. We could only get a hold of a very grainy film stock, but it could shoot at night, which was hard to do with regular Super 8.

Lobby Card Poster for Delirium 13 (2017)

Was Zodiac filmed on location?

No, not all. The film was shot completely in Australia in a very small rural town. We dressed rooms in my house to look like apartments with gaudy brown wallpapers to achieve the 1977 gritty look of a rundown, Times Square hotel and scoured charity shops for authentic looking clothing and decorations. I also purchased 5 minutes of Super 8 stock footage of New York in the 70’s to cut into the film to make it look like we were actually there. The film was then dubbed by American voice actors.

Are you a fan of Giallos?

Oh yes, I am a huge fan of gialli. Its influence has crept into most of my films thus far – our latest film in production DIAL: 1-900-4-MURD3R is essentially a giallo, designed to be an ‘unofficial’ Italian sequel to OUT OF THE DARK from 1988. Black gloves, shiny blades, stylish murders… Giallo still lives! Some of my favourite giallo’s include TENEBRAE, NOTHING UNDERNEATH, MURDEROCK, MIDNIGHT KILLER, A BLADE IN THE DARK… I do love the 80’s one most, but of course adore the 70’s masterpieces like DEEP RED and EYEBALL.

Do you write your own screenplays?

Yes. I write the plots. All except THE DEVIL’S ALTAR which I co-wrote with my film production assistant, Daniel Brooks, who also starred in the lead. Daniel is also back to star as the lead detective in our new production DIAL: 1-900-4-MURD3R and was also responsible for the special effects work in our film DEMELZA… DEMON WITCH (filmed back to back with DIAL with filming completed last year).

Collage art for upcoming title Dial 1-900-4-Mud3r

Do you like the horror genre to work within? What makes a horror film really scare an audience?

I will only ever work in the horror genre. It’s my comfort, my passion. That’s all I know. What people find scary varies. It’s hard to isolate one specific thing, be it dark shadows, distorted sounds, sudden shocks. I try to incorporate all of these things to some extent, but whether they hit the right nerve is something only the audience could answer properly.

This interview was provided to Grimoire of Horror by John Wisniewski

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