Synopsis
Set in the 1970s, Wineville follows Tess (Brande Roderick), who is forced to return to the California winery that was her childhood home following the death of her brutal and abusive father. Now a single mom raising her 11-year-old son, Tess dreads setting foot again in the house filled with hateful and painful memories. Once there, she is confronted by her bitter and unforgiving aunt, who runs the off-the-beaten-path winery with her adult son. However, while trying to sort out her inheritance and dealing with an attraction to the mercurial young ranch hand, a violent murder at the vineyard reveals the evil still just below the surface there. To escape once again and save both herself and her boy, Tess must uncover the horrible truth of her past and the roots of the murderous legacy that has been unleashed once again.
A Word from the Director, Brande Roderick
People might not know it to look at me, but I’ve loved horror films my whole life. I have clear memories of sitting on the sofa sharing popcorn with my mother, who was letting me watch The Exorcist for the first time – at six. You could argue six is too young for that movie, but ever since that night, I’ve loved everything that goes bump in the dark. I’ve worked as a model and an actress for most of my life, and I’ve been lucky enough to act in a few horror movies, including Hood of Horror, and the Dracula 2000 sequel, Dracula II: Ascension.
My producing partner and confidant Robin DeMartino introduced me to filmmaker Richard Schenkman (Mischief Night, Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies, The Man from Earth) and we bonded immediately over our love for dark, twisted tales of the macabre. Knowing I wanted to tell a story centered on a mother who would do anything for her son, that I wanted to keep the story grounded in real human behavior (avoiding the supernatural), that it had to take place in a winery, and that I wasn’t afraid of going pitch dark, we worked up our tale of a seriously fucked up family whose roots in evil go as deep as the roots of their ancient vines.
We were equally influenced by such classic pictures as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Last House on the Left as we were by more recent films like We Are What We Are and You Won’t Be Alone, knowing that we wanted a realistic, real-world look and tone to help us bring complicated, recognizable characters to life.
Interview
Cinema Scholars’ own Glen Dower sat down with actor/director Brande Roderick to discuss her new feature film, Wineville. They discuss Brande’s longstanding ties to the horror film industry, both as a fan and an actor/director, the advantages of using practical effects over CGI, and getting the perfect 70s vibe and aesthetic for her film, among other topics.
(Edited for content and clarity)
Glen Dower:
Ms. Roderick, how are you, ma’am?
Brande Roderick:
I’m excellent, Glen. How are you doing?
Glen Dower:
I’m really, really good. So we’re going to talk about Wine-EVIL…
Brande Roderick:
That’s good! I haven’t heard anyone quite say it like that, so I like it.
Glen Dower:
Hopefully, you’ll remember me! I’m a marketing guy. Now, as well as starring in the film, you’re also the director. A surprise, some people may say? Plus it’s not just a horror film…it’s a dark, dirty, and gnarly horror film.
Brande Roderick:
You know, I guess I’m a demented, sick person! I’ve been doing stuff in the horror genre, or it’s been instilled in me, I should say, since I was probably six years old, from a very young age, when I watched The Exorcist for the first time with my mom, then went on. My parents were huge horror film buffs, and they loved to scare their kids.
And so I just really grew up watching all of these sick movies, like Rabbit, and The Brood, and of course, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Last House on the Left, and all the things. And I think starting at such a young age, watching all of these types of films got in my head where I was able to create some really sick stuff. Plus, I wanted to do something a little different, maybe that you hadn’t seen before, and push the envelope.
Glen Dower:
For sure. The first five minutes we know ‘Oh, it’s this type of movie – here we go!’ So I wanted to ask you, how important was that prologue to include? Because it’s a very economic opening, we’re in the 70s with a young girl. Is she going to be the final girl or the first victim? We don’t know yet. And then she’s breaking all the rules of the horror genre.
Brande Roderick:
Well, it was important because I feel like our movie is a bit of a slow burn in the sense that it wants you to, learn about the characters, and why they are the way they are. And the only way to do that is to have a plot and tell the story. So I wanted to first at least, you know, have the excitement and you know, the first kill to kind of show you that, oh, shit, there, this is a fucked up family, someone in this family is killing people. And then it goes through the story, you know, trying to get you to think who’s freaking killing these people. And as you know, we have lots and lots of plot twists. So you think you know, but you don’t.
Glen Dower:
I love that part because I just love a twist. And like you say, these themes have been playing throughout our lives. And we’ve been talking about movies, and the movies that affected me were, my perfect movies: The Thing, Predator and Alien. I’m a body horror guy.
Brande Roderick:
Oh yeah!
Glen Dower:
So as director, did you have a level you wanted to go to? Did they bring you different prosthetics and make-up effects? And you’d say ‘No, I want gnarlier. I want more blood.’ How did you direct the special effects and makeup?
Brande Roderick:
So, for me, it was very important to have practical effects. I talked to lots of people who produce horror films. And I’ve been a part of the horror fan community for a very long time. Practical effects are important to horror fans. So, I was lucky that I got Vincent Guastini to do my practical effects because he now is doing big, huge blockbuster films. I was able to meet him on Snoop Dogg’s Hood of Horror. We worked on that together. So we stayed friends all this time. So he said, Brande, don’t worry, I got you. I’m going to help you. So for me, it was like, I let him do what he does best. It’s what he knows. It’s what he does best. And what he came up with was some pretty sick stuff. Right. I just put my trust in him. He just really came up with some gross stuff!
Glen Dower:
For sure! And we always need a horror icon, and you came up with one for sure. Let’s talk about Caroline Hennessey as Aunt Margaret…
Brande Roderick:
Yes!
Glen Dower:
The saying goes monsters aren’t born, monsters are made. I think she was born a monster, right?
Brande Roderick:
Yeah, I think that it’s hereditary in this family because it just keeps getting passed down, as you know. And so I think she was born a monster and she knows nothing else from what she’s seen and what’s in her blood. And Caroline Hennessey was the only one that could have played this role. She is Aunt Margaret. The way that she embodied that character and brought that character to life and made her even more evil than I imagined is just, I feel so lucky that we got her!
Glen Dower:
And I think there’s going to be a lot of cosplays with that hair, those overalls, and her tools.
Brande Roderick:
Yeah!
Glen Dower:
Speaking of costumes, the film is set in the 1970s – what a hot time for women’s fashion. Did you enjoy revisiting the wardrobes and the music of that time to create that world for your characters?
Brande Roderick:
Absolutely! I mean, for me, I love the 70s vibe. So some of the pieces I pulled out of my own closet! But of course, it’s fun to wear all the 70s garb. But it was also fun trying to find all the cars because luckily we have a lot of friends who have a lot of classic cars. So that was that was a lot of fun being able to find different cars for each of the characters to drive. So I enjoyed that as well.
Glen Dower:
And they told us so much about the characters as well. One character, of course, is your son in the movie is also your son in real life, Keaton. What was it like directing him? He has a few moments in the film – did you need to reinforce that it is all make-believe?
Brande Roderick:
He knows that everything’s make-believe because, at the time of filming, he was 12. And the way that we prepared him ahead of time is I got him an acting coach, Sandy Marshall, who’s just absolutely amazing. And so he worked with her ahead of time so that when he came to set, he was prepared. I didn’t have to do anything because he was already prepared when he came. He’s very natural.
He memorizes everything and then just comes to set. And when we had our scenes together, they were written in such a way that we both would conversate like that, let’s say, you know, aside from the fact that it was written in the about, you know, in the 70s. But still, it was natural for both of us to just converse with each other because that’s what we do every day in real life.
Glen Dower:
It was so natural, just the back and forth, especially in that first scene as well – you’re opening scene together in the car. It’s like, Mom, why are we doing this? As a little boy would talk for sure, I know, I have two! So he’s very sweet, but very convincing as well.
Brande Roderick:
Yeah.
Glen Dower:
Tell us about the rest of the cast. We have Texas Battle, what an awesome name.
Brande Roderick:
Yeah, I know right! Texas Battle. And he’s actually from Texas. But that was a no-brainer because he is already loved in the horror genre with Final Destination and Wrong Turn, and and the fact that he’s just so he’s just such a professional known actor. He was perfect for the role. He’s just got that real sweetness to him. And I had a lot of chemistry with him, it was great.
Glen Dower:
And then we have, of course, Casey King.
Brande Roderick:
Yeah.
Glen Dower:
Playing a monster made? He gives a very layered, tortured performance.
Brande Roderick:
He, like all these people, when they auditioned, gave us exactly what we wanted and were the characters. So he again came to set prepared and ready. Every single person came to set prepared and ready. And they were those characters that you know, when we were shooting. And he has that perfect ability to have that kind of sweetness. But then that underlying evilness and then also that hurt little boy who was abused in many ways. So he was able to, I feel, really show those those layers. And when I first saw him in the audition, I was like, this kid is going to be a star like he just has that star quality. So I keep telling you that this movie is going to make you a star because you just really look at him like that. I think that he’s going to do great things.
Glen Dower:
You kept giving him shower scenes as well, I noticed.
Brande Roderick:
Yeah, gave him those hose showers. Yeah, the girls like that…and the guys too!
Glen Dower:
So what’s next for you? Do you think you’ll revisit this world?
Brande Roderick:
Well, if I do something, I think that a prequel would be more fun. I think that going into kind of how the evil all started, I think would be would be kind of fun. And I love doing period pieces. So I think I think that would be the choice.
Glen Dower:
I’m excited about that already!
Brande Roderick:
Yeah!
Glen Dower:
I’ve only got a few moments left. As we talk now, it is Halloween. I am guessing it is important for your household?
Brande Roderick:
Oh, we love Halloween! We always dress up as a family theme. You know, we’ve done Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, and Minions. We’ve done it all! We always dress up as a group theme. And this year they wanted to be Prisoners. Like, oh, gosh, what?! They’re teenagers. OK, so I said you can be Prisoners as long as you do it like you’re the Joker prisoner. Right. Because we went to see Joker. So I’m doing their whole hair green, their face is Joker. They’ve got the jumpsuits on and I’m going to be the prison guard. So that’s the theme this year.
Glen Dower:
Action-packed! I love it. Can’t wait to see it on your Instagram.
Brande Roderick:
Yes, sir!
Watch the video interview on our YouTube channel, and don’t forget to like and subscribe!
Glen Dower:
Ms. Roderick, it’s been an absolute pleasure to meet you, thank you so much for your time. I’ll be encouraging all my readers to check out Wineville.
Brande Roderick:
Yes, please do. Thank you, Glen!
