Get On Board the Awesome Kickstarter Campaign to Bring Shane McKenzie's El Gigante to Life, from the Amazing Gigi Saul Guerrero and her Team at Luchagore Productions!

Kickstarter is a joyous place, filled with many a funky project that one can get on board.  One of those projects right now is one that I guarantee you will NOT want to miss!! :)  

The very first moment that I came across Vancouver based Mexican director Gigi Saul Guerrero, I knew I had found someone truly unique and special.  Whilst only 23, Gigi has the talent of someone far beyond her years.  And an AMAZING creative team too.  Working in Vancouver, with some of the most awesome guys and gals around...including make-up/fx chicks Carolyn Williams and Amy-Leigh Poitras, both of whom worked with one of my bestest friends in the world, Jennifer Campbell, on her award winning short Bruised, Gigi is proving to be a Mexican on a mission! :)

(Get this picture signed by Gigi as part of the Kickstarter perks!!  MWAH!)

When I screened two of Gigi's shorts, Dia De Los Muertos and M is for Matador at Jennifer's Bodies last month, they went down an absolute treat!  Not only is there a wicked sense of twisted humour to these films, they are gore~geously shot/edited....you name it....they're just so fucking good!  Don't just take my word for it though, here's what Starburst Magazine had to say about them - 

"Next up were two shorts from 23-year-old Mexican prodigy Gigi Saul Guerrero. Both had a distinctive style highly reminiscent of early Robert Rodriguez, in particular Dia de los Muertos, where “Life is a bitch and you gotta be a bigger bitch than her.” With its grindhouse aesthetic, pounding guitars, dive bar sleaze, gorgeous girls, greasy guys and a metric fuckton of condensed badassery, it could easily be a deleted scene from Desperado.

Such is the strength of Dia de los Muertos, it has been included in Mexican anthology México Bárbaro after Guerrero’s previous short (and next in the line up) M Is For Matador got her noticed. Entered in the open contest for The ABCs of Death 2, its absence of dialogue, grisly close ups and story of a murderous bullfighter told in the confines of a brief running time made it perfect for the anthology sequel. While not the overall winning entry, it was however selected for The ABCs of Death 1.5, a compilation of 26 runner-up entries (to give some perspective, there were 541 submissions)."

I was so fucking impressed with Dia De Los Muertos, that I decided to get my make up artist Hayley Tinline to sugar skull me up in honour of this wicked little short!  That's how cool it is!  I well wanted to be a Mexican stripper all sugar skulled up, moooahahaha!! :) 

The project that the ever so rad team at Luchagore Productions are working on now, is an adaptation of Shane McKenzie's graphic novel, El Gigante.

When Fangoria writer John Skipp read the novel, he had THIS to say -

“And I hope to f*ck that if somebody makes a film out of this thing – and somebody should– they’re smart and thoughtful and hard-working enough to include all the savory spices that make it such a far-better-than-you-had-any-right-to-expect kickass multicultural low-rent gutter sonofabitch.”

Well, John...I can absofuckinglutely say, that if anyone can make this into a brilliantly demented Mexican gorefest, it's Miss Gigi and her Luchagore guys!  Seriously....just check out the rest of her work!!  

Readers of my blog will also be aware that Gigi is so awesomely talented, that she has been selected to be part of the kick ass Mexican anthology Mexico Barbaro, alongside some fucking cool, and insanely talented Mexicans!  

Now unfortunately, unless you can catch it at a festival screening, you're going to have to wait until the release of Mexico Barbaro to see Dia De Los Muertos.  You can however check out the Luchagore YouTube channel for an idea of what you would be getting yourselves in for by getting on board this Kickstarter campaign, and check out the teaser for Dia De Los Muertos...it's gooood!!  I've also attached her ABC's of Death 1.5 winning entry M is for Matador, which again is stupid quantities of awesome! :)  

Both of these films were made on a low budget, which goes to show a huge amount of fucking talent, and that unlike in Hollywood...these guys make sure they get the most out of their money, which is another great reason to get on board.  Gigi is going to be a star, no fucking doubt about it!  World of horror, look out....Little Miss Mexico and her Luchador's are out to get ya! ;)

To check out the Kickstarter campaign video, and to check out the super awesome perks and stuff, which include a shit ton of cool stuff, go and visit HERE!!!  :)

You can also check out an interview with Gigi that I did last month HERE!

Mexican Anthology México Bárbaro Racking Up the Mexican Female Horror Directors with the Inclusion of Bautizo Director Laurette Flores!

Okay, so I'm totally fucking digging Lex Ortega right now.  Lex is the guy behind México Bárbaro, the new Mexican anthology which features a slew of amazing directors!!  Anyhoo, after my initial press release about the film where I credited the gore~geous Gigi Saul Guerreo, the not exactly difficult on the eyes himself, Lex, messaged me to inform me that not only does his anthology feature the work of  Madam Guerrero....it also features another totally bad ass chick, Laurette Flores.  :)

Laurette Flores's short Bautizo shall also be featured in the line up, which features a whole host of amazing Mexican guys as well.  And rather than total sexism, the only thing for sure that Lex is looking for, on top of being a super rad filmmaker of course, is that the person is a born and bred Mexican.  Which is pretty fucking sweet in my book!! :)  

I've just watched Bautizo having been given the version with the English subtitles and holy fuck!!  It's fucking brutal.  But not in an over the top way.  More just shocking in general.  Which makes it all the more effective. 

And random fact - it's highly entertaining that my favourite type of foreign language films are Mexican (followed by German), but yet I am highly allergic to capsaicin, the chemical found in chilli...a staple of the Mexican diet.  Haha.  I always find that Mexican films feel so raw, but are visually stunning at the same time.  There is some real talent out there and it's great to see a collection of up and coming, alongside established Mexican directors.

To follow México Bárbaro, check out the Official Facebook page where you'll see links to all other sorts of awesome things and general rad~ness!!

BAUTIZO (english subtitles) from Bautizo Cortometraje on Vimeo.

Shane McKenzie's Muerte Con Carne to be Made into a Feature and Directed by My New Favourite Mexican, Gigi Saul Guerrero!

Gael Garcia Bernal, I'm afraid it's time for you to be knocked off your top spot as my favourite Mexican.....there's a new babe in town, and with this level of talent at such a young age, something tells me she's here to stay!  To be fair, he's held that spot for well over a decade so I'd say it's about time I had some fresh meat!  BWAH!!

So bye bye Bernal.....herrrrooooooo Gigi!! :)

Not only has she been confirmed for a shit load of anthologies featuring some of the most talented peeps around, I can now announce that she will be bringing Shane McKenzie's Muerte Con Carne to life in that glorious and beautiful way that she's already so fucking good at doing with her Luchagore Productions crew! :)  

To keep up to date with El Gigante, make sure to check out Luchagore Productions on Facebook and Twitter, as well as the Official Website.  And here of course, but that goes without saying.

 xo

The Gore~Geous Gigi Saul Guerrero's ABC's of Death Winning Short to be Featured at Jennifer's Bodies!

So it is with great pleasure that I can announce that I shall be showing the fantastic ABC's of Death 1.5 winning entry from the talented as fuck, and absolutely gore~geous Mexican director Gigi Saul Guerrero, M is for Matador.

One of the things that I love most about this short, is that it actually encompasses two of the things I am most passionate about, women in horror, and animal rights.  I have always been against bull fighting, however this is very much a whole different level of fucked up, and one that works incredibly well for me, and brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "payback's a bitch"!! :) 

M is for Matador is not only a wicked little take on the whole bullfighting tradition, and how women are so often treated in society, it is also a shit load of fun, gorgeously directed, and with some wicked fx and make up!  

It's a fucking awesome entry, and completely deserving of the recognition that it has earned already, and of the recognition that I am sure it will go on to develop even more when The ABC's of Death 1.5 is released.   

I've been busy pouring over all of Gigi's work, both past, and I've also been lucky enough to see what this kick ass chick has in store for the future too!  I've been busy comprising a blog about all of her work, and I'll also be doing an interview with the lovely lady herself...and hopefully announcing some more kick ass news too!  :)

In the meantime though, horror fans, I cannot stress enough that if you've not checked out her work that is available online so far, then get your butts over to her Luchagore Productions pages over at Facebook, YouTube and Twitter and get a reading and a watching all you can!  :)

In fact, start with this, her first film, Dead Crossing...a zombie short that she made back in 2011, when she was only about 19/20!