To the spirit of the spooky season, the horror anthology series V/H/S takes you back to the nostalgia of the year 2000 V/H/S/99 on Shudder, and the best of the “found footage” comes from filmmaker Maggie Levin’s “Shredding” segment, starring Canadian actress Verona Blue.
“Shredding” stands out as a highlight from the other segments V/H/S/99that takes you back to the 90’s riot grrrls when a popular punk band was known for them donkey-esque escapades decides to record a music video in a haunted place and is terrorized by the ghosts of the all-female band Bitch Cats, who were trampled to death by their fans three years earlier.
Unlike some segments in V/H/S/99, Shredding isn’t the kind of horror that makes you want to turn your back on the story.
“There’s something about the fact that Maggie, as a woman, has a very different perspective on horror and what horror is compared to a lot of other filmmakers who tend to make people really uncomfortable or unsettling or have power over them.” told blue Yahoo Canada during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). “Maggie’s segment really invites you.”
“Although there’s a real punk rock, kind of loose, free spirit in this segment, everything was very carefully designed down to the last pixel,” explained Levin. “I’ve thought about every single moment of this film hundreds of times.”
“I started thinking about my childhood experiences and what that time means to me as an adult, so both the best and the worst of what 1999 meant to me, and I wanted that kind of CKY skate video Really fusing things All the guys I had a crush on were doing at the time. I also really wanted to figure out what was wrong with the “every city USA mentality” that was trickling down from above, and there’s a lot late ’90s, MTV [inspiration] in there.”
When it came to writing this “shredding” story, Levin was particularly drawn to the riot grrrls aspect.
“I’ve also wanted to do a ghost rock band for a long time,” said the director. “Also, I wanted the clash of late ’90s early ’90s misogyny core vs. riot grrrls rock feminism to go head-to-head, and then I play the favorites, so the riot grrrls win.”
“This version of this character is a sex kitten in almost every other show”
Verona Blue, originally from Toronto, leads the Bitch Cats as Deidre, a frontwoman like you’ve never seen the band before, which is largely credited to Maggie Levin’s commitment not to sexualize or gloss over the character.
“Maggie gave me so much freedom to make Deidre exactly the character that I sometimes get invited to play on other shows, but she’s really polished by television standards,” said Blue. “This version of this character is a sex kitten on almost every other show, like the fishnet stockings are torn in a very inviting way, her makeup is black lipstick but it’s sultry, and Deidre is like, ‘Hey, go f-ck yourself , don’t come near, I’ll hit you.”
“Television or film doesn’t really portray authentic, alternative people very often. It’s always this interpretation of: They’re working on a hot topic, they hate their parents, they’re a walking costume, they have no depth in them… Being able to just be like, “Hey, can I make them creepy.” ? Not pretty, not cute, not sexy rocker, but tough, really tough, ‘…that was really amazing.’
“A remarkable space for female empowerment”
When V/H/S/99 Premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the crowd, probably the noisiest audience at the festival, was so excited. It speaks not only to the community aspect of watching horror content, but also to the impact the genre is having on its fans, especially women.
“Horror is such a remarkable space for female empowerment and always has been, I think in a sneaky way,” said Maggie Levin. “The concept of a scream queen goes way back and I think it’s a great way to explore things in our world that I think deserve some catharsis.”
“There’s a reason women are particularly drawn to true crime and really dark, gory stuff. It has something to do with going through the worst and then coming out the other side more alive than ever. So that’s really what I adore about horror, plus you can just do some weird, crazy stuff.”
“Unless you’re like a big movie star in a thriller, I don’t think there’s a lot of ways to play a hero and a villain at the same time, or switch in an interesting way,” added Verona Blue. “Frighteningly, you get to meet a much wider variety of creatives, from writers to directors, because it tends to have a slightly lower budget, and so it’s more patchy, you have more people whose scripts aren’t micromanaged within an inch of his life.”
“You can come in there and say, ‘That’s my idea, people tweak it a bit to make sure it fits into budget and schedule and whatever, and then you can just work with it. As an actor, it’s a very free space.”
V/H/S/99 is available on Shudderwhich is also available from Amazon Prime Video in Canada.
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