Globe and Mail on American Mary

The second feature by this hugely cult-buzzed duo (whose premiere was the daintily titled Dead Hooker in a Trunk), American Mary follows the entrepreneurial innovations of a dropped-out student surgeon (Ginger Snaps’ drop-dead dangerous Katharine Isabelle) whose artistry in the customized skin arts flourishes after she exacts an appallingly appropriate revenge.

No wonder American Mary has been sparking the fan-based alt-festival underground circuit for the past several months: This is truly a cut above.

American Mary screens on Thursday at 9:30 p.m. as part of Cineplex’s Sinister Cinema series at the Yonge and Dundas theatre in Toronto.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/american-mary-alt-festival-hit-is-truly-a-cut-above/article12225994/

Bloody Disgustingly Good Chat with The Twisted Twins

"Jen and Sylvia Soska are the Canadian ladies behind Twisted Twins Productions. After the release of their first grindhouse-inspired feature, Dead Hooker in a Trunk, the twins went on to release American Mary, a critical darling of the indie horror scene last year. On top of their filmmaking careers, the Soska’s are dedicated advocates for the Canadian horror industry and they made an appearance at Rue Morgue’s “Festival Of Fear” over the weekend as part of the Vancouver Fan Expo.

Jen and Sylvia sat down to chat about their upcoming monster movie, their love for comic books, Sinister Cinema, and plenty more."

READ IT HERE.

-Sylv

Canadian Horror Flag

Jamie 'Jay' Curd kicking his awesome meme making abilities into high gear by painting 

the Canadian flag horror twin red. Fuck yes!

-Sylv

The First Weekend's Club Captures the Q & A of AMERICAN MARY at the Whistler film Festival

Actress and burlesque performer, Tristan Risk, who plays the exotic and captivating Beatress Johnson in AMERICAN MARY, is asked how her burlesque background came into use in the role.




Director and writer of AMERICAN MARY, Sylvia Soska, speaks about the creative process of the film and how much body modification was an inspiration for the project and the role that it played.




Leading lady of AMERICAN MARY, Katharine Isabelle, talks about the project and the character of Mary Mason.




Thank you so much to the First Weekend's Club for capturing this wonderful experience and the very first time that all five women of AMERICAN MARY, Jen Soska, Tristan Risk, Paula Lindberg, Katharine Isabelle, and Sylvia Soska have been together for a festival screening. So proud that it happened in Canada.

Father's Day Ban is Bullshit

FATHER'S DAY is banned in Australia two days before it's scheduled screening at Monster Fest. One of the most surprisingly warm hearted, dark gory satires to drop kick it's fucking spectacular ass out of Canada in a long time making fellow Canadians proud that these are our country men and giving film fans a new treat in the realm of fucking awesome.

So what's the big fucking deal, guy? What's the big fucking deal in deed.

"Also frustrated by the decision are fellow Canadian filmmaking twin sisters, Sylvia and Jen Soska, who are currently in the country accompanying their newest horror flick, American Mary, a blood soaked revenge flick with a body modification twist, that’s set to close Monster Fest on a gory high note. The duo can definitely empathise with the situation as the pair’s debut feature, Dead Hooker In A Trunk – a low-budget cracker of a horror flick –was also initially banned in Canada. 

“I’ve noticed that horror has become a scapegoat for people’s frustrations for a long time,” Sylvia comments to Filmink. “But horror is supposed to have some sort of effect on you. And Father’s Day is clearly such a fun satire and it’s so sad that this is happening in Australia... Even the UK said that it’s okay!” 

Fellow Canadian horror buffs, the Soska sisters are big fans of Father’s Day, which they see as helping to usher in a new side to Canadian cinema. “It’s another Canadian doing something different that isn’t a sad movie in the prairies in the snow with a crying family. It’s nice to show that Canada has some diversity."

Read the whole article HERE. 

We're in a very special time right now. A time where we can say, fuck, no. I'm going to watch a film because I want to see it, and guess what, if I don't want to see it, I just won't fucking watch it. I don't need some fickle governing force to tell me what I can and cannot see. 

Talk about this. Voice your opinion. Throw your support behind Astron 6. These guys are the real fucking deal making some of the best original work on the scene today. We're huge fans and fans don't let this shit slide.

-Sylv

Blood Soaked Snow Courtesy of Crazy Canucks!

                         

"Horror has been in Canada's snow for decades now, starting with the classic Cannibal Girls and Black Christmasin the early '70s, through the classic early Cronenberg years of Shivers, Rabid and The Brood in the late '70s. In the '80s, we got films like Prom Night, My Bloody Valentine and The Gate. In the past decade, we've had flicks like the Ginger Snaps series, Cube and PontyPool. In fact, you could even count the last three Dead movies by George A. Romero as Canadian — after all, he is a Canadian citizen now and made all three films in Toronto." -Kelly Michael Stewart, PLANET FURY

For those of you new to this blog and/or the antics of myself and my twin sister, Jen, here is something that changed my life. We were always big horror nerds, we loved Rodriguez flicks, and at the end of 2007, GRINDHOUSE changed our lives. We had been going to a rip off claiming to be a film school, they had pulled our funding to our final project which just made us artistically pissed off. It was at that time we were inspired by the faux trailers in the multi-collaborative project, but it was Canadian Jason Eisener's HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN that truly made us think - yes, we can eviscerate too! That was the where our first film, DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK got her sexy legs.

Now, I'm a very proud Canadian. We have this beautiful country filled with interesting quirky people. Yes, we are polite, but as anyone who has Canadian friends or enjoys Canadian films can tell you, Canadians are fucking weird. I adore that weirdness, that different approach that brings original stories to life. There is a lot of talent here, and it's not only on our hockey teams (minus playoff season, seriously, what the fuck happened?). I feel very privileged to have been included on the fantastic Kelly Michael Stewart's Ten Canadian Genre/Horror Filmmakers to Watch For List.

"I've put to together a list of 10 Canadian genre/horror filmmakers and filmmaking teams who I think are worth watching out for in the next year. Remarkably, there are a ton of directors that I couldn't even fit on this list, so that gives you an idea of the wealth I had to pick from. All of the chosen people have a feature or two that are out now or will be out in the next 12 months. Most of these names you likely haven't heard of yet and are best described as "bubbling under" in the industry. The one thing that they all have in common is that they have recently put out an interesting film or a small body of work that is pointing to greater things. Keep an eye on the following filmmakers in the next year and see if you agree."

The list includes: Foresight Features, Astron-6, Jason Eisener, Black Fawn Films, Karen Lam, Justin McConnell, Ryan M Andrews, Evan Kelly, Richard Powell, and the Twisted Twins. Click here for a proper introduction to these Canucks and the rad article. A huge and humble thanks to Kelly for including Jen and me on this list - very fucking cool of you!

-Sylv

We Love Matt Stone and Trey Parker

People often ask us who we'd like to work with. Here's a couple gentlemen who are absurdly talented and a pair that THIS pair would abso-fucking-lutely love to collaborate with. Matt Stone and Trey Parker, we love you. We'd ultimately love to do a horror musical together, but we'd love for the Twisted Twins to come to South Park. We have our eyes on those fine ass Canadians, Terrance and Philip...

"What garbage!"

"Well, what do you expect? They're Canadian."

Gentlemen, we now begin the great journey to get a DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK in your paws.

Game on.

XO,
Jen and Sylv

Twisted Twins Meet the Metro

Vancouver twin sisters Jen and Sylvia Soska have taken the next step in their quest to break through in the testosterone-filled world of horror films. - Phylicia Torrevillas, MetroNews Canada

It is an incredible privilege to have had the lovely Phylicia Torresvillas take the time to talk to us for our big DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK release! She met up with us, we had a great chat, and then she took some photos of us that are gorgeous - I think I may be in love. Thank you so kindly for giving us and our production this huge privilege of appearing in a nationally printed newspaper, one that I fucking love reading!

The Soska sisters say it has been a long journey since they made their Vancouver-filmed, low-budget bloodbath feature Dead Hooker in a Trunk in 2007.

It truly has been. Click here for the entire rad piece. You Canadians can pick up your copies at the Metro newsstands.


Thank you so much for checking out this site and supporting the flick! Much more exciting news to come.

~Sylv

No, It Ain't 1994

And now for a break from horror and film...

Now, for something completely different.

I am proudly Canadian. When we hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics, my heart swelled with Patriotic Pride, something usually understated in us humble Canucks. When Canadian treasure, Sidney Crosby, scored that historical goal, I went out and gave complete strangers high fives and joyous screams, much like every other Canadian world wide. It was like world peace. Anyone who was there will tell you the same.

And now something incredible is happening in Vancouver again.

If anything is taken as an absolute truth about Canadians it is this: We love our hockey. The Vancouver Canucks are my team. I first fell in love with them as a little girl in 1994. This was the year that the had come the closet in history to winning the Stanley Cup. That year, we lost to the NY Rangers. It broke a lot of hearts. We have never since that day made it back to the final round of the playoffs.

Until now.

With a double over time goal, Kevin Bieksa made a city erupt with excitement. The Canucks will be playing for the Stanley Cup this coming week.

Will we play Tampa Bay? Or will it be Boston? We don't know as both teams advance to game seven. One thing is for sure. We have never won the Cup before. We haven't been this close in over 15 years. And the Canucks want it baaaad.

Sylv and I made some pretty bold statements at the start of the season. As you may be able to guess, we adore the Sedins. Sylvia's man is Henrik and mine is Daniel. I said that Daniel will get the Hart Trophy this season and would've gotten it last year were it not for his injury. I also said that Daniel will have more points at the end of this season than Henrik had last season. As bold as those statements were, Sylvia blew mine away.

She said that Henrik as Captain will lead the Canucks to win the Cup.

I said, "yeah, fuckin' rights. You're on, sis."

And now here we are. Daniel looks like the favorite to get the Hart this year and he damn well deserves it. And the Canucks are going to the playoffs. From underdogs to the favorites to win? Oh, hells yeah.

I love the Canucks. This is our year. And here's a little battle song for our boys.

Enjoy and GO CANUCKS GO!!!!!!!

XO,

Jen

Canada's Best Kept Secret Weapon

'Some people are just so talented that it really isn't fair. CJ Wallis is one of those people. You probably haven't heard of him, but Wallis is an enormously gifted director, actor, cinematographer, producer, editor, writer and musician. And to top it all off, I have it on good authority from a certain female FanGirlTastic staffer that he's cute too. Totally not fair.'

Stole the words right out of my mouth, Mr. Neel. I am speaking in reference to the mother-fucking spectacular article written by Theron Neel of FanGirlTastic.

For those of you new to the bloggings - catch up on the gentleman that is Theron Neel here and check out FanGirlTastic - the site for the fangirl that has everything but a ... - for wonderful informative pieces on everything a horror nerd could ever want and more. The piece to which I am referring is 'CJ Wallis - Canada's Best Kept Secret'.



And Theron, as usual, hits it all on the nose with his wonderfully written article and you really get to know this man who is personally and professionally, one of the most important men in my life.

'When not tending goal for his team, Wallis and his dad spent hours playing an improvised game called Minis, which was "essentially a basement hockey equivalent of Pong," Wallis recalls. "The room was fairly small and the puck was often some unnecessarily overactive bouncy ball, which made for a very fast, challenging and competitive game."

But even as Wallis was developing his shooting skills, he was discovering another obsession. "Being competitive sorts, heated debates would often escalate. So, I grabbed the family video camera and created 'the Net Cam.' All debates were quickly erased by reviewing the footage frame by frame instantly," he says. "I started to notice more and more than I was becoming obsessed with where the camera should be put to better capture everything happening in the room . . . and suddenly my hockey marriage had an adulterous filmmaking mistress."'

Now I could pull genius quotes from the pitch perfect article all day, but it would take away from the fun and pleasure of actually reading the piece - which what I suggest you do because it's a inside look to our group that doesn't get explored all too often. Click here and read and love and share and repeat - like shampooing and conditioning. I could go on on how 'stupidly talented' this man is, but Theron in his entertaining and witty, informative writing has it mastered in his article.



Thank you so kindly to Theron and FanGirlTastic for getting the secret out about CJ Wallis and his career, skills, and contributions. I love this article to insane amounts. After I post this, I am re-reading it. No joke. It's that fucking rad.

~Sylv