Writer, Director, and Producer Jenn Wexler:
To start, please introduce yourself:
My name is Jenn Wexler and I’m a writer, director and producer.
What is horror to you, what makes a work of art one in the horror genre?
To me, the horror genre is a way for us, as viewers and creators, to exorcise our fears. There are a lot of scary things in this world and through horror movies, we can face them in a safe way—individually while we’re watching and then collectively, as a community, sharing our thoughts and feelings about it after.
What made you want to work in horror?
I’ve been a horror fan since I was a kid. ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK was my gateway, followed by BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and the teen slashers of the late 90s. In college, I was lucky enough to get an internship at FEARnet, a horror TV channel, which turned into my first real job when I joined them as their marketing coordinator after graduation. At FEARnet, I grew to understand horror as art but also as an industry, and I knew I wanted to work in it forever!
Where do you get your inspiration?
Everywhere. Books, film and TV in other genres, world events, music, my own experiences. I think as I go through each day, a part of my mind is always asking the question, “Would that work as a film? or “Can that be applied to a project that I’m currently working on?”
What is Women in Horror Month to you and why is it still important this many years later?
There’s still a gender divide, and Women in Horror month is great as a way to help bring attention to the issue and how to address it. But I also think it’s important we continue to celebrate women-identifying and non-binary filmmakers as filmmakers, period, and not just as “female filmmakers.”
Who are some of the Women in Horror who you look up to and who do you want to bring attention to in your field or others? One of my favorite movies of all time is AMERICAN PSYCHO and Mary Harron will forever be a hero in my eyes. I’m also a big fan of Karyn Kusama and Issa López. An up-and-coming filmmaker I want to bring attention to is Alice Maio Mackay. She’s still a teenager and has already made four kick-ass horror features; I had the pleasure of mentoring her through Salem Horror Fest, and she is incredible and unstoppable!
What are you currently working on that you can tell us about?
My 70s-set, demonic boarding school Christmas movie, THE SACRIFICE GAME, is now streaming on Shudder and AMC+ and rentable on Amazon and elsewhere. Check us out on Instagram at @TheSacrificeGame. And I’m @bubblegumandblood on Insta.
Thank you for taking the time to this, we greatly appreciate it.
Thanks!