Jen and Sylvia Soska | |
---|---|
Born | |
Other names | Twisted Twins, The Soska Sisters |
Occupations | |
Years active | 2001–present |
Website | twistedtwinsproductions |
Jen Soska and Sylvia Soska (born April 29, 1983), [1] also known as The Soska Sisters or The Twisted Twins, [2] are Canadian twin sisters who collaborate as film directors, producers and screenwriters. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] They are known for directing often violent and visceral horror movies such as Dead Hooker in a Trunk , See No Evil 2 and American Mary . [10] [11] [12]
Jen and Sylvia Soska were born on April 29, 1983 in Canada. The twins graduated from Argyle Secondary School. Their love of horror began at an early age, when their mother gave in to their constant begging to watch Poltergeist . [13] Initially, they tried becoming actresses and extras, but were unsatisfied with the stereotypical twin roles they were being offered. They decided to work in the horror movie field soon thereafter. [14]
Jen and Sylvia briefly attended film school and wrote and directed Dead Hooker in a Trunk as a final project. The film was shot for $2,500 and released by IFC. It received an overall rating of 80% from critics at Rotten Tomatoes (4 fresh and 1 rotten review). [15] The twins starred in the film as twin sisters – Badass (Sylvia) and Geek (Jen). Highly inspired by Robert Rodriguez's Rebel Without A Crew, the Soskas sought out El Mariachi star Carlos Gallardo to play the character God.
An absurdist dark satire, Dead Hooker in a Trunk originated as a faux trailer the sisters created, annoyed when their film school cut the budget for their final project. The film had a screening cancelled by one movie theater in Saskatoon after the theater received anonymous complaints. [16]
Following their first project, the twins wrote American Mary [17] [ better source needed ] which was shown at Film4 Fright Fest, Toronto After Dark Film Festival and Monster Fest. [2] [18] The twins cast Canadian horror star Katharine Isabelle ( Ginger Snaps ) as Mary Mason, and had special effects created by Masters FX. Wanting to be respectful to the body modification community, the sisters hired flesh artist Russ Foxx as a consultant to ensure authenticity.[ citation needed ] The film was awarded the Special Jury Award at Fantastic Fest.
Following the success of the film, the Soskas announced an American Mary television series, writing on social media: "I know a lot of you are excited and curious about an American Mary series, after Rabid we connected with Cronenberg's producers at Prospero who have been champions in developing the series. We are currently making a sci-fi thriller called Unseen together with Radar & Film Mode. In the meantime, we have been enjoying connecting with fans of the film and hearing what they want to see in the television series version. It's always been a passion to explore these characters and their lives more deeply. To understand their struggles and see their wins." [19]
The sisters directed a segment in ABCs of Death 2 titled "T is for Torture Porn", which follows an actress, Yumi, as she auditions for an adult film scene. Yumi is revealed to be a hentai monster. The film was produced by XYZ Films.[ citation needed ]
Jen and Sylvia Soska made two films for WWE Studios: See No Evil 2 and Vendetta . [20] See No Evil 2 again featured Katharine Isabelle.
The first film in the Lionsgate and WWE Studios Action Six Pack was the Soska Sisters' action film Vendetta, written by Justin Shady. The film stars Dean Cain as Mason Danvers, who goes into prison in pursuit of the man who killed his wife.[ citation needed ]
The Soskas co-wrote and directed Rabid (2019), a remake of David Cronenberg's 1977 film of the same name, [21] starring Laura Vandervoort [22] and professional wrestler CM Punk. [23] Rabid had its premiere on the closing night of the 20th Annual Fright Fest in London.[ citation needed ]
In September 2022, the Soskas announced the premiere of their new film On the Edge, to take place at the London FrightFest Halloween festival on October 29. The film was shot and produced in Canada and co-stars Aramis Sartorio, Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska and Mackenzie Gray. The festival synopsis of the film reads, "Family man Peter gets more than he paid for when he books a 36-hour session with the sadistic Mistress Satana who seems more intent on making him suffer for his sins. Is it blackmail? Is it torture? Or is it the Devil come for his soul? Will Peter’s faith save him from his own personal Hell or is he already damned? A brilliant depiction of how Kink Culture can heal past trauma and be a source for shocking redemption." [24]
A sequel to George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead , Festival of the Living Dead was directed by the Soska Sisters in 2023 and released on Tubi April 5, 2024. The film follows Ben's grandkids and their friends 55 years after the incident. The film stars Ashley Moore, Camren Bicondova, Andre Anthony, Gage Marsh, Christian Rose, Maia Jae Bastidas, Keana Lyn Bastidas, and Shiloh O'Reilly.
The Soskas have written for Marvel Comics, writing a Night Nurse story for Marvel's Secret Wars Journal #5 in 2015, a short story called The Ripley with the Guardians of the Galaxy, and a Deadpool story for the first annual Avengers Halloween Special. They also wrote Black Widow, which ran for 5 issues in 2019. [25] The Soskas are writing Yaira for Rippaverse Comics releasing early 2024. The Yaira #1 preorder campaign broke company records making a million dollars within 24 hours of launch. Their next comic they will be writing for Rippaverse Comics is of the character Bloodruth who was first introduced in the second issue of Isom.
Year | Film | Producer | Director | Writer | Actor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | Josie and the Pussycats | ||||
2009 | Dead Hooker in a Trunk | ||||
2012 | American Mary | ||||
2014 | ABCs of Death 2 | ||||
2014 | See No Evil 2 | ||||
2015 | Vendetta | ||||
2015 | Dead Rising: Watchtower | ||||
2016 | The Blackburn Asylum | ||||
2019 | Rabid | ||||
2022 | On the Edge | ||||
2024 | Festival of the Living Dead | ||||
Year | Show | Actor | Host | Episode(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | Kyle XY | "I've Had the Time of My Life" | ||
2015 | Hellevator | Starring role | ||
Katharine Isobel Murray, known professionally as Katharine Isabelle, is a Canadian actress. She has been described as a scream queen due to her roles in various horror films. She started her acting career in 1989, playing a small role in the television series MacGyver. She gained fame for the role of Ginger Fitzgerald in the films Ginger Snaps, Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed, and Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning.
Rabid is a 1977 independent body horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg. An international co-production of Canada and the United States, the film stars Marilyn Chambers in the lead role, supported by Frank Moore, Joe Silver, and Howard Ryshpan. Chambers plays a woman who, after being injured in a motorcycle accident and undergoing a surgical operation, develops an orifice under one of her armpits that hides a phallic/clitoral stinger she uses to feed on people's blood. Those she bites become infected, and then feed upon others, spreading the disease exponentially. The result is massive chaos, starting in the Quebec countryside, and ending up in Montreal. Rabid made $1 million in Canada, making it one of the highest-grossing Canadian films of all time. A remake of the same name, directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska, was released in 2019.
Dead Ringers is a 1988 psychological thriller film starring Jeremy Irons in a dual role as identical twin gynecologists. David Cronenberg directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Norman Snider. Their script was based on the lives of Stewart and Cyril Marcus and on the novel Twins by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland, a "highly fictionalized" version of the Marcuses' story.
Thomas Lee Holland is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, penning the 1983 sequel to the classic Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho, directing and co-writing the first entry in the long-running Child's Play franchise, and writing and directing the cult vampire film Fright Night. He also directed the Stephen King adaptations The Langoliers and Thinner. He is a two-time Saturn Award recipient. Holland made the jump into children’s literature in 2018 when he co-wrote How to Scare a Monster with fellow writer Dustin Warburton.
Alexander Mackenzie Gray is a Canadian film, television, and stage actor. He is a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and Canada. He divides his time between Toronto and Vancouver.
I Drink Your Blood is a 1971 American hippie exploitation horror film written and directed by David E. Durston, produced by Jerry Gross, and starring Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury, Jadine Wong, and Lynn Lowry. The film centers on a small town that is overrun by rabies-infected members of a Satanic hippie cult after a revenge plot goes horribly wrong.
FrightFest, also known as Arrow Video FrightFest is an annual film festival held in London and Glasgow. The festival holds three major events each year: a festival running five days over the UK late August Bank Holiday weekend, a Halloween event held in London in late October, and a festival in Glasgow held around February as part of the Glasgow Film Festival.
Adam Green is an American actor, filmmaker and musician, best known for his work in horror and comedy films, including the Hatchet franchise, 2010's Frozen, and the television series Holliston. He was also the lead singer for the hard rock and metal band Haddonfield.
Aramis Sartorio, better known by his stage name Tommy Pistol, is an American pornographic actor and director. He is known for his porn parody work, most notably as the lead actor in Evil Head, Pee-Wee's XXX Adventure: A Porn Parody, Taxi Driver: A XXX Parody, and Suicide Squad: An Axel Braun Parody.
Stephen Huszar is a Canadian film and television actor born in Saskatoon. He is first generation Canadian, his parents arriving from Hungary as immigrants when they were very young. His family tree goes back eight or nine hundred years in the Transylvania region of Romania. He graduated from the University of Saskatchewan.
Detention is a 2011 American slasher black comedy film directed by Joseph Kahn, and co-written with Mark Palermo. The film premiered in March 2011 at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Detention stars Josh Hutcherson, Shanley Caswell, Spencer Locke, and Dane Cook.
See No Evil 2 is a 2014 American slasher film directed by the Soska sisters, written by Nathan Brookes and Bobby Lee Darby, produced by Michael Luisi, and starring Danielle Harris, Katharine Isabelle and the WWE professional wrestler Kane. It is the sequel to the 2006 See No Evil feature film. Unlike the original, which had a theatrical release, the film was released in 2014 on a direct to Blu-ray and DVD form.
Dead Hooker in a Trunk is a 2009 Canadian horror film starring, written, produced and directed by twin sisters Jen Soska and Sylvia Soska, also known as the Soska sisters. The film is their feature film directorial debut and is distributed by IFC. The film features music by a variety of local Vancouver acts such as Craig James, Fake Shark - Real Zombie! and CJ Wallis.
The PollyGrind Film Festival, also known as simply Pollygrind and the PollyGrind Underground Film Festival, was an annual event held in Las Vegas, Nevada that specialized "in all things alternative, with a wide variety of films not shown elsewhere." Spotlighting short films, feature-length films, music videos and trailers of all genres, PollyGrind was founded by filmmaker and promoter Chad Clinton Freeman. The event prided itself on focusing on individuality, diversity, creativity and empowerment. Vegas Seven has said PollyGrind is a "celebration of all things, dark, bloody, underground and arthouse."
American Mary is a 2012 Canadian body horror film written and directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska and starring Katharine Isabelle, Antonio Cupo, and Tristan Risk. Isabelle plays a destitute medical student who begins taking clients from the extreme body modification community to solve her financial troubles.
Tristan Risk, also known as Little Miss Risk, is a Canadian film actress, known for her roles in horror films such as American Mary, Ayla, and Aliens Ate My Homework. In 2014 Risk penned the script for the short film Happily Ever Evil, in which she also starred, and in February 2016 she made her directorial debut with a short film she created as part of Women in Horror Month. She has since directed Parlour Tricks and Reptile House, which she both wrote.
Monster Fest is an annual genre film festival held in Melbourne, Australia, dedicated to cult and horror cinema. As of 2017 it is the only genre film festival held in Australia to be supported by the federal screen agency, Screen Australia.
Rabid is a 2019 Canadian body horror film directed and co-written by Jen and Sylvia Soska and starring Laura Vandervoort, Ben Hollingsworth, and CM Punk. It is a remake of the 1977 film of the same name directed by David Cronenberg.
There's No Such Thing as Vampires is a 2020 horror film that was directed by Logan Thomas. It is based on a script written by Thomas and Aric Cushing, who also starred.
Everybody Dies by the End is a 2022 found footage comedy horror mockumentary film written by Ian Tripp and directed by Tripp and Ryan Schafer in their feature film debut. The film stars Vinny Curran, Bill Oberst Jr., Brendan Cahalan, Iliyana Apostolova, and Ian Tripp.