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Argentine Horror Films – “Blood Circuits” (SUNY Press, 2018) – Jonathan Risner interview

Jonathan Risner is Assistant Professor of Spanish at Indiana University Bloomington. He discovered Argentine horror and wondered how much of the country’s brutal dictatorship impacted that country’s horror films. We discuss his book on the topic.

1:27 – Jonathan talks about how he got into studying and writing about Argentinian horror cinema. He wondered if an Argentinian horror film could be made without referencing the brutality of the dictatorship in that country.

4:43 – Jonathan then talks about how he turned his dissertation into the book. He included new Argentinian films that have come out since 2012. There’s not a tradition of Argentine horror cinema. Horror most often associated with other countries. Lots of people have started making great low budget horror films in Argentina.

14:00 – Since independence, Argentinian films have sort of shown a tension between city and country.

15:45 – He also looks at films that are done with English dialogue. These films are often designed to break into the US B-movie market.

19:08 – Another book chapter is on punk horror cinema that is supposed to be purposefully offensive.

21:45 – The dictatorship was dealt with on screen with melodramas and documentaries. A new generation of film makers are using horror to deal with it.

23:45 – The book has a filmography with associated US distributors and youtube links.

30:00 – Argentine horror film is not coherent. There is no stylistic thread through them.

33:00 – Jonathan interviewed a psychoanalyst who had been a college student during the dictatorship and he began crying. That was a moving moment for Jonathon.

41:45 – Jonathan joked about how hard it was to get good punk horror film stills because the film quality is poor, not corporate punk, he joked.

42:45 – He had to mix comedies with the horror films because it got tough to watch so much brutal horror.

45:56 – People can find the book and read the first chapter on the SUNY Press website.

Links of interest

SUNY Press Blood Circuits page

For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Jonathan Risner

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: horror, films, Argentina, big-budget, interview, punk horror, dictatorship, memory, psychoanalysis

Classical “monster” art – “Portraits of Human Monsters in the Renaissance” (Medieval Institute Publications, 2018) – Touba Ghadessi interview

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Touba Ghadessi is an Associate Professor of Art History at the Wheaton College Massachusetts. We spoke about her book on how the “monstrous” form was portrayed in 16^th and 17^th century art found among noble courts.

3:45 – Touba talks about the book and what it means to be a monster in the 16^th century.

8:00 – Touba thought she might find definite categories of “monsters” but the meaning was more porous. Courts loved having dwarves at court.

12:00 – Touba talks about a dwarf that was taught to fight, to speak other languages and taught many different skills by his court patrons. Some dwarves were mentally incapacitated and used as jesters sometimes.

21:24 – There’s a long history of dwarfism in other cultures being a perfect miniature representation of a human being.

25:45 – In the 16^th century, anatomists started looking at dwarves as biological entities rather than omens of something.

27:30 – Touba could look at purchase inventories for courts to see what was being bought for dwarves by their patrons.

29:30 – She mostly got records from Northern Italian courts and some French courts.

38:00 – It was difficult for Touba to read about the vivisection work that some 16^th century scientists did.

For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Touba Ghadessi

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: art, dwarf, hirsute, paintings, 16^th century, 17^th century, italy, france, nobility, castrati, royal courts

Stargate Universe actor – Peter Kelamis interview

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Peter Kelamis is a Canadian actor who’s done a lot of voice acting and live acting. He’s best known for his roles in Stargate Universe and as Rolf in Ed, Edd, and Eddy. He’s also played Goku in the English versions of Dragon ball Z. I spoke to him at Shore Leave 2018.

0:48 – Peter talks about how he got into acting. He was really into comedy as a kid. He used to get ice cream for impressions.

2:40 – Peter talks about how he does voice acting.

3:36 – Peter talks about how props can mess up a scene.

5:43 – Sometimes he remembers people he’s met and uses their voices for roles. He also talks about how his Greek background has influenced his acting.

8:12 – He saw Star Wars as a kid and was into sci-fi ever sine. He loves blue screen and green screen shoots.

12:18 – His website is Peterkelamis.com. He loves going to cons. He loves meeting people.

Links of interest

PeterKelamis.com

For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Peter Kelamis

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, fantasy, art, artist, Stargate, voice acting, Greek culture, Rolf, Yoda, Star Wars, canadian, australia, Greece