Indie Horror Online had the pleasure of speaking with Eddie Lengyel, who is the director of American Poltergeist: The Curse of Lilith Ratchet. We asked him about his latest film and discussed other projects as well…

Q: Let’s start off by talking about your newest film: American Poltergeist: The Curse of Lilith Ratchet…

A: Ratchet has Rob Jaeger who was in my first film Hellweek. He plays Hunter Perry. He is a local blogger who is kind of a big deal around town. He is brought a shrunken head from Alice, played by Katelynn Newberry and her best friend Lauren, played by Brianna Burk. Hunter becomes very fascinated by the origins of the head. After a quick internet search, he realizes that the head, if authentic, could be very valuable. So he makes and offer to the girls that two broke college girls can’t refuse. Little does he know that the head has a curse attached to it and once invoked bad things start to happen.

Q: Who are the other cast members?

A: We had a really amazing cast. Roger Conners plays Alice’s boyfriend, George Tutie does an amazing job as Nate, Angela Cole, who was in White Boy Rick, plays hunter Perry’s assistant and just brings magic to the screen. She is electric! Last, but not least is my favourite, Crissy Kolarik who plays Lilith Ratchet. Crissy is absolutely brilliant! She is magnetic, she truly sucks you in every time she is on the screen. There was one time she was in this giant house where we were shooting and she was coming at Angela and I actually got freaked out! She is so creepy, I am highly anticipating the audiences reaction when they see her on the big screen on September 20th! I was so blessed to have such and amazing cast and crew, Greg Krauss was the DP and just killed it along with my sound guy Jake Keta. Both of them did the work of five men. Truly pros all the way, the entire cast did such and amazing job. So proud of each and every one of them.

Q: How did you become interested in horror movies in the first place?

A: I would have to say my best friend at the time Dean. He is the reason I got into horror movies. Dean was that creepy kid that always had some cool monster magazine, Famous Monsters of Filmland and Fangoria of course, and it was those magazines that really got me hooked! We had these unscripted movies we would shoot with his mom’s Super 8 camera and they actually came out pretty good!

Q: Have things changed a lot for you since your first film Hellweek?

A: Things have changed very much so, each film brings me more and more knowledge of how things work in the movie industry. Just when you think you’ve got it down, someone comes along and schools you! In this line of work, you always have to be evolving.

Q: You’ve directed a number of other films including Scarred, Voodoo Rising and Mother Krampus 2: Slay Ride. Tell us a little about each one…

A: Voodoo Rising was shot in the woods on two HV 20 cameras. Very indie style, extremely low budget, not a lot to say about that one other than it’s entertaining!

A: Scarred came after Voodoo Rising and it is a step in the right direction! We had the original Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th Ari Lehman in the film, along with Playboy model Lisa Neeld. Scarred is a throwback to the 80s. It’s a straight up slasher flick and has all the elements: blood, guts, nudity and extreme violence!

A: Mother Krampus 2 started out as Slay Bells, then turned into The Naughty List and then Stuart Alson at ITN Distribution came up with the title Lady Krampus, which then turned into Mother Krampus. Yes, I know it’s a lot! She had a bit of a journey getting here (laughs) but that said, Mother Krampus 2 is a throwback to those Christmas horror classics like Silent Night and Black Christmas. On Krampus we pulled back on the blood and guts and kept it more about the story, it really is a fun and entertaining film. The critics are loving it. I am really curious how the fans will react to it when it drops at Walmart in November on DVD.

Q: Any advice for anyone thinking about making their own independent film?

A: My advice is go out there and just do it! If you have a vision bring it to life and make it happen!

Q: What are your favourite horror movies?

A: I have a few, I really like the Devil’s Advocate along with Carpenter’s Halloween and Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

Q: Any other projects on the horizon?

A: Yes! I am currently contemplating on doing two films in the next year. The next one will be science fiction meets horror. I am very excited about that one, and then I will be doing another ghost/slasher one this winter called The School House.

Q: Great talking with you! Any last words?

A: Keep an eye out for Fright Teck Pictures’ past, present and future films. Be sure to check out SGL Entertainment. You can find my first two movies Hellweek and Voodoo Rising there. See ITN Entertainment for Scarred, Mother Krampus 2 and American Poltergeist: The Curse of Lilith Ratchet.

For more information, check out the links below…

Lilith Ratchet Trailer

SGL Entertainment

ITN Entertainment

Fright Teck Pictures