Jay Rohr
Alice Maio Mackay recently did us the kindness of sitting down to discuss Satranic Panic. A prolific writer-director from Australia, she’s composed several genre films such as T Blockers, So Vam, and Tooth 4 Tooth. In 2023 this rising talent received the Emerging Talent award from L.A. Outfest. Though her films are open to various interpretations such as empowering the LGBTQ community, Mackay’s main motive is simply to entertain.
Satranic Panic is essentially a road trip revenge flick. Demons seem to be targeting the transgender community inspiring Aria and Jay, played by Cassie Hamilton and Zarif, to go on a bloody quest. Humorously shlocky horror, it’s a campy fun popcorn film.
But this movie wasn’t the only topic of our conversation. Alice Maio Mackay elaborated on what inspires her, what keeps her going, and future projects as well. For instance, her next picture, Carnage for Christmas is set for a mid-October release. There’s a lot to digest, so either check out the abridged transcript below or the full video interview link.
Film Obsessive: Would you like to tell us a little bit about Satranic Panic?
Alice Maio Mackay: I guess it’s like a road trip, demon killing film about trans friendship. And there’s also romance and musical numbers. Yeah, it’s a really campy, hopefully fun film that also deals with grief and found family.
Did anything in particular inspire this story?
In the very beginning when I was messaging with my co-writers, I had a few different ideas. It was a film about a trans drag queen and their best friend who’s a comic book artist kind of traveling and killing demons or some kind of supernatural monster. And I think my two inspirations, like a mix between Priscilla Queen of the Desert… and then also Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Those were the kind of two original inspirations and then aesthetically for this one as well, a little bit of Robert Rodriguez like Machete.
One of the co-writers on this was Cassie Hamilton, who is also a star in the film, and she did, A Transgender Woman on the Internet, Crying, and that’s got some fabulous music in it as well. Was there ever any thought of turning this whole film into a full-blown musical?
Not in the get go. I knew we always wanted to have singing because I wanted to make the film with her. I would love to do a musical at some point… but I think a full-fledged musical would need a lot bigger budget, but I would love to do it, I’m a big fan.
You’re kind of known for making some micro budget films that are well put together. Do you ever find that having such a low budget, is that a constraint or is that a liberation?
I think it’s kind of both freeing and constraining. We can set up to make a vision and we can go and do that without people telling us oh this is too gay, or this is something too camp or whatever. It’s really hard to do as well. I didn’t know how we were going to accomplish the tongue coming out of the demon at the beginning. I never really worked with visual effects before. And luckily, I was friends with Vera Drew who did The People’s Joker. I had her help and her willing to give me names of people I could use. I think it’s scary, but it’s also very rewarding.
Do you feel yourself progressing as a filmmaker with each film and looking for new challenges?
Yeah, definitely. I mean, I feel like every film is a challenge, but on a personal level, I just want to continue to progress and finesse my skills with each film, but also just keep telling the stories that I want to tell as well.
And I think that’s one of the great things about you doing so much crowdfunding to get things going, because otherwise you’d have to go through a studio and then you’d have to be confined by what they want the film to be. Do you feel more freedom?
Yeah, definitely, especially for my next film. I think I do have a larger budget, but not by like any means close to a studio budget or anything like that. I mean, I would love that one day, but at the moment, in terms of where studios are at, you don’t really see a lot of trans led horror films to begin with and then having trans creatives behind the screen as well.
When people talk about getting diversity and representation an important element of that is authenticity, because then otherwise, we’re just putting people in there who fit the dynamic. With this film Satranic Panic, there’s a lot of great exploration of the differences within the community. Would you like to elaborate on that?
It’s like on a deep level, there aren’t really those subtleties about what it is like being a trans person, rather than just like a throwaway line written by this person. But I think inclusion is great across the board. My films aren’t just meant for trans and queer people, but there’s subtleties and stuff that only people in the Community would understand and get and I think especially the last two films, T Blockers and Satranic Panic, I wanted to reflect the friendship between trans people and found families.
Your films are really good at establishing the sense of the need for community.
It’s something I’ve put in various levels in all my films.
You seem to make what I like to call beer and a pizza movies, OK? These are flicks that you can just watch with your friends in a casual way and have a very unserious time. That’s your main goal, right? To make fun movies?
Yeah, 100% very like Kevin Smith early 2000s.
And so how is the film doing? Are audiences reacting the way you hoped? Are they having a good time?
Yeah, definitely. The screenings I’ve been to in Australia have been full when people are laughing and enjoying it. The film played in Brazil’s largest like genre film festival and it’s going to Taiwan in like a few weeks as well, which is crazy. It’s just like the film’s going way farther than I expected.
You make a lot of films in a little bit of time. How do you keep from getting stressed over that?
I don’t know. I think film is what gets me going and excited in life and despite how tricky it is to make each one of these films, I love being on set and I love collaborating with these artists. And that’s probably one of the highlights of my year.
You’ve mentioned that some of your inspirations are John Waters and Gregg Araki. How does that influence show up in your work?
I think both of those filmmakers started with virtually no money, making films with their friends. John Waters having his group of actors and reusing them in each film and Gregory Araki just making really colorful, films that are explicitly queer and have this element of campiness and fun, while also dealing with these traumatic things as well.
When you’re shooting a movie, especially, something’s got all this gore and unreality, how do you help performers get into it?
Most of the stuff we do is practical, like this one. You know, there’s like a little bit of VFX, but when it comes to like actors reacting, you know when like outside the motel and that demon is getting stabbed like she’s reacting—blood is pooling around her mouth. You know, she’s in prosthetics and stuff—I feel like it’s easier than saying, “Oh, it’s going to happen in post.”
Inevitably, people are going to ask is there a political message to material like this. But you’ve said in other interviews that that’s sort of just incidental because of the fact that they happen to be about the LGBTQ community. Does that ever get annoying that people are trying to find a political depth to it, or does that just come with the territory?
I feel like yes and no. All my films, I guess, are a little bit political in that sense. And it just comes naturally. I like it when people read into it or get different things out of it. And it’s like all these different theories and stuff and I love reading that and I think that’s great, but a lot of it is stuff that I hadn’t considered, or I came in writing it with a different message. So, I love seeing people get different takes.
What are you looking forward to doing with film that you haven’t done yet?
I think just telling new stories, and I think collaborating with different artists I really do love. I just love making things in general, so just continuing to explore that. That’s all I really want.
Where can people keep track of you and what’s going on with your work? Where can they find your films, when they come out, that sort of thing?
I’m on Instagram (@alice_maiomackay) and X (@alicemaiomackay), and then So Vam, Bad Girl Boogey are both on Shudder. So Vam has a VHS with Lunchmeat. T Blockers is on VOD and so is Satranic Panic. And T Blockers has a Blu-ray with Vinegar Syndrome.
And you’ve got another movie on the way, Carnage for Christmas.
Yeah, doing festivals at the moment.
Is there going to be like a wider release or VOD?
VOD, limited theatrical, and then some Blu-rays towards the end of the year.
