Tattooed terror titan Pandie Suicide talks strange cinema, horror and rock and roll.
New Zealand born model, actress and writer Pandie Suicide is as brainy as she is beautiful.
The now LA-based performer and newly minted author got her start as a model with the popular Suicide Girls website. At the same time, she also worked as a music journalist for various publications. These days Suicide can be seen on screen in films like Joe Dantes recent comedy BURYING THE EX, Taylor Swift and David Lynch videos (!) and short horror films like the self-penned MASSACRE (now on VOD) and the upcoming BLOOD BATH.
Suicide is not some sort of self-styled scream queen, shes the real, horror-loving deal, as SHOCK found out in the exclusive interview.
SHOCK: Why do you think people are attracted to fantasy images of blood, death and sex on screen?
SUICIDE: Theres something very visceral about seeing blood on screen. Theres a vicarious thrill in violence, sex and death as well as the adrenaline rush of a good scare, I think all of that is a part of what attracts audiences to these kinds of images and to horror in general. It gets the heart beating and the blood pumping and its quite paradoxical but sometimes imagining all that death, or the threat of it, is exactly what can make a person feel the most alive and theres a kind of catharsis in that. I think theres also a morbid curiosity that a lot of us have, that I certainly have. Its like they say with a car crash how you cant look away, theres a strangeness, a novelty, an excitement, while also often a repulsion, a horror, an absolute abhorrence all at the same time and films of this nature I feel, tap into some of that. I think there can even be something sexual about it, about blood, violence, death with or without the sex, but combine the two in the right way and youve got a potent cocktail right there. The human psyche is a strange thing!
SHOCK: When did you first start to formulate your tastes in art?
SUICIDE: At a very young age. I think some of our taste is in-built and we are just born with it, and that some of it is environmental and related to what we are exposed to. I was raised on Zeppelin, Bowie, Sabbath, Bauhaus and Hendrix which I think did really help to inform my musical tastes, which lean towards the heavier and darker side – death metal, black metal, thrash, rock, punk, industrial and I am drawn to films, artwork and literature with generally darker themes. I remember seeing Peter Jacksons splatter flicks at an early age as I was growing up in New Zealand and them having an impact on me, I remember seeing JAWS and the vividness of the blood in the water, the fear in the film, I remember the ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW being played over and over on VHS, I remember lots of Agatha Christie murder mysteries being read to me or played on Tv, Tim Burton Films, Depeche Mode songs, David Bowie posters, THE ADDAMS FAMILY, music videos back when they used to play on TV. A lot of this stuff has definitely helped inform my aesthetic but who knows if we are drawn to this stuff because its what were naturally into or if because we are around them that we start to become drawn to them.
SUICIDE: MASSACRE is most certainly a horror film in the slasher genre though it also has elements of the thriller genre too and quite a lot of blood as you might imagine from a film titled MASSACRE! It was inspired by a dark and bloody dream I had and stars Billy Morrison who plays guitar for Billy Idol, London May who played drums/bass in Samhain and myself with an appearance from Katy Foley, Jeff Hilliard and Jeordie White and Rob Patterson who co-wrote the soundtrack which was really amazing and picked up an award at its first film festival appearance. I wrote and produced the film (along with producer Damian Lea) and it was directed by Erik Boccio, a very talented up and coming director.
In fact I was so impressed with what Erik was able to do with MASSACRE and how he brought to life my words from the page to the screen that I am working with him on my next project Blood Bath, a short film that is kind of a twist on the Elizabeth Bathory tale. I wrote it and will be producing it with Erik directing and the amazing Laney Chantal creating the make up FX. If you havent checked out her work, she is incredibly talented and creates amazing creature and character looks. She was on a season of the show Face Off. Currently we are in pre-production for Blood Bath and planning to shoot this February, Im very excited with everyone we have involved and the male leads which are yet to be announced! Were still crowdfunding to try to raise a little more cash to make it happen, so if you want to check that out as well as the short teaser we made from our Blood Bath test shoot you can visit here.
SHOCK: Those who function as multi-hyphenates have interesting philosophies on the creative process; are you a writer first? Actress? Does it matter? Is it all expression?
SUICIDE: For me there is no real first, I can remember writing stories since the moment i was able to pick up a pen and put it to paper, but I also remember creating and performing my own plays, drawing, making music and more at around the same age and I think that for me at least it all stems from the same place, its all essentially the same thing just coming out with a different skill set. Im a writer, actor, model, producer, maker, and more. For me, being creative is the same across all things, though for others I can see maybe theyre just so good at something, for example directing, or so obsessed with it that they develop that as their primary form of expression and creativity and become a total master of it, although I think you can be a master of multiple disciplines and forms of creativity and it is definitely all expression and art.
SHOCK: Tattoos are addictive. Are you planning more ink?
SUICIDE: Oh definitely, I have a full back piece by Dan Smith who is a really talented artist who was on Kat Von Ds LA Ink show and its not quite completed, I really need to find the time to get it finished. I also have a piece by Simon Morse, another amazing artist from back home in New Zealand who is very famous for his unique pin ups, tattooed on my leg that needs to be finished, shes my evil sorceress. I also have plans to turn my two half sleeves into full sleeves, its a lifelong process!
SHOCK: How did you end up Joe Dante’s flick?
SUICIDE: I think for that one there was a regular casting that my agents sent me out for or maybe I just got an email about it I cant really remember, with a lot of things I book them the traditional way but with others like for example, David Lynchs Crazy Clown Time video I appeared in a while back, its a strange turn of events that leads to it or simply a call out of the blue where I have no clue how they found me. Its always an exciting and interesting process either way!
