INTERVIEW: Daniel Farrands explores unknown chapter in the bloody life of Aileen Wuornos
Photo: Peyton List stars as Aileen Wuornos in Daniel Farrands’ new American Boogeywoman movie. Photo courtesy of Dark Star Pictures / Voltage Pictures / Provided by Emma Griffiths PR with permission.
Director Daniel Farrands has had two movies released in 2021, and both deal with the unpleasant and dark subject matter of serial killers in the United States. Last month, audiences caught Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman, and this month they can continue the cinematic journey with Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman.
Audiences probably know the Wuornos story because it was popularized by Charlize Theron’s Oscar-winning performance in the movie Monster. This time around, Peyton List plays the serial killer, and she stars alongside horror legend Tobin Bell, Lydia Hearst, Swen Temmel, Andrew Biernat, Ashley Atwood and Joseph Schwartz.
Dark Star Pictures has released the creepy movie on demand, and a DVD version will be released Friday, Oct. 15. Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Farrands about his examination of Wuornos, a killer who left a bloody trail in Florida approximately 30 years ago. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
Have you always been interested in serial killers?
I would not say I have always been “interested” in serial killers. I think I have always been terrified by their inhumanity and cruelty and saddened by the senseless loss of life. I tend to think of what it must have felt like for the victims of these predators to be confronted by such evil, and of the devastation and wreckage they left behind.
Did this film project come shortly after the Ted Bundy project?
Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman was suggested to me by the producers of Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman. They wanted to make a movie that focused on a period of this notorious, yet ultimately tragic, female serial killer’s life that few people have heard about. When she was only 21, Aileen, who was already heavily involved in drugs and prostitution, made her way to Florida where she met and married a wealthy (and much older) man. That marriage lasted only a few weeks, but it presented Aileen with a real opportunity to turn things around. Ultimately, she chose the path that was familiar to her — one that sadly led to murder and self-destruction. I thought that small but pivotal chapter of her life would be a compelling story to tell.
Do these topics scare you? Are real-life murderers scarier than anything Hollywood can concoct?
I was a “latch-key kid” of the ’70s. Bundy, Gacy and the Hillside Stranglers seemed to dominate the nightly news. We absolutely feared these “boogeymen” but didn’t feel the same level of threat that kids do today. We didn’t experience school shootings or domestic terrorists or demagoguery and fanaticism infiltrating the highest levels of government — much less the invisible enemy of a worldwide pandemic. Today, evil doesn’t just stalk us down a dark road in a beat-up Volkswagen, or enter our house through an unlocked window. Now it preys on fear and ignorance. It turns neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend. Today it just walks up in broad daylight and shoots you in the face. That, to me, is more terrifying than any movie I have ever seen.
Do you think there are lessons to be learned from stories like this?
Horror films, and the true stories that have inspired many of them, have always been a reflection of what is going on in society. I think if there is any lesson to be learned it’s that we need to have more empathy and compassion for one another. We need to think of our neighbors, our community, our world. Surviving a horror film is oddly akin to surviving the world we’re living in. We identify with survivors like Ripley in the Alien franchise, Laurie Strode in the Halloween films, and Nancy in A Nightmare on Elm Street because they represent that struggle, that determination, and that fight to survive. Empowerment is a word that’s become part of our lexicon, and I think the films we’re seeing today reflect that more than ever. And I think that can only be a good thing.
When did you realize you wanted to be a filmmaker?
I started writing scripts and making my own Star Wars and Friday the 13th and Halloween movies starting when I was around 7 or 8 years old. I was, like most people my age, inspired by the films of my generation. I had a Super 8 camera (which I later upgraded to VHS!), and I was just always making films and writing little scripts and telling stories. I guess it was always in my blood, so to speak. I still love the immediate and visceral thrill of a horror movie, but I also have a deep love of science fiction, fantasy and the many unforgettable films of the “Amblin years.” I consider myself lucky to have seen A New Hope when it was just called Star Wars. I am just incredibly grateful that I managed to turn my childhood passion into a career that has lasted nearly 25 years. And to that young person who dreams of making art, whether it’s making films or writing books or painting or acting or making music, no matter the genre or subject matter: Refuse to give up. Ignore the critics. Believe in the impossible. Just keep showing up, doing the work and following your dream. The rest, as they say, will follow.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman, directed by Daniel Farrands, is now available on demand and will be released on DVD Friday, Oct. 15. Click here for more information.
