Interview with Josh Vargas - Sway
By: Jayson Champion

Jayson Champion: So tell us a little bit about how you got started in independent film?
Josh Vargas: Well, about 3 years ago, I visited the set of a short film that was being shot around Houston. It surprised the hell out of me how accessible the tools and resources needed to lens a decent independent film were. It was something I had wanted to do since I was a kid, but I was caught up in the whole mindset of ,"you have to have millions of dollars," to make a good movie. Then I researched it a bit and found out about the current wave of digital filmmaking, and most importantly, newer model cameras and software that allow video to mimic the look of film, a tool in itself that would save indie filmmakers roughly around $60,000 in itself. I instantly went home and wrote an 80 page script called "CRADLE" that I co-directed with David Mooney, who's my best friend of 13 years.

JC: How was that experience?
JV: A pain in the fucking hemorrhoids!! It was the first time I shot anything in my life. I was way to compromising and the movie that we shot was NOT the movie I intended on shooting. I wanted to make something extremely fucked up and twisted, but the most insane ideas we came up with, including an awesome baby-baking scene, were------------- objected upon by certain actors and producers, in which case, we buckled and sacrificed our vision to keep our actors, which was a mistake, one I have never and WILL NEVER repeat.

JC: How many of sexual favors did you have to perform to keep them?
JV: A few, I had to take a few shots in the mouth and dressed up like a french maid a few times, but they were really gentle and gave me cookies and punch afterwards.

JC: So, tell us about, SWAY.
JV: SWAY, is my baby!! It's the horror film I have waited all of my life to see. It's dirty, immoral, violent, bizarre, and actually scary at times!

JC: Wow, sounds interesting. So far, you haven't really released any information on the plot, can you tell us about it?
JV: Yeah, no problem. It's about 3 groups of people who's life take a drastic turn for the worst when a mysterious stranger, all of whom he is connected to some how, shows up in a small Texas town.

JC: Nice. I was half-ass expecting you to say something about a viral outbreak turning the towns residents into flesh eating zombies or something.
JV: Fuck that! That shit is so fucking bothersome. Every other indie horror flick you see is a fucking zombie movie! Very few, like 12 out of 100, have any kind of originality to them. The rest of them are the same rehashed bullshit. I fucking hate that. There are a few like FIDO, THE QUICK AND THE UNDEAD, or POT ZOMBIES that make some kind of effort to stand out. Usually, though, when you hear some fucking fanboy who just completed film school proclaim,"I am the ultimate horror fan making the ultimate horror movie," you can rest assure that he will be the next fucktard to piss on Romero's legacy.

JC: Really, I thought you were the "Ultimate fan making the ultimate horror movie?"
JV: Nope, not really. I wouldn't by far call SWAY the "ultimate horror movie," but it will definitely be one of the dirtiest cinematic experiences you will ever have.

JC: You know, those are some pretty heavy words there. If you promise something like that and don't deliver, horror fans will burn you to the stake!
JV: Yeah, I'm aware, and that's what I love about the horror genre. The fans are the best kind of fucking fans in the world. If you give them something original and they will follow you to the ends of the earth, but if you fuck up by earning their trust then crank out some crap-ass fucking teen friendly PG-13 shit, they will tear you a new asshole and obliterate your career. It's awesome! The fans are the ones that are running the genre, haha. I can assure you, and them, that SWAY will live up to everything I say about it. I won't make promises I can't keep. It's definitely not a movie for everyone, but I can honestly say that whether you like it or not, you will get something from our movie that you will NOT find anywhere else.

JC: What would that be?
JV: Completely unpolished and uncensored psychotic mayhem. We didn't hold back one bit. I wanted to push every line possible and every taboo while still maintaining a good story and coherent plot, which is harder than it sounds.

JC: You had mentioned actors and producers making a big deal about subject matter in your short film, how did you deal with that this time around?
JV: I didn't. I have the best fucking producers I could have ever asked for. These guys fucking rule. Usually, the producers are the guys that make you back down and try to tone everything down too get that "R" rating, but everytime I approach (John) Sullivan with some crazy sick idea, he just kind of gives me a weird look and says, "Fuck it, put it in there. Make it as fucked up as possible". Justin (Whitney) is just as lenient. He's more concerned with slaving some poor P.A around and bitching about nobody making him his fucking High Ball than he is me making the movie to intense.

JC: Sullivan has an acting role as well, I understand.
JV: Yeah, he plays BOBBY RAY, one of the backwoods organ snatchers in the movie. He does one hell of a fucking job and is actually one of the more creepier characters in the movie. As a producer he fucking rules. He's real easy to work with but will be all over your ass if you're slacking.

JC: Define all over your ass? That sounds a little funny. You sure this isn't the BROKEBACK sequel?
JV: I'm sure. By "all over your ass," I mean it kind of like how I'm all over your moms ass!!

JC: You know, I'm bigger than you.
JV: Good point.

JC: So when can we expect to see SWAY?
JV: Next year. Probably spring sometime.

JC: What are some of your direct influences on this movie?
JV: Quite a few, actually. TEXAS CHAINSAW and HENRY are two really big influences. It also has this whole ERASERHEAD/ BLUE VELVET level of uncomfort to it. Then you add this whole kind of old school western undertone to it. I tried to, pacing wise, make it feel like a violent car wreck. It's nice and subtle at the beginning, then around the second act, you can slowly but surely feel it start to lose control, then once the third act kicks it in just violently spins out of control and takes you straight to hell!!

JC: TEXAS CHAINSAW was a landmark achievement for the world on independent film. There are many crazy stories that have been shared by the cast and crew of that movie explaining some of the craziness that went down on set. Does SWAY have any horror stories of it's own?
JV: Fuck yeah, it does!! I don't even know where to begin. Basically, everytime we've shot, something off the wall has happened, sometimes crazier than others of course. Anything from crew members smacking actors in the face with a big pink dildo, to cops storming our set because they heard screaming and thought a life was in danger. We have a location that's about 2 miles into the woods out in Rosharon, Texas. Everytime we shoot out there it's like staying at the Overlook Hotel from THE SHINING. Our key grip was almost eaten by coyotes once. We've also been invaded by packs of wild pigs. None of this shit I'm making up. We had 2 male crew members, who's names I won't mention, cuddle each other at night because both of them thought that the other was a particular actress. Oh yeah, and somewhere in the midst off all that crap, we found the time to shoot a movie.

JC: What is it that you hope to accomplish with SWAY??
JV: The main thing I hope to accomplish is to make a horror flick that I can sit and watch and be satisfied every time I watch it. I also can't wait to see it in front of an audience for the first time. That's going to be the big pay off, right there. Seeing people react to it for the first time.

JC: Do you think that SWAY will be able to obtain an R rating?
JV: Probably not. It's got some "interesting" moments in it.

JC: Worse than HOSTEL or the SAW movies?
JV: Those movies, as totally fucking awesome as they were, were brutally violent films. They pushed the limits further than most studio horror flicks in recent memory. The thing about SWAY is that the violence and on screen bloodshed are the tamest element of the movie. What will ruin it's chance at an R rating will be the behavior of some of the characters, 3 in particular. The things they say and their reactions to certain situations are absolutley inhuman. Not to mention alot of the violence in the third act is of a sexual nature, which is usually a big no no. Plus, the MPAA doesn't usually take kindly to violence towards children, something we don't really shy away from in this movie. It's far from being a "safe," film.

JC: Well, the horror genre needs that right now. Hopefully SWAY delivers the goods.
JV: Hopefully. I can talk it up all I want, but it's going to be the fans that make or break it. Like I said, the definitive moment for me will be seeing the audience react for the first time.

JC: Any last words?
JV: Yeah, I just want to let everyone reading know that Mr. Champion has been trying to rub my knee cap through out the whole interview. I take it Evil Dread is an equal opportunity employer??

JC: Hahahaha, what's really funny is what Mr. Vargas had to do to get this interview.
JV: You promised you wouldn't tell. Great. My wife is going to be pissed. Thanks alot, asshole, and thanks to EVILDREAD.COM for the opportunity. I hope everyone reading found it worthy of the 5 minutes of their life they just lost.