I first heard the term ‘domestic horror’ film when Lars Von Trier released his film Antichrist in 2009.
The idea of a ‘domestic horror’ sounded incredibly appealing to me. I had previously made two films that had been about anxiety and fear, and taken place in domestic settings like an apartment and a park. Why not go all the way and make a horror film? I started watching old classics like Roman Polanski’s Repulsion and Ingmar Bergman’s The Hour of The Wolf.
The idea for ‘All Dressed Up’ came from a joke between my roommate and I about having an affair with each other’s girlfriends. A sort of stupid joke, but one, the more I thought about it, which scared the shit out of me.
The motivation for making it came from a deadline for a graduate school application, and wanting to have a more polished film. Productions problem aside, it was, until that point, the largest crew I ever had: A DP, sound person, AND even a production designer. For 3 days, the the four of us, along with actors CJ Lewis, Ben Jaeger-Thomas (who the part of Tom was specifically written for) and Harmony Stempel (later of Human Fruit Bowl) came together, laughed our assess off, and made this very dark film. It was a very fun weekend.
The film premiered a year later at The Big Apple Film Festival and was received pretty well, despite some serious sound problems, was well received. I remembering sitting in the audience and hearing a few audience members wince at the moments I wanted them to. It was a great experience.
My work has changed a lot since I made this film, and for sure, it was mostly an homage to filmmakers I love. I’m glad I made it. I remember walking away from this film thinking ‘boy, I have a lot to learn,’ which is probably the best result one can have from making a film.
Thanks for watching. Onward and Upward.
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Best,
Liam
Liam Billingham 