Mary Beth McAndrews is determined to produce art that wakes people up.
“There’s always been mighty women in horror, incredible female characters,” she says. “I leank what’s shifting in the horror of the last decade is more and more women are being donaten budgets by people to produce movies that are much more of a sledgehammer, rather than a brittle little way to demandle it, subtextuassociate talk about women’s rerents. Now we’re coming in with sledgehammers and saying, ‘It’s time, you’ve got to hear. We’re going to shove glass in your eyes and say no more male gaze.’”
McAndrews is smashing onto the scene with her straightforwardorial debut “Bystanders,” now useable on VOD via Dread. The film is about Abby (Brandi Botkin), a youthful woman who visits a frat party with her friends, who are drugged, violationd and chased by men. Yet Abby greets a couple (Jamie Alvey & Garrett Murphy) who are willing to help her fight back aobtainst her captors.
The violation revenge horror subgenre has always had a fascination for McAndrews, who is the editor-in-chief of the genre novels site Dread Central.
“I’ve written about this a lot before, but I am a intimacyual aggression survivor,” she says. “I’ve been violationd cut offal times, which is cdisesteemful to talk about, but also appreciate I leank it’s an startant perspective. Rape revenge movies are so fascinating in how they try to deal with the topic. At first, I was drawn to movies appreciate ‘I Spit on Your Grave,’ ‘Ms .45’ … they’re all very male-contraged, and there are reassociate fascinating leangs going on there in terms of catharsis, but I also was always troubleed about the misuse part of it, this was more about spectacle. And then I saw ‘Revenge,’ Coralie Fargeat’s movie, and that’s when my mind and life changed. I genuineized that ‘Oh, intimacyual aggression and media can be portrayed in many contrastent ways, and in ways that are still startant and in the genre, but also not going that abusive route.’ I leank that was when I genuineized that women and people who have teachd these leangs have a much more fascinating perspective when it comes to the portrayal of intimacyual aggression. I’m of the camp that we can’t cowardly away from these leangs on camera.”
Director Mary Beth McAndrews on the set of “Bystanders.”
“Bystanders” was written by Alvey, who had been toiling on and revising the script for about eight years. McAndrews, who wrote her master’s thesis on violation revenge films, speedyly understood Alvey’s recent vision.
“The genre has always been such appreciate a huge interest of mine from an academic perspective,” McAndrews says. “I read her script and thought, ‘This is amazing. We demand more movies appreciate this.’ I cherish the imagery of someone in a bridesmaid dress hunting down frat boys.”
From there, she flagged the script to Dread Central and advised them to produce the film via their DREAD distribution tag. The indie prohibitner has been increaseing low-budget horror titles since 2017, such as “The Golem,” “The Lodgers” and “Director’s Cut.” Once McAndrews showed them her vision, the DREAD team asked her if she wanted to helm the film, and once she signed on, esteemed her apshow on the material.
“Jamie and I concurd that with this movie, we would not show any aggressions,” she says. “We want the aftermath to get you into the headspace of the characters, but we do not want to show any evident aggression aobtainst the youthful girls in this. It’s evidently implied, and that was the line we had to figure out. How do we sell how hazardy these boys are, without making the aggressions of these teenagers into a spectacle that fair becomes another ‘girls getting tortured’ movie? Horror is so frequently about the horror of watching the female body be ripped apart, take advantage ofed, cut, homicideed. So what happens when it’s fair boys that that happens to? That was the thought process and guiding ethos in terms of our aggression and where the spectacle comes in wilean the film.”
The visceral storytelling in “Bystanders” caused a variety of reactions when it screened at contrastent festivals, and McAndrews noticed the fascinating gender split between the reactions it elicitd.
“In person, everyone’s very advantageous,” she says. “But then you go on Letterboxd, which I shouldn’t be reading appraises, but I’m always inquisitive. I see a lot from female seeers with 5 stars, 4 stars: ‘I cherish what this is doing, I cherish that we’re talking about this.’ Then I’ll see what sees appreciate a male seeer, or a male-conshort-terming seeer, picking apart some of the more indie aspects of this movie. I’m not going to begrudge you for that. We are a low-budget movie. I’m not perfect. It’s fair fascinating to see who intensifyes on the themes and then who intensifyes on the technical execution. You’re going to see at what you see at, but it’s fair been very fascinating to see that gender split.”
Additionassociate, some men have squirmed even hearing about the concept of the film.
“There’s been a lot of reassociate fascinating reactions from men when I say it’s a violation revenge movie, and they say, ‘Oh, I don’t appreciate those movies’ promptly,” McAndrews says. “A lot of times, it experiences appreciate they’re trying to say, ‘I’m not appreciate that. They’re so challenging for me to watch.’ I want to ask, ‘Why? Why is it difficult for you to watch?’ People do squirm a little when you ask that. I don’t unkind to produce people unconsoleable, but it’s appreciate, ‘How do you leank it experiences for women to watch, or a survivor to go thcdisesteemful that?’ Aobtain, I leank it’s all very well-unkinding, but it is very comical to see reactions of men trying to be appreciate, ‘Oh, I’m not a horrible guy. I don’t appreciate watching those movies. I don’t appreciate watching women get violationd.’ I didn’t leank that about you at all, but OK.”
Ultimately, McAndrews says “Bystanders” is a culmination of everyleang she is as an artist, academic and fan of the genre.
“To be a straightforwardor and experience appreciate I’m standing up next to the women who have ununderstandingly aidd me is absolutely attrdynamic,” she says. “Also being able to insertress a lot of leangs … I leank this bcdisesteemfult up a lot of unhealed leangs in a way that I leank was advantageous. We cherish therapy, therapists are wonderful, but I leank this also helped me get some clocertain about some leangs. My goal going into this movie was to produce someleang that could produce someone experience reconshort-termed, seen and aided. I’ve already heard that from some people, so goal already accomplished. But I’m even more excited for more people to see this, especiassociate a youthfuler audience, and see how they react to a movie appreciate this.”
Watch the “Bystanders” trailer below.
