Catherine Corcoran [Interview]

Welcome to Day 17 of Trainwreck’d Society’s Annual Month of Horror Showcase! We have a fully loaded month of all things horror for you fine folks! October is our favorite month for this very reason, and we are so excited to share 31 full days of film showcases and interviews with some of the finest folks from the world of horror, just as we have been doing for the last 5 years. What started as a simple 5 day showcase, has now blossomed into a full blown month long event. You’re going to love this! Enjoy!

17 straight days in Folks, and it is only getting better and better! Today we have some amazing words from a brilliant performer who has dominated not only the world of horror, but specifically our beloved Troma series as well! It’s Catherine Corcoran, Everyone! She is an amazing and talented actress that has been killing it in the world of horror (pun intendend). She also worked on  a film that we have been talking about a lot here at Trainwreck’d Society entitled 100 Acres to Hell, produced by our friend Ernie O’Donnell and featuring our new friend Genoveva Rossi, that we are so excited to see…..soon?

Catherine was nice enough to give us some words for this year’s Month of Horror showcase in which she discloses what exactly it is she loves about the world of performance, working in the world of Troma, and so much more! She is an absolutely delightful person and we are so excited to have her grace our digital pages here today! So Folks, please enjoy some great words from the brilliant Catherine Corcoran!

What inspired you to get into the world of film and television?  Was it an early aspiration to do so, or did you just happen to find yourself in this world one day?

I have always had a passion for storytelling. Growing up, you could find me organizing performances of nursery rhymes or various dance routines on the recess yard. 

As I got older, that transitioned into more organized theatre and professional productions but I also developed a passion for a variety of social-political issues and corresponding activism. This was often very frustrating for me, because I so often was met with a general indifference to these issues by my peers. 

It wasn’t until I saw Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream, that I connected the two things. I felt such a visceral, physical sickness watching that film and it helped me to understand the importance of storytelling, particularly in that medium. Often, cinematic experiences are the only way that we can understand the experience of another human or situation. It moves us, but also frees us, because at the end of the experience, we are purged of whatever suffering we may have witnessed, with a new understanding and, subsequently, the ability to create change. 

I think genre cinema in particular has always had this impact on its audiences, so I was definitely drawn to it in that regard. I was a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, growing up, and I think John Vulich’s work creating the practical monsters in that show to still be some of the most haunting that I’ve seen. 

Though, it wasn’t until working in the medium that I really developed a understanding of the FX processes and an appreciation for the work that goes into creating characters like that. I was super fortunate to be exposed to that work, early on in my career, and even more fortunate that the artists on those projects (Doug Sakmann, Lisa Forst, Kaliegh and Jason Koch) allowed me to see some of their process and educate me on it. They truly are masters.

You recently worked with our old friend Ernie O’Donnell that we are very excited to hopefully see soon entitled 100 Acres of Hell. It is a very intriguing story, so I am curious to know what your experience was like working on this unique project? 

Ernie is wonderful. I met one of his production partners, Ed McKeever, while promoting another film in the horror circuit and they (with Jason Koerner) really went out of their way to bring me on 100 Acres. Creating an entirely new horror villain and mythos is not an easy endeavor and the whole team did a great job. Ernie and his team are legends in their own right, and it was an honor just to be able to work with them. 

You are rightfully renowned for your role as Lauren in Troma’s brilliant Return to Nuke ‘Em High and its follow up film. There was a four year gap between the two films being released. With that, I am curious to know what it was like to dive back into that world after some time had passed? Was it a “like old times” scenario when you met up with everyone again? 

Thank you so much for the kind words. I honestly met some of my best friends on that production, and am lucky that many of us still stay in touch. Being that we’re friends, I had actually seen much of that team in-between releases, so it wasn’t all that different. Still anytime there is a screening or event for either film, it’s an awesome excuse to get everyone together and a blast to hang with everyone again. 

While the world of horror is not the only one you work in, you have done some pretty amazing work in the genre. And it is our Month of Horror Showcase after all, so I am inclined to ask you how you enjoy working in this genre? What sets it apart from other genres? 

Thank you so much. I think this harkens back to what I was talking about earlier, regarding the ability that cinema has to create an experience that you may not otherwise have or understand. 

Of course, the horror genre takes this to an extreme, but fear itself is an innately primal feeling- necessary for survival. I think we can connect to one-another in sharing those moments of “safe-terror” in a theater, because we all understand that emotion. 

I also think that the best horror films serve as allegories for larger societal tropes or archetypes, and I really enjoy being a part of work that challenges it’s audience and makes them reevaluate things.

What is your favorite scary movie? 

That’s a touchy one! I have a few that rank pretty high up there. The first true-horror film that I ever saw was, Hitchcock’s The Birds, so that one has a real special place in my heart. It was a slumber party in a neighbor’s basement, so the environment was perfect for a horror introduction, and I couldn’t have chosen a better master director to dive in with. 

After that, I really love late eighties- early nineties horror (especially ones with great soundtracks). Joel Schumacher’s The Lost Boys and Andrew Flemming’s The Craft are still two of my favorite films of all time. People argue that The Craft isn’t horror, but I don’t feel that way. I mean, come on, with the demonic possession and snake-man chasing young girls down the street?! Get out of here with that nonsense. 

Then more recently, The Babadook was the first modern horror film in a while to give me nightmares (shadow monsters are never good to watch before bed- thanks Jennifer Kent!), and Robert Eggers knocked it out of the park with The Witch– the dialect work alone in that film is outstanding. 

What are you plans for the upcoming Halloween? Any kind of traditions you try to uphold each year? 

I honestly haven’t gotten that far yet, but I do try to outdo myself each year with pumpkin carvings. A few years ago I did a Fairuza Balk [from] The Craft pumpkin which I thought was pretty cool. My boyfriend and I have a lot of fun making our own cinema-inspired couples costumes from scratch, so we’ll probably try to do that again, this year. We did Mad Max and Furiosa a few years back (I built the mechanical arm out of a football pad, motocross glove, belts and miscellaneous wires), and then we did Leeloo and Corbin Dallas two years ago (we won a prize for that one, haha) and last year we did Mick and Mallory from Natural Born Killers– so who knows what’s in store for this year! 

What does the future hold for you? Anything you would like to plug to our readers? 

I’m really excited for the release of the upcoming feature Long Lost, by Erik Bloomquist, which starts doing the festival circuit in October. It’s not a horror film but definitely has a ton of thriller elements and some really great horror film alumni cast, and I’m really proud of the work that we did on it- so definitely keep an eye out for that. 

Then in a very different note, you can see me in the TV feature, The Last Vermont Christmas by David Jackson, this Holiday Season. That whole team is just the sweetest, as is the film. 

And I just signed on to be involved in the development of another feature with Ernie O’Donnell, Ed McKeever, Jason Koerner and team so keep a look out for updates about that as well. 

What was the last thing that made you smile? 

At this very moment, my puppy, Luna, is rolling on her back because she wants my attention over this article, and I cannot help but be filled with smiles.