» Girl power
Mathew Horne on slapstick, buddy banter and why Lesbian Vampire Killers can be seen as a feminist text
Is there a straight man/funny man dynamic between you and James Corden?
Yes, although there’s a certain dynamic set up. I don’t quite know how to put it really as I don’t quite know what it is, but I think I’m funny in a different ways to James’s funny.
That’s all I can tell you. I have quite a bit of slapstick so it’s not as simple as one of us does that, and one does witty banter. It’s funny in different ways. I haven’t watched enough of us to analyse it that much; I don’t know what it is yet, so it’s still evolving. When we do our sketch show it will evolve even more and I think by the end of that, I’ll probably know exactly what it is and I’ll be able to put
it in good media soundbites for you! At the moment it’s ‘A clown and a straight man, and some blurring!’
How does your relationship work in this film?
It’s about a relationship between two men and, comedically, it’s about their vernacular, the type of banter that one has with a good friend. As you say it’s about dialogue and there’s slapstick, which is also intrinsically involved in the gore and the effects. It feels like it has a little of a sitcom feel, a bit of silent film, and a bit of classic buddy movie.
“It feels like it has a little of a sitcom, a bit of silent film, and a bit of classic buddy movie”
And a bust up with your girlfriend prompts your character’s adventure?
Yeah. She’s a super mega bitch. She dumps me because she’s having an affair with somebody else and as soon as she dumps me she finds out the guy she’s having the affair with is married and she comes back after me. An equally hard woman has sacked James from his job, so we decide to go off hiking together. My ex comes to get me back. She wants to resolve everything just as I’m trying to do something positive in life by going away and having a good time with my mate. She comes back but she ends up dead. She gets a double whammy.
Amazingly, this is not the first lesbian vampire film…
Yeah, there’s something called The Hunger and a film about lesbian kickboxers. Heard of that? Yep, there are lesbian vampire kickboxers.
Is horror close to your heart? Because you’re establishing yourself as a comic actor…
I would like to continue to see myself as a comic actor. Thank you. You can put that in. Journalists always ask ‘Do you want to do different things?’ But I’m more than happy to do what I’m doing. I absolutely love what I can just about do, and it can embody other things such as horror. I studied film at university and a big part of that study was to examine their meanings and whatnot, particularly the feminist angle.
Have any of your friends given you stick about the title? There’s an angry lesbians petitioning your film on their website…
I think that was inevitable and the simple argument for them is that — and I don’t take them too seriously, maybe I should — it can also be read as a feminist text movie, because they are strong women. We are dumped and ditched by strong women and we were attacked by strong women and these are strong women who can destroy men and want to destroy mankind! So the flip side of it is that it is a feminist text. All my female friends burst out laughing when they hear the title. I think it’s a really exciting title and think it makes people want to see it.
Lesbian Vampire Killers is out on Friday 20 March.
Win cinema tickets to a film of your choice at the Odeon Brighton
For a chance to win this week’s tickets, answer this question: How do you kill a vampire?
a) Shoot it with a silver bullet. b) Drive a stake through its heart. c) Use Kryptonite.
Email your answer to competitions@thelatest.co.uk with ‘Lesbian Vampire Killers’ in the subject box, or write to us at the address on page 3. Closing date for entries is Monday 30 March.
The winner will get a pair of tickets to see a film of their choice. Proof of age may be required.
