"THE CHOSEN ONE" NEWS 10 / TRAILER
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"DARK GOTHIC TALE USES AREA AS BACKGROUND"
BY JOHN E. MITCHELL, NORTH ADAMS TRANSCRIPT
SATURDAY, MAY 13JUST BECAUSE THEODORE COLLATOS HAS A NEW FEATURE-LENGTH INDEPENDENT FILM ABOUT VAMPIRES, DON'T CALL HIM A HORROR MOVIE DIRECTOR. "THE CHOSEN ONE" MIGHT CONCERN ITSELF WITH THE SUPERNATURAL, BUT IT'S JUST ONE STOP ON THE CREATIVE ROAD FOR A MULTIFACETED MASSACHUSETTS FILMMAKER.COLLATOS' FILM TELLS THE TALE OF A CURSED PREGNANCY IN A NEW ENGLAND TOWN AND THE PEOPLE WHOSE FATES BECOME ENTWINED WITH THE RESULT OF THE BIRTH. IT IS ALTERNATELY A DARK GOTHIC TALE AND A WICKED SATIRE THAT MIXES EUROPEAN ART FILM WITH A GRADE B AMERICAN HORROR AESTHETIC PART INGMAR BERGMAN, ART LAL LEWTON, AND ALL THEODORE COLLATOS."I REALLY WANTED TO TAKE A SLEDGEHAMMER AND SCREW UP GENRE EXPECTATION." SAID COLLATOS.PREVIOUSLY, COLLATOS HAD BEEN WORKING ON A SERIES OF SHORT DRAMAS THAT WERE SALVAGED FROM HIS FIRST ATTEMPT AT A FEATURE-LENGTH FILM. THE STORIES REVOLVED AROUND VERY PERSONAL MOMENTS IN THE LIFE OF ONE WOMAN AND ARE INFLUENCED BY THE EUROPEAN FILMMAKERS HE LOVES BERTOLUCCI, HERZOG, LARS VON TRIER, AND LOADS OF FRENCH NEW WAVE CINEMA.COLLATOS WAS INSPIRED TO BEGIN WORK ON A VAMPIRE MOVIE ABOUT THE SAME TIME AS THE WAR IN IRAQ BEGAN AND HE FOUND HIMSELF DEVOURING A WHOLE NEW WORLD OF FILM WHEN CABLE TELEVISION CHANNELS BEGAN PILING ON OLD HORROR MOVIES. COLLATOS WAS SOON WATCHING ANYTHING OF THE GENRE THAT HE COULD GET HIS HANDS ON AND HIS CINEMATIC WORLD VIEW NOW BEGAN TO INCLUDE MASTERS LIKE LEWTON, CARL THEODORE DREYER, TOD BROWNING AND DARIO ARGENTO."I STARTED FALLING IN LOVE WITH THEM, EVEN THE BAD ONES," SAID COLLATOS, "BECAUSE THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT THEM THAT RELATES TO THE INDEPENDENTS. I THINK THAT THEY ARE THE FIRST INDEPENDENT MOVIES, SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE THE SYSTEM, PARALLEL TO THE SYSTEM, PEOPLE LIKE ROGER CORMAN NOT EVEN TALKING ABOUT THE QUALITY OF WORK, BUT JUST RESPECTING PEOPLE OUT WORKING ON THEIR OWN. I STARTED GETTING INTO THAT."COLLATOS SPENT CHILDHOOD SUMMERS IN THE AREA AND RETURNED TO THE BERKSHIRES SPECIFICALLY RICHMOND TO TAKE A YEAR BEFORE HEADING TO NEW YORK CITY TO PURSUE HIS FILMMAKING. AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, HIS LOVE FOR THE AREA OVERTOOK HIS DESIRE FOR AN URBAN SETTING."WHEN THE CARS ARE GONE AND IT'S FALL," HE SAID, "THERE'S AN ATMOSPHERE TO THE LAND. IT BECOMES SUBCONSCIOUS AT NIGHT IN THE BERKSHIRES."THIS ATMOSPHERE FOUND ITSELF MIXED WITH COLLATOS' INVESTIGATION INTO LEGENDS OF NEW ENGLAND VAMPIRES, AS WELL AS A CREW OF AREA PEOPLE IN ACTING ROLES AND MULTIPLE BERKSHIRE LOCATIONS, TO CREATE A FILM THAT MIXES ERAS TO SUCH A DEGREE THAT IT SEEMS TO TAKE PLACE IN ITS OWN NEW ENGLAND TIME PERIOD. AFFECTATIONS FROM THE PAST ARE MIXED WITH REFERENCES AND DETAILS OF THE PRESENT, MAKING THE SETTING IMPOSSIBLE TO PEG ON A CALENDAR OR MAP."CROSSED GENRES"BY THE END OF THE FILM, THE STORY HAS CROSSED GENRES AS WELL, FROM A TRADITIONAL LOVECRAFTIAN TALE OF MADNESS TO THE FETISHIZED VIEW OF VAMPIRISM THAT IS MORE PREVALENT NOWADAYS. TO COLLATOS, VAMPIRISM WORKED AS A METAPHOR FOR THE PASSAGE OF ERAS AND THE WAY HE SEES THAT MOVEMENT TAKING PLACE NOW."I FEEL LIKE WE'RE STUCK IN THIS TIME WARP," SAID COLLATOS, "WHERE THE BABY BOOMERS ARE JUST SITTING ON THE NEST ANd THE NEW IS GOING TO COME, IT'S COMING NOW. PART OF THE MOVIE IS ABOUT THAT. IT STARTS WITH CLASSICAL MUSIC, AN OLDER CHARACTER, AND THEN THE OLDER CHARACTER DIES AND YOU'VE GOT DEATH METAL AND CONFUSED SEXUALITY AND ANDROGYNY AND INFECTIONS AND BLOOD AND BITING ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE INHERENT IN THE GENRE ALREADY. BACK IN THE DAY, THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT THE PLAGUE, NOW THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT AIDS."COLLATOS IS CURRENTLY WORKING ON TWO DOCUMENTARIES, ONE INVOLVING A BALLET COMPETITION IN BRAZIL AND ANOTHER FOCUSING ON CHOREOGRAPHER KEVIN IEGA JEFF. IN ADDITION, HIS SHORT FILM "WALKING DEAD" IS GOING TO BE AIRED ON THE INDEPENDENT FILM CHANNEL."I'M ALL OVER THE PLACE," SAID COLLATOS, "I FEEL LIKE I CAN DO ANYTHING, WHATEVER MY INTEREST ROAMS TO. I'M NOT A HORROR PERSON, I'M NOT A DRAMA PERSON. I HAVEN'T REALLY PLAYED WITH COMEDY BUT I THINK I MAY DO LITTLE SHORTS FEELING IT OUT."
