TOETAG PICTURES IS DEAD, LONG LIVE TOETAG INC.!
(a.k.a. Crusty) left to pursue fashion design full time, the remaining principals – Fred Vogel, Shelby Vogel and Jerami Cruise – almost gave up their dream. Bloodied but unbowed, they reformed as Toetag Inc. and made their most ambitious and accessible film to date, Sella Turcica. “Instead of wallowing in sorrow, we killed Toetag
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Pictures and started the new company,” says Don Moore, whose numerous credits on the film include writing the screenplay. “Everything Toetag had worked so hard on over the years had been de- stroyed and we were really feeling a major sense of loss. Through think-tank like meetings, the Vo- gels, Cruise and I came up with the concept for Sella Turcica, which would reflect the emotions we were experiencing. “ A triumph over adversity, Sella Turcica is about
as far removed from the faux-snuff August Under- ground trilogy that brought Toetag Pictures to prominence as the filmmakers could get without comprising the extreme gore that is their trademark. Damien A. Maruscak, who played the gay hus- tler fisted to death in Maskhead (RM#98), stars as Sgt. Bradley Roback, a wounded soldier returning home to his family from the conflict in the Middle East. His mother (Camille Keaton) and baby sister (Jade Risser) are so happy to have him back that they don’t see that Brad is sicker than he is letting on; only his brother (Sean P. McCarthy) senses that something is terribly wrong. Brad’s condition worsens considerably over the next 24 hours, the extent of the damage he has suffered not revealing itself until the gruesome cli- max. Comparisons to Bob Clark’s 1974 classic Death-
dream (a.k.a. Dead of Night) are inevitable but un- fair, and quickly laid to rest. “The first time I watched Deathdreamwas in Au-
gust after we wrapped shooting on Sella Turcica,” attests Moore. “I really see no comparisons outside
RM60
AST YEAR WAS A TUMULTUOUS ONE FOR THE ARTISTIC COLLECTIVE FOR- MERLY KNOWN AS TOETAG PICTURES. Despondent after co-founder Cristie Whiles
of the premise. The final draft was finished without me ever seeing the movie. Now that I’ve seen it, it’s a great flick and I’m honoured that there are comparisons made.” The filmmakers have always as-
sembled ensemble casts for their films, but this one is particularly en- gaging, featuring friends, former col- leagues and a genre icon. “Art Ettinger of Ultra Violent maga-
zine talked to Fred about working with Camille Keaton as Art and Camille are close friends,” explains Moore. “Fred was excited for this because he loved Camille’s performance in I Spit on Your
Grave. On set, you could see the awe in Fred’s face at times while he was directing her. He loves that woman, we all do.” Sella Turcica was shot on location in Aurora, OH,
unlike their previous films, which were shot in studio space. This being a low-budget production funded out-of-pocket, nobody enjoyed the luxury of a hotel room. “Our cast and crew were a fun group of people,”
says Moore. “We all lived on the set together, in a large room above the garage we called Camp Sella.
The shoot was pretty rigorous. We shot for like four- teen hours a day, so there was something going on at all times. “ Moore’s experience exemplifies the realities of
independent filmmaking and the many hats every- one at Toetag wears. “I was behind the camera as continuity supervi-
sor for every shot while we were filming,” he re- counts (Moore previously worked as script supervisor for Maskhead). “I even helped with the sets and was there for quick rewrites when neces- sary. I was involved in every aspect of creating Sella Turcica, from conception to the finished product. … Not many writers get to be as involved with a movie as I was.” This being a Toetag film, there’s still plenty of
juicy gore, but it’s a function of the story, not the reason for it. The extent of the special effects work isn’t apparent without watching the DVD’s behind- the-scenes featurette, and it’s difficult to describe them without spoiling the experience. Suffice it to say there are enough spilled intestines and cranial damage to distinguish this as a Toetag outing. “The violent conclusion would not be as impactful
if the gore didn’t look great,” assures Moore. “These are some of Toetag’s best effects to date.”
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