Women in Horror Month Spotlight: Sandra Becerril
Zena Dixon
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How can one of the friendliest smiles be attached to one of the darkest minds? After speaking with Sandra Becerril for half an hour, we still don’t know. Yes, we went into the interview with the mission of answering this question. But like everyone else, we were either entranced in her explanation of her sinister screenplays or hypnotized by her grin as she discussed her twisted novels. She has directed films such as The Hideout and They Are Here, written scripts for projects like Nightmare Cinema and Desde Tu Infierno, and created over seven novels, including her recent Random House distributed title Valley of Fire.
Read below to discover how this horror writer, producer, director, and actor is contributing to the wonderful world of women storytellers.
Dread Central: What do you love about the horror genre?
Sandra Becerril: I think the horror genre is similar to love. When you are in love, you feel excited. You can just concentrate on it and think about it. It’s like a chemical reaction. When I was little, I heard that the same part of the brain that love occurs is the same part that horror occurs. When you write horror or people see your movies, you see their reaction immediately, like if they are jumping or screaming. You can have horror in your house, like a monster under your bed that makes you’re afraid to be alone. That’s why I love horror, because of the reaction—the immediate reaction.
DC: That’s a good point. I’ve never thought of it that way, but it makes so much sense. Love and Horror.
SB: (laughs) Yeah. It makes sense to me. It’s like butterflies in your stomach when you’re in love. I feel the same with horror. Exactly the same.
DC: Very true for many of us horror fans as well. Do you have a top three list of favorite horror movies?
SB: Well, Nosferatu is my favorite horror classic movie. I remember when I saw it the first time, I couldn’t sleep. I was that terrified. I love that type of story—the Dracula type of story. It was also the first horror novel that I read when I was like eleven or so. But also, I love Nightmare on Elm Street. Freddy Krueger. I was like eight when I saw it the first time and—oh, my God—I couldn’t sleep. But I said, “I want people to feel the same with my stories. I want to create something like that.” So, I love eighties horror movies.
DC: Yes, eighties horror movies!
SB: They’re great. They’re funny. They’re terrifying. And, that time had many stories with horror monsters.
DC: That is so true! We got a lot of monsters around that time. On that note, how did you get into horror?
SB: Well, I think it was a morbid thing that I did. I was very little, and my dad told me not to read that. So, I read it. Don’t see those kind of movies. So, I saw them. And that’s how I started. By myself. Alone. And I remember I saw The Exorcist when I was like ten. That really did something to my brain. I really love writing horror stories, of any kind. Novels. Scripts. Plays. I really love people’s reactions. I love scaring people.
DC: What women in or out of horror inspires you to create horror?
SB: There are many women writers and directors of horror that I really recommend and love. When I see their movies or read their stories, I’m excited. And not just horror, but thrillers also. For example, I remember reading Patricia Highsmith, this really great novelist. Then there is Julia Ducournau, who made this movie called Grave that I love. Or Claire Denis, who made this movie called Trouble Every Day. And then there is Karyn Kusama with The Invitation. I love that movie. Or Jennifer Kent! I really liked The Babadook. I thought it was classical. I liked the acting, the characters, the casting. Who else? Well, of course, Mary Shelley with Frankenstein. And I love her personal story, writing the story drunk to pretend to be a man first. It is amazing. So there are a lot of women that I admire.
DC: I can definitely tell how much you love these creators and the genre. Your whole face lights up when you talk about horror.
SB: I love horror. I really do. I do admire men also, but I think women are capable of directing, producing, and writing horror movies with the same quality as men.
DC: You write, direct, produce, act, and so much more. Out of everything you do, which one is your favorite?
SB: Writing! I don’t like producing sometimes. It’s so tiring. You have to get the money and get together everything for a movie. I love to spend my time writing and creating stories, one after the other and so on. If I direct, I spend one, two, or three or four years with one project. I won’t be able to get all of the horror projects out that I have in my mind. Also, with producing, I had to do it sometimes because, well, sometimes you have to do everything. You see the credits and your name is as the writer, producer or director. I rather write—novels or scripts, because I have so many ideas. I just finished writing one novel last week, and I want to start another script. It’s like an obsession for me, writing about monsters and serial killers and studying the characters that I write about.
DC: When it comes to writing scripts, do you have a special process?
SB: Yeah. Usually, I start with a character, mostly women, since I know them better than men. I start developing her mind and how she acts until I know her very well. That way I know how she is going to react to the problems I give her. After I have my character, I can develop the other parts of the story.
DC: Something I wanted to touch on next is with the film Nightmare Cinema. I know more horror fans were introduced to you and your writing expertise through that film. How did the project come about for you?
SB: I already had a script; the name was Mashit. It’s the name of a demon, but I didn’t notice how it sounded until later.
Mick Garris and I are friends, so he invited me to write for the project Nightmare Cinema almost six years ago. I had to choose one of my scripts and one director. I sent Ryuhei Kitamura about fifteen synopses for bloody horror projects. Ryuhei loves blood and all different kind of swords. By the way, that was great because I’ve been collecting swords since I was very little. He chose Mashit because of the blood and swords—and because kids are terrified easily. They don’t need a lot of production to be scared.
It was very funny working with Ryuhei. Something happened to me that had never happened before. It’s like he went into my mind and took everything out as I imagined it when I was writing it. I saw it on the screen. It was amazing. I’ve had some films made from my scripts, but they can be different than what you imagined. Maybe you imagined the character different, or the locations, or whatever. But no, with him, it was actually the same.
DC: A few months ago I got a chance to interview him. He said he loved working with you.
SB: He’s an amazing guy. He’s an amazing director—a really talented director. He’s not afraid of doing things that other directors are afraid to do. It was great watching him work because I went to the shooting. Everything was kind of messy with blood. They covered all the cameras and crew with plastic so we wouldn’t be splashed with blood. I learned a lot from him.
DC: His movies are always amazing. I’m so glad he was able to bring your vision to life. Speaking of visions, you have a new book out called Valle de Fuego (Valley of Fire), where a young writer searches for the killer of a man she once had a long-term relationship with. It already sounds like you are setting us up for something spicy. What sparked the idea for this story?
SB: Well, I was thinking about writing my next novel. I have this agreement with Random House about writing thriller and horror novels that are kind of weird to publish sometimes. So, I went to
My son said that when I was writing it, I was laughing a lot. I had a lot of fun killing characters and letting them get into trouble. I guess that the characters that don’t get into trouble are very boring. So yeah, Valley of Fire is here in Mexico and Spain.
DC: On your YouTube channel, you have a segment called Learn to Write Terror. How important is it for you to share writing tips with other upcoming writers?
SB: It is pretty important because when I started, nobody gave them to me. It was more difficult. I also want to support women writers. In these videos and tutorials on YouTube, I invite just women. There are a lot of women in horror that people don’t know. When I started writing novels, because I first started with that and scripts, I had to use a male name because they thought I was a male. It was easier for me. Now that we are more open, I wanted to approach people, who haven’t written and are learning to write, to this world and to another perspective. I want to give a lot of tips I didn’t have. If I would’ve had them at the beginning, maybe now I could be a better writer or I could produce more scripts. It has been hard, but it doesn’t have to be. You know?
DC: Absolutely!
SB: I started publishing in 1999 here in Mexico. Look at the year we are in now, and still we have some of the older thoughts about who should write. As far as writing like a man, it used to be more comfortable for me to write like a man. I could write about a lot of blood and situations and they don’t get like, “Oh, man, it’s a woman who’s writing this.” But now, I have a career and it’s different. I can write about whatever I want. But first, I had to be a man to do it.
DC: I’m so happy that you pushed through that and excelled, not just for you, but for other women as well. What advice would you give to women who may want to do what you are doing?
SB: Well, I have met a lot of brave women who do what I do. Every year, I see more women who are trying to write thriller and horror about many things: cannibalism, serial killers, and more. I think they are more brave because they can see the other women who did it before. Those women opened doors for women now, and that’s amazing.
You have to be brave. Not just in writing movies, but any topic. There is still inequalities between men and women. We can be free if we support each other, not being selfish like, “It’s my work. I don’t want anyone else to do it.” No. You share your knowledge. That’s why I do the tutorial videos. If you share with women and men, it will be easier. And if women in America can make horror movies and horror novels and everything, it will be better for me, too. Helping you, I will be helping myself.
DC: Great advice for our audience! Do you have any upcoming projects that you can share with us?
SB: Nightmare Cinema is going to be in movie theaters soon. Also, there is a new novel named Your Body in the Snow. It’s going to be in Europe, I’m not sure if it will be in America, too. It’s going to be out in three months. And, I also have another movie that’s going to be out this year, too. The name is From Your Hell. It’s also a novel that I wrote ten years ago. It won Best Theater Horror movie in Mexico and Best Script in Europe. And…what else? I’m still writing. I can’t stop.
DC: Please don’t! And thanks so much for letting us pick your brain. The upcoming projects are definitely things the world should look out for. Thank you again, Sandra! You are incredible!
SB: Thank you!
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