Keola Racela: "Does the devil ever really go out of style?"

SXSW

CLAPPER: Two words – exploding testicles….this was a scene the viewer will never forget. The practical effects in this scene and throughout the whole movie are phenomenal. How did you manage to recruit such a superb SFX team? 

Thank you so much! I met Greg Pikulski on set for a short film I was “art directing” in film school. He was making this incredible appliance for a scene where a woman cuts open her stomach and digs around with a pair of tweezers. Everyone was mind-blown for many reasons, not the least of which because he was much much younger than everyone, maybe 19 or 20 years old. Fast forward three years later to when we were sprinting to put together the team for PORNO, Greg was the first person I thought of. When we contacted him he’d just formed a studio with his partner Brett Schmidt and the two of them had just come back from the set of Sicario 2 where they had done an exploded leg. I think they were exclusively brought in to do that one leg. They had the leg laid out on the table. The leg was disgusting as hell. We hired them immediately.

The cast too were excellent and made up of mostly unknown faces. What was the casting process like and where did you find such talent?

We shot in New York, where there is a wealth of talent that you may not have seen on screen because of the vibrant theater scene. We worked with casting director Adrienne Stern, who does a lot of amazing work with low budget indie films. The casting process was fairly normal. The only real hiccup was finding someone to play Chaz. We offered the role to someone who ultimately passed. Adrienne connected us with Jillian Mueller a week before we started shooting and it was clear from the beginning that she was far and away better than even our initial choice. A week later she was on set and we were shooting. 

Watching Porno was a rollercoaster of reactions. Laughing, wincing and the next totally transfixed in its hypnotic spell. Was it always your intention to mess with the viewers experience? 

One of the goals as a storyteller is to keep the audience guessing as to what’s going to happen next. We wanted to explore a lot of tones in PORNO, but I think what ended up in the film is ultimately informed by the different voices of the writers (Matt and Laurence) and myself. It’s horror, but it’s comedy. It’s funny, but at the center of the film is a dramatic event that we treat very seriously. During our biggest gore-gag, a character has a huge emotional catharsis. The film is essentially quite silly, but in the end adding these other tones colors the whole thing in interesting ways.

Given the fact that it’s almost entirely set in one location, how important was it that the film was based in 1992? 

 The time period was important to us because the 90s were the time of our pubescence and with it the awkward discovery of our own sexuality. So that 90s were a big touchstone for the writers and for myself. For the characters in the film and for the story, setting PORNO in the 90s was important because of the way people find and experience pornography today versus in a time pre-internet. In 2020 pornography is so readily accessible, the central premise, which is that the characters watch a satanic film and mistake it for pornography, does not hold up as well. Being a pubescent kid in the 90s, pornography had a mythic quality. It was something you had to seek out or, if you were lucky, something you stumbled upon. We really wanted to capture that feeling, which I suspect is not one associated with pornography today.

What would you say to those that called Porno an anti-religious movie? 

It’s not. In fact, we took special care not to be anti-religious. We’re dealing with themes of sexual repression and we’re dealing with characters who come from a community of people who have an extremely conservative attitude toward sex and sexuality. The film makes light of our characters’ ignorance and inexperience with sex and sexuality, but we never condemn the idea of faith or spirituality. In fact, near the end of the film one character actually prays for help and her prayer is answered, which points to the existence of God! Yes, the result of this answered prayer is a gay demon sex, but God moves in mysterious ways!

Satanic movies seem to be making a comeback, recent releases include Antrum, Satanic Panic, We Summon the Darkness and now Porno. Why do you think these thematic elements are being explored right now? 

Does the devil ever really go out of style?!

Why did you choose the title Porno? Is this in some way relating to the thematic ideas that we are prisoners of our own obsessions? 

Oh, that’s interesting. I don’t know if any of the main characters are prisoners of their own obsessions. Mr Pike, perhaps. Lord Beekman, for sure. I love the title PORNO for many reasons, not the least of which is the mischievous grin it elicits and the hushed way it is intoned in mixed company. Something about that “O”  on the end makes it goofy and evocative of the time in which the film is set.

Tell us about the mood on set. Was the film as much fun to make as it was to watch?

 The mood on set was wonderful. There was genuine comradery between the cast, which made my job infinitely easier and I think their natural chemistry really comes through on-screen. It was also a small crew working in a single location so the dynamic became familial very quickly. I was nervous in all the usual ways about directing my first feature and the way I deal with that is to try and make people laugh so I can laugh my way through the nerves. There was a lot of laughing. 

What effect do you hope porno has on audiences?

I hope people have fun! And then I hope people watch it again. I’m so fond of and proud of the characters and the performances in this film and I think the whole thing feels richer on second viewing. 

What is next for Keola Racela?

I’ve just completed the script on what I hope to be my next film. But I’m also working on a number of other scripts! Lots of stories to tell. Hopefully more to share soon. 

PORNO had its digital premiere at SXSW 2020 Film Festival and is awaiting an international release. Read CLAPPER’s review.