Diane Franklin is known as a ‘80s scream queen, seductress, foreign exchange student, punker, and bodacious princess with a career spanning to current day. With her recent flick, she dives into the world of independent noir with the trippy, weird, stream of true crime consciousness Waking Nightmare.
Waking Nightmare can be described as a half acid trip music video and half snuff film kind of experience, granted if you want to watch it in a creepy attic on a vintage projector reel, that’s your business. “I’m really glad you said that because first, above all, it’s an indie film going on an indie platform,” Franklin says. “The indieness and rawness of the film is not usual. I remember when I saw it, I loved it. Even the graphics and the title are unusual. Personally it shook me up. It’s almost like a home movie sort of, sometimes it looks more polished.” There’s definite scenes giving off the vibe that the camera eye shouldn’t be there or we’re seeing something not meant for an audience.
Though not Super 8, certain scenes definitely give off a home video feel like something personal you’re not supposed to be watching without the grainy, jumpy genre effects. Kinda like Sinister without the ambient music and supernatural ghoul.
Franklin likes that it shifts between her on screen daughter Jordan’s (Shelley Wegner) Adderall tripping perspective and reality. “One minute it’s a drug trip kind of feeling and the next its reality.” Kind of like going from the mundane to flipping a holy shit, WTF switch reflecting real life situations of people showing normal and the dark side of human nature fueled by drugs and manipulation, from happy to hostile. “That’s an interesting experience, people will relate too.”
Throughout the movie images flash across the TV as characters watch with an almost Rob Zombie-like vibe. Whether they’re videos or home moves is never made clear. “I think it’s late night television. At night you tune into something and you’re not sure what it is. In the ‘80s you turned on something and didn’t know what was going on.” Late night TV, after dark was the internet of the ‘80s. You could show a lot, within reason.
That feeling is what Waking Nightmare brings. You don’t know what to expect. “People following my career, I’ve said this before if you love Bill &Ted, and all the ‘80s films, and you want to keep those memories of me, don’t watch this. It will change your mind and you may not trust me again.” If you love horror, you’ll like and appreciate what she brings to the screen. “I won’t disappoint.” Franklin displays a calculating darkness that fans may not have seen before.
The innocence of Patricia Montelli’s a long gone Long Island memory, and though more recently, her version of a protecting Louise DeFeo was the first time playing both daughter and mother, her performance as Danielle shows a much more manipulating, plotting, evil eye. After all, mother knows best.
Her character has an agenda. “It’s really interesting, as a real mother I feel real protective over my kids. There comes a place where you don’t know if you’re gonna step over the line with that.” The movie subconsciously asks, as a parent, how far do you go to protect your kids? Is there a limit or line you don’t cross? “You’re the parent put in a situation where you need to protect your kid and you do. This movie had a lot of interesting feelings for me.”
During and after viewing, fans might wonder, why so short? “That’s a good sign because people wanted it to go on. It is short. The writing is the writing. The subject matter, having things happen in that state is what attracted me to it and the variety and range of my role. I’m attracted to good characters. It’s the role I’m enticed by.”
An American Werewolf In London’s David Naughton plays Dr. Doolin in a few scenes. ‘I wish we’d done more scenes together, we shot the last scene first. I met David on the first day. We had to decide what that final moment was going to be. We shot the film out of order you don’t know what’s gonna happen at the end. David was lovely to work with. I’d love to do another film with him.”
In the vein of American Psycho Franklin pulls out her Dexter near the end in a scene that left her a bit splattered. “I got into the head of the character. We took it as far as we took it. It was heavy duty. I remember after shooting it people were like, oh my god! That was insane!” Give the actors freedom and that’s what happens. “That’s what I really enjoy about indie films. It was a great moment I could express. I just love the character.”
For those in the know, she did a movie called Summer Girl in the ‘80s, this movie and role reminds her of it.
The blood splatter got her more into it and a bit more liberal with the bludgeoning. Her character feels like she’s doing the right thing. “They’re things people do where they think they’re doing the right thing. They keep going and don’t see themselves as being wrong. This is the first time I’ve seen parents standing up for their child. Not just the mom or dad but both parents.”
Who’s doing the murders? She’ll let the audience decide. It’s not just horror and gore, its drama, social commentary with dream-like scenes. You’ll feel under the influence watching it.
Franklin has several intense scenes including an altercation with Yan Birch that left him hurting. “It was intense, I felt so bad. After every intense scene I’d ask, are you ok? Acting is about trust. I felt I had good relationship with people on set.”
The box cutter was real. “That was a creepy scene for me obviously. It wasn’t cookie cutter where we know what’s gonna happen. I was really in the moment” The set was something she hadn’t seen before. Why is all this plastic up? I think it works for the subject matter. What makes it horror to me is that it could be real. There’s no monster faces, this could happen and that’s horrible and what makes it scary to me.”
Franklin’s a big fan of Every Heart (Zoey). “She was wonderful, what a cute girl. I hope she works more. She did a great job. I hope she gets a lot of credit.” While Jordan plays the normal, straight arrow, Heart’s character is the care free wild, party girl. The story focuses on their lives and Jordan living at home, dealing with her issues.
When Diane Franklin’s considered for the part, who else do you need? “I don’t know if anyone else was considered but they asked me to do it. I’m always surprised when people ask me to do these roles. I like playing different types. It’s challenging but people see you in a certain way. They may not take the chance to give you that opportunity. When they approached me and said they wanted me to do the part I said wow they have a lot of confidence in my ability to make this happen. When I looked at it I saw what I could do with this part. I know I can take this to a place where it’s entertaining for those who follow me.”
It pushed her limits and challenged what she was comfortable with. “I have other films coming up but I do like horror. I like the drama. I think it’s really cool that people are coming to me. It’s not a given. I think people that remember me will want me back.”
She just did a UK screening for Pareidolia, a horror short. “It’s really interesting subject matter. It got into FrightFest in the UK. We’ll see if it wins any awards, it’s spooky and scary. It’s about a world that’s never been seen or discovered.”
She’s appearing at Pensacon in Florida in February. “Cons are very interesting for me. If its horror, I assume people come for horror. Sometimes I do celebrity conventions and they come for horror or comic conventions and come for horror. I’ve done so many kinds of genres. I can connect with more people.”
She’ll let fans decide what she’s known for or remembered for. “Enjoy all the films I’ve done.”
There are a few projects she’s considering but she’s not just all blood and guts. There has to be psychology and tell a story and she’s created many memorable characters with great stories. For the time being, she welcomes you to her nightmare.
www.facebook.com/actressdianefranklin
