After graduating from Columbia College, gay filmmaker Zach Lorkiewicz headed for Los Angeles. While he has found a successful creative home there, his ties to the Midwest remain strong. “The Night Jane Went Insane,” his colorful seven-minute grand dame freak-out, had its local premiere in 2023.
Now his feature film debut, a horror film entitled It Lives in the Screen, is debuting at the twelve hour The Massacre Film Festival on Saturday Oct. 10 at the historic Pickwick Theatre in Park Ridge. Lorkiewicz, who will be present at the showing, recently took a minute to talk with the Windy City Times about his path to this current film and whether his queerness has informed his artistic life.
Windy City Times: What can you tell us what audience members can expect when witnessing the Midwest premiere of It Lives in the Screen?
Zach Lorkiewicz: Yes, certainly…but it is better said by the person who is hosting my next LA screening, James Tyler Shaw: “This film is psychosis incarnate, turning Los Angeles into a demented circus where a recovering drug addict and a wannabe actress both hear a magical voice talking from inside the computer, leading them down a path to who-knows-where.”
WCT: That’s definitely a great synopsis! Is there a particular short film that you have previously worked on that you think most prepared you or inspired you to create a feature length project?
ZL: I have been creating shorts for years, and no single one inspired me to make a feature. However, I was developing and working on a different feature entitled Invasion of the House Wives before this one. I still want to make that one day, but it fell apart, partially because I was waiting for someone to hand me a check. (Laughs)
Once I decided to just go for it, I started to make It Lives in the Screen, and I was like, “Nobody can stop me from finishing this.” And now it’s done. Shorts are a great place to experiment with ideas, though.
WCT: I have loved the visual authority and sense of style that has populated all of your work. Did you think being a member of the LGBTQ+ community has informed this pertinent esthetic?
ZL: It’s hard to say because I have always been drawn to movies, shows and internet media with a strong sense of visual identity. When I first saw the original Suspiria, I was completely blown away by how beautiful it looked. I guess you could say I’m pretty open-minded to media, but I’m not sure if it is because I’m gay or not.
You can definitely expect a strong visual identity in It Lives in the Screen. People always say story and script matter the most, and I agree with that on one hand, but to me visuals tell you the story. A visual can communicate something that language cannot.
WCT: Gay men love their divas and horror films are populated with so many fabulous feminine entities. Can you tell us a bit about the women in It Live’s cast?
ZL: Yes, the two leads of It Lives in the Screen, Lindsey Normington and Leanne Tarrab, are both incredible actresses whose stars are rising. I was very lucky to cast them when I did, because they are both doing amazing things and will continue to do so.
I spent months trying to cast each role, so when I found them (both at different times), it felt like the universe aligning. They are complete opposites in personality and aesthetic in the film, but because of that, they really complement each other.
WCT: You have also worked with the scream queen triumvirate: Linnea Quigley, Michelle Bauer and Brinke Stevens, who have all had a significant presence in such cult classics as Return of the Living Dead, the Puppet Master franchise and Slumber Party Massacre. Can you give us some background on what it’s like to collaborate with such celluloid icons?
ZL: I always tell people that Linnea, Michelle and Brinke are the three sweetest people I have ever met in the industry. They are very down to earth and open minded, which is why people are drawn to them. People often say, “don’t meet your heroes”—and oftentimes that is true. You meet people you admired in the industry and they turn out to be quite rude or something.
That is not the case for those three. They give off good karmic energy.
WCT: There has long been debate among creatives about whether their sexuality or cultural heritage should be the focus of their artistic being. Do you feel being referred to as a gay filmmaker limits you? Would rather be thought of as simply a filmmaker in general?
ZL: This is a very interesting question that has evolved over time. Today a lot of people are really eager to identify their work as queer or gay or whatever. It’s almost become a way for people to get their work seen and find a community. People almost never call me a gay filmmaker because my work is not overtly about those topics, and I don’t refer to myself as such.
When someone watches my movie, I don’t want them to think about me. People always ask, “What does your film mean?” (Laughing) You might ask the same after seeing it! But I always tell them, “It doesn’t matter.” What matters is what an audience member thinks. Whatever they feel about it is more important than what it means to me. So in conclusion, I think I would rather just be seen as a filmmaker to people.
This conversation was edited for clarity and length.
It Lives in the Screen will be shown at 3:40 p.m. at The Massacre Film Festival alongside other seasonal offerings like 1981’s Dead and Buried (with director Gary Sherman in attendance). Doors open at 11 am on October 10th at the Pickwick Theater in Park Ridge. Tickets are available at www.events.ticketleap.com/events/terrorintheaisles.
If you don’t get enough celluloid thrills on Oct. 10, various Chicago movie palaces will be showing fright-lovers a good time throughout the rest of the month. The list below highlights the programs that feature movies created by and/or featuring queer talent.
Landmark’s Century Cinema will be showing contemporary horror classics throughout October. The underrated science fiction horror film Event Horizon will be part of their program on Oct. 23. Openly gay actor Jack Noseworthy, known for such projects as the horror-comedy Idle Hands and The Brady Bunch Movie, plays a significant role in this spooky, space age adventure. The entire line-up is available at www.landmarktheatres.com.
As part of their month long Horror Movie Madness event, Logan Theatre in Logan Square will be showing acclaimed gay director James Whale’s Bride of Frankenstein on Oct. 27. Many scholars claim the that Whale also ingeniously filtered homosexual undertones throughout the film itself. More information is available at www.logantheatre.com,
Music Box Theatre will also be showing such films with LGBTQIA and feminist themes as The Craft as part of their Music Box of Horrors: The Final Chapter. The original Scary Movie, whose comic take on homosexuality may have its cultural opponents, is also on the bill. Their entire seasonal celebration is available at www.musicboxtheatre.com/series-and-festivals/music-box-of-horrors-the-final-chapter.