Lucifer Valentine is a legend in underground cinema. His Vomit Gore Trilogy are some of the most brutal and disturbing films ever released, and Valentine himself has built a strong cult following based around his work. His new film, Vomit Gore 4: Black Mass of the Nazi Sex Wizard, is set for release in just a few short weeks, so this enigma of the brutal and disgusting recently participated in a Q&A session with popular Facebook horror group Bloody Banter & Bazaar. The following is a transcript of questions from members of the group, as well as Valentine’s answers.
Bloody Banter & Bazaar: What was your inspiration for the [Vomit Gore Trilogy]?
Lucifer Valentine: Well, originally it all started with my relationship with Smeara Lavey, and that spawned SVD as she was living with me as my 24/7 slave. She was bulimic, and I’m a satanist, so you add all that together and eventually you get a vomit gore trilogy.
BBB: What can we expect from VG4 in terms of gore?
LV: VG4 is extremely over the top in gore, and I’d say very brutal and relentless in the sheer amount of gore (and vomit), and the severity of the violent acts.
BBB: I love the tie-ins to Kurt [Cobain]. What’s the influence of Nirvana or, better yet, his life and death?
LV: The references to Kurt Cobain have to do with quantum entanglement and the multiple worlds theory and Carl Jung’s theory of synchronicity, so that would take me a very long time to adequately explain, haha. But yes, there are multitudes of interrelated “coincidences” that all build up with Angela/Ameara’s suicide and Cobain’s suicide so that we can see a visual overlap manifesting in RS.
BBB: I wanted to ask about Angela Aberdeen (the Angel of Aberdeen). That ties into Cobain and where he lived in ways. Is there going to be a correlation between Kurt Cobain’s suicide and VG4 like in the trilogy?
LV: Yes, there are some more obvious references, like her name “The Angel of Aberdeen,” which is one example of the build-up of what looks like small similarities or coincidences that cumulatively create a much larger and deeper multidimensional connection to Kurt bringing together the actual moment of both of their deaths
BBB: How is it that you grab all these gals to do your films? Even the Soska twins are in your films – how did that come about?
LV: Well, haha, thats hard to say exactly. I am a dom, and that in itself attracts a lot of a certain kind of girl – I also am an extreme artist, and since I film most aspects of my personal life including my domination of slaves, then I think that may attract even more girls if they have an interest in a relationship with me AND being in one of my movies.
BBB: Did you try to up-the-ante so to speak in VG4? Outdo the previous 3, or keep the ball rolling?
LV: With VG4, I think that I upped the ante without really consciously planning to, because the fact that Sister S was the first girl I shot, and she was INSANELY hardcore and so masochistic that it was actually scary to me, and surprising – then she introduced me to Chalice, and then after I shot Heather Cage, who happens to be an extreme hardcore porn star and incredibly, mind-bogglingly masochistic and submissive while performing. So what happened was, I suddenly had three of the most incredibly gorgeous and hardcore girls I’ve ever met in the sane movie…just to start my first few shots.
BBB: What do you film with, camera wise?
LV: I just film with whatever – People usually give me cameras. It makes no difference to me.
BBB: I was wondering about the soundtracks to your films. You are known for incredible sound design in your films, and I think most of us know that you do that part on your own. I was wondering if you also create the music and sounds yourself?
LV: Thanks for the question – Yes, I create all the sound and music in my movies, except for when it’s obviously a song that I have used, like at the very end of BMV there is a public domain version of the Christian hymn “Come Thy Fount” that I used…but really 99.9% of what you hear in my movies I made it myself. It’s one of my favorite parts of filmmaking!!
BBB: Have you ever thought of releasing the soundtracks to the vomit gore movies?
LV: Good question…yes! I’d like to release something using the audio from the VGT and my other movies, and I definitely will at some point!
BBB: Would you/have you made music for other people’s films?
LV: No. Actually I have been [axed] a lot, but I’ve never composed music or sound for anyone else’s movies…so far.
BBB: The trilogy was released through Unearthed, and then BlackLava. Is it contractual that you release with BL exclusively, or will we see a different release with anyone else?
LV: Well, right now I am with Black Lava “exclusively,” just by choice because they are awesome and we are close friends, but I can – in the future – release my movies with other companies if there is a cool opportunity.
BBB: With the extreme secrecy involved in your filmmaking, what’s your process like when choosing actors that you don’t already know personally? Is everyone always a friend, or a trusted friend-of-a -friend kind of thing, or do you actually seek out talent for your films?
LV: Good question! It’s usually a friend of mine directly, like girl I have met and been working with privately in a master/slave relationship, or with a girl that i am just very close friends with. And then it can be a friend-of-a-friend, as with VG4, I worked with Sister S and then she introduced me to Chalice (and that was mind-blowing).
BBB: Have you showed up to any cons or screenings and just wandered around?
LV: No. In fact, I have never been to a film fest or con in my life haha
BBB: It must be a such an accomplishment to yourself knowing that your film has been seen worldwide, and it being extremely sought after from both the lovers of your work to the people who hate it. Your films are in such a small category within horror genre that really goes out of its way to offend and disgust and its beautiful; A middle finger to the films that have tried and failed. I don’t make films….I review ’em and enjoy them. If i was to ask, though, I’d ask how it feels to get the reception you get worldwide, from the love to the hate, and how you feel your film changed the course of the horror genre?
LV: Thanks for saying that, I really appreciate it! Well, its been great. Since Valentine’s Day 2006, I have been revered and reviled; received multiple death threats, obscene phone calls, been stalked, had people camp outside where I was staying, had my friends threatened…and also met a ton of amazing and wonderful people along the way and made connections and friendships that will last forever. My entire life has been extreme long before I was a known filmmaker, and so I was pretty used to people’s reactions going into it. It’s literally who I am, and so I am very happy with how everything has gone.
BBB: Any chance of a complete boxset of the vomit gore series?
LV: Yes! I would love to make a huge compendium ultra box set of sorts, with up to 9 [Vomit Gore] movies in it, heehee!!
BBB: I know that you drew the logo for Kingdom of Hell, and we know that you do the artwork for your films as well. Do you draw, or paint outside of for your films? Do you think that we’d ever get to see paintings or drawings available for fans to look at and maybe buy prints of?
LV: Awesome question! Yes, for sure. I draw constantly. It’s a weird compulsion I’ve had since age zero, which leaves my floor covered in paper with drawings with footprints on them and crayons, haha. Yes, its kinda a secret for the moment, but there will be a place online where huge amounts of my artwork will be shown, and many pieces will be made available to purchase…pretty darn soon…
BBB: Do you have a linear in mind when you set out, or do you let it flow during editing and feel it out organically?
LV: Well, a little of both! Like a drawing, I’ll “block in” the edit by writing down on paper the basic broad strokes of the huge chunks of footage and scenes I think may work chronologically and get an overall layout usually of the entire movie. For example, after I shot BMV, this laying out of the scenes in the timeline and on paper constituted a 26-hour movie which was cut down to 90 some minutes. Then when I actually get nasty and sit down to start doing the “sub-atomic” editing, I hack and slash and do anything regardless of narrative, plot, rational sense or adherence to anything remotely structured knowing that there originally was the underpinnings of an overall tectonic structure.
BBB: Do you travel to film or is like one set location where you tend to film and just people come to you
LV: I travel all over the world to film, as my life is basically one gigantic never-ending trip/vacation. VG4 was shot in 9 or 10 different cities (and 3 continents).
BBB: After reviewing the first 2 [movies], speaking with you, and really digging deep into the mindsets and meanings behind your imagery, I would like to know how STPC tied in. It seemed a very different style and story. Could you tie them in for me? Aside from the obvious vomit and gore of course.
LV: With STPC, I met Hope Likens online. She approached me since she was a fan of SVD and a severe bulimic. She really was beautiful and interesting and the more she messaged me and told me about her life, the more I knew I’d be shooting her and that she was the next Angela. As for the style of STPC, well I just sat down with Hope when we first met in NYC, and turned on my camera and sat on the bed across from her and she started talking about her life, and honestly [with a] little bit of sleep, she was talking for 3 days straight! And she told me so many things I could hardly believe it, and large portions I couldn’t even use in the film – so really the style of STPC was born out of the fact that Hope really wanted/needed me as a confessional, which has always been the role of LV and the exact character I played with Smeara in SVD, as the imaginary friend.
BBB: Knowing what kinds of films you make, I’m interested to know what are some of your favorite film titles? Do you watch anything at all from “mainstream” cinema? Do you get any enjoyment out of the underground sleaze/gore scene when the films you are making top pretty much all of them in that aspect?
LV: Well, I love Harmony Korine, Crispin Glover, David Lynch, Todd Solondsze, Larry Clarke, as far as known filmmakers, but mostly I really just like “clips,” like just messed up little things I’ll find on the interwebs. Obviously, as many people know, I love incest porn, and there’s really not much of it out there, so it’s great when I find new identical twin porn since then I know its actual, real incest. There was a Genki slave film with giant frogs i liked a lot, “Grave Robbing For Morons.” It’s one of my favorite movies ever.
BBB: Any specific reason why the Vomit Gore 4 Black Lava release came before the STPC release?
LV: Well, VG4 was taking so insanely long for me to release, haha, I just wanted to release it ASAP since people had been axing me about for a long time, so thats why we went out of numerical order.
BBB: What was your favorite film of yours to shoot and why?
LV: Each film had their own unique reasons for coming into existence, and the experience of shooting each one was life-changing and exactly what needed to happen at the time, so I couldn’t really say a favorite – However, I will forever be imprinted with the experience of filming SVD, as that started it all publicly, and since Ameara and I were in love there was a lot of deep emotion there, and I was taking care of her in my apartment at the time as she was seriously ill, so I have huge emotional attachments to it.
BBB: Is this the main source of income [for you?] – Do your films pay to do more film, or is there a suit that gets put on and you leave LV behind for a couple hours?
LV: No, I don’t wear a suit of any kind, haha
BBB: Are you making anything more like A Perfect Child of Satan? That’s my favorite of your work.
LV: Well yes, I totally would do more like APCOS for sure! Since I’ve already shot my next two movies, I’ll work on those firs,t and then yeah, we’ll see, but I loved how it all worked with Chelsea…
BBB: You’ve already shot your next TWO films?!
LV: Haha yes!! In fact, thats exactly WHY it took me so long to finish and release VG4, I (stupidly) shot 3 movies at the same time over the course of three years – Duh, I will never do that again! haha But it was amazing at the time, and a life changing experience, and certain opportunities only come around at a specific time, so I had to go nuts and just shoot it all.
BBB: On the special features of Black Metal Veins, there was a mention of Burzum. I can’t remember exactly what it was about, but, I was wondering, are you a fan of the band?
LV: Yes, I definitely like Vary Vikernes. I am fascinated by his story, and I like the music of Burzum a lot, too.
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Lucifer Valentine: Thank you all so much for the awesome questions. I thoroughly enjoyed this. I am going to take off for now it was wonderful chatting with you all. Take care, and Black Mass of the Nazi Sex Wizard pre-orders will start through Black Lava in about two weeks! Bye for now!
