Watch Them Come Blood – An Award-winning Grindhouse Horror Film

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Watch Them Come Blood is a visceral grindhouse horror film that pays homage to the gritty exploitation flicks of the 1970s. Directed and co-written by Mike Cuenca, in collaboration with co-writer and co-producer Joaquin Dominguez, this film is a must-see for fans of raw, unapologetic horror.

Teaser here

Trailer here

A group of road-tripping friends find more than they bargain for when they stumble upon a brothel specializing in a peculiar type of service.

A Q&A with writer and director Mike Cuenca and Joaquin Dominguez

Welcome Mike and Joaquin! Thanks for joining us to discuss your new grindhouse horror film Watch Them Come Blood! What was the original spark or image that inspired the film?

Mike: I’ll let Joaquin answer that.

Joaquin: Well, I guess it was twofold. Mike was looking for a palate cleanser, while also needing a sort of “practice run” on the horror genre. He’d been sitting on a horror script, but wanted to try his hand on a horror short first. So initially this was supposed to be something fast and easy. Now I both love and write a lot of horror, and Mike and I have worked together on several projects in the past. So we sat down and put our heads together, and out of nowhere it became a feature without us even planning it. At a bar, mapping out the idea, we turned to each other and asked, “Is this a feature?”. 2 weeks later it was written. Within 3 weeks it was cast, and then we shot it in 6 days. Now, as far as the original idea for the script? Woof… I just remember turning to Mike and saying, “What are the most primal highs a human can experience?” He blinked. I said, “Birth. Death. Orgasm.'”

This movie pays clear homage to grindhouse and exploitation cinema — but what personal or modern themes did you sneak in under all the blood and sleaze?

Mike: I won’t work on anything unless I relate to the material. There’s gotta be a subtext. Even if I’m the only one that catches it. “Best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”, no? The more I plan something the more it tends to fall apart. That’s how I approach directing too. I’m kinda one of those no expectations are the best expectations to have types. And this movie is about people who are aiming for some form of success— a road trip, a robbery, a quiet afternoon together— and circumstances take over and everything goes topsy-turvy. And then the people who don’t plan anything, who just roll up, are the victors. They’re just lucky. Most of my movies are about me struggling with my career as a filmmaker. I bust my ass off. I make seven pictures in three years. DIY. Some kids walk up, know somebody, and are on to a fully financed production. Me? I can’t raise funds. Can’t find a producer. Or an agent. No representation. Yet I keep trying cause I’m not good at anything else. That’s Blood to me.

Watch Them Come Blood - grindhouse indie horror film by Mike Cuenca and Joaquin Dominguez

Most of my movies are about me struggling with my career as a filmmaker. I bust my ass off. I make seven pictures in three years. DIY. Some kids walk up, know somebody, and are on to a fully financed production.

The cast fully commits — how did you find your actors, and what was your process in getting them to go all-in on something this wild?

Mike: I have a roster of actors who have been in a bunch of my previous stuff, that give it their all and that I love to work with. Lillian (“Camila”) is a friend and I’d been wanting to put her in something for ages. Soon as we shot this I asked her to be in Odium for Ardor. Claire Woolner is a comedic genius. And she only appears in one scene but I knew she had to make an appearance— or she’d flip out if I didn’t. She’s threatened me if I don’t put her in my movies. Her role is greatly expanded in a feature that takes place before this.

What was the hardest scene to shoot, technically or emotionally, and how did you get through it?

Mike: Everything that you see in the brothel was shot in one day. One unbearably hot day in August. We couldn’t afford to rent the location again. Most expensive thing in the budget. So we knocked out every scene back to back. Maybe two takes tops. Fourteen hours. More? I didn’t eat. I didn’t even relieve myself at any point. I ate a pizza slice and a half while working. Jessica had very short breaks. You’d have to pop outside during takes because it was a sauna in there. Come midnight, one in the morning, and I saved the Warren scenes for last. I’m Warren! So I’m getting prosthetics done while directing. I think that’s when I actually ate. The scene I directed from the make-up chair is when Jon and Charlie are with the axe by the basement door.

Joaquin: The whole shoot was essentially 6 intense 14 hour days, on a shoestring budget. That being said, that’s how Mike and I have always worked, both independently and together. Guerilla style, DIY filmmaking. We know how to stretch a budget.

The world of Watch Them Come Blood feels bigger than one movie. Can you talk a bit about the “Blood Universe” and where it might go next?

Mike: This is spoiler territory but there’s a spin-off following the survivors of the movie. Tonally different. They Fight Like Demons. It’s this death road trip movie. Like a death western. And a loaded bag of money. Couples on the lam sorta thing. It involves some sleazy, purely evil psychobillies. Saying anymore would give away too much. And we also have a movie set before Blood. With our nihilistic characters. It’s not horror although it has some horrific elements to it. It’s this dysfunctional family unit. A heist movie meets After Hours, meets Out of Towners. I’m a huge heist flick fan and something I’ve always wanted to do. But it’s gotta be different. And I want it to be a very dark, very crude, dark comedy that also has your heart ready to burst from your chest. So why not feature characters we’ve already created? Let’s give them more flesh. That way when you come back and watch Blood you’ll be like, “Ohhhh, shit. Now that make sense!” We’ve been plenty seeds for both flicks, and a potential third spin-off down the line since the first one.

Joaquin: Trust, they’re both crazier than Blood.

There’s a very specific visual and tonal texture to the film — nonlinear, grindhouse, and dreamlike. What were your biggest stylistic influences?

Mike: I speak nonlinearly. So my flicks reflect that. Going back to my debut Jerry Powell. I think it stems from going to the movies all the time as a kid. My parents would buy a ticket. Let’s say the movie started at 9:00pm. We’d get there at like 8:15/8:30pm. My dad wouldn’t care. He’d go in anyway. We’d watch the end of the movie, wait around, then come back and watch the beginning of the flick and book it when we got to the part we had walked in on. Absurd way too watch movies. But you’re doing that at 3, 4, 5, 6 years of age? It totally opens you up to experimental ways you can tell a story. I think if Blood were linear it wouldn’t be as fun. If you’re wracking your brain trying to figure out how it all fits together you’re watching it the wrong way. Just let it play. Go with the flow. It’s made like that with an intent. We have a violent scene a quarter into the movie. Freeze fame. Let’s check out this other shit that’s going on meanwhile. And then this other thing going on meanwhile. And then we catch you up and now we can go.. to… town! Tonal texture? Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the greatest horror film of all time. Endlessly rewatchable. I wanted to capture a little bit of that. Carlos’ score helps. And if I even captured a small ounce then I’m happy. I mean, Texas Chainsaw is as big of an influence on Blood as Before Sunrise.

Joaquin: Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Before Sunrise, Evil Dead, the films of Abel Ferrara, camp slasher films (Madman, Just Before Dawn, The Burning); it felt like we were making a mixtape.

If you’re wracking your brain trying to figure out how it all fits together you’re watching it the wrong way. Just let it play. Go with the flow. It’s made like that with an intent.

There’s a balance of horror, humor, and punk attitude here. How did you walk that tonal tightrope without tipping too far in one direction?

Mike: I’m a mood swinger. My flicks reflect that. My favorite bands cover so much ground. My favorite directors cover so much ground. Without betraying who they are because that’s what makes them who they are. I was able to figure out how to do that, and work with large ensembles — all my flicks are ensemble flicks (with the exception of Odium) — when making my cartoonish punk rock web series Oblivion. We’d go from slapstick to reality biting to dread and then some. 31 Flavors there. Put Baskin Robbins to shame.

This was a DIY production. What was the most absurd or impossible moment on set that somehow made it into the final film?

Mike: All of it.

Music plays a huge role in your work — both in the editing rhythm and the soundtrack. How do you approach integrating sound and image?

Mike: I’m a musician. So that’s easy. And I came of age when MTV still showed music videos. Rad music videos at that. I’d go around when I was ten or eleven with my camcorder and then I’d dub music over my VHS tapes. Just synching music to image. Carlos was already coming up with the score during the shoot. Sometimes I hum things while editing and then I go and do a scratch recording on bass or guitar, something to cut to. And then we’d add meat to that. And then it all falls into timing. And or evoking or pushing an emotion. Godard said cinema is truth 24 frames-per-second. I say film is manipulation at 120 bpm.

Now that the film’s out on Blu-ray through ETR Media and OCN Distribution, how does it feel to have a physical release on a label that fans of Vinegar Syndrome trust?

Mike: Dude. It fucking rules. I mean, that’s a total honor. I said a long time ago I would rather be released by a distributor I love and collect than ever care for an Oscar.

Joaquin: I own so many VS titles, man. So I still can’t believe we’ve been given the honor of being one of their physical releases this year. An absolute dream come true.

Pre-order available at Vinegar Syndrome here.