Those of us who love horror know that while some films from historically underrepresented filmmakers break records and win prestigious awards like the often-referenced Get Out by Jordan Peele and Everything Everywhere All At Once, written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, genre films don’t often get the respect they deserve. Now, imagine being someone who creates horror, but you also live with a disability. That’s where Cindy Sanabria, a Puerto Rican horror writer, filmmaker, and effects makeup artist from East Harlem, comes in. This multi-hyphenated force, known as “Slaughter Cin, Latina Empress of Gore,” reached out to filmmakers, actors and screenwriters living with disabilities to talk about their experiences as horror creators, and it’s all compiled in the engaging and informative documentary, Horror Able.
Many of the people featured aren’t household names, but some have been embraced and championed by the horror community, for instance, William Crain, director of the classic horror Blacula. You’d be surprised to learn that he has gout, a disease that often makes it difficult for him to walk. Or Michael Berryman, a horror actor of the highest order, whose father was exposed to high levels of radiation affecting his genes, which left Berryman with a fused cranium and other medical factors that led to his disabilities. His appearance created a place for him in Hollywood, namely in The Hill Has Eyes, but he also had to advocate for himself to ensure his needs were met at a time when disabilities weren’t considered on set.
Other creators include Ariel Baska, a screenwriter and producer whom I had the pleasure of meeting this year at Berlinale. Due to the effects of her disabilities, she identifies with horror icon Freddy Krueger and talks about the need for darker representations of disability. We also get to meet Sam Suchmann and Matt Zufelt, two filmmakers with Downs Syndrome who took the horror world by storm when they enlisted Peter Farrelly of There’s Something About Mary fame to be their executive producer on their zany horror film Sam and Matt Make a Zombie Movie.
Sanabria also talks to people like Lauren Appelbaum, Senior Vice President of Respectability, an organization that advocates equity for disabled actors, directors and more roles in the film industry, and Carin Powell, the head of the animation house Signing Animation, staffed with hearing-impaired artists. They, as well as those interviewed, call for more adherence to the Americans with Disabilities Act, more accommodation for those who have disabilities and want to work in the film industry and overall, more understanding from the able-bodied within the industry.
The documentary is chockful of experiences from these creators. From their creative journeys in horror to the challenges they face because of the lack of awareness in the industry, their accounts are honest, will make able-bodied audiences pause and (hopefully) take action, and give those with disabilities the courage to join the ranks of disabled creators to realize their horror dreams. Baska makes an important point about the co-relation of her diagnoses in such a succinct way you realize that what they have to deal with is the film industry’s lack of accommodations for disabled creators and the attention needed for their mental and physical well-being. Being in an able-bodied-centric society proves to be a challenge that these directors, writers, and actors take head-on, ready to make horror and defy industry discrimination. There’s also a heartwarming dedication to the late Albert Pyun, director of classic fantasy films The Sword and the Sorcerer, Dollman and Cyborg.
The production was filmed entirely over the Internet, which the industry embraced over the pandemic and abandoned as soon as things went “back to normal.” This is hugely important to note since, as a film critic, I’ve seen many of my ilk who have disabilities talk about how Zoom and other online resources allowed them access for the first time, and now that this has been mostly eliminated, their job has once again become more difficult. For documentaries like this one, online access is essential and, in my humble opinion, should be open to film sets and other processes within the film industry.
Sanabria does an amazing job bringing up important conversations with Horror Able, taking a backseat and giving her guests full reign to talk about access and accessibility for creators who no longer want to live on the sidelines, and I’m here for it. It’s educational and insightful, and it rallies those with disabilities and their allies to enact their rights to push the industry into making real changes for inclusivity.
Stay tuned for more on where you can find Horror Able in the future, and follow Cindy Sanabria here: Bloodstained Films.
Learn about the organizations mentioned and more here:
ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)
Disability Screen Office (Canada)
Reel Abilities Film Festival (Canada)
Reel Abilities Film Festival (New York)
View From the Dark 