Interview w/ Day of the Woman

Every woman has her day.

So I suppose the rule would follow that every day has its woman...? Either way, today belongs to horror blogger and all around femme fatale Brittney-Jade Colangelo from Day of the Woman, a blog dedicated to the more feminine side of fear.

I had the chance to chat it up a little with BJ here at the clubhouse and wanted to share with you some of what I've learned. From talking about Anna Falchi’s rack (see below) to the horrid abortion of Hollywood cinema that is Twilight and onto Mary Harron's masterfully directed American Psycho, there's sure to be something for the whole family.

Okay, there's something I just have to know up front... Cherry Darling (Planet Terror) versus Ellen Ripley (Alien): which chick kicks the most ass?
Ellen Ripley without a question. While Cherry Darling is about 100x better looking, I could probably take her down. Cherry Darling is a Go-Go dancer and Ripley works in space. Being bad-ass requires some brains and I'm pretty sure Ripley has her licked in that department. Ripley was the first bad ass momma, and I'm one to put the classics over the n00bs. Not to mention, if they both had to fight a giant phallus (like in Alien), Ripley would kill it while Cherry Darling would probably try to put it in her mouth.

...if they both had to fight a giant phallus (like in Alien), Ripley would kill it while Cherry Darling would probably try to put it in her mouth.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, tell us a little about yourself. Who is the Midwest Mistress of Macabre?
My name is Brittney-Jade Colangelo, I'm almost 20 and I'm a Theatre and English Literature major at Western Illinois University. I'm an actress, vocalist, competitive baton twirler, nationally ranked public speaker, pageant queen, and baton coach.

I'm also a total cinephile and spend most of my time watching movies or volunteering. I'm a philanthropist and run three different community service projects a year. Oh...and I write a blog, contribute to the Horror Society and review Direct to DVD and Indie films for Bloody-Disgusting...but you probably don't want to hear about that boring stuff.

You're a fairly well known figure in the horror blogosphere, having been recognized on numerous occasions as evidenced by your trophy wall. When did you first begin blogging and what inspired you to start Day of the Woman?
DotW is a little over a year old. It was originally just a hobby I started to keep myself occupied while cooped up in the sticks of Macomb. I started writing about horror because I had been stalking the forums of Bloody-Disgusting for an extended amount of time and I found that most of the fans on there LOVED hearing a 19 year old girl take down a 46 year old guy in a debate over whether or not Fulci’s zombies were scarier than Romero’s. It was on B-D that I became associated with Brian Solomon of The Vault of Horror. He really encouraged me to start up a blog and became my Obi-Wan if you will. He showed me the ropes and was a huge help in getting my name out there.

Most horror bloggers at the time were all sort of writing the same thing, I came along and I was this young, feminine, sarcastic voice who wasn’t afraid to comment on Anna Falchi’s rack in Dellamorte Dellamore and people really dug it. After about 4 months, I was accepted as an exceptional entry to The League of Tana Tea Drinkers which is the internet’s "elite" horror blogging group. Once I was in the LoTT-D, my blog blew up and I was recently voted by the internet as Ms. Horror Blogosphere 2009.

...I was this young, feminine, sarcastic voice who wasn’t afraid to comment on Anna Falchi’s rack in Dellamorte Dellamore and people really dug it.

Who is your favorite female movie monster/slasher/scream queen?
I have a little bit of an unhealthy obsession with Camille Keaton (obviously), but I absolutely love Hazel Court. She really knows how to steal the scene and has a beauty that has yet to be matched.

You're pretty adamant in your distain for Twilight, even going as far as dedicating an entire column to it entitled Twatlight. Why all the hate?
Oh boy...how much time do you have? At first, I didn’t hate it all that much. I saw it as another fad for teenage girls and housewives who weren’t getting enough attention from their husbands. It wasn’t my cup of tea, but I just tried to ignore its existence. I assumed the books were at least halfway decent… until I read one. The saga is pure literary garbage and just a walking wet dream of Stephanie Meyer. Honestly, how many times can someone use the expression “perfect face” to describe someone?! There are MILLIONS of girls out there who look up to this book as the perfect relationship, and it's basically a guide for girls to be submissive to men. The underlying theme is that without precious Edward Cullen, Bella is worth nothing. What kind of message does that send?!

...it's basically a guide for girls to be submissive to men.

Then it started to drift into my neck of the woods and caused studios to crank out horrible vampire flicks (Transylmania anyone?) really bothered me. I went to Walmart one day and bought a few horror flicks to where the cashier (sporting a Team Jacob pin nonetheless) asked me how pumped I was for New Moon. When I replied with “as excited as I am to put mouthwash in my tear ducts” she looked at me like I was crazy. When I asked why she’d assume I’d want to see that abomination of cinema, she said “you’re a girl buying horror movies”. frack me running…. It’s become a stigma that my generation is uber obsessed with this trash and further ruining our reputation.

There are very few well-known women directors in Hollywood and even fewer who have dabbled in the horror genre itself (Amy Holden Jones of Slumber Party Massacre, Mary Lambert of Pet Cemetery and Rachel Talalay of Freddy's Dead being some that come to mind). Why do you think there are so few female directors and do you have a favorite?
I think there are few female directors because in all honesty...I don't think studios are down with it. I personally think that women are capable of doing everything as well as men, but people cranking out the big bucks don't see things the way I do. It's a sad reality, but they'd rather let a woman direct a chick flick rather than a horror film. It boggles my mind, but there are plenty of female directors that are absolutely fabulous. Mary Harron is my favorite just because she directed American Psycho and that film is FLAWLESS. I argue to the death about the masterpiece that is that film. Yet, there's an up-and-coming director named Elisabeth Fies who has shown so much promise and potential. Studios would be doing themselves a favor by giving her some funds to make a full length.

About a year ago, you started your series of vlogs on Day of the Woman in an attempt to personalize your visitors' experience. What kind of feedback have you gotten with that?
None of my vlogs are scripted, so it really gives people an insight to how I really act. The feedback has been...mixed. People seem to really really enjoy my vlogs, and some people seem to enjoy them a LITTLE too much. I have gotten more emails requesting topless vlogs than any other request for my site. I see it as half flattering, and half really, really creepy.

If you could bury one thing in the Pet Cemetery, what would it be?
I would bury my iPod touch. I spilled coffee on it and it doesn't work. I could really use that back...

What were some of your favorite cartoons growing up?
I was lucky enough that my parents raised me on awesome stuff. Some of my fondest memories with my dad are waking up early to watch Speed Racer re-runs. Like most kids, I was a big Scooby Doo fan but my generation had Aaah!!! Real Monsters, Hey Arnold, Doug, Beetlejuice, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Powerpuff Girls, Ninja Turtles, Rugrats, and other amazing cartoons. Although not cartoons, I was also a HUGE Power Rangers and Are You Afraid Of The Dark nerd.

Unlike Trash (Return of the Living Dead), most of us don't get to predict the way we die. If you could though, how would you want to go out? Zombies? Werewolf bite? Eaten by C.H.U.D.s?
I want to go Zombie, but the zombies in Land of the Dead. I want to be able to enjoy a swim, and blow someone's freaking head off. If zombie meant going Fido...I'd be a little peeved.

'Kay, here's the money maker... what's the strangest thing you remember doing as a kid?
Other than doing child beauty pageants, cutting my gingerbeast sister's hair, and making peanut butter sandwiches with butcher knives... I was known to eat Avon chapstick. My mom literally spent 50 dollars a month on chapstick one time because I kept eating it.

For more of Brittney-Jade Colangelo and her macabre musings of the horror genre, be sure to check out Day of the Woman or hit her up on Twitter.

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