Slasher Flick - A Moviehouse Pictures motion picture

Living up to her name, Tristan Risk has blasted away any doubt that she belongs anywhere but in front of a camera, while shedding the last of her old persona.

Coming out from the canvas of so many artists’ paintings, the muse has become the artist herself in her new movie, Slasher Flick, showcasing her fearlessness in the new media of film. This is raw Risk. “When you’re out of school, and your looking for direction, you latch onto anything that can come your way.” Says Tristan on her upward ride following being discovered by such an arsenal of talents as Jae Dougall, Jose Trinidad, and Dene Croft, while her image was featured in various underground alternative publications.

Flash forward to 2003, where she has been photographed by some of Vancouver’s most elite lens-wielders, and began stacking the house of cards in the acting business with a little help from her friends at Moviehouse Pictures. “I felt a little trapped,” she admits. “When you’re young, you’re so eager to please everyone else, and you define yourself in those terms. Now, I’ve taken a step back, and done some introspective study, and began to develop as a real artist,” she’s quick to add. “Now that I know what I want, nobody wants to get in my way.” Where is the ride going to let her get off? Initially, she wants to make a stop at the Cinemurte independent horror film festival that arrives in Vancouver every year. “I want nothing more than to go in and see a movie that I made with a bunch of my friends and come out and say, ‘Yeah, I did that.’” She says. “I want to listen to people when they hear me scream as my character gets killed.”

In addition to this flexing of her muscles on screen as the sultry Goth, Therese, Tristan snuck her character and her on-screen boyfriend Tibor, played by Dave Cote, into another movie filmed in Vancouver. “I thought it would be funny to see Therese and Tibor in another film, being themselves,” is Tristan’s admission. “I think it’d be fun to have a running gag like that so that in every movie you see, you can have a ‘Where’s Waldo’ moment.” Dark Arc, would have to take a back seat to Slasher Flick. Unable to say no to a principal role that would keep her front and centre as she lays the foundation of her career for the road ahead.

“I wanted to explore the meaner, darker side of human nature. I think that there’s a little bit of me in Therese, but she’s a horribly twisted magnified portion. The bit that used to pluck the wings off of insects,” she explains. “I’ve always loved the idea of playing a strong woman onscreen, and if she comes off as cruel, then maybe some people are too sensitive.” And she’s gone after that goal with a relentless determination, and a willingness to please her director. “Dan asked me if I was okay with being covered in the fake blood. I was until I was laying in the stuff (for 3 days of shooting) and it began to dry,” she laughs. “What I think scared a lot of people was when John and Dan were telling actresses that some characters took their tops off, and I read through and saw

that my highly-sexed character never got her gear off once. I was surprised. How can you have a splat flick without one naked girl in it? So I volunteered, and they were constantly asking, ‘Are you okay with that?’ and treading on eggshells. It was funny.”

And the biggest challenge was the fake blood. “I had to sit in this pool of syrup tinted red (for 3 days of shooting).”

Tristan sighs. “Eventually I just kind of resigned myself to being horribly sticky as they dumped it all over me. I became kind of Zen about the whole thing. You say to yourself, ‘I’m here, I wanted to do this, and now I’m covered in goo. At least freezing in the middle of winter was a trade-off for being eaten alive by bugs in the summer!” For Tristan Risk, it all begins by having fun. “This is a fun business,” she states. “If you’re not enjoying it, and thanking your lucky stars for entertaining people, then why are you doing it? Not everyone can see it that way, but I know I’m blessed.” In the end she says, it’s for anyone who wants to forget their own problems for awhile and have a laugh and a scream. “People will never stop wanting to be scared,” she smiled wickedly. “We’re all looking for that next big thrill and I’m going to give the people what they want. This is a movie for all the folks who want to just have a good time.”

To view Tristan's Japanese Anime Chibi cartoons that satirize her experiences film Slasher Flick, click here.