An Interview With SamHel - Disfigured Perception (2024)

Disturbing Cinema: SamHel you’re well-known for bringing audiences strong, boundary-pushing horror, erotic, and experimental short and feature length films in both digital and physical mediums. You've been working in Los Angeles' indie film industry for over a decade and have produced over 30 films, overseeing each stage of production from casting and scripting to distribution. Having said that, I'd want to begin our interview by asking you what your most craziest experience has been and what you may share with us all. One that stands out among the rest?

SamHel: When said like that I feel like I’ve done a lot. I dont entirely have on crazy moment, I think its a grouping of a lot of interesting things that happen. Like filming for a year for I Cut Your Flesh. Seeing what someone like Miss Sox does out of personal enjoyment, and documenting things like being scalped, or pierced only to be removed right after. I had/have idk had… a blood phobia so seeing something as graphic as what she was doing was pretty crazy, being strung up by her back and knees, in the middle of a public park and getting comments from people watching… pretty interesting experience. I try to be low key about what I'm filming and who is around, just to make things easier and go faster, usually crazy things happen when someone not involved comes in to the picture… which actually reminds me of a moment. We were under a bridge shooting weird zombie make up on a actor, she was not nude but dressed in underwear and cut off shirt. And a homeless man had some issues with it, more of saying “you don't know who's coming through here” and I just kinda looked around and I'm like “we are deep in woods and under an underpass… and hidden in a way” ultimately we decided to move cause the homeless man wasn’t going to. However, once he saw the actor I was with was trans and he took an issue with that, and then that became the focus… demeanor changed to spouting surface level christianity from a soapbox, basically condemning her for being her… dumb shit like that. ultimately nothing happened besides that, It ended up with both of us just eye rolling and bouncing to another location.

Davar Villegas: Your films combine the sexual, the grotesque, and the experimental in a very particular way. Was there a moment or a specific work that made you decide this would be your definitive visual language?

SamHel: Nope, I kinda just took aspects of interesting things I liked from films and photography from underground artist and aspects of films and ads of 90s and 2000s. I started in Horror and Gory films, and then I found people interested to push it more, and showed them ideas I had and ultimately turned into adding fetishism and adult content. I always been into the inspirations I have, but didn’t think I had work or writings to show someone to have them find interest in making it. Eventually I did and it morphed into its own production. I guess when the DVDs did well, I guess that would be the moment or when I didn’t have to have a 9-5 job?

Disturbing Cinema: Now I’d like to talk about your latest film Disfigured Perception which is about a woman who discovers that she has acquired some unusual tastes after an injury. What Inspired/influenced you to create Disfigured Perception, and what was your favourite part of creating it?

SamHel: I wrote a film about an idea Titi Ramone had about a “magic trick” and I filled in what the short or film could be about a magician who does shitty magic performance act, ultimately failing or not being as good as she thinks she is and doing shocking shit… she would do one final performance that would shock… The idea like most times didn’t come to fruition. So certain aspects swapped to the storyline of Disfigured Perception, “teeth disappearing” “pain performance art” “birthing of eyeballs” but it was like what would be the reason? More like a nightmare of these bizarre things happening after traumatic events. Like what if instead of just bleeding or gore, something weird happened that your body did as a confusion from its injuries or PTSD… and after the first segment it was more how to keep it interesting and not repetitive, not only within the film but from other films I’ve done. I just like things falling into place when they’re set up, everything worked out, Shelby shot their scene, Ruby was free both days, She filmed her scene right after Shelby, we met up the next day to film Ruby’s scene. I drove back to Vegas, and Kaiia (as always) helped me out with the last segment. I pitched the idea and let the girls handle it. I say favorite part was I guess the banter between Kaiia and Brooke cause it was all improv based on suggestions. It was pretty funny, kept the more serious parts, but it got funny at times.

Davar Villegas: When filming extremely violent and sexual scenes, there’s a strong degree of trust and intimacy between the cast and crew. How did you build that safe space for Kaiia Eve, Brooke Johnson, Ruby Reynolds and Shelby Smallz in Disfigured Perception (2025) so the result was visceral without losing humanity on set?

SamHel: I usually don't have any hand in that aspect, I give detailed scene breakdowns, make sure they’re comfortable with it and then they make sure they’re comfortable with doing it between each other, if not I just remove it and say do what y’all are cool with, and I’ll find the angles or “just end on this part” and I just sorta stay removed in a way. Keep asking if everything’s is okay or going good, or do we need to stop? I let them be adults and they’re MORE in this industry than I am and know how they want and should be treated, so comfort is built in talking and letting them handle the comfort for themselves and between each other. I try and make it comfortable with them choosing their partners rather than finding someone that I have to keep an eye on cause they never met. They are usually already friends and have performed with each other in other projects, so that helps.

Disturbing Cinema: Disfigured Perception contains a lot of extremely violent and sexual scenes with a lot of gore that is definitely not for the faint hearted. Could you talk us through the process of creating the gore for those scenes and what is that you think people love about gore so much? 

SamHel: Idk, people are sick man… lol The gore is simplistic, I'm not an FX artist, I can do some stuff like fake intestines, and make-up, scar wax type stuff. However, I buy interesting things from James Bell of Very Fine Crap Videos or he makes somethings I need, I apply them and find angles where it looks the best. Everything is sorta repetitive on my part to what I have in the arsenal, I just try different ways to apply them or get the gore happening from different ways. Stomach slashes, gore being pulled out, eye removals, tongue cutting, hands, feet, arms, being cut off… I tend to not do things that costs a lot cause these films aren’t made for a lot of money. So if I can make something look good, rather than attempt something new, than I rather make it look good. I think its something a curiosity everyone has inside them but you never really have a way to see it or there’s really only one way too and its like a rare thing, and I think the closer they can get to really seeing something that is out there, people will gravitate to it. Like true crime, serial killer stuff… there’s just a people have to want to see or have something not many people have seen? Idk, I can’t view real gore, so the appeal of gore is mainly fictional and I find it interesting from the creative stand point of "I made this… does it look real or not?”

Davar Villegas: Your films don’t just show violence or sexuality; they seem to seek an uncomfortable emotional connection with the viewer. How do you work to make that discomfort part of the aesthetic experience rather than just a reaction of repulsion?

SamHel: I think it's the slow burn aspect, there’s a lot of time, building things up, gore happenings are slow, there’s not gun shots going off or gore really shown quickly, off screen or even the sexual content isn’t off screen. I think people are forced to watch it all from start to finish and that gets people anxious to “are we gonna see it?” “Is it over yet?” Type of behavior. Sex in general freaks out most Americans, add gore/horror elements, it can make someone feel uneasy. It helps to have music that reinforces themes like from Joshua Palace, mixed with sounds design to freak people out, I can say its more the build up to the gore, the idea that even the adult content isn’t supposed to go THAT way, after or during. Something inherently pleasurable is turned discomforting.

Davar Villegas: Looking at your journey from your earliest productions to your latest work, how would you describe your evolution as an independent extreme filmmaker? Have shifts in processes, technologies, or creative strategies influenced the way you approach your projects?

SamHel: I don't think much has changed. I’ve heard at times my work is repetitive and it is at times. But I try to bring evolution or changes through unique ideas, twists or within editing or filming… I don't think evolution has happened to the artwork itself, but how I created it or finished it, yes. Using cheaper cameras, using high end cameras, choosing unique talent that have different vibes, looks to the film or their own interests. Its more tech and alterations in post I see change in. I find it more fun to shoot and find the angles I don't normally do, or use a certain camera to better fix stabilization and attempt a unique moving sequence. Or simply completely remove myself from holding the camera.

Disturbing Cinema: I'd like to conclude our interview by asking you one of my signature questions: What is the most disturbing film you have ever seen?

SamHel: Tumbling Doll of Flesh.

Disturbing Cinema Congratulations on the film, and thank you once again for taking your time answering our questions, SamHel. It was an absolute pleasure interviewing you.

Disfigured Perception (2024) Plot Summary: "Disfigured Perception," directed by SamHel, follows a young woman, Shelby, who suffers a severe head injury and experiences disturbing physical and mental changes. The film explores her descent into madness as she grapples with these changes, including the loss of teeth and a growing obsession with self-harm and pleasure. Her friend, Ruby, witnesses these transformations and the two are drawn into a dark and chaotic journey. The plot also involves a couple observing the events through shocking footage, adding another layer to the unraveling narrative. 

You can buy Disfigured Perception (2024) here:

SamHel Productions: https://www.samhel.com/product-page/disfigured-perception-cover-a-blu-ray