Canadian actress Mercedes De La Cruz (the upcoming Machine for Legendary Pictures) recently nabbed a Best Actress award from an international film festival in Singapore for her performance in the mystery/horror film Because You’re Dead To Me from writer/director Chris Maruna.
The World Film Carnival Singapore bestowed the honor to De La Cruz for her role as a mysterious visitor who shows up at midnight for a date with a client who is about to commit suicide on his 60th birthday. He, Robert (Gardiner Millar), wakes up in a hotel room, so drunk he is unable to even recall how he got there. All the corrupt defense lawyer can remember is that he’s been there before and that at midnight he had planned to shoot himself. He also recalls dialing an escort service for one last fling.
As he is about to pull the trigger, there is a knock on the door. A woman (De La Cruz) is standing there but she is not the prostitute he requested. She introduces herself as Misty. He is surprised but he invites her in. As they converse they are both shocked to discover they have met before. As it turns out her real name is Melanie. She is the now grown daughter of a woman he had a relationship with 25 years earlier.
As they talk, frightening things begin to happen, sinister people seem to appear and disappear. Robert blacks out and finds himself in other places, other times. He awakes in a strange room, tied to a chair. There, demons appear, his own personal demons, now in physical form, to exact their revenge upon the man that created them.
After blacking out Robert always returns to the first room. There, he and Melanie keep interacting and in time secrets begin to emerge. For him, this is not the first time he has visited this particular room. Nor is it for her. In fact, she knew he would be there. She knew who he was even before she arrived. But she has an even darker secret she can never reveal.
“The character of Melanie was very easy for me to identify with,” says De La Cruz. “There were so many aspects of her story, her beliefs and he struggles and passions that were very similar to mine. I was able to play Melanie with ease and authenticity because I understand her. I have empathy for her and where she is because I’ve been there.”
Ash Hamilton is not only the owner of Horror-Fix.com, but also one of its major contributors. A long time horror movie enthusiast, Ash has lent his personality to radio and television and continues to support his favorite genre through his writing and art. He also loves beef jerky and puppies... and low-grade street-quality hallucinogens.
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