HAIR WRAITH

DIRECTED BY JENNY POPOVICH

Short Horror Film. Jan 24. (Associate Producer. Props Design, Practical Effects. Stop Motion Animation)
Production Photos
Sinister Magazine Article

FROM THE DIRECTOR

MISSION STATEMENT
Hair Wraith uses the conventions of classic horror to tell a socially relevant and important story. Hair Wraith offers a cathartic thrill ride as a horror film as well as an examination of the long-term effects of abuse.

THE STORY
When I was a little girl, my mother came home with a unique looking wreath made out of tree bark and decorated with flowers. She hung the wreath on the wall across from my bed. On the first night of the wreath’s presence, I began to have nightmares. The wreath would grow bright red eyes, sharp white teeth, and little tree branch arms and legs. It would hop down off the wall, run over to my bed, and start snapping its long white teeth at my feet. These nightmares lasted for months. Finally, the wreath was thrown away. To this day, I still wear slippers when I sleep.

This nightmare was the inspiration for Hair Wraith. I discovered a Victorian custom that memorialized the deceased by creating a wreath from their hair. This custom made me remember my childhood nightmare. It really disturbed me, but also intrigued me. I wanted to create a story that was entertaining and scary while exploring how abuse stays with an individual, even after the physical scars are healed, how the memories and pain come creeping back, even when the abuser is out of someone’s life.Hair Wraith offers genre thrills and chills while wrapping the story in a subtextual examination of the harrowing and lingering effects of abuse. Hair Wraith is a deep-seated examination of abuse and its far-reaching effects of psychological trauma and oppression. The film also celebrates the ritual of catharsis and its ability to vanish and conquer the demons of our memory. More people watch horror films now than ever. Horror films have evolved from mere shock and thrill devices to vehicles that explore the human condition by addressing problematic topics. I saw Hair Wraith as an opportunity to explore the consequences and fallout from abuse much as filmmakers like Jordan Peele explore the concepts of race, identity, and social mobility. Abuse is a topic that dominates the media, and it is centered in the now. I hope that Hair Wraith resonates deeply with audiences.

SYNOPSIS
After learning of her mother’s death, Sally Torrance returns to Haddonhock, Ohio, the small town where she grew up. Still haunted by memories of her abusive mother, Candice, Sally is anxious and reliant on medication to function. Sally meets her sister, Emma, and learns that Emma has made a wreath from her mother’s hair, following an obscure Victorian practice. As Sally investigates her mother’s connection to the occult, she discovers the wreath contains a dark secret that threatens to result in madness and death.

HAIR WREATHS: THE VICTORIAN ART OF MOURNING
During the Victorian era, the custom of making art from hair became popular as a form of artistic memorial. It was used in jewelry, love tokens and hair wreaths, the latter of which could encompass hair from the members of one’s church, school, and family. To make a hair wreath, hair was collected from the deceased, formed into a shape (usually a flower), and added to a horseshoe-shaped wreath. The top was not connected and remained open to symbolize the ascent heavenward. Usually, the hair in the center of the wreath belonged to the most recently deceased family member; it would remain until another family member died, then be pushed aside to make room for the hair of the newly deceased.

INFLUENCES
Stylistically, Hair Wraith pays tribute to horror films such as Halloween, Trilogy of Terror, Jacob’s Ladder, Child’s Play, and House of the Devil. No CGI effects are used in Hair Wraith. Effects are in camera or practical. Some of the effects date back to the very dawn of cinema itself! Thematically, Hair Wraith has affinities with the works of modern directors such as Jordan Peele, Jennifer Kent, and Mike Flanagan.