On Saturday Jan. 4, the 16th annual Poison Peach Film Fest brought locals a fresh look at an independent horror film which was filmed on location in Augusta and first released a decade ago.
“Cabaret Diabolique” debuted in 2015 under the direction of Christopher Forbes, who has spent that last decade making technical tweaks to the film in order to polish it up.
Saturday night’s showing was an expanded, re-edited and remastered edition of “Cabaret Diabolique,” one which even the actors themselves were seeing for the first time.
The horror musical takes place in Atlantic City, N.J. and follows murderous sibling duo Yvette and Charles Mansfield who have swindled the audience of their cabaret show into believing a series of gruesome on-stage killings are nothing more than realistic magic acts.
Despite its setting, the movie was filmed in Augusta and showcases one landmark in particular – The Imperial Theatre, where the sinister cabaret takes place.
Fittingly, the weekend film festival took place at The Imperial Theatre, a full circle moment for the actors and actresses who came back to watch the re-release.
While many of the film’s performers were local, two are internationally-known horror film stars, Linnea Quigley and Camille Keaton. Linnea has done 150 horror films and is best known for “Return of the Living Dead.” Camille is best known for “I Spit on Your Grave.”
From the stage to the screen
Jezibell Anat, the actress behind Yvette’s character, co-wrote the musical as a stage play in 2010 with her husband Joseph Zuchowski, who also plays a role in the film.
“We wanted to do something that was original and crazy,” said Anat. “We were looking to do something original that was theatrical and gory…I still don’t know how I came up with it.”
The actress also starred as Belle Star in the 2023 independent western film, “The Legend of Bass Reeves and Belle Star” – directed by herself.
Anat said she believes it was 2013 when Forbes saw the “Cabaret Diabolique” stage show and became interested in turning it into something bigger. The movie version was completed and first debuted in 2015.
The original stage show was performed at Misfit Theater in Pexcho’s Dime Museum, and the musical numbers were all well-known popular songs.
For the film, the cost of licensing these songs would have been, according to Forbes, millions of dollars, so he and Anat worked together to create an original soundtrack for the movie.
Actor Robert Seawell IV, who took on the role of Charles Mansfield, said he was directing the show when it was on stage.
“It was interesting making it a film because it started out as a stage play…Theatre film is a lot different as far as your acting,” said Seawell. “You have to kind of tone things down because otherwise, you look like you’re over-acting…that was really weird for me because I’m more of a stage actor. And now, since then, I’ve been doing more film work.”
Seawell currently runs an independent horror fan film studio.
Improving Cabaret Diabolique
Forbes said that when the movie was first released, he considered it to be about 80% complete, while Saturday’s re-release was at 99%. He added that he’s still welcoming feedback.
Forbes said he initially took the film to American film markets to catch the eyes of distributors. In that process, he he had conversations with industry professionals who suggested that the film receive some touch ups.
“That’s what we’ve been trying to do,” he said.
“A decade later,” he added, “it’s more technologically advanced, it’s more polished and it moves better.”
When asked how he felt about showing the updated version to an eager audience, he offered one word: “elation.”
“I achieved what I wanted to achieve, which was to make it move better, and polish it,” he said.
Although “Cabaret Diabolique” is currently unavailable for viewing outside of screenings, several of Forbes’ movies can be streamed for free on Tubi.
More from the film festival
The Film Festival continued on Sunday, with the world premiere of the feature “Treasure Train” based on the book by Bob Young, former mayor of Augusta.
The film adaptation was also directed by Forbes, and Young plays a major role in the film.
