Christian Aldo and Marshall Sfalcin are two (biological) brothers that have been steadily producing a massive body of work in Windsor, Ontario for the past 20 years. Included in that body of work is Xeno's Inferno, a full length Fellini-esque sexploitation movie that is not a porno. It features dozens of extras, elaborate sets and costumes, and it culminates in an orgy scene in lava. That's a pretty memorable image - an orgy in molten lava - don't you think?The movie, Christian and Marshall's first, tells the story of a successful young businessman who is obsessed with owning a painting that's already been bought by a man named Mastro. Mastro isn't interested in selling the painting but he invites Xeno to a party at his apartment. The place is filled with beautiful women and drugs. It's a total blast! But then Xeno realizes Mastro is actually the Devil…Xeno's Inferno has never screened outside of Windsor before but tomorrow, Saturday February 21st, the film is making its Toronto premiere at the Trash Palace (89-B Niagara). Presented by our production manager, Tim McCready. Bull session with Christian after the jump.VICE: How did Xeno's Inferno come about?Christian: It was my first script and my first movie I'd ever made. We shot everything in 1999-2000, but it took us the next 3 and a half years to edit and add a soundtrack
before we could screen it.It's impressive how detailed Xeno's Inferno is for a no-budget picture. How did you finance it?I was stripping at Danny's, a Chippendales style all male revue on Riverside Drive at the time. Whatever money we needed for filming that week, I'd just strip as much as I needed to. I called in a lot of favors from friends, and we paid cash for everything as filmed.So how much would you guess you spent?At least $25,000 in hard costs, but none of the actors got paid and my brother and I each put in hundreds of hours over those 5 years of shooting and editing. I didn't keep track of receipts so it's difficult to put a price tag on it.Was it all strippers in the orgy scene?No, out of 60 people there were only two strippers involved including myself. Everyone else were people from around the local music, art and bar scenes who wanted to be in a movie. We filmed it in my tiny living room. The lights were dimmed and I placed everyone around the room and told them what to do, to pet each others legs or tell certain people to kiss. I only had 2 bottles of wine but it didn't take long for people to do what they wanted to do, and we just set the cameras rolling.Have you made any other movies since you finished Xeno?My brother and I have a cable access show called 10 Dollar Tales that airs in
Windsor and Chatham and on Youtube. We made another full length called the Will Of Frankenstein, and we're the subjects of a documentary called The Rise And Fall Of The Grumpy Burger.What's Grumpy Burger about?A producer named Matt Gallagher followed my brother and I around for a couple of months while we worked on various projects. I have some issues with how we were presented, but it still made for some good exposure.TIM McCREADY
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before we could screen it.It's impressive how detailed Xeno's Inferno is for a no-budget picture. How did you finance it?I was stripping at Danny's, a Chippendales style all male revue on Riverside Drive at the time. Whatever money we needed for filming that week, I'd just strip as much as I needed to. I called in a lot of favors from friends, and we paid cash for everything as filmed.So how much would you guess you spent?At least $25,000 in hard costs, but none of the actors got paid and my brother and I each put in hundreds of hours over those 5 years of shooting and editing. I didn't keep track of receipts so it's difficult to put a price tag on it.
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Windsor and Chatham and on Youtube. We made another full length called the Will Of Frankenstein, and we're the subjects of a documentary called The Rise And Fall Of The Grumpy Burger.What's Grumpy Burger about?A producer named Matt Gallagher followed my brother and I around for a couple of months while we worked on various projects. I have some issues with how we were presented, but it still made for some good exposure.TIM McCREADY
