Art therapy is nothing to be afraid of, but this might be the exception
In this short doc, filmmaker Shane Roberts reveals the story behind his ghoulish hobby
Shane Roberts, 31, makes monster masks. Some of them are Hollywood creatures like Hellboy and the aliens from District 9. Others could only come straight from your nightmares.
Completely self-taught, Roberts is also a filmmaker, and in this short doc — called "Monsters," appropriately enough — Roberts turns the camera on himself to reveal the story behind a ghastly obsession.
"I think when I was a kid, there was a forbidden fruit aspect to horror films. It felt like something I wasn't supposed to be watching — and of course that made me want to do it more," Roberts tells CBC Arts by email. And he's been a horror fiend as long as he can remember, raised on classics like The Shining, The Thing and The Evil Dead.
As he says in the film, he even made his own scary movies as a kid, but it wasn't until the last year or so that Roberts dug up this old hobby, and it all began when he sought help for anxiety.
"Monsters" was produced while Roberts was studying at Seneca College's Documentary Filmmaking Institute this summer. He's currently developing an as-yet-untitled horror short, and it stars the toothy ghoul he's seen sculpting in this short doc.
Follow him on Instagram (@wychwoodfilms) for updates.