Justina Machado was about seven years old the first time she remembers watching a horror movie. In the 1970s, the genre was taking on a terrifying life of its own with classic films like Alien, Jaws, Halloween, and Carrie. Machado’s introduction to horror came when she sat down with her little brother and grandmother to watch the Oscar-winning 1973 film, The Exorcist.
“I couldn’t sleep for like a week after that,” Machado, 50, told Remezcla during a recent interview. “The Exorcist really messed me up.”
Machado is hoping her new TV series is just as memorable as the horror movies she saw as a kid. In The Horror of Dolores Roach, she plays the title character, a woman who returns home to a gentrified Washington Heights after spending 16 years in prison.
There, she reconnects with her friend Luis (Alejandro Hernandez), who gives her a place to stay and lets her run a massage parlor from the basement of his empanada shop. Things take a grisly turn when Dolores begins to kill her clients, and works with Luis to cover up the murders by using the human meat as empanada filling.
The Horror of Dolores Roach began as a one-woman, off-Broadway play called Empanada Loca starring Daphne Rubin-Vega (In the Heights) before it was adapted into a 13-episode podcast series. When Machado listened to the podcast, she was drawn by the storytelling and understood how it could make an intriguing series.
“I could see it, and I could hear it,” Machado said. “It was almost like a musical. The podcast was melodic and hypnotic. I loved it.”
What Machado also loved about the narrative was the fact that Latinas rarely get the opportunity to play horror-centric characters like Dolores Roach. Think about what films and TV shows like American Psycho, The Silence of the Lambs, Se7en, and Dexter have in common.
“So many times, these kinds of parts go to a white man,” she said. “They hardly come to us. So, that was exciting. The diversity of the cast and the world of Washington Heights is so rich and interesting and beautiful. The show does a great job of bringing that to the forefront.”
Machado isn’t sure that she’s the next “scream queen,” but she said it’s “very exciting” to be joining actresses like Scream’s Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera as Latinas who are shaping their careers with a variety of projects, including horror movies and streaming series.
“They’re doing it with Scream and Jenna is so fabulous in Wednesday,” Machado said. “It’s incredible to be a part of that. I would love to see a [horror project] with an [all-Latina cast]. I think we’re moving towards that. I’d love to see some brujeria and santeria thrown in there.”
As long as there’s a horror aspect to it, Machado is sure Latine audiences will show up to support it. “Latinos love horror,” she said. “In our community, horror has always been a big deal. [But], ay, Dios mío, can we put La Llorona to rest, please?”
The Horror of Dolores Roach premieres on Amazon Prime on July 7, 2023.
