“Polarizing is the greatest achievement in any art form, even in cinema” exclaims Nicolas Winding Refn, the always controversial Danish filmmaker who brought us such niche gems as Drive and Only God Forgives. His latest foray into the cinematic world is a film called The Neon Demon, a highly divisive project about a girl named Jesse who comes to Los Angeles in search of a modeling career, only to be devoured by her jealous peers as she struggles to claw her way to the top. Some call it brilliant, some call it hollow, but one thing’s for sure – everyone who has seen this visually stunning little movie has felt some sort of strong reaction, whether it be love or hate.

“Artistically you can’t ask for anything higher in a way because it’s very difficult to polarize, you know?” Some directors may be offended by the backlash of one of their features, but Refn doesn’t shy away from the fans and critics who have so harshly judged his journey into the mindset of a narcissistic sixteen-year-old girl. He believes it only proves that he’s doing what he set out to do as a filmmaker – touch people. “You have to penetrate a lot of brains to either be excited or hateful, so of course, I always believe that creativity is about a reaction” Refn says happily. “You know, it’s the reactionary medium”.

Speaking of eliciting a reaction, Refn’s next film seems like it’s going to cause just as much outrage as his highly stylized model movie. The only difference is; this time he’ll be offending viewers from the producers’ position as opposed to the director’s chair.

It’s been fairly well known for some time now that Refn will be producing the upcoming remake of Maniac Cop, the sleazy exploitative thriller originally helmed by William Lustig and starring Bruce Campbell from 1988, but whereas the original sought mainly to excite and shock audiences, the remake will serve as more of a commentary on modern day society and the ever debatable actions of law enforcement in today’s corrupt world. Reimagined by director John Hyams (Universal Soldier: Regeneration and Universal Solider: Day of Reckoning), it will be fascinating to see what his politically-charged version of the cult classic will look like once it hits the big screen.

“My goodness, the election in the U.S.” sighs Refn with an air of exhausted distaste. “I think that one of the point of views that was very important to both John and I, and also Ed Brubaker who wrote the script, was to really find a zeitgeist, you know mirroring the times that we’re living in in the U.S. and what’s happening all around us in the world in a way. So I think that my Maniac Cop should be much more reflective of what’s around us. Again, you know, it’s John Hyams movie, he’s the one who’s directing it, but I also know that he’s very much involved in politics, and so to incorporate that into an action film, or a horror film, thriller, whatever, the mix of that genre is just going to make it more exciting, I feel. You know it’s what’s happening in law enforcement, you know, it’s very terrifying for both sides, and I think there’s a great movie in that”.

Maniac Cop may have gained a reputation as Refn’s most notorious upcoming producing project, but it’s not the only title on his already overworked slate. He’s also producing the remake of the beloved Witchfinder General, also known as The Conqueror Worm, a 1968 splatterfest originally starring Vincent Price and directed by Michael Reeves. Much in the same way that Maniac Cop will be updated with the same sense of shock but a wholly new modern day twist, Witchfinder General will seek to capitalize on the already present paranoia embedded within the original film.

“Well I think with the three films that I own, I kind of, they came to me in strange ways, I never seek them out but they kind of came to me as opportunities” explains Refn carefully. “I felt that each film had a very interesting premises that could be reinterpreted, like Maniac Cop. You know Witchfinder General, which is a very in a way, what we’re experiencing today in our society, the paranoia just to have a conversation, and I think that was the original movie that I think Massimo was very good at catching, the counter culture vehicle, so it’s finding that new version of that, and a gory horror film about religion, and it’s certainly a good time to do that (laughs) with the way the power plays in the United States, it seemed like something very important to touch upon”.

It seems only right that Refn would be behind the scenes on an upcoming film about witches when his most recent endeavor, The Neon Demon, focuses on the dark arts as well – at least according to him. In the film, both the moon and the eye act as recurring motifs throughout the feature. When asked about the symbolism behind their linked presence, Refn explained how his rutilant spectres are derived from Pagan roots.

“The moon is a very important symbol when it comes to anything ritualistic, whether it’s the blood or the cycle or menstrual blood, the moon is very much defined by that, that deity, there is an alien force around us, and kind of supernatural ability. And of course, the eye is also round, and when Jesse tells her boyfriend about how she would always talk to the moon, asking if it saw her, of course the eye is round and it sees, and it’s very much embedded in witchcraft, so the whole film in many ways can be seen as a ritual”.

It’s a fascinating way of looking at things, this unholy perception of the cutthroat world of modeling in Los Angeles. Refn then goes even further to connect the dots of his analysis.

“For example, in the coven there are three women, which makes up the triangle in each corner. Also, the one that sees [Jesse] first is the Ruby character, Jena Malone, and her first words in the film are ‘Am I staring?’ And you see that they see her as something that is an ingredient to their witchcraft, and that the two other models are kind of the lower rank of witches, where you know, Jena Malone is the queen witch, and they all have to go through a process of devouring Jesse, and each one has a different reaction to it”.

From there, considering the notion that the three main girls, Ruby, Gigi, and Sarah, make up the three members of the coven, who then is Jesse in this scenario? According to Refn, she is actually the ‘Neon Demon’, in all her gold-coated glory.

“Jesse is in a way both the innocence and the beauty and the purity that they so desire but at the same time she’s also the force that they need to complete the ritual, so it’s almost like parallel worlds that collide. Because you see, Jesse is herself an entity that has through her own evolution of a ritual of beauty, becomes the ultimate narcissist claiming that she’s dangerous and that her mother always said that she was dangerous. She’s virginity, she’s youth, she’s beauty, she’s all the things that slowly or rapidly disappear as we grow older, and at the same time, she’s also very manipulative, almost like she’s playing everyone against each other. She insults Gigi by asking if she had plastic but when Gigi reveals it, she asks if that’s a good thing. She denounces Jena Malone’s love, she pushes it away even though in a way she’s also very flirtatious with her, so there’s a part of Jesse that’s a deer in headlights, and there’s a part of her that is a demon”.

The Neon Demon hits Blu-ray and DVD everywhere on September 27th, 2016.