Sadie Katz, the co-writer of the new sexual thriller “Scorned,” knows that even though the lead character of the film (also named Sadie) might be a bit psychopathic, she’s also the type of woman that every woman wishes they could be when it comes a cheating, lying man. Katz spoke to ShockYa about the genesis of the film, how awkward it was to share a name with her character and what she thinks fans will like about the film. “Scorned” is now out on Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand across select cable providers and for digital download on iTunes, VUDU and Xbox.

Congratulations on the movie.

Thanks!

You worked with Mark Jones writing the movie; what was it like coming up with this film?

Sadie Katz: That’s a good question…It was a roller coaster because we’d both had some crazy break-ups in the past. It was a very passionate topic for the both of us. Part of me was on the side our lead character, who’s also named Sadie, that she was a hero of sorts. Like any woman who gets cheated on, they have a lot of passion…involved with it. Mark and I had a big debate over what makes her truly crazy or not…It became a bit of men versus women and that was kind of fun.

Speaking of Sadie, what was it like having a character with your same name?

Sadie Katz: Not a great idea! I don’t recommend it [laughs.] it sounded really great on paper, and we kind of gave her that name when we first started writing. Then no other name really fit. But to hear the other characters–the actors–say…”Sadie, you’re f*cking crazy b*tch,” it made me a lot more uncomfortable than I realized.

That also leads into my other question about the character. You mentioned being in bad relationships as part of the genesis for this film. Were there any other experiences that helped you get into the mindset of Sadie and other characters?

Sadie Katz: It’s funny–Mark and I have been friends for years…we had fun writing this script together in trumping each other and being naughty and…it’s funny…There were a lot of small winks and nods we did for the audience and for each other. You write what you know, and this character [Sadie] is really crazy, and we had fun giving each other these one-liners that were probably fueled little bit by glasses of wine and just being outrageous.

One question I asked Mark was that films like “Misery” and “Fatal Attraction” have become fan favorites solely from the female characters themselves. What do you think makes these types of characters so popular?

Sadie Katz: I just read this thing…that [something like] less than 10 percent of all films are made with a female protagonist or antagonist. It’s something crazy–I can’t remember. But there’s something really crazy about a woman. You make a woman mad–it’s such a heady thing. A man, he fights with his fists. A woman–when you let go of a crazy woman, there’s a lot of diabolical planning. A woman with bad PMS is a very scary thing, because she’s smart, she’s passionate. “Fatal Attraction”–we first started watching these movies when we first started doing “Scorned,” and we were really thrilled with the idea of this woman just not stopping or how crazy she can get. I think that people in general have that fear. Everyone knows that one crazy woman that kind of scared them to the core. That kind of was the ongoing thing–Mark and I would get into horrible fights and tease each other, and frequently, I’d be much more impassioned about something. I think that’s where that scary tipping point of how a woman loses control much differently than a man.

“Misery” was a lot of our inspiration and we even did a little nod to it. [Like Kathy Bates’ character in “Misery”], Sadie really believes that she’s helping the situation, you know? She’s punishing them, but she knows that they deserve it and it’s going to be good. In the end, I think AnnaLynne [McCord] did a really good job of making that come off the page. We wanted a girl that, somewhere in her head, she still thinks she’s going to be with Kevin [Billy Zane]…Women…get really focused on maybe they can make it better and that’s where you get that obsessive quality…Women mostly want to be liked and loved.

What do you think people will like about “Scorned”?

Sadie Katz: I think women will love it because most women can relate to that type of crazy feeling of being betrayed. It’s really funny and kind of scary and wicked…I grew up with movies like “Poison Ivy” and Glenn Close’s character from “Fatal Attraction”…I think [the character Sadie] a joy to watch; there’s a part of every woman that wishes they could maybe be like Sadie.