When Electra and Elise Avellan made their big screen debut in 2007, they were praised as one of the funniest up-and-comers in the business. Whether or not that prophecy has been fulfilled, I’ll let you decide. The girls debuted as unnamed babysitters in the Grindhouse double feature from Robert Rodriguez (their uncle in law), primarily in the Planet Terror film. Together, they played two sassy, sexy, bad ass twins who somehow make it to the end of the movie – if I remember correctly.
Once the terror of Planet Terror was completed, the girls moved on to an independent horror feature titled The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond, which was filmed in 2009 but sat unreleased until 2014. Electra played “Renee” and Elise played “Erica” in lead roles revolving around a group of friends who play a Jumaji type game that possesses the players and forces them to reveal underlying truths and commit horrible acts of homicide. The film also stars Danielle Harris. Following this project, Electra and Elise reunited with Robert Rodriguez and had small parts as “Nurse Mona” and “Nurse Lisa,” respectively, in the action-thriller Machete (2010) and its sequel Machete Kills (2013).
Also in 2013, the budding actresses appeared as leads in the short film Two Scoops (2013). However, it was Electra who really took the reigns of her career and blazed her own trail. She started appearing solo back in 2009 when she played “Lizzy” in Life Blood, followed in the next year by crime drama Now Here and a cameo in the comedy Not Another Not Another Movie (2013). Electra returned to the world of horror in 2013 by appearing as the lead, “Sonya,” in the creature feature Flying Monkeys. Also in 2013 she had a small part in Stripped and was the lead in Amelia’s 25th.
Through hard work and ingenuity, Electra booked the majority of her solo roles by becoming a producer on set. Her other credits as a producer include Scouts Honor, Sushi Girl, and Counterpunch. Currently, Electra has a thriller, Hidden in the Woods, which was just released at the beginning of the month.
I’m a fan of both women, so I hope it’s not long before they book more horror roles, whether they’re on screen together or flying solo.
