Your upcoming movie Witch Hunt - in a few words, what's it
going to be about?
Darkness. Mental turmoil. Physical pain. The rejection of
others or one's self, resulting in chaos. If you close your eyes and think
of the greatest psychological nightmare; that's Witch Hunt. Witch Hunt
tackles religious
extremism, satanic cults and the like. Your personal thoughts about these
subjects, and to what extent are they mirrored in your movie?
I don't consider myself a religious man, although I have nothing against
religion. I think being spiritual is a good thing; however, in some
extreme forms it can lead and has led to some of humanity's darkest
actions: genocide, holy wars, and events such as the Inquisition. Within
the film, you will see a Satanic cult, perhaps the most blatant form of
evil. But you will also see desires of the flesh between several prominent
characters. The town's Sheriff, played by Tony Wright, is a homosexual character
that hates himself, blames God for his own lack of acceptance,
and dishes out some serious punishment on others as a result. The fear
of God's judgement plays a big part in the film.
(Other)
sources of inspiration when dreaming up Witch Hunt?
I just simply wanted to create a film you couldn't walk away
from feeling good. Offended or digging the dark subject matter, you
just can't walk away taking nothing from the film. People will walk out
on it. I think there's a 15 minute stretch in it where I even said
"holy shit". But that's the world I wanted to create.
Do
talk about your movie's approach to horror for a bit? I'm
not always into traditional slashers and I hate horror-comedies. Humor in
exploitation flicks can be done right, but too many indie director's copy
Troma and fail. Witch Hunt
is a much more serious, attempt at a
"non-B-movie". The horror is very psychological. But there's
also a couple of insane gory deaths, so have no fear! Fans of traditional
traditional horror, I hope, will love it. What
can you tell us about your overall directorial approach to your story at
hand?
Well, a couple of things. I wanted the film to seem kind of real
but also surreal. Like it's in its own little world. Kind of like a
comic book. The concept worked well in Gilgamesh, my previous film, so I
attempted this again. We had most of the wardrobe created for the
film as part of the Jenny French Collection - yes, Witch Hunt
has its own
fashion brand. I don't even know if that's been done for a low budget
film, and it makes a huge difference. The witches have their own look,
as well as the 'holy rollers'. This really helped to create a weird and
almost beautiful feel, amongst the death and destruction. All throughout
history, all the top psychos had their own fashion - the kings and
queens - the church during the middle ages - military dictatorships -
it all added to their ridiculous power. The film's DP, Nick Norrman,
also put a great spin on creating an interesting and compelling feel for
the film.
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You appear in front of the camera in Witch Hunt
as well - so what can you tell us about your character, and what
did you draw upon to bring him to life?
I may retire from acting in my own films after
this one. I think this character is so brutal there's nowhere to go.
He's a Bosnian witch hunter, that has an eye for his own mentally and physically scarred sister. Playing such a barbarian was
great - it's hard to want to play anything else though, when your
only objections are primal. I guess we all have hidden primal desires.
Just glad I had an outlet for them in the form of this film.
What can you
tell us about the rest of your cast, and why exactly these people?
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Yes. As mentioned, Tony Wright plays the town's lawman, Sheriff Tormada.
He does a great job with the character's casual evil, deep psychological
issues, and basically being a crazed killer with a badge. A truly scary performance.
Graham King, plays a priest questioning his own faith, Father Costello.
Costello had to come off as 'perfect' but was also breaking down and
loosing it, so he also needed to be a solid actor- and Graham is that.
Lilith Astaroth plays Morrigan, the leader of the witches - a very angry
cult leader that manages all these mindless witches in the middle of the
woods somewhere. Lilith does a great job being commanding and believable
in leading around these poor clueless souls, using them as pawns. And
Carver Riot was cast as my half-retarded sister, which no one else could
have played on the planet. Our dynamic is really weird
and creepy with a lot of subtle acting here and there, so I needed
someone I knew well in that role who can come off as sociopathic
Bosnian, drug addicted, witch hunter; only Carver could have played
that.
Do
talk about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
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Long days. People worked hard. It was either 90 outside or 30 degrees.
Some times in the same day, thanks to New England weather. Definitely
a Witch Hunt
curse. The movie has a weird way of getting itself done,
but there was a lot of strange sightings and events on set.
The
$64-question of course, when and where will the film be released onto the
general public? Hopefully a trailer in March and a release
in June, early summer. I'd like to see it streamed somewhere. Your/your movie's website, Facebook,
whatever else?
https://www.facebook.com/Boston-Film-Family-LLC-195491153798914/
https://www.facebook.com/witchhunthorror/
Anything else you're dying to mention and
I have merely forgotten to ask? Thank you very much, you
rock! Thanks for the
interview!
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