Hot Picks

- Ready for My Close Up 2019

- Talk of the Dead 2016

- Tower Rats 2020

- Script of the Dead 2024

- The Bell Affair 2023

- Easter Bloody Easter 2024

- Velma 2022

- Everwinter Night 2023

- Main Character Energy 2023

- Stupid Games 2024

- Bittertooth 2023

- 4 Minutes of Terror: Night Slasher 2024

- Apart 2024

- The Abandoned 2006

- Becky 2024

- The Evil Fairy Queen 2024

- The Black Guelph 2022

- Followers 2024

- Silence of the Prey 2024

- Battle for the Western Front 2024

- Beware the Boogeyman 2024

- Subject 101 2022

- Driftwood 2023

- The Legend of Lake Hollow 2024

- Black Mass 2023

- Skinwalkers: American Werewolves 2 2023

- The Manifestation 2024

- Spirit Riser 2024

- Garden of Souls 2019

- It's a Wonderful Slice 2024

- Caleb & Sarah 2024

- The Thousand Steps 2020

- The Desiring 2021

- When a Stranger Knocks 2024

- Quint-essentially Irish 2024

- Son of Gacy 2024

- Saltville 2024

- The True Story of the Christ's Return 2024

- Whenever I'm Alone with You 2023

- Jurassic Triangle 2024

- Midnight Peepshow 2022

- Offworld: Alien Planet 2024

- The Swiss Conspiracy 1976

- Sex-Positive 2024

- Here for Blood 2022

- All Over Again 2024

- The Color Yellow 2023

- Des Töchterleins Leid 2024

- I Am a Channel 2024

- The Hermits 2023

- Murdaritaville 2024

- Inheritance 2024

- The Devil's Partner 1960

- First Impressions Can Kill 2017

- A Killer Conversation 2014

- Star Crash 1979

- Strangler of the Swamp 1946

An Interview with Trevor Juenger, Director of The Man in Room 6

by Mike Haberfelner

October 2022

Films directed by Trevor Juenger on (re)Search my Trash

 

Quick Links

Abbott & Costello

The Addams Family

Alice in Wonderland

Arsène Lupin

Batman

Bigfoot

Black Emanuelle

Bomba the Jungle Boy

Bowery Boys

Bulldog Drummond

Captain America

Charlie Chan

Cinderella

Deerslayer

Dick Tracy

Dr. Mabuse

Dr. Orloff

Doctor Who

Dracula

Edgar Wallace made in Germany

Elizabeth Bathory

Emmanuelle

Fantomas

Flash Gordon

Frankenstein

Frankie & Annette Beach Party movies

Freddy Krueger

Fu Manchu

Fuzzy

Gamera

Godzilla

Hercules

El Hombre Lobo

Incredible Hulk

Jack the Ripper

James Bond

Jekyll and Hyde

Jerry Cotton

Jungle Jim

Justine

Kekko Kamen

King Kong

Laurel and Hardy

Lemmy Caution

Lobo

Lone Wolf and Cub

Lupin III

Maciste

Marx Brothers

Miss Marple

Mr. Moto

Mister Wong

Mothra

The Munsters

Nick Carter

OSS 117

Phantom of the Opera

Philip Marlowe

Philo Vance

Quatermass

Robin Hood

The Saint

Santa Claus

El Santo

Schoolgirl Report

The Shadow

Sherlock Holmes

Spider-Man

Star Trek

Sukeban Deka

Superman

Tarzan

Three Mesquiteers

Three Musketeers

Three Stooges

Three Supermen

Winnetou

Wizard of Oz

Wolf Man

Wonder Woman

Yojimbo

Zatoichi

Zorro

Your new movie The Man in Room 6 - in a few words, what is it about?

 

It’s about a young woman who meets an elderly man in a nursing home who claims to be immortal. He tells her stories about how he was cursed to grow old but never die. 

 

There’s a lot more to it than that, but that’s the short synopsis.

 

What were your sources of inspiration when writing The Man in Room 6?

 

I think we’re always trying to inject bits of our lives into our stories. My grandfather was living in a nursing home at the time. He went into hospice care and eventually died during one of our shooting days. Carrie Juenger was working as a medical courier for nursing homes and asylums at the time, so I was privy to some wild stories from her.

 

Films are such a part of my life that I can’t help but inject them into my stories. I think the more obvious ones are horror omnibus films like Black Sabbath, Tales from the Crypt, Kwaidan, and Trilogy of Terror. I think we (myself and most of the cast) are in love with Klaus Kinski’s work, so Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht came up more than a few times when preparing a scene. A Tale of Two Sisters is a fantastic lesson on perspective that Carrie and I studied. Lots of horror influences for sure.

 

There are also some things from film history that I love: the editing in Breathless, Rashomon’s revisionist storytelling, Tarkovsky's cinematography. That’s all in there to some degree. I remember watching Little Big Man while writing and stealing some stuff from that. I think you could make a game of “spot the homage.”

 

The Man in Room 6 is rather labyrinthine in structure and seems to follow its own logic - so how easy or hard was it for you to not literally lose your plot telling your story this way?

 

It has this kind of dream/fantasy logic that takes the shackles off in the writing process. That makes what happens easy to rationalize. The more challenging thing is to wrap your mind around multiple interpretations of the story and revise around that. Is it psychological, supernatural, or some combination of both? There’s no truth here. We removed anything that would indicate clearly what we’re experiencing.

 

It was always meant to be a challenging film from the viewer’s perspective, but I didn’t realize how challenging that makes the production side. Every detail needs to be considered.

 

To what extent could you actually identify with The Man in Room 6's protagonist Carrie - or any of the other characters, really?

 

I think Carrie is an amalgamation of myself and Carrie Juenger. It’s very close to me. You’d have to ask Carrie how she feels about it though. I’d consider myself a mostly quiet, introspective type.

 

I think I can relate to all of the characters. You have to project yourself into these situations and consider how you might react. I think in some situations, I’d react much differently than others. The nastier people in the script are the same way. I think if we’re honest with ourselves, there’s a bitter, angry little person that lives inside our minds. How often we let that out depends on our life experience. We’re kidding ourselves if we can’t understand why some ugly people became that way. 

 

Do talk about The Man in Room 6's approach to horror!

 

We tried many things, but a big philosophy we tried to employ everywhere was contrast. If you do things a particular way several times, then change that up, people can’t anticipate exactly how things are going to go down even if they know what’s logically going to happen next. We try to do that with the pacing of scenes. We also try to do that with explicit images of spooky stuff. You obscure things. You keep them hidden in shadow or visible only as the aftermath of something awful, and your brain fills in the scary bits better than anything I can show you directly. If you do it the entire time though, people get used to it, so you have to give them something eventually… I think a lot of monster movies operate like this. In my experience as a viewer, the monster reveal disappoints nine times out of ten. In our case, we’re not building to a monster reveal. Thank goodness for that.

 

A few words about your overall directorial approach to your story at hand?

 

I think I’ve learned a lot from when I was a kid trying to make movies. I used to hide behind the camera because working with actors is intimidating. It’s tough to speak the same language. As a director, everyone looks to you for answers to questions. When I was less secure about what I was doing, I’d make poor decisions and feel the need to stick by them, because I’m supposed to know everything.  It’s not really that way though. This is a collaborative art form, and it’s fine to answer a question with another. It’s fine to try things and admit you are totally wrong and try something different. It’s ok to ask for help.

 

We had very few rehearsals on this picture. When we did, it was in anticipation of tough blocking situations. Instead, I trusted some performers that I was very comfortable with to bring their vision to their characters. These are very talented people, so I think it’s best to give them the freedom to do what they do best. Then, directing becomes a much more manageable task of trying to get everyone’s work to mesh.

 

What can you tell us about The Man in Room 6's key cast, and why exactly these people?

 

Most of them are really talented people that I’ve worked with before. I knew how to talk with them. I feel comfortable working with them. I usually write with certain people in mind.

 

I worked with Bill Oberst jr [Bill Oberst jr interview - click here] on Coyote in 2012. I’ve been trying to get him back for another project for years, but things never seemed to line up. He’s an inspirational person. He has this aura around him that makes everyone want to perform to the best of their abilities. He’s always chatted with me about wanting to do a film without dialogue. That kind of inspired the style of the ocean sequence. Great screen presence and great guy.

 

I wrote the whole script for Jackie Kelly [Jackie Kelly interview - click here], who I worked with on Dope, a pilot for a show that didn’t go anywhere. She had to have a meltdown in a scene for us, and we really challenged her to bring everything she had. I was so pleased with that performance. I could see that she wanted to be a character actor, but didn’t have the chance to show that range at the time. I wanted to give her something where people could see her ability.

 

David Wassilak I had worked with several times on both narrative and experimental projects. He’s an absolute professional and a stage veteran here in St. Louis. I had no idea he was capable of what he does in this film. I actually don’t think I wrote him as cruel or dark as what David brought to the table. I’m happy I trusted him with the character.

 

Victoria Mullen, Frankie Ray, Don McClendon, Shawn Chevalier, and Joe Hammerstone are all people I’m familiar with from other projects and enjoy being around.

 

Debbie Rochon [Debbie Rochon interview - click here] was a new one for me. I wanted another horror veteran to stabilize us. It’s so valuable to have those calm and confident voices on set. Debbie was so smart about building her character. We did a lot of research on actors to find the right person, and I’m very happy we settled on Debbie.

 

There are plenty more. This is an epic horror film, and I was very happy with my cast.

 

Do talk about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere!

 

I think things were tenser than in previous projects. We had some very late nights, and everyone was striving to do the best that they could possibly do. When you shoot for 3 years, the stakes feel much higher regardless of budget. We want this movie to be good. No one was dragging their feet. That doesn’t usually make things feel fun while filming. I don’t want to speak for others, but it gives me a sense of satisfaction when things come together though. I think being close with cast and crew members really helps when things get tough. We aren’t afraid to be real with one another.

 

The $64-question of course, where can The Man in Room 6 be seen?

 

Right now, you can buy physical copies on themaninroom6.com. Streaming is imminent, but we don’t know an exact date for that. We know Prime Video should drop first and Tubi eventually, but as DIY filmmakers, we don’t really get the luxury of dictating release dates to streaming platforms.

 

Anything you can tell us about audience and critical reception of The Man in Room 6?

 

I’m honestly one of the worst people to ask that question. If you tell me you hate it, I absolutely believe you, but if you say you love it, it’s difficult for me to believe you. The reality is that very few people like films with small budgets. I read about so many people hating films that I consider to be objective masterpieces. Plenty of people have told me that they like the film, because why would you approach someone to tell them that their art sucks unless you want to be rude and confrontational.

 

Like it or dislike it, what I really care about is whether or not you feel like we tried something unique. The goal is to produce a different kind of horror film. If you think it’s run-of-the-mill or nothing special (even if that’s a very bad kind of special), that’s the worst criticism I can hear.

 

Feeling lucky?
Want to
search
any of my partnershops yourself
for more, better results?
(commissions earned)

The links below
will take you
just there!!!

Find Trevor Juenger
at the amazons ...

USA  amazon.com

Great Britain (a.k.a. the United Kingdom)  amazon.co.uk

Germany (East AND West)  amazon.de

Looking for imports?
Find Trevor Juenger here ...

Thailand  eThaiCD.com
Your shop for all things Thai

Any future projects you'd like to share?

 

Plenty, but writing about them publicly is an instant jinx.

 

Your/your movie's website, social media, whatever else?

 

My website is trevorjuenger.com. You can find socials on the website.

 

Anything else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?

 

Nope. You are pretty thorough. Thanks.

 

Thanks for the interview!

 

© by Mike Haberfelner


Legal note: (re)Search my Trash cannot
and shall not be held responsible for
content of sites from a third party.




Thanks for watching !!!



 

 

In times of uncertainty of a possible zombie outbreak, a woman has to decide between two men - only one of them's one of the undead.

 

There's No Such Thing as Zombies
starring
Luana Ribeira, Rudy Barrow and Rami Hilmi
special appearances by
Debra Lamb and Lynn Lowry

 

directed by
Eddie Bammeke

written by
Michael Haberfelner

produced by
Michael Haberfelner, Luana Ribeira and Eddie Bammeke

 

now streaming at

Amazon

Amazon UK

Vimeo

 

 

 

Robots and rats,
demons and potholes,
cuddly toys and
shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

is all of that.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to
-
a collection of short stories and mini-plays
ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic
to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle, all thought up by
the twisted mind of
screenwriter and film reviewer
Michael Haberfelner.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

the new anthology by
Michael Haberfelner

 

Out now from
Amazon!!!