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Your new movie The Deep
Ones - in a few words, what is it about?
Lovecraft
meets Rosemary's Baby by way of Roger Corman [Roger
Corman bio - click here].
A married couple rents a seaside Airbnb only to be surrounded by peculiar
neighbors and occurrences. They soon discover to be in the grips
of a mysterious cult and their ancient sea god.
The
Deep Ones is based on the writings of horror legend H.P. Lovecraft
- to put it bluntly, why Lovecraft, and what does he mean to you both
professionally and personally? Shadow
over Innsmouth, Dagon and The Call of Cthulhu inspired me the most.
And I must say that re-reading his writings as an adult was a joy
beyond imagination. To put the last question
onto its head, what are the challenges to bring Lovecraft to the screen,
especially without adapting any one story of him in particular?
I
was both excited and terrified to tackle his works, but pulling from
numerous
stories took some of the fear out of it as I didn't have to
be
faithful to one particular story. As if he were looking down upon
us,
it was the smoothest production from start to finish, and by far. Other
sources of inspiration when writing The
Deep Ones?
Society
and Braindead, as well as Kubrick's The
Shining, Horror
Express,
Rosemary's Baby, Halloween III, Dark
Shadows, Possession,
Humanoids from the
Deep, Salem's Lot and Prince of
Darkness. As well
as
the beautiful locations which I had scouted before fleshing out the
script.
Once I saw Gina LaPiana's beach house, Lovecraft sprang to
mind
and the above-mentioned films swirled around that. The
Deep Ones features some quite wonderful creature effects - want to
talk about those for a bit, and how were they achieved? And how much
creative input did you have in their creation?
Jim Ojala and I went
back
and forth on a few concepts for Dagon that fit within our budget.
Starting
with sketches by Lovecraft, we threw in elements of C.H.U.D.,
Creature
from the Black Lagoon and Humanoids from the
Deep. What can
you tell us about The Deep
Ones' approach to horror?
It
was all about weaving in a sense of dread throughout which can be
tricky
seeing 70% film takes place in a sunny seaside community.
Injecting
the dark humor, bizarre characters and weirdness was a way
to
keep an uneasy feel, so that when the tentacles and monsters appear
they
have more of a punch. A few words about your
directorial approach to your story at hand?
I
take it as it comes. Every aspect from script to screen, I let my
gut
instincts guide, and then embrace any happy accidents that befall
me.
Like if an actor drops out last minute or an effect doesn't work,
most
directors pull out their hair and scream. I smile and figure it
was
meant to be and relish figuring out how to make it work.
Do talk
about The Deep Ones'
key cast, and why exactly these people?
It
all started with Robert Miano introducing me to Gina La Piana for another
project,
and when that didn't work out, this one fatefully slithered up.
Once
we had her and the locations, Robert found the first batch of
investors,
Michael Schefano and Richard Pate, followed by Gerry Karr
and
Jerry Irons. Then producers Zebadiah DeVane and Jeff Olan came in
with
the rest of the budget. Gina recommended Johann Urb and Jackie
Debatin
as well as most of the party guests. A good example of happy
accidents
was Karlie Dean the fire dancer, she showed up and I
re-worked
the script around her dance on the spot.
I
first worked with Silvia Spross on Someone's Knocking at the Door,
and
she introduced me to Robert Miano. The three of us have had an
amazing
collaboration on Parasites, and then continued with Robert
Rhine
on Exorcism at 60,000 Feet, The
Deep Ones and now Night Caller.
You
find talented cast/crew and you just want to keep that magic going
from
film to film.
Where was The
Deep Ones filmed, actually, and what was it like filming there?
Solimar
Beach in Ventura County, California. We shot in January 2020,
which
was great because most of the neighbors were gone on holiday
giving
it a vacant feel. And the people we did come across were very
friendly
and accommodating. We had a blast. What
can you tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
Our
first day of shooting was on the boat where Johann Urb deepthroats
an emerging tentacle from Silvia's crotch. Everyone involved
was
so professional about it that it set the tone and performances of
the
whole shoot. When you have actors that embrace their characters
and
situations no matter how difficult, embarrassing or demeaning it
lays
a groundwork for all involved.
The
$64-question of course, where can The
Deep Ones be seen?
123
Go Films is doing a theatrical run across the county, playing the
Midwest
starting on April 30th at the following locations:
Mann
Plymouth 15—Plymouth, MN
Mann
Champlin 14—Champlin, MN
CEC
Hudson 12—Hudson, WI
Mann
Lakes 12—Baxter, MN
Andover
10—Andover, MN
Bemidji
10—Bemidji, MN
Cannon
Valley 10—Dundas, MN
Midway
Cinema 9—Alexandria, M
N
Mann
Cinema 8—Grand Rapids, MN
Mann
Cinema 8—Hibbing, MN
Cinema
8—St. Croix Falls, WI
Cinema
8—Brookings, SD
Cinema
8—Red Wing, MN
And
if your readers would like it booked at a venue near them, please
contact
info@123gofilms.com with theater name/location and they'll try
and
book it. June 15th we hit DVD and streaming in USA. Anything you can tell us
about audience and critical reception of The
Deep Ones?
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The
movie has been described as “Lovecraft and Ira Levin, by way of
Corman
and Charles Band.” Any future projects you'd like to
share?
Just
wrapped
production on Night Caller with Steve Railsback, Susan Priver,
Bai
Ling, Robert Miano, Kelli Maroney, Lew Temple, Robert Rhine and
Silvia
Spross. And if all goes well with The
Deep Ones, I hope to
shoot
the sequel by the end of the year. Your/your movie's website, social media, whatever
else?
https://thedeepones.crappyworldfilms.com/
https://twitter.com/SKATD
https://m.facebook.com/chad.ferrin
https://www.instagram.com/chad.ferrin/
Anything else you're dying to mention and I have
merely forgotten to ask?
After
checking out The
Deep Ones, be sure and rate it -
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11548850/
Thanks for the interview!
No, thank YOU!
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