Your new movie Helpless
- in a few words, what is it about?
The film starts out with a small family traveling at night. There is
car trouble and eventually while they are broke down, they are attacked by
something. This is the first episode. From then on, the film turns into
this creepy horror as the locals try to figure out what happened. You have released
the first segment of
Helpless
as a standalone short only a few months ago [review/interview]
- was it always supposed to be part of the feature, and if yes, was the
feature script already in place when you made your short? It
was intended to be a feature. That being said, the final script was still
being tweaked until the shooting started. I had collaborated with James
Lukenbill and Adam Meirick quite a bit and we all had some very
interesting concepts. Ultimately, I wanted to do the big twist at the end. Your
sources of inspiration when writing Helpless? The
goal was to try to make a horror film with no real gore. Honestly, I
wanted to see if I could scare people like Hitchcock used to.
You
of course have to talk about the "haunted house" of your movie
for a bit, how did you find it, and what were the advantages and
challenges of filming there? Shawn Mcaninch was not only in
the film as the deputy but he is really know for his reputation as a great
location scout. He worked with some realtors in the midwest and found this
old pig farm. It was a place where no one ever wanted to be alone. Weird
things were happening all the time. It had a very eerie feel. Of all the characters in
the haunted house-sequence - the suicidal catatonic, the Sheriff, the
deputy, the psychic, the writer, the cameraman - who do you identify with
the most/the least, and why? What I think about is fun
about all of these characters is that each one of them has a strange
reason for being there. They all are motivated in unique ways and only
after the shit hits the fan do we really start to understand how bad this
really is. I can probably identify with everyone here for one reason or
another.
Do talk about your key cast
for a bit, and why exactly these people?
This is a true
ensemble cast. Ben Rollins is a seasoned actor. Annette Duffy [Annette
Duffy interview - click here] is so good
she makes actors around here better. Zack Williams never got out of
character. He is amazing. Shawn Mcaninch is a guy that will do anything
you ask without question. He is a very versatile actor. And Catherine
Arabella is stellar. She is such a joy to work with. She is prepared and
very focused. Lonnie Appleby and Becky Scholtec are amazing in this. And
Jim Lukenbill is scary as hell. The
$64-question of course, when and where will Helpless
be released onto the general public?
It will be released in May 2014 as part of a Grindhouse style
double feature. Its co-feature is the film I just finished called Revenge
- A Love Story.
Any future projects
beyond Helpless
you'd like to share?
Well with Revenge
- A Love Story and Helpless, I have
been working for six months straight. I am going to take a little time and
see what story really excites me. These two films are horror and thriller.
I'm not sure what genre I want to tackle next. I know that I tell my family
every year that I will take a break but the truth is, I love what I do and
miss it when there is nothing in front of me... Who knows... I'll probably
be filming something in a month.
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The links below will take you just there!!!
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Your/your movie's website,
Facebook, whatever else?
https://www.facebook.com/Revengealovestory
https://www.facebook.com/HelplessAThorMorenoFilm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0mnDXMiFoY
Anything else you are dying to
mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Well first let
me thank you for what you do, Michael. I read your articles all the
time. I would tell people to make sure they like the Facebook pages of
these films so that they know when new stuff happens. Thanks for
the interview!
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