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You've recently directed the segment
Hack-in-the-Box
for the anthology 10/31 Part
3 - so in a few words, what's it about? Hack-in-the-Box is about a group of ladies on Halloween night that take it
upon themselves to try and stop the evil inside a cursed, antique
Jack-in-the-box.
What
were your sources of inspiration when writing Hack-in-the-Box?
I was definitely inspired by Charles Band and
Full Moon, with a little bit
of Sam Raimi thrown in there for good measure. Do
talk about your movie's approach to horror! My approach was more straightforward and trying to dive right into an
action situation. Like the audience is walking into the 3rd act of an
already established horror scenario. The ladies know the box is evil and
what lurks inside must be destroyed at any cost. A few words
about your overall directorial approach to your story at hand?
I wanted to keep it mostly in the kitchen area where we were filming and
try to ramp up the tension when they perform the ritual to summon the
‘Jack’ by using the box. Then get chaotic when the ritual works. What
can you tell us about Hack-in-the-Box's
cast, and why exactly these people? This group of actors are all ones I have worked with before and loved
their performances in other productions. Sable Griedel, Marissa
Sabatucci, Jordan Beltz, and Bridget Murphy. They always give great
performances and, even more important, handle the gory action well. Do talk about the
shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? We shot this in 2 days and everybody had a fun time with the shoot. It
got a little exhausting on the 2nd night (we had to get tricky because we
were down one actress on the second night) but we all ate chili and it was
amazing. Seeing the puppet in action was super fun and made the
experience more exciting for everyone. So how come Hack-in-the-Box
landed in 10/31 Part 3,
and did you make it with the anthology already in mind or was it initially
intended as a standalone short? So originally I had a different short in mind, and then I reconsidered
what I wanted to submit as a script. I sent it to Rocky Gray and he loved
it, so we went with that segment instead. You've also contributed
bo the first two 10/31
movies - so what can you tell us about your segments in them, and how did
you become associated with the series in the first place?
Rocky told me about the series originally, and he was going to make all of
them. I asked if I could submit a story and he said ‘yes’. He liked the
script and I ended up directing
Trespassers for the original movie.
When he was doing a second one, he wanted to bring in new directors, so I
asked if I could make a fake trailer and he agreed, so that’s how
Treaters came to be.
Trespassers is about a first date on Halloween gone wrong when the couple decided to drive out and investigate a local murder house that is haunted by the appearance of a scarecrow.
Treaters is a faux trailer about a group of Halloween party people who encounter a frantic woman on the road and when they decide to help her… they become treats themselves. Any
future projects you'd like to share? So Sable Griedel and I have our project group called
Silver Springs Films, and we have the horror anthology movie
Cryptids coming out in November, starring Joe Bob Briggs. We are putting this out in association with Justin Seaman, creator of
The Barn movies.
We are currently shooting the feature based off of the Treaters faux trailer and are developing another anthology that takes place at a drive-in. What got you into
filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any formal training on
the subject?
I was obsessed with horror and movies as a kid and made our own with my dad’s camcorder. Then I went to the
Art Institute of Pittsburgh, and that’s pretty much where I got started down the path of filmmaking. Once I met Justin, The Barn really got things moving along and I haven’t stopped since.
What can you tell us about your filmwork
prior to 10/31 Part 3?
I did a lot of cinematography for The Barn movies, the other 10/31 movies, and wrote, directed, and shot an action thriller with my friend Chad Bruns called Force To Fear. How
would you describe yourself as a director? I am throughly influenced by 80s horror and action/martial arts movies. I’m a huge fan of atmospheric horror and pretty much anything that deals with Halloween.
Filmmakers
who inspire you? So many - John Carpenter, John Woo, Christopher Smith, Jackie Chan, Stuart Gordon… just to name a few. Your favourite movies?
The Evil Dead,
Robocop,
The Watchmen,
Bloodsport, Spookies, Night of the Demons,
Captain America: Civil War. ...
and of course, films you really deplore? I don’t like to talk down on movies because they are hard to make, but I would say big budget bore fests that do the same stuff over and over again and low budget movies that don’t take the time to light their scenes or record good audio.
Your/your
movie's website, social media, whatever else?
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You can find me on Facebook and Instagram under my name: Zane Hershberger, and also check out Silver Springs Films at the same places. We need to get a website up and running here soon. Anything
else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Indie filmmakers - make more Halloween movies or movies where dumb kids go to a haunted house and die because those are my favorites. Anything like:
Hell Night, Dead Dudes In The House,
The Unnamable, Night of the Demons,
Cemetery of Terror. Make it and I’ll be a fan! Thanks
for the interview! Thank you for wanting to interview me!
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