Your upcoming movie
Apparition of Evil - in a few words, what is
it about?
Apparition of Evil is about a researcher called Emilie Price who is
working towards her most controversial article yet; the study of extreme
fear. She has got in touch with one of her sources, a rogue police worker
named Alton Miller, in order to acquire a collection of unsolved
paranormal mysteries, which he “borrows” from the records archive.
Basic question, why an anthology movie, what
do you find so interesting about this concept? Well,
Apparition of Evil
didn’t start out as an anthology; it was initially the
Haunted House of Karl Hendry segments, 100% found-footage. But the story
was done and it wasn’t a full feature and we didn’t want to shoehorn
in additional scenes merely to pad the runtime out, so we came up with the
idea of a bookend segment with a reporter watching the clip, and the
anthology idea just grew from there to feature two or three other stories
also. What can
you tell us about the directors of the other segments of Evil
Apparition, Dion Cavallaro and Chad Hylton, how did you first hook up,
and what was your collaboration like? I got in contact with
Dion Cavallaro via YouTube to take part and we found Chad Hylton through
reading up one of his more recent projects on IMDb, a musical he had
produced with some of his family members. I then looked into what other
work the Hyltons had done and contacted Chad to contribute to Apparition of Evil. They were all very keen to be part of our film and we are
extremely glad to have them on board, their two segments really help the
flow of the story and development.
In a way, all of
the segments of Apparition of Evil deal with paranormal investigations
- so your personal take on the subject, and other sources of inspiration?
I’ve
always enjoyed the realms of the paranormal and I enjoy watching movies
about haunted houses or demonic possessions too, so I guess films such as Poltergeist,
The Ring, The Séance Hour etc all inspired the creation of
Apparition of Evil. Do
talk about the look and feel of your movie for a bit, and how would you
describe your approach to horror? Well the style of
Apparition of Evil
changes within each segment, from night vision to grainy
camera-phone footage to High Definition scenic shots. Throughout most of
the videos Miss Price is watching you will notice intentional degrading of
the footage and multi-layers of static and jumps and electrical
screeching, I also like using various sound beds and effects to add to the
scenes, so there is a distinctive grungy look to some parts. Do talk about your
cast for a bit, and why exactly these people?

Nathan Head |
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Kate Marie Davies |
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Keiron Hollett |
Well some of
the cast were friends and colleagues of actor Nathan Head [Nathan
Head interview - click here] - Keiron Hollett,
Melissa Hollett [Melissa
Hollett interview - click here], Paul Sutton [Paul
Sutton interview - click here], Dayna Shuffle [Dayna
Shuffle interview - click here] - he recommended them for
roles in the film. They were all great to work with and very keen to offer
input for various scenes. Most of the dialogue was adlibbed, to help give
it a more natural flow, resulting in some very in-depth character
backgrounds which again help the flow of the plot (or plots, as there are
a few stories). We were also very fortunate to get a cameo from screen
legend Suzi Lorraine [Suzi
Lorraine interview - click here], who is a friend of Nathan Head’s from the horror
scene, she plays the local studies archivist in Karl Henry’s library and
he goes to her to find out history on a missing little girl, who he
believes is haunting his house. What can
you tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? The
shoot has been going on for so long, due to pick-ups and additional
sequences being written in last minute, that it’s hard to compare it
from one particular shooting day. I’ve been working mostly with my
co-creator Keiron Hollett, who also shot most of the second unit, so
he’s been the main constant throughout Apparition of Evil’s production
process. The
$64-question of course: When and where will the film be released onto the
general public? Hopefully Apparition of Evil will be available
on DVD and on-demand later in 2014, we’re aiming at a summer release but
that’s completely down to our distributor and I’m sure we will keep
everyone updated as the release approaches. You've already started production on
your next feature, Night Fall - so you obviously have to talk about
that one for a bit! Yes, Night Fall. I swore I’d never
make another and there is Night Fall already. Ha ha, oh well. Well
Night
Fall is a scifi movie AND a zombie movie, it’s a mixture of government
conspiracy and gore. Night Fall is set shortly after an object crashes to
Earth, poisoning the rainwater and turning everyone into frenzied zombies.
We’ve only shot three scenes so far and this one is a bit more
adventurous in regard to filming locations, so it could take a few months
for production on principal photography to start. But it’s looking
promising, we already have three cast members attached, who also worked
with us on Apparition of Evil, and we’re in talks with a certain Hollywood
A-lister in regards to a cameo. So watch this space. You've recently also
executive-produced Blood Curse - a few words about that one?

Melissa Hollett in
Blood Curse |
Blood
Curse is Keiron Hollett’s baby really, I’ve just been helping with
organisation and story notes. It stars Melissa Hollett [Melissa
Hollett interview - click here], Keiron Hollett,
Nathan Head [Nathan
Head interview - click here], Lee Martin (of Lee Martin’s The Midnight Hour fame) and
scream queen Monique Dupree. Blood Curse is a very atmospheric movie about
a husband and wife who receive a mysterious gift in the post from a
distant relative, soon the wife starts to act strangely and nothing is as
it seems. There are some very shocking scenes in Blood Curse too, you
really won’t expect them coming so I won’t ruin them by giving them
away here. Filming of Blood Curse is only about two thirds complete and
we’re looking to finish all scenes by the end of Summer 2014 and
hopefully it should be released shortly after then. Any
other future projects of yours you'd like to share? Just
Night Fall, Apparition of Evil and Blood Curse really, I have no plans for a
project after I complete Night Fall but you never know. What
got you into filmmaking to begin with, and did you receive any formal
education on the subject?
My background is set and prop design, creature effects etc. So I never
really thought I’d get into producing and writing. Apparition of Evil
started as a creative “pet project” with Nathan Head that unexpectedly
grew into a bigger project. I have enjoyed the creative process of making
a feature film and I’m looking forward to getting stuck into Night
Fall.
What can you tell us about
your filmwork prior to Apparition of Evil? Before
Apparition of Evil
I’d only ever produced short films, I created a Hellraiser
fanfilm in 2005 and a series of three alien invasion short films between
2003 and 2006.
How would
you describe yourself as a director? I pretty much prefer
the actor’s input during a scene and try to get their take on the
dialogue, in most situations I think it’s best to improvise the lines
and just give the actors notes on the direction of the conversation and
certain key points they need to include. Working this way the resulting
scene is much more natural and a stronger performance, acting wise. Filmmakers who
inspire you? I really enjoy following independent and cult
films so I can’t really say any mainstream filmmakers who have inspired
me, but people such as Scarlet Fry [Scarlet
Fry a.k.a. Walter Ruether interview - click here], The
Aquinas [Aquinas interview - click
here], Mike O’Mahoney, Rusty
Apper, Philip Gardiner [Philip
Gardiner interview - click here], Andreas Schnaas, Keiron Hollett, Andrew Jones and
Jason Impey [Jason Impey
interview - click here] are up there with my inspirational sources. Your favourite movies?
I
have a few, and my list is always changing, but a few personal
favourites are Wishmaster 1 - 4, The Crawling
Eye/The Trollenberg
Terror,
The Craft and Knowing. ...
and of course, films you really deplore?
Any chick flick
with a predictable plot and a repeated clone character and storyline.
Don’t get me wrong, I sometimes enjoy chick flicks, but you gotta admit
they get very predictable. Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
https://www.facebook.com/breloffkel
for the latest updates on Apparition of Evil and Night Fall. And if anyone
wishes to contact me regarding Night Fall then please feel free to email
breloffkel@gmail.com as I’m always open to input and collaboration. Anything else
you are dying to mention and I have just forgotten to ask? Nothing
I can think of, just keep your eyes open for Blood Curse and
Apparition of Evil. Thanks
for the interview! You’re most welcome.
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