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Your new movie Abstruse
- in a few words, what is it about?
I’d
like to think of it almost as a prequel to American Psycho, seeing the
psychopath give into his primal urges and then the unraveling, hence my
original title “Into a Dark Mind”. What were your
sources of inspiration when writing Abstruse?
Kris
Reilly auditioned first for the villain in Enigma (where he ended up playing a
detective), but the audition moved me and I wanted to see more so I wrote
it with that performance in mind. Abstruse's
lead villain Justin is someone who thinks that the rules of law and
society don't apply to him - with despicable consequences of course, but
how much fun was it, how much satisfaction (if any) did it give you to
write such a character?
It’s
always intriguing to color outside the lines, and with this character there
are no lines, especially after he breaks the seal. I loved his character
arc living under his father's thumb, rebelling within the forgivable rules
of his father. Then when he finally breaks through we get to see him
slowly stand up to his dad and take control in his disillusioned mind
he’s free but also completely unraveling.
Kris Reilly |
Justin aside, Abstruse
doesn't have any clear heroes and villains - so who did you identify with
the most, and why?
I
think I am a big fan of the anti-hero because it shows no matter how
flawed we are it is never too late to do the right thing and we can always
change our life and direction. So Max, played by Tom Sizemore, I’d say. What can you tell us about your
directorial approach to your story at hand?
It
was tricky because a lot of characters had an arc and it was important to
keep them focused on where in the story we were especially since it
wasn’t shot in order. You also
appear
in a key role in front of the camera in Abstruse
- so what can you tell us about your character, what did you
draw upon to bring him to life, and did you write him with yourself in
mind from the get-go?
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Harley Wallen, Jerry Hayes |
I
actually didn’t write with me in mind, I try not to. Detective Caldwell
was an entitled, sly, and slimy guy who had compromised himself and after
a few bad choices he was stuck in the bad catch 22. I do enjoy playing
those characters for sure. I also wanted the two detectives to be very
different or they just take screen time from each other and should have
been a single character. Do talk about the rest of Abstruse's
cast, and why exactly these people?
First
off I loved seeing Dennis Haskins get an opportunity to showcase he is a good
dramatic actor and I saw that in him when we shot Enigma. Second we lucked
out with Tom Sizemore, he read the script, fell in love with the story and
character, and I’m glad he did, I think he was excellent. The bartenders
all killed their auditions so they were fairly easy picks. We tried to
figure out who’d be the right best friend and even though it was a close
decision in casting Dennis Marin I think was excellent as Daniel. In
general we have a pretty systematic audition process. A few words about
the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
This
film was pretty hectic and long days as we had a lot of location moves, but
the atmosphere was always up and I could sense people were feeling we were
doing something special.
Tom Sizemore, Kaiti Wallen |
Anything
you can tell us about audience and critical reception of Abstruse?
One
of my favorite things especially since the film is 1 hour and 57 minutes,
at our premiere we had several full auditoriums showing the film
simultaneously and in the one I was in (and I hear the same with the
others), only a couple of people left to go to the restroom because they
felt the anticipation and suspense kept them at the edge of their seat. I
felt that was a great compliment! Also it’s done absolutely incredible
at festivals and to date has won more awards than our other films and some
pretty big wins at respectable festivals around the world. Any
future projects you'd like to share?
Yes,
I’m very excited to be releasing Agramon’s Gate in February and
that’s another film that’s been doing great at festivals not to
mention it’s made a couple of lists as most anticipated horror films of
2020! Yan and Laurene both say it’s the film their fans ask the most
about at horror-cons. Also hearing from my distributor that the pre-sales
has been great with a ton of foreign interest.
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Your/your movie's
website, Facebook, whatever else?
Harley
Wallen on Facebook. Painted
Creek Productions on Facebook. Agramon’s
Gate on Facebook.
OfficialHarleyWallen
on Instagram. Painted
Creek Productions on Instagram.
HarleyTheSwede
on Twitter. Anything else you're
dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
I
think that about does it. I appreciate your time checking out Abstruse
and
doing the interview, much appreciated! Thank you! Thanks
for the interview!
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amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.de
eThaiCD.com
