Interview with Paul Hyett

Ahead of Horror Channel’s UK TV Premiere of PERIPHERAL, director Paul Hyett talks about directorial ambitions, twisted technology, and why aliens aren’t interested in us.

How did you become attached to Peripheral?
The producer Craig Touhy and I had been friends for a while and we’d nearly done another movie together. He’d liked the claustrophobia and tension of The Seasoning House so we met up to discuss Peripheral. When he pitched it to me, very much a low budget, contained movie, in one apartment. I must say I was a little hesitant. I wanted to broaden my directing and do bigger scope. Craig persuaded me to at least read it. I did and loved the script. The story, the character of Bobbi, of this writer blocked, being forced to adjust to what is wanted of her, and having to succumb to a technology that ultimately fucks her in so many ways and being forced to write for a corporation that she hates. It all felt so very relevant.

Was the cast already in place and what’s it like directing legends such as Jenny Seagrove and Tom Conti?
No we cast from the ground up, Jenny Seagrove was the first cast, I was so happy we got her. She loved the script and the character of Merlock. She was an absolute joy, so professional, so excellent and willing to discuss everything

The film looks incredible, did you have much budget to play with?
No, it was soo low budget. But we were lucky, we had a great DOP, Peter Taylor who is Ridley Scott’s camera operator of choice. He shot it so beautifully. And in general we had a great crew, all the departments really did great work to make the budget look a lot more then it was.

It’s a very technical movie, was it a tough shoot?
No, not compared to Howl or The Seasoning House. It was nice to be able to concentrate on the drama and performances

There is a conspiracy element to the story, do you have a favourite conspiracy theory?
Yeah but to be honest, I will keep those to myself as they could cause offence. Although I do believe aliens have visited and thought we were too backward to bother with.

Do you think there will be a time when AI does take control?
I think technology will continue and AI is going to be a very valuable tool. Do I think it will ever take control as per Skynet, no. Technology will slow down. There’s only so much space on a computer chip. Even with nanotechnology there needs to be a breakthrough in how technology can be furthered without it being made in the current methodology. It would need to be something organic, like biological mechanics.

It’s very different to other movies you’ve directed, is this a deliberate choice?
Yeah I try to diversify as much as I can. I like to try to do something different each time. I can’t see the point in repeating the same thing over and over.

How does it feel that it’s having its UK TV premiere on Horror and how would you describe it to our audience?
I am so happy for Peripheral to land on the Horror Channel. It will hit a whole new audience. I would describr it as a fusion of reality and fantasy, whereas an isolated writer faces a bizarre and surrealistic predicament against incomprehensible socio-bureaucratic powers with shades of Cronenberg and Demon Seed.

All your movies have a distinct British edge to them, would you agree?
Yes I would agree with that.

You’re a multi-talented creative, you have one job you prefer above all others?
Very kind of you. I love directing more than anything. Its way above anything I’ve done, and more satisfying and soul crushing than anything I’ve ever done.

So, what are you up to at the moment?
I have a few projects in development. The Black Site, a gritty war-horror with Grimmfest Films. I’m also developing a project with Balagan Productions. a revisionist take on the afterlife and our perceptions of it, and Unnatural Selection, a Carpenteresque new England horror. All very different, all in different stages of development 

Paul Hyett, thank you very much. PERIPHERAL will be broadcast on Horror Channel on Sunday Feb 20, 11.05pm.

Interview with Paul Hyett - Director of Werewolf movie HOWL

As AVOD film site W4Free unleashes bloodthirsty Werewolf movie HOWL, director Paul Hyett reflects on the importance of story-telling, the career effects of the pandemic and what horror films have caught his eye lately.

Q: Looking back on the production of HOWL, what stands out for you in terms of the directorial experience?

It was a real learning experience with the sheer number of VFX shots. And what I can do on set to make the VFX guys workload easier, for example, getting practical plate shots. Also, working on a green screen set. I think that’s what made it stand out to me, the pure logistical way of filming on a train set build, on a green screen set with hundreds of visual effects and tying everything together so it works.

Q: HOWL was your second feature as director, following the dark and controversial THE SEASONING HOUSE. What was behind the decision to make such a distinct genre shift?

I already knew the producers Ed King and Martin Gentles from actually being up for the job of making the werewolf prosthetics and suits. At the same time the original director left, they had watched THE SEASONING HOUSE as opening film at FrightFest 2012, so they asked to think about taking over the directorial reins, which I jumped at the chance to.

Q: Would you like to make another Werewolf inspired movie?

If a good werewolf script came along I would definitely think about it. When I read a script, for me it’s all about story and characters.

Q: HOWL, like THE SEASONING HOUSE, THE CONVENT (HERETIKS) and PERIPHERAL, have all received world premieres at FrightFest. What is it about the festival that makes it so important to launch your films there?

My relationship with Frightfest goes back nearly two decades. It feels like my extended family. I think it’s the best way to introduce your film to the world. The audiences are smart as well as supportive. I think the coverage is important, its hard to get your film out there and noticed. Frightfest is a natural springboard. And the support is so well appreciated. And also you have a really fun time there!

Q: Even though you’re a master of visual effects, you’ve gone on record as saying that the most important aspect of filmmaking for you in the storytelling. Can you elaborate?

Above all the visual effects, practical effects, CGI, the most important part is the storytelling, the narrative structure, the characters. Everything else comes second. You have to be invested in the characters, you need to be immersed in the story, otherwise no matter what you do visually, you won’t care, it will just feel flat. If you care about a character which is killed, then it stimulates an emotional reaction in you. The effect itself will feel a lot more powerful with those emotions.

Q: We hear you were about to make another film when the pandemic broke. What can you tell us?

I was in Cape Cod, doing recces for a film called ‘UNNATURAL SELECTION, a kind of John Carpenter / Stephen King, New England type vibe. We were looking for locations and about to start casting. The pandemic really put us into a hiatus. But we’re working on getting it restarted.

Q: Has the continuing lockdown restrictions affected or influenced your creative process?

It’s certainly made me disciplined about working at my desk at home. In lockdown there were no real distractions, you couldn’t go anywhere, do anything, so you might as well just sit and work. Writing, concept designing, developing. Otherwise you can go mad, you need a focus, a reason to get up. For people on furlough, at home, without work to do must have been really hard. I’m lucky, anyone that can work from home is lucky.

Q: Have any horror films caught your eye this year?

I really enjoyed ARMY OF THE DEAD, it was actually what it said on the tin. Intense fun, ultra gore and zombie tigers, what more could you want?

Q: Have you ventured back into a cinema yet?

Yes once! To see the new ‘The Conjuring’ movie..

Q: Any future plans you can tell us?

I’m still trying to get UNNATURAL SELECTION up as well as developing THE BLACK SITE with Grimmfest films. Also, I have just partnered with a producer on another project, a horror set in New Orleans. Soon to be announced!

You can watch HOWL free of charge on www.w4free.com

 

Interview with Paul Hyett - Director of HERETIKS

What first attracted you to actor Gregory Blair’s script?

When Templeheart gave me the script of HERETIKS (although it was a different title at the time), the one thing that really grabbed my interest was the opportunity to do a creepy period horror, set in 17th Century England. I’d already shot a war-set film, a contemporary werewolf film and here was an opportunity to do a film set in the 17th century where young girls were put on trial for witchcraft, of which some were drowned, hanged and so much worse. It was a truly dark and fearful time in the history of England, one that I was keen to portray on screen, and adding to that a supernatural element, was hard to resist.


What did you and your SEASONING HOUSE co-writer Conal Palmer bring to the final screenplay?

Conal and I did an extensive rewrite, as I remember, at the time it had vampiric nuns. I was keen to ground it and get rid of that story element but I loved this tale of these younger girls brought to this priory, so worked more on the relationships between the younger girls and hierarchy of the older nuns. And then we brought in the mythology of the supernatural element of the film, creating the flashbacks and why the priory was haunted. We then a did a lot of work of Persephone’s journey and the background she left behind and then really worked on all the characters one by one, we really wanted to give everyone their own unique character and background. We also brought the themes of religion more strongly forward and both Conal and I especially worked on the dialogue to give it a more olden style. And after working on the slow burn build up, I felt the film needed to go full tilt in the last act, thankfully Templeheart liked the direction we were taking it.


What a coup casting Clare Higgins, the HELLRAISER icon herself, as the Reverend Mother. What was it like working with her?

It was wonderful to have Clare. I grew up with the Hellraiser films, so to have her on a film of mine was great. She was a consummate professional, and she really anchors the film. It’s hard for an actor when they’re portraying a character that you don’t want to give away their true intentions too early, and I think Clare got it pitch perfect.

And Michael Ironside is another genre icon too, it must have been fun directing him?

It was wonderful, a childhood dream. He was so lovely to everyone, really chatty, and just was so approachable to everyone on the cast and crew. It was great talking to him about Scanners, Total Recall and so many other films of my youth. He was so full of stories and anecdotes. I’d love to work with him again in the future.

Your actress muse Rosie Day turns up again, as she also does again in your next movie PERIPHERAL. Is she your lucky charm?

Haha, yes, Rosie and I love collaborating at work together and we’re great friends, so yes, we’ll keep working together.

Hannah Arterton is your lead in both HERETIKS and PERIPHERAL, so Rosie might be replaced? Say it isn’t so?

No, of course not, there are lots of reasons why you use certain people for certain roles, sometimes due to availability, schedules and also the right fit for the role. For example I saw Rosie as the perfect person to play Shelley in PERIPHERAL and she nailed it perfectly, and Hannah I saw as the character of Bobbi, and she in turn nailed that role. I look forward to working with both Hannah and Rosie in the future. They’re truly talented actresses and lovely to work with.


The Priory is a wonderfully evocative location, where is it?

We split the shoot into two places in Wales, the upper floors were shot at Margam Castle and the lower floors were shot in Tretower, a medieval court. They were beautiful locations, we just had to be very careful, bringing in specialists just to supervise a lit candle, so you can imagine the bigger FX sequences were challenging. But the locations were beautiful, the grounds around them outside, were so vast and breath taking, I feel it gives the film a more realistic feel then if you’d just built sets.


We’re seeing a lot of nuns in horror at the moment, why has it become a trend?

I don’t know why, although I’ve noticed a trend of religious horror getting more popular over the last few years, horror seems to have these trends, whether it’s post- modern social commentary, or home invasion, torture porn etc., it’s always trying to work out what is going to be the trend in a year or two? With HERETIKS we felt you couldn’t go wrong with a retro-style religious period horror featuring nuns.

What was your biggest HERETIKS challenge?

I think mostly shooting in real locations, like Margam Castle and  Tretower court,  there could be no drilling in walls to attach anything like stunt cables, you couldn’t throw blood about in case it stained the medieval stone work, we also had to build sets within these locations but couldn’t attach or drill them into the actual location, we just couldn’t risk anything, but I think the biggest challenge was the endangered bats that were a protected species. We couldn’t harass them, distress them, and certainly not harm them. We risked a large fine and a prison sentence. So whenever one flew out, we had to call cut and let it fly about and do its thing until it was happy for us to continue. I remember one scene that we needed a fireplace roaring in the background for continuity, and a bat had got itself settled in the chimney, I did seriously consider going in with a stick if no-one was watching.

Pleased to be back at Frightfest? Tell us some of your favourite memories from past appearances.

I love Frightfest, it’s been so important in my formative years in the last decade or so and I feel so wonderfully supported by Alan, Paul, Ian and Greg, from my time as a prosthetics artists, to my first movie, and their continued support to Heretiks. If I had to choose a memory, it was the phone call telling us that we’d been selected as opening film for THE SEASONING HOUSE, and then the actual screening at the large Empire screen, was the best night of my life.


HERETIKS plays at Arrow Video FrightFest on Sat 25 August, Cineworld Leicester SQ.

Tickets: http://www.frightfest.co.uk/2018Films/heretiks.html

Interview with Paul Hyett - Director of HOWL

On the eve of Horror Channel’s UK TV premiere of HOWL, director Paul Hyett talks about taking werewolves seriously and what the future holds.


Horror Channel will be broadcasting the UK TV premiere of HOWL. Are you a fan of the channel?

I’m so thrilled that Horror Channel are showing HOWL. I’m a big fan of the channel, and avidly watch it, some fantastic gems are shown. They’re a great supporter of horror and you can tell it’s a channel made for horror fans by horror fans.


The film is based on an event that happened in co-writer Mark Huckerby's life. Can you explain?

Yes, Mark was on a late night train, full of the usual stereotypes,. It was hellish, noisy, smelly, a pure journey from hell. And then the train stopped, no reason, no explanation. Everyone was just sat there, in the dark, in the countryside. And then Mark thought, what else could go wrong, ‘ping’ an idea was born. What if, on top of everything else, imagine if werewolves attacked. A fitting end to an awful journey.


Jon (GRABBERS) Wright was the original director. Did you worry about taking over someone else's project?

Yes, I was originally due to do the werewolf effects with Jon directing and that’s where I first met Ed King and Martin Gentles, the producers of HOWL. Jon left the project at exactly the same time Ed and Martin watched my first film THE SEASONING HOUSE at its premiere at FrightFest and they thought I would be a good fit for HOWL, so they got me in for a chat and offered me the film.


What changes did you make when you came on board?

First, I changed the creature straight away, Jon wanted more rat-like feral skinny creatures, I’d always wanted to do big, muscly, massive, fuck-ugly werewolves. Second, I wanted to strip out the comedy and ground it more in reality. Originally it was more of a comedy horror, lots of comedy gags and I wanted to take it away from that. I still wanted to have a dark humour to the film, but comedy horrors are hard to get right and I felt to make it a bit more serious was the right way to go.

Why did you decide to strip out all the supernatural elements usually associated to werewolf creature features? The transformations here are more to do with a sickness, a virus.

We kind of felt we wanted to give it its own mythology, which came with wanting it to be a more serious, more contemporary werewolf movie, that it was virus in the blood rather than changes with the moon, silver bullets etc. I was worried that having those mythologies with such a contemporary cast and setting may not work as well. So that was the thinking.


As you said, you pulled back on the humour. Was this because you felt the concept was inherently amusing anyway? What is your take on comedy horrors in general?

I kind of feel with comedy horrors, it’s the hardest sub type of horror to do. AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, got it perfect, the balances in dark humour and terrifying scenes, kills, transformations, everything was spot on and one of my favourite horrors of all time. But since then, so many people have attempted to get that same balance and failed. So with HOWL we felt, take the comedic elements right back and just try to do our own take, and not go down the comedy horror route and concentrate on it being a grounded contemporary werewolf movie.


Was it important someone with a strong prosthetics effects background, like yourself (well known for THE DESCENT, THE WOMAN IN BLACK etc), directed HOWL?

It was a bonus for Ed and Martin to have a director that understood prosthetics, creature suits, animatronics, when to use puppets etc. Also, I’ve worked closely with VFX in the past so I understood the restrictions and challenges in working with part practical werewolves with CGI faces and working in a full green screen environment. Most of HOWL was shot in a green screen studio (apart from the end), we had something like 350 VFX shots, and when you’re shooting a film like this, it’s quite important to understand how prosthetics and VFX work within a green screen environment and making sure you have all the elements and plates you need.

How did you convince Ed Speelers to star?

Ed liked the script and we met and discussed in detail. It was important to him that the film wasn’t a hokey B movie, cheesy werewolves and girls screaming not wearing much etc. He liked that the film was grounded more in reality, his character a broken down normal bloke, his ambition lost, not knowing where he is in life, and suddenly he’s thrown into this situation. It’s a real ordinary man in an extraordinary situation tale and that appealed to Ed.


The highly talented Rosie Day is in every single one of your movies so far, including the forthcoming HERETIKS, Can we expect to see her in future films? And has HERETIKS now completed post-production?

Rosie and I love collaborating on films and we hang out and are great friends. And she’s so versatile as an actress. I’ve been able to use her on all my movies, including PERIPHERAL, my newest film. She’s going all the way to the top, soon I’ll not be able to afford her! HERETIKS is in its last part of post-production and we’re deep in the VFX, Sound and Music, but we’re not far off.


Finally, what projects are you currently working on?

I’m full on in post on both HERETIKS and PERIPHERAL. Both films are heavy in VFX, especially PERIPHERAL, which is set in the dark world of technology. Also I’m developing a few new horrors. Hopefully, we’ll be announcing the next one soon!


Howl is broadcast on Sat 24 Feb, 10.55pm, Horror Channel.

Interview with Paul Hyett

On the eve of THE SEASONING HOUSE receiving its Network Premiere on HORROR CHANNEL, director Paul Hyett talks to us about the difficulty of casting the lead role, the virtues of listening and the proudest moment of his career (so far!)

Q: Did you know from a young age that you wanted to work in movies?

 

Yeah, when I was in my teens. I loved movies, they were such an entertaining escape for me and horror movies were my favourites - The Thing, Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th… I decided early on that as soon as I left school I wanted to work in the film industry. Because I loved sculpting, painting and art, coupled with my love for creatures and gore, I figured that special make up effects was the way to go.

 

Q: You made your name working as a special effects make-up artist, can you recall what it was like being on set for the first time?

 

Well, I went into the industry the very low budget route so it wasn’t daunting. Most of what I was working on were student films, short films and micro budget features, so everyone was learning together. It was exhilarating and so much fun learning my craft and being part of movies. I think when I got onto the more professional ones, it was a step up in responsibility and work ethic, and it was more daunting, but you grow and learn. Experience is key in this industry and I had to learn quick still being a teenager.

 

Q: What would you say was your greatest make-up effect?

 

Well, it’s hard to pin down a particular make up effect, I suppose ‘The Descent’ was a landmark as we were producing large scale manufacture of silicon appliances for the crawlers. As far aa I’m aware, no one was really doing that. It was a real step up from foam latex, and we did so much on that film, fifty applications of crawlers, mechanical heads, dead bodies, gore effects, dead animals, stunt weapons and a thousand bones in about six weeks of prep. It was an undertaking, and a major achievement in my career.

 

Q: Was becoming a director always part of your career plan?

 

Not at first. When I was a teenager, it was all about special make up effects, creatures and gore. But over the years, the thought of putting my own visions on the screen grew. I was getting so much work in prosthetics, sometimes ten films a year, running large departments, that I had no time to pursue writing and directing. But about eight years ago I decided, enough, I want to make my own movie, and so I started to really pursue it, making time to write and that’s when about four years ago, we finally came up with ‘The Seasoning House’.

 

Q: The Seasoning House is getting its Network Premiere on Horror Channel this month, how did the project come together?

 

I had known the producer Michael Riley for about fifteen years at that time, and the last few years before we made TSH we had spoken about doing a film together with me in the director’s chair. At the same time I had spoken to another writer. Helen Solomen, about a project she had about sex trafficking, about a young girl trapped in a brothel.  It was more a real life docu-drama, and I said I thought it would make a terrific horror thriller, I went away and wrote a fifty page pitch and then brought on a co-writer, Conal Palmer, and we developed it into a feature length script. I then pitched it to Templeheart films, they loved it and raised the money and we made it.

  

Q: Was it a difficult movie to cast as Rosie Day and Kevin Howarth in particular are outstanding?

 

Well I’d known Kevin for years and thought he’d be great for the role of Viktor, a manipulative, cunning swine. The role of Angel was more difficult, we saw 130 girls in open auditions, and Rosie was in the final ten, I was worried, then Rosie came in, and she blew us away, her strength, her vulnerabilities, she was fantastic from the start, she nailed it.

 

Q: How nervous were you sitting in the director’s chair for the first time?

 

Not at all, I feel more comfortable on a set than anywhere else, and I think that took away the nervousness, I had in my head what I wanted to do, and just did it, I had a great producer, and a lovely cast and crew.

 

Q: It’s a bleak and challenging film, what was the atmosphere like on set?

 

It was always in our heads that we weren’t making an exploitative film, and the girls wanted to do justice to a real life horror in the world. On set it was a fun atmosphere, we all got on so well, considering the subject matter, everyone had a fun time.

 

Q: Was it a tough shoot?

 

Not really, it was only four weeks long, and it was mostly just cold, The real challenge was doing a movie with strong performances, lots of stunts, wire work, VFX work, SFX elements, chases through woods in the cold winter, all in such a short space of time.

 

Q: How nervous were you when it premiered at FrightFest in 2012?

 

YES! VERY nervous. But the FrightFest crowd was lovely and so welcoming.  And Alan, Paul, Greg and Ian really made it special. It aas such an exhilarating experience, easily the proudest moment in my career.

 

Q: What did you learn of the craft of directing whilst making The Seasoning House?

 

Always prep as much as you can, listen to your cast and crew, bring out people’s skills, let them flourish as artists. You’re as good as your cast and crew, as long as you bring a vision, and know exactly what you want it should all fall in place. I’ve been lucky to have good producers, good cast and crews on my films.

 

Q: Would you approach it any differently if you were to make that movie now?

 

I would cut out Angel arriving at the woman in the pig cottage, I think it slows down the pacing at that point, but because she changes costume, we couldn’t change it in the edit. It’s the one mistake I regret, painting myself into that corner.

 

Q: So what can you tell us about your latest movie, Heretiks?

 

It’s the movie I was initially going to do after ‘The Seasoning House’, when Howl came along and I jumped onto that one first. ‘Heretiks’ takes place in the 17th Century, where a young woman, Persephone (played by Hannah Arterton), is saved from execution by a mysterious woman, played by Clare Higgins. She is taken to a priory to serve penance looking after the sick. However Persephone realises there is a much darker evil already there.

 

Paul Hyett, thank you very much.

 

THE SEASONING HOUSE is broadcast on Horror Channel on Sat 27 Feb, 10.45pm.

Paul will be attending FrightFest Glasgow 2016 on Sat 27 Feb to present an exclusive clip from HERITIKS