Shocker (also known as Wes Craven's Shocker) is a 1989 American slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven, and starring Michael Murphy, Peter Berg, Cami Cooper, and Mitch Pileggi. The film was released by Universal Pictures on October 27, 1989, and grossed $16.6 million.
After being sent to the electric chair, a serial killer uses electricity to come back from the dead and carry out his vengeance on the football player who turned him in to the police.
On the eve of the World premiere of LAST SURVIVORS at FrightFest Halloween, Stephen Moyer talks his role and actively challenging the stereotypical view of women in horror.
In director Drew Mylrea’s LAST SURVIVORS, Stephen Moyer plays Troy, who has been living off the grid with his son Jake (Drew Van Acker) for over twenty years. Sensing his son’s growing curiosity about the outside world, he warns him of the dangers should he ever leave their woodland utopia. Any trespassers are shown no mercy, but when Jake happens across a beautiful woman Henrietta (Alicia Silverstone), the utopia Troy has built is set to unravel.
Reflecting on his character, Moyer says, “I'm ageing into those roles where I'm playing the father of twenty-five year olds!. It's like my days are changing in terms of how I see myself and how I'm seen. So that's the kind of stuff that comes to me.” No stranger to genre, the actor admits, “I love this film because it's a psychological thriller as opposed to a straight horror. I was touched by the relationship between my character and his son, and the writing was excellent and really spare, and it’s beautifully set in this remote area.” He adds, “It’s quite a deep thinking film as well as hopefully fun and interesting.”
In spite of his passion for the project, the outbreak of Covid meant for a time that the film might never happen. “A year a half before we even shot it, Drew and I were talking about who my character was. Covid happened and it looked like the film wasn't going to happen, but then they found a window. We went off to Montana in the middle of nowhere, and shot it in the snow.”
The films drama revolves around the arrival of the disruptive stranger (Henrietta, played by Alicia Silverstone, a familiar antagonist in cinema. Speaking about the appeal of these characters, Moyer suggests, “often it's something other to us. They’re someone who has a different sense of being of exactness, or self-possession that we don't ourselves have. When somebody feels like they're different, ‘the other’, we're compelled to watch them. In some way we're all hoping that we could be like that, and have that sense of self-belief. It’s always tantalising.”
This speaks to the idea that cinema allows the audience to express their less sociable side. It’s the part of us that wants to not have to conform to social expectations and please other people in order to belong. “They exist in their own world without the same moral compass, so it definitely sets them apart.” Moyer continues, “There's definitely a primal, elemental idea of what the female represents in this story. It's early man stuff in terms of primal origin, desire and Adam and Eve. There’s also a whole other underlying story about her personal journey, which one doesn't necessarily perceive if you’re not watching closely in her moments.”
In his opinion what’s so great about these types of story is the relationship between the characters and the audience, specifically what each are privy to. “The audience get to see things that the other characters in their moments don't get to see. The tantalising mirror is if what the audience are seeing is different to what the other characters are perceiving.”
He adds, “If you look at how something like PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN flipped the idea of what we find morally agreeable, there's this fantastic role for a woman who is all things and more. It’s happening as we speak, and the closer we get to that 50/50 divide of crew and cast, writers and directors, the way that stories are told will change. It's inevitable and it's happening already.”
LAST SURVIVORS plays at Arrow Video FrightFest Halloween on Sat 30th October, 1.10pm, Cineworld Leicester SQ. Cast and crew, including Moyer, will be attending.
Tickets: https://www.frightfest.co.uk/Halloween21/LastSurvivors.html
Bruiser is a 2000 French horror-thriller film written and directed by George A. Romero and starring Jason Flemyng, Peter Stormare and Leslie Hope.
You can also buy to keep from Amazon at https://amzn.to/3iT2hMM
The young executive of a publicity agency Henry Creedlow is a man that has repressed morbid thoughts and is walked over by most of his acquaintances: his wife is cheating on him with his boss and stealing his investments with help from his best friend; his housemaid is frequently stealing from his house and insulting him in Spanish; even his annoying poodle does not respect him. While in his daily morning routine listening to a talk show on the radio, he hears a man committing suicide live because he had been felt miserable and disrespected for a long time, and Henry feels impressed with the tragic story. The next morning, he wakes up to find his face covered by a white mask, changing his personality and letting him seek revenge against those who have humiliated him.
AMULET will receive its UK premiere at FrightFest’s Halloween event. Excited or what?
So excited! It’s a great honour to have our UK premiere at such a brilliantly subversive festival. We are very grateful!
You’re most well known as an actress but have you always wanted to write and direct films?
I’ve been writing since my teens but it wasn’t until my late 20’s that I realized I wanted to direct as well and I made my short film SCRUBBER. Now what I’d love is to write, direct and act. Never all three together though!
What was the writing process like? Were there any major inspirations and motivations that drove you?
I was very influenced by a book I read called THE BUTCHERS TRAIL about the man hunt for Slobodan Milosevic. The book talks a lot about the rights and wrongs of punishing war crimes, the worry being that if you want peace then that has to come at the cost of justice for victims. Of course I see both sides but there was part of me that longed for a kind of greater justice that could punish all those that had used war as an opportunity to be their worst selves.
Why did you choose the horror genre?
Of course horror has always been the space where dreams and subconscious are most comfortably incorporated into the film. This film is about dreams and deep seated longings. It was the obvious space for this story to sit.
It’s a very powerful film and not afraid to journey into some contentiously dark places. Did you feel the horror genre gave you the freedom to do that?
When you make drama your experience of the action can always happen at a remove. I wanted the viewers to be complicit in liking this man and share his fear and dread. Horror allows you to force your audience into sharing the visceral emotions of the story.
The themes of war, sexual violence and ancient evil are very dominant but at the heart of the narrative it appears to be a story of gender revenge, in which an evil man must pay for his crimes against women. Would you go along with that?
Pretty much! I feel that on some level the Christian ideas of forgiveness are too often used to protect men and to prop up a patriarchy. I think that was all swirling around in there!
The casting is terrific. Tell us about the process.
The casting was an amazingly simple process! Alec was immediately mentioned to me as a possible. The list contained a lot of brilliant actors from all across the UK and Europe but I just knew that he was so sympathetic and gentle it would be impossible for the audience not to invest in his journey. At the same time he’s an incredibly smart and nice man. And a great actor!
Carla was someone whose work I was very familiar with. I’ve always loved her acting. I didn’t know if she’d respond to doing horror but we had a meeting and had just a great connection and she understood and supported the films rage so brilliantly. It was amazing to work with her.
Imelda I know as I’ve worked with her as an actor. I didn’t think for a million years she’d say yes! It was a great day to know that we had her be part of the film. She is one of my favourite actors of all time.
You’ve been labelled: “An audacious new horror auteur on the scene”. How does that make you feel?
Great!
Have you plans to continue to work as a director? If so, how will you balance this with your acting career?
Absolutely. I think a lot of the scripts I’ve written may take time to get made. Some of them are pretty out there! So I’m so lucky to be able to combine that long slog with another career that I also love.
Finally, what’s next for you?
Directing-wise I have several projects in development. A 17th century period romp with a dark twist, a small scale science fiction and another horror.
Acting wise I’m playing Mary Tudor in Becoming Elizabeth, a new series for Starz which will be out in April. And I’m in Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s new film Earwig that is playing at LFF.
AMULET plays at Arrow Video FrightFest Halloween on Sat 30th October, 6.30pm, Cineworld Leicester SQ. Romola will be attending
Tickets: https://www.frightfest.co.uk/Halloween21/AMULET.html
