Ahead of it's World Premiere tomorrow at this year's Pigeon Shrine FrightFest we spoke to Writer/Director Warren Dudley about his 1950s inspired atmospheric horror film 'Fright' starring Gwyneth Evans in her debut feature film and Jill Priest. Warren talks about the inspiration behind the film and what it's like to be premiering it at such a revered film festival like FrightFest.
FC: Congratulations on the upcoming World Premiere screening of 'Fright'. How does it feel to be showcasing the film at FrightFest? Have you experienced the festival before?
WD: It's a huge deal for our film. We were aiming for the FrightFest deadline all through post production but, of course, that took longer than we expected... so I ended up submitting a 'work in progress' version, really not expecting to get anywhere. But they loved it! Amazing, I have not been before but can't wait to get involved - everything I have read about the festival is great - and as we know, us horror types are the nicest people in film!
FC: Fright is clearly influenced by the likes of horror classics like 'The Haunting' and 'The Innocents'. We can chat more about them in a bit if you’d like but where did the actual idea for the story come from?
WD: I had the idea of an agoraphobic person suffering a bereavement a few years ago and worked up a story. But of course you keep coming up against 'well, she'd just call someone' problem. I didn't want to go with the old 'oh no, I have no signal' trope so the idea was shelved... then I saw 'The Innocents' again. It was shot near me and I was really inspired by it and it got me thinking about the agoraphobia story again. So I started afresh, and here we are.
FC: I was getting some Alfred Hitchcock vibes too, particularly 'Psycho' and 'Rebecca' (Mrs Danvers anyone) Did you grow up watching Hitchcock films?
WD: Of course, attempting what we were, the shadow of Hitchcock (pun intended!!) always loomed large. 'Psycho' particularly. Keen eyed viewers will spot some shots in 'Fright' that are inspired by the great man. If I have got even close to anything he did I will consider it a huge achievement for my tiny cast, crew and budget.
FC: Even though it’s a small cast and one location (I’m obsessed with big dilapidated houses) I’d imagine that it was a real challenge to maintain the atmosphere and aesthetic that you were aiming for?
WD: Oddly, not really. The house did almost all the work for me. It looks on screen that we must have spent tens of thousands on set design when, infact, we spent almost nothing. The house was pretty much as we found it on the first recce. It felt like it had been frozen in time. It was an amazing find.
FC: I believe this was Gwyneth Evans first feature film? She has to carry the second half of the film herself. What direction or words of advice did you give her to help her portray the loneliness of Emily?
WD: It sounds like I'm making this up but I had seen about 150 tapes for the part of Emily, and had basically cast it in my mind. Then the very last tape I got sent was from Gwyneth. When you are the writer and director you have a very strong feel of who a character is - having spent months thinking about them. Gwyneth was it. As for her performance, as a director I try to let actors do their thing with as little interruption as possible - I think they can relax then, knowing I am not going to be commenting on everything they do. I did give Gwyneth one piece of advice during one scene which was to 'not be quite so posh'!! Apart from that I just let her and Jill just do what they do so brilliantly.
FC: Jill Priest plays the other main character who comes across as quite stern and who sadly doesn’t make it to the end of the film. Let’s talk about the corpse dummy. How long did it take to make or any funny stories about that?
WD: Jill is amazing. Such an arch performance. Again once I saw her tape (hers was very early in the process) she was cast. No one else got close. The prop dummy was an interesting one. I wanted Rebecca, Harrison and Izzy, the prop designers, to come up with something that looked like a real 1950's prop - rather than a super realistic modern piece. They nailed it I think. Again, 'Psycho' was an influence here. For reference, she is currently in a large laundry bag in my garage!
FC: I mentioned above that I love old houses in horror films. Can you tell us more about the location and the shooting process? It really felt like the house was another character in the film.
WD: We found the house via Sussex Film Office who were amazing throughout. The owner Antonia couldn't have been more helpful from the first recce, through the shoot and on to the pick ups. We actually gave her daughter a job on set. As I mentioned before, the house did so much of the work for me. I am not sure we could have found anywhere more ideal. It did get a bit creepy when we were going round turning all the lights off at night. We shot at the house for just 10 days - quite quick for a period feature.
FC: One of my favourite elements of the film is the lighting and shadows which really come into play when Emily is left on her own. I love the scene where she is stuttering up the stairs. It’s very Nosferatu-like. Did it take a long time to achieve those shadowy scenes?
WD: So we had a standard set of film lights for the shoot but the thing that surprised me most was the use of torches. My Lighting Director Josu started attaching normal household torches to stands on day one and I did wonder what was going on. Then you look at the monitor and it all makes sense. Some of the shots when she is reading by candle light are lit by one torch - it really shows what you can do if you're limited by your budget but have an amazing crew and location.
FC: Was the script always written with that definitive ending or did you play around with other ideas that might have explored Emily’s mental health that would maybe tease some ambiguity?
WD: Without wishing to be too spoilery, I really like the ending. I think you are left wondering what the hell is in store for Emily now - given what she has been through. Whilst writing it I did throw around some other ideas but I'm a big fan of open-ish endings
FC: Fright is initially set up like a classic “haunted house” horror film. What other horror sub-genres would you like to explore for future projects?
WD: I really love horror and the people involved in it. Genuinely the nicest bunch of people in the industry - although I may hold some of that love back until I see some reviews! I have an idea for the next thing - a bit of a homage to that community. Let's see...
FC: Many thanks Warren and we wish you all the best for the screening at FrightFest and whatever lies beyond that.
'Fright' receives its World Premiere at FrightFest '24 on August 26th
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