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Since directing his first film All cheerleaders die in 2001, until It can in 2002 and segments in Masters of horror and Halloween Talesyou could say director Lucky McKee gained a cult following. His work usually explores some of the darker sides of humanity and things that most of us would never do, but the characters are relatable and that’s what makes McKee’s films appealing – it can be liberating to exorcise your demons by watching a hero film who do monstrous things, but without any unpleasant consequences.
Written by Joel Veitch in his screenwriting debut, McKee’s new film Elderstars the incomparable Stephen Lang (Avatar, don’t breathe) as the Old Man who lives in a cabin deep in the forest. When a lost tourist named Joe, played by Mark Center (Halloween Tales, Starry Eyes), knocks on the Old Man’s door asking for help, a tense conversation begins between the two men. Joe just wants directions, but first he’ll have to listen to a few stories from the Old Man and prove himself trustworthy. Stephen Lang gives an incredible performance as the Old Man, who grows more mysterious and terrifying with every story he tells Joe. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that each person may have something to hide.
Bloody Disgusting was delighted to have the opportunity to speak with Lucky McKee Elder, working with Stephen Lang and Mark Senter, his previous films and much more. Read on to find out what we talked about.
RLJE Films will release Elder in theaters, on demand and digitally October 14.
Bloody Disgusting : I’ve seen it Elder and i loved it! It’s written by Joel Veitch in his screenwriting debut, and of course you’re directing. This film looks a bit different from your previous work. What attracted you most to this script?
Lucky McKee: This is my first male-led film [laughs]. What attracted me was the character of the Old Man. I knew these types of characters growing up. I was raised by them in a way. I always felt very different from them [laughs]. But there was always a need and desire as a child to try to understand why someone thinks the way they do or acts the way they do. I just saw a lot of truth in what he wrote and I connected with him in a really personal way, which is what you have to do if you want to spend as much time as we do making these things.
BD: Stephen Lang is always great and he’s just perfect in this movie. Why did you want him for the role of The Old Man and what was it like working with him?
LM: Isn’t he glad? He had an understanding of the character that I thought was great; he had a lot of ideas that he brought to the table that I thought were great. Years ago they made a little movie about this tour that he had; he would go around and do this one-man show for veterans where he would become these different characters, different veterans from different eras. He would be one person and then he would switch and become another person and it was just this fantastic thing and it was also very theatrical. The more I researched him and realized how deeply rooted he was in the theater, I thought, “This is an actor I can do a ten-minute, continuous shot of, who will know his lines, and who knows how to draw a performance from start to finish, as great theater actors do.’
And we just got along. We talked on the phone and hit it off and he’s class A in the best possible way. It made things really fun. He’s from my parents’ generation and that was pretty cool. He just brought so much to it. The thing that I liked about him as well is that quite often you’ve seen him play a heavy, or play a tough guy, or play a supporting role, but this is a real showcase. It’s a real opportunity for him to go to a lot of different places emotionally and just use the skill set that this guy has acquired over forty years of acting. It was a real honor to do this.
BD: There are some really long shots of him in this movie that are very interesting.
LM: Yes, why interrupt if he is giving the goods [laughs]?
BD: Most of the story takes place in one location and involves an intense conversation between the Old Man and the lost tourist Joe, played by Mark Senter, who is also great. What was the shoot like in terms of location and how you wanted to tell the story?
LM: It was really cool because we had to work on a scene and we had to build the set from scratch, so that meant we really had to put a lot of meaning into it and a lot of texture and design it in a way that with the type of lenses that we wanted to use. So that was really important. Then it was on to me and my DP, but it wasn’t a scripted film, it wasn’t a shot list film. We’d show up in the morning, we knew we had a ten-minute sequence that we were going to shoot or like an eight-minute sequence, and we’d just rehearse for about an hour. We’ll be like, “What if you’re standing here?” Guys like Lang and Mark Senter have these deep roots in theater, so they really know how to work a set. So it wasn’t about me being a puppeteer telling them to stand here or say it anyway. It was like, ‘Let’s just put it on its feet and see what happens.’
Sometimes the ideas I had before worked, and sometimes they didn’t work at all because we discovered something more exciting. Then it was up to me and the DP to get the camera in the right place to capture all the cool stuff these guys were doing. Glad you enjoyed Mark’s performance too. It clearly has Stephen Lang’s name above the title, but this movie doesn’t work without what Mark does, and how he reacts to the Old Man and the mystery that comes with his character is vital to how it works. I’m really, really proud of Mark’s performance for this film. I’m just so excited. It’s so unique. No one else would play this character in the same way and that’s really exciting for me.
BD: The conversations feel authentic and natural, and this movie is really good at building tension. I didn’t trust any of the characters until the big reveal.
LM: Good! Hopefully, after these revelations you have watching the film, the film strongly invites you to watch it again. And the second time you look at it, you’ll have a completely different emotional reaction to it, which is really cool. The thing transforms after the first viewing.
BD: Mark Senter also starred in yours Halloween Tales “Ding Dong” segment I love with Pollyanna McIntosh. You’ve worked with each of them several times, and Angela Bettis several times It can and Sick girl. What do you enjoy most about working with these actors since you’ve worked with them so many times?
LM: We just have a connection, we have an emotional connection. I don’t like working with people who don’t have a fire in their belly for what they do, who don’t have that obsession like them [laughs]. The people you brought up, they all bring something completely unique to the game and that’s fascinating to me. Words on a page are one thing, and you and I can imagine things one way, but when an actor shows up with behavior and emotional baggage and is able to tap under that and create something that’s so much more than what you could imagine with the written words on the page, that’s exciting to me. That makes it exciting and these actors have the ability to do it. They elevate the material they are working on.
BD: I’m a big fan of your work, esp It can and on Masters of horror episode you named Sick girl. Many of your films including Elder, feature people who are tormented or haunted by something, whether real or imagined. Why do you enjoy telling stories about such people?
LM: Well, aren’t we all tormented or tormented in one way or another to varying degrees [laughs]? Movies have the ability to explore these things and explore those feelings that somehow boil inside of us in a heightened, dramatic context. I think that’s why horror is such a wonderful genre, because it literally gets to the point of these life-or-death emotions; making good decisions and who you are as a person. I’m also really fascinated with showing monsters and monstrous behavior, but also showing that there’s a three-dimensional being there, that there’s a reason behind it. Not everything is one hundred percent good or one hundred percent bad. There is such a battle going on inside all of us. I find this fascinating and just keep researching it [laughs].
BD: That’s exactly why I’m such a big fan of your work, because of these types of characters.
LM: Thank you! And let’s not judge these people.
BD: Oh yeah, I relate to May. I don’t kill people, but she can relate [laughs].
LM: Oh and me! [laughs] Absolutely! These impulses and urges, these frustrations and all these things are bottled up in most of us, but in a film this person can play these feelings. There’s something cathartic about it.
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