Exclusive: Mischa Barton Talks The Hoarder and More!
Staci Layne Wilson
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Freckled-faced actress Mischa Barton has been around the horror block a time or two – she came to our attention way back in 1999 in The Sixth Sense, but most folks know her from her starring roles on the boob-tube (“The O.C.,” “Dancing with the Stars”) and music videos (Enrique Iglesias, James Blunt).
The British-born beauty sat down with Dread Central to talk about her new horror movie, The Hoarder (review), and she also gave us a few previously unknown details on the upcoming The Malevolent (not to be confused with the 2016 Caroline Williams fright flick of the same name).
The Hoarder has been dismissed by some – okay, most – critics as a standard stalk-and-slab claustrophobia by-the-numbers routine, but there is something inherently creepy and spooky about the storage space setting. And with an able cast headed by Mischa – co-stars include Robert Knepper from “Prison Break” and “iZombie” and Valene Kane from “The Fall” – the movie is actually a good timewaster.
In the film Mischa plays a newlywed who is stalked in an underground storage facility by a killer after she went snooping in her hubby’s storage space looking for secrets best left kept. When describing what made The Hoarder stand out, she said, “I just thought this was a really interesting concept. Really, I love dramatic roles, and I am quite close to the cast members. I love drama, and so since this is a very dramatic role, I took it.”
Mischa admits she drew on personal experience to put in that space, if you’ll pardon the pun. “I have a storage space pretty much everywhere, on every continent. I have one in the UK, one in New York, one in L.A. I was in my unit in L.A. the other day, and yes… it’s creepy!”
Since Mischa was born in Britain, “I loved working with the English actors especially. They’re my friends. Valene Kane is a good friend, and her husband, who played my husband in the film, are both my [BFFs]. And Emily Atack, the girl who plays my best friend in The Hoarder, is great. She comes from comedy, so her timing is just great.”
When asked about the creepy creature who dogs her steps throughout the movie, Mischa confirmed it’s all the real deal. “It was all practical. It’s pretty scary. There were some post-effects, but very little. [Also], we built the sets on a stage, and all the stunts you see me doing… I’m really doing them. Running, climbing, falling – that’s all me and it’s all real. This one was quite a physical role, I’ll say. By the end of the movie I am in a full panic, soaking wet; and in the very end it’s all about me so it was quite a lot of work. The fact that everything was built to reflect reality, and in working with the stunt guys, I felt like I was really there.”
Mischa has a romantic comedy coming out next, but fear not – she’s also got a scary spooky one in the mix. “The Malevolent is more of a suspense, a psychological horror. It’s about a guy who is in a car accident, and he comes out like a schizophrenic… it’s a throwback to the 1970s type of horror movie. So that one is going to be more suspenseful; whereas, The Hoarder is about scares and monsters.”
The Hoarder stars Mischa Barton, Robert Knepper, Emily Atack, Valene Kane, Charlotte Salt, and Andrew Buckley. Matt Winn directed from a script he wrote with James Handel and Chris Denne.
Synopsis:
When Ella (Barton) discovers her Wall Street banker boyfriend is renting a secret storage unit, she suspects he’s using it to hide an affair. Enlisting the help of her best friend, Molly (Atack), she breaks into the facility only to discover something more terrifying instead. Now trapped in a darkened building with a group of neurotic strangers who start disappearing one by one, Ella soon uncovers even worse horror in the dank depths. Her life or death battle to escape eternal enslavement is about to begin.
Categorized:News
