The Monster – Exclusive Interview with Producer Adrienne Biddle
Staci Layne Wilson
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In The Monster, from writer/director Bryan Bertino and his producing partner Adrienne Biddle, a divorced mother and her preteen daughter make an emergency late night road trip to see the girl’s father. As they drive through deserted country roads on a stormy night, they suddenly have a collision that leaves them scared but not seriously hurt. Their car won’t start again, and as they try in vain to get help they soon realize they are not alone on the desolate backroads – a terrifying evil is lurking in the surrounding woods, intent on never letting them leave.
A24 will release The Monster (review) in theaters and On Demand on November 11th. The film is available now exclusively on DirecTV, and we had a chance to chat with Biddle to give you an idea of what to expect.
Dread Central: The Monster is similar to The Strangers in that it’s about two characters isolated and pitted against pure evil – tell us what it is about Bryan that makes him so successful at this type of white-knuckle, high-tension storytelling.
Adrienne Biddle: It’s funny — I never thought about the comparison until people started mentioning it, but you’re right. We’ve always felt that there are two core components to creating tension, and by extension, fear – characters you care about and a feeling of intimacy. If you think about the times that you’ve been genuinely afraid in your life, I would hazard to guess most of them occurred either alone or with one other person. Bryan taps into his own fears when he creates, both physically and psychologically. So I think what makes him such a terrific writer is that he delves into a deep core of emotional truth for his characters, and what makes him a fantastic director is that he deeply cares about those characters and what happens to them. If you can craft people that you connect to, which involves spending a bit of time getting to know what drives them, put them in an intimate horrific setting and then set them loose, the chances are your audience becomes legitimately afraid for them.
DC: Is the monster itself all practical effects? It seems to be – if there’s CG augmentation, it’s seamless! – tell us about that process, from the decision to do it to the end result.
AB: The monster is, in fact, an entirely practical creature. A few shadows thrown in here and there, but by and large, what you see is what we shot. ADI did such a fantastic job creating a photo ready monster, based on a brilliant collaboration between Bryan and conceptual artist Paul Gerrard, that we were very lucky to not have to do more. We both wish we had more time and more bodies to help with the cumbersome realities of having a very big, very heavy creature on set, but even with all of those challenges and a small budget of $2.5mil, we never regretted having him be real. The decision to go practical vs CG wasn’t ever really on the table. Philosophically, he and I always feel practical effects create a different, more visceral reaction upon viewing, and since intimate connection is paramount for us, anything that could potentially take someone out of the moment is to be avoided whenever possible. Thus, we always went into this under the idea we would fight to have the monster be a practical creature.
DC: How would you describe The Monster for those who haven’t seen it yet?
AB: To me, The Monster is a story about a mother, Kathy, and her daughter, Lizzy, struggling to connect, and we learn throughout the film exactly why. They suddenly find themselves stranded on the side of the road, and as the night unfolds, have to find a way to survive a terrifying presence lurking in the woods, as well as overcome the challenges in their relationship.
DC: You must get offered a ton of scripts to produce. What is your selection process?
AB: We don’t get offered a ton – at least it hasn’t felt unwieldy to us yet. But I also think this is partly due to how we’ve tried to carefully brand ourselves. Our primary goal for Unbroken is to develop and make movies that stay with you – either they have something to say underneath a dark and tense surface, or they’re just legitimately frightening – or both. Bryan and I have always felt the genre is worthy of deep respect, and so it isn’t a stepping-stone for us. We love working in this space and with the creators who also love and are willing to live here. It’s all about the writing. If a script creates people we connect to and attempts to do something with them that is more than just jump scares and splatter, we at the very least discuss it. Simplicity is something we also appreciate, as it gives a storyteller the time to craft compelling characters. I also firmly believe that as a producer, a writer and/or director has the right to expect that we’ll passionately do the work – which is more time consuming and much harder than most people realize. Until the day comes that we have the resources to expand, our primary focus is on what material we feel we can be value added, as well as do we see a pathway to getting it made. Because in the end, we’re in the business of making movies, not just developing them.
DC: What’s coming up next for you, and where do you see yourself five years from now in terms of career?
AB: We’re in post on He’s Out There, a project we have at Screen Gems. Mike Scannell wrote the script, which is a simple story but VERY frightening – no small feat – and Dennis Iliadis directed it. When I was at Rogue Pictures back in the day, we made Dennis’ remake of Last House on the Left. I thought he did a spectacular job on a very difficult story, so was thrilled when he responded to our script. The Monster is in select cities and other platforms on November 11th, and we also finally have a release date from A24 for The Blackcoat’s Daughter – DirectTV on February 16th and then select cities and other platforms sometime mid/late March 2017. In addition, Bryan is working on something for Fox Searchlight, and we’re selectively looking for the next scripts to focus on as producers.
As for the future, honestly, we’re both hopeful that Unbroken Pictures will finally be more on the mainstream map. We’d love to find resources to expand, perhaps a home for our company or a financial partner, but are also leery of deviating too far from what it is that we love about this difficult but very rewarding business – taking chances on material that expands the genre, rather than mimicking the last box office success.
The Monster stars Zoe Kazan, Ella Ballentine, and Scott Speedman. It pits two ferociously strong women against one of the scariest and most shocking monsters you’ll ever see in a battle no one will forget!
Synopsis:
Acclaimed horror filmmaker Bryan Bertino (The Strangers) directs this suspenseful and scary new film, in which a divorced mother (Zoe Kazan) and her headstrong daughter must make an emergency late night road trip to see the girl’s father. As they drive through deserted country roads on a stormy night, they suddenly have a startling collision that leaves them shaken but not seriously hurt. Their car, however, is dead, and as they try in vain to get help, they come to realize they are not alone on these desolate backroads – a terrifying evil is lurking in the surrounding woods, intent on never letting them leave…
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