Indie Horror Month Exclusive: Writer/Director Matt Orlando on His Debut Feature A Resurrection

Steve Barton   |  

Mar 22, 2013

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Today, March 22nd, up-and-coming filmmaker Matt Orlando’s debut feature, the indie thriller A Resurrection, arrived in selected theaters courtesy of Archstone Distribution.

Starring Mischa Barton, Devon Sawa, J. Michael Trautmann and Michael Clarke Duncan in his final role, A Resurrection follows mentally ill student Eli (Trautmann), who believes his recently deceased brother is returning from the grave for revenge on the students who killed him. The project was produced by Jamie Kennedy Entertainment and Levine Pictures.

Dread Central recently chatted with Orlando for Indie Horror Month to hear more about what inspired his creepy revenge tale, his experiences working on his directorial debut and much more. Check out our interview below, and look for A Resurrection in these selected theaters beginning today:

Atlanta
Regal Hollywood 24 @ N. I-85
3265 NE Expressway Access
Chamblee, GA 30341
 
Minneapolis/ St Paul
Regal Brooklyn Center 20
6420 Camden Avenue North
Brooklyn, MN  55430
 
New York
AMC Empire 25
234 West 42nd Street
NY, NY 10036
 
Pittsburgh
Loews Waterfront Theatre
300 West Waterfront Drive
West Homestead, PA 1520
 
Houston
Houston Marq*E Stadium 23 Cinemas
7620 Katy Freeway
Houston, TX  77024
 
Denver
AMC Westminster Promenade 24
10655 Westminster Boulevard
Westminster, CO 80020
 
Phoenix
AMC Westgate 20
9400 West Hanna Lane
Glendale, AZ 85305
 
Dallas
AMC Stonebriar 24
2601 Preston Road
Suite 300
Frisco, TX 75034
 
Los Angeles
AMC Burbank Town Center 8
201 East Magnolia Avenue
Burbank, CA 91501
 
Los Angeles
AMC Block 30 @ Orange
20 City Boulevard West
Orange, CA 92968
 
Seattle
Regal Meridian 16
1507 7th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
 
Detroit
AMC Star Fairlane 21
18900 Michigan Avenue
Dearborn, MI 48126
 
Miami
AMC Sunset 24
5701 Sunset Drive
Suite 300
South Miami, FL 33143
 
Chicago
AMC South Barrington 30
175 Studio Drive
South Barrington, IL 60010
 
Nashville
Carmike Thoroughbred 20
633 Frazier Drive
Franklin, TN 37067-8267

San Diego
Regal Rancho Del Rey Stadium 16
1025 Tierra Del Rey
Chula Vista, CA 91910
 
Philadelphia
AMC Neshaminy 24
660 Neshaminy Mall
Bensalem, PA 19020

Dread Central: A Resurrection felt a bit like Pumpkinhead meets I Know What You Did Last Summer– what inspired your story?

Matt Orlando: You know, I honestly don’t know where my ideas come from, but this was one that had been in my head for a while. I like gore and all that stuff in my horror movies, but I wanted to do something a little different for my first movie. But it wasn’t something based on just one incident or anything like that. I wanted to build this feeling of dread very slowly and have it boil over by the very end.

So many horror movies these days are just a guy running around and killing random people, and while I like those movies, I just wanted to go into something a little more deeper with my first film; I wanted this to feel so believable and I wanted to make sure everyone in this reacted like a normal person would. You see that all the time in horror movies- people making bad choices left and right- so I made sure to take my time and tell this story the right way.

Dread Central: You’re working with a pretty large cast and have a rather ambitious story, too, in A Resurrection; considering this was your first time at bat as a director, was managing all that daunting to take on?

Matt Orlando: For some reason it really wasn’t; we DID have a larger cast in this – large for an independent horror movie, that’s for sure – and I think it was because we had the right actors involved with this that could just come in and work a scene so confidently that it gave me some extra confidence while shooting too. For me, the biggest challenge was always that were just racing against time to get everything shot and completed so those were the moments that really pushed me.

We shot for 20 days total, but our first shoot was 16 days because that’s all we had time for. We actually had to go back a year later because we needed to wait for there to be more snow; the catch ended up being that when we came back, there still wasn’t any snow so we ended up having to work around that. But other than the snow, everything was just amazing; I can’t wait to do it again.

Dread Central: So have you thought about where a sequel might go if you guys get to do it again?

Matt Orlando: Yeah, we’ve talked about a sequel here and there but nothing really concrete just yet. I’ve written down a few ideas, but that’s all they are for now. I decided to go with the ending I did because it served the story, not because it would ensure we’d make a sequel. But I do think we could come up with something fun if we get the opportunity.

Dread Central: What are you working on now?

Matt Orlando: I’ve got two scripts that I’m working on right now. The first one is a surfing horror movie that I think could be a lot of fun. The second project I’m working on is called Abomination, and that’s being looked at by Jamie Kennedy Entertainment right now; they were so supportive of this movie so hopefully we get to make that project with them too.

Dread Central: It sounds like you want to stay working in the horror genre in the future then?

Matt Orlando: Oh definitely; I love the feeling you get from watching horror movies. It’s often exhilarating when it’s done right, and it’s the best genre to work in to be able to tell really imaginative stories that don’t necessarily have to fit into a particular mold. There’s a lot of freedom in horror and everyone loves getting scared.

Synopsis
A down to earth school psychologist tries to help a mentally ill student who actually believes his brother is coming back from the grave for revenge on the students who killed him.

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