Exclusive Interview with NO SUCH THING AS MONSTERS Director Stuart Stanton
Josh Millican
|
Director Stuart Stanton would like to introduce you to “the family”.
In the tradition of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes, No Such Thing As Monsters premiered On Demand and DVD back on October 27th via Uncork’d Entertainment.
Synopsis:
A young couple, Mary, and David, escape to the woods for a weekend away of rest and relaxation. Mary does not know it, but this is the weekend in which David plans to propose. Everything changes however when they encounter a psychopathic family and they forced to fight back to survive.
A top-notch Australian cast including Angel Giuffria, Matthew Clarke, Michaela Celeste, Georgia Crisfield-Smith, Rebecca Fortuna, Jacob Fyfe, Rohana Hayes, and David Macrae star in this devilishly delicious horror treat from “Downunder”.
Dread Central was lucky enough to score a sit-down with Stanton. Give our conversation a read below.
Dread Central: How’s Australia, sir? Managed to survive lockdown?
Stuart Stanton: Australia is great thanks, and yeah, apart from work shutting down, lockdown wasn’t too bad. My partner and I finally got the chance to catch up on a couple of films and TV shows that were on our want-to-watch list, so it was great to have that inspiration and downtime.
DC: Has the pandemic affected your career?
SS: My day job is producing corporate videos, so when the pandemic hit it meant we couldn’t shoot most things which was extremely challenging. I had to pivot as best I could into more editing work and remote production. That said, it’s now coming to somewhat of an end and the restrictions are lifting which means we can get out there filming once again.
DC: I take it No Such Thing as Monsters was released in Australia well before the pandemic? What kind of release did you have?
SS: It actually hasn’t been officially released here yet. We had a soft launch at Monster Fest, which allowed us to test the waters and refine the final cut of the film. We were hoping to tour more with it but then the pandemic hit which brought things to a bit of a halt. Right now we are in the process of getting classified, so will be releasing it very shortly.
DC: And where did you start in terms of finding a North American distributor?
SS: A filmmaker friend of ours, John Fallon, kindly made the connection with Uncork’d. They watched the film and were kind enough to take us on board. The rest is history. Truth be known we were very lucky we didn’t struggle too much finding distribution which is fantastic.
DC: And is the U.S only the second territory to see the film?
SS: The US and Canada are the first territories.
DC: How do you think American audiences will take to the film?
SS: I honestly have no idea. I am hoping the US audience has an interest in us crazy folk Down Under and dig what we created!
DC: What were some of your influences here?
SS: Definitely movies like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hills Have Eyes, Buried etc. But also indie filmmakers like Robert Rodriguez who paved the way for DYI directors and show just what can be done with little money, a great team and a lot of passion.
DC: And would you compare the film to anything else?
SS: I would say it’s like Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets Misery set in the outback countryside of Australia.
DC: Australia is becoming renowned for its horror. Do you think audiences now expect certain things from an Aussie horror flick?
SS: I think audiences, especially international audiences expect that when it comes to Australia everything is out to kill you. There’s a scary aura to us in that sense. Spiders, sharks, snakes, jellyfish, deserts, serial killers, the hole in the ozone layer… it’s kind of funny to us. Though it is entirely true.
But to answer your question more directly I think they expect a certain eerie atmosphere to Australia when it comes to horror. The outback where anything can go wrong, you know?
DC: What are some of your favorite local, Aussie movies?
SS: Some of my favorite Aussie films include Kenny, Wolf Creek, The Castle, Storm Warning and Chopper. Just to name a few.
DC: I have to ask, a lot of independent filmmakers start out with a horror film because they believe they’re an easier sell. Is that the case here? And have you found it to be an easy sell?
SS: That was definitely part of it. I think when it comes to horror there is a dedicated audience that is so passionate for the genre which is amazing. And it has so many flavors. We see this audience dedication in some other genres as well such as fantasy and sci-fi, though for obvious reasons horror is far cheaper to produce. Additionally I think horror also lends itself extremely well to being cinematic in the sense you lean more on visual storytelling than some other genres. Easy sell… I dunno, US and Canada was straight forward as was the UK. But besides these we are still looking for distributors in other territories.
DC: How hard is it to craft a horror film that’s not only frightening but original is this day and age?
SS: Oh geez, I don’t know. I think originality is a hard task these days; it seems like everything has been done before, but what we are seeing is many different riffs of old ideas which is great. New techniques and ways to tell the stories. And most importantly fresh characters.
DC: Are you doing any writing during the pandemic? Any plans for another movie yet?
SS: Always writing. I am currently working on an epic comedy horror (think I need a break from the dark stuff for a bit.) It’s Shaun of The Dead meets Mad Max meets Assault of Precinct 13 if Troma made it. If I can make that happen it would be a pretty wild and unique ride.
Have you seen No Such Thing as Monsters? What did you think of our exclusive interview with Stuart Stanton? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! You can also carry on the convo with me personally on Twitter @josh_millican.
Categorized:Interviews News
