‘Until Dawn’ Cast and Crew Talk The Multi-Layered Terrors Of Their New Video Game Adaptation
Video game adaptations are always a challenge because how do you take a multi-hour, interactive experience and distill it into a two-hour film meant to be passively watched rather than actively engaged with through the power of choice? For director David F. Sandberg (Lights Out) and writers Gary Dauberman and Blair Butler, their challenge was particularly difficult when adapting the hit horror game Until Dawn, which already plays out like an interactive movie. So, how do you capture the essence of the game while crafting something that doesn’t just feel like a beat-for-beat remake?
You get weird with it and play with subgenres, time loops, and the harrowing reality of dying over and over again through a variety of horrific means!
In the film:
One year after her sister Melanie mysteriously disappeared, Clover and her friends head into the remote valley where she vanished in search of answers. Exploring an abandoned visitor center, they find themselves stalked by a masked killer and horrifically murdered one by one…only to wake up and find themselves back at the beginning of the same evening. Trapped in the valley, they’re forced to relive the nightmare again and again—only each time the killer threat is different, each more terrifying than the last. Hope dwindling, the group soon realizes they have a limited number of deaths left, and the only way to escape is to survive until dawn.
With a stellar core cast made up of rising stars Ella Rubin, Michael Cimino, Ji-young Yoo, Odessa A’Zion, and Belmont Cameli and an ambitious script, Until Dawn becomes a fascinating take on Sony’s hit video game while crafting a nightmarish Groundhog Day-meets-The Cabin In The Woods.
Approaching the Until Dawn Adaptation
With every night revealing a new monster, Sandberg was able to play in a subgenre sandbox that includes serial killers, witches, possessions, and more. But it wasn’t just monsters in the script. Until Dawn also plays with different filming techniques, including found footage (much to this in-world camera freak’s excitement). I, of course, had to ask about incorporating those techniques into the film, which are used through a series of videos the group finds on Abe’s (Belmont Cameli) cell phone. And for Sandberg, it was an exciting challenge.
“That was something that was really fun to do, actually,” he explained. “We’ve never really done found footage stuff before. I’m not going to say it was easy, but you can hide cuts in quick pans and do things like that. It gives you a lot of freedom.”
For Dauberman, Until Dawn let him finally include a rather shocking moment that he’d never been able to successfully incorporate into a script before. This was something Sandberg mentioned in a previous interview when asked about a moment in the trailer where Yoo looks like she’s pregnant. That sequence is but a taste of an especially harrowing sequence of Dauberman’s twisted dreams. When asked about that moment, Dauberman shared that he can’t wait to “sit in an audience and watch people experience that.” He added, “That’s one of my favorite things: going to screenings.”
A Physically Exhausting Shoot
While it’s fun to play with subgenres, it also means you’re killing your actors over and over again in a variety of disgusting and physically exhausting ways. It was an endurance challenge to be able to run, scream, and die over and over again for the duration of the shoot.
“The greatest physical challenge was just the endurance of working every day, six-day weeks, 18-hour days and wanting to make sure that I was able to continue feeling strong and able to run and scream and be dragged and be hit and killed,” Rubin said. “I was very physically exhausted by the end of the shoot. So it was quite challenging to maintain my health.”
Then, on top of that endurance, come the practical effects layered on top of the physical exertion. Cimino explained, “I think the element of using practical effects will obviously make things a little bit more difficult. But I do think that because of that, it resonates on screen, and gives this realistic feel.”
For Yoo, a trained dancer, the hardest part was training her voice to handle screaming for hours on end. “The prep [for Until Dawn] was less doing the stunts and more building my voice to be able to handle that much screaming,” she explained. “I trained in a couple of different voice techniques to make sure that I could do 12, 15 hours of screaming back to back every day without totally losing my ability to form sounds.”
In our interview, A’zion laughs and says, “I didn’t realize that was an option. I wish I did that.” Cameli adds, “I knew it existed, but I was like, ‘I’m just going to push my voice box to the limit and then deal with the repercussions.’”
An Emotional Rollercoaster
But for Rubin, the challenge wasn’t just physical. There was a massive emotional challenge to portraying Clover, a woman in the throes of grief with a background of mental health struggles. And for Rubin, it was crucial to do Clover justice.
“The greatest emotional challenge was trying to accurately depict grief within the confines of the film,” she said. “I really wanted to make sure that this really important aspect of Clover’s story and the film were accurately done. And I found it challenging because Clover is a woman of few words, I wanted to make sure that it came across, regardless.”
Saving Grace: Friendship and Chemistry On Set
At the end of the day, whether dragged through mud or slaughtered with a pickaxe, the cast formed an incredible bond, which shines on-screen. For Rubin, this is what got her through the long days (and nights).
“Luckily, my friends and co-stars were massive supports,” she said.
Cimino added, “I think the best thing that brought me through to the end was just my cast. They’re amazing and so talented and really inspiring. I’m really glad that we instantly clicked, which is very rare.”
“Ditto!” Rubin excitedly said. “They’re some of my best friends now.”
That chemistry is one of the best parts of the film, grounding the supernatural rollercoaster in friendships that felt real and complicated. With an ambitious script and a bevy of young talent, Until Dawn charges into the world of video game adaptations with its chin held high, ready to surprise and entertain with its twisted tale.
Until Dawn is out now in theaters.
Categorized: Interviews
