Exclusive: Writer-Director Ben Cresciman Talks Sun Choke
Staci Layne Wilson
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Although Sun Choke (review) is writer-director Ben Cresciman’s second feature, it’s his first to make a big splash in the horror community. The film is about a recovering mental patient (Sarah Hagan) who becomes obsessed with a young woman (Sara Malakul Lane) to whom she feels an inexplicable connection.
Though forced to endure a bizarre health regimen by her caretaker (Barbara Crampton), the mentally ill woman breaks free to pursue the object of her desire, and, of course, the results are deadly.
We chatted recently with Cresciman to learn more about the film.
Dread Central: Perhaps the real stars of Sun Choke are yourself as the writer-director and your DP, composer, and editor… but the women onscreen are so compelling. How’d your cast all come together?
Ben Cresciman: We did a really extensive casting and audition process. We saw close to a thousand actresses for the three roles and Sarah Hagan and Sarah Malakul both came through the process, and we had them back several times and each time it was getting clearer and clearer that they both have to be in our show. And so we were able to narrow hundreds and hundreds down to Sarah and Sarah. With Barbara, the script was circulating and she got hold of it and read it and really got it, and so once we had a chance to talk about it and once we got in touch and she was genuinely considering it, there was really no other choice for us. Barbara is a legend in the genre and an incredible actress, and so in the end we had this incredible trio of women who just gave so much of themselves and their talent. It was a really wonderful experience working with all of them.
DC: You’re not known as “the horror guy” like so many of the directors we spotlight here; what made you decide to use this genre to tell your story of mental illness and its effects?
BC: Well, I mean, horror is a big part of that. It’s a big part of my childhood and a big part of my current life in terms of what I watch and in terms of what I make. With Barbara, you know, she’s been in movies that were sort of foundational at the time I was still young when, like, say, Re-Animator came out. It was one of those movies that you’re going to watch on an all-night movie marathon with your friends at least once during your early adolescent years. And you know, other films like From Beyond, but more recently it was You’re Next. Barbara had taken some years off from acting and got back into it with You’re Next [and] we were looking into casting Sun Choke and so it was a chance to see where she’s at now. So it was really exciting to get to work with her and to get to work with somebody who’s such a legend.
DC: Where did the artiness of Sun Choke come in? Did you start off saying “I’m going to make an art film,” or…?
BC: With respect to where the artiness entered the picture, yes, it was always from the beginning; that was the movie I wanted to make. I was excited to tell people of the idea, making a film that was as disturbing as it was beautiful, and there’s this kind of lushness with cinematography. After that, we find things in the moment and that was kind of exciting, those things that kind of happened organically which are in the film, some of which are not, but we were going to stay as close as possible to the subjective experience of what was going on and that was kind of a surreal approach in visual style. As far as how I connected with the DP [Mathew Rudenberg], he’s worked with my producer on lots of project from the past. I’ve seen a bit of his work, and when we sat down and talked about it, he really dug into the script and understood what I was trying to do both narratively and visually. I had a shortlist that I developed going into those meetings but ultimately we sat down and we kind of broke the film up.
DC: Another audacious thing you did was setting a dark horror film in the daylight. Was that a challenge, or was it more liberating?
BC: I’m from Southern California, Los Angeles… you know, the sunny place. So much of horror is dedicated on what’s just beyond the shadows, and so for me in developing this idea, it was a really exciting notion to bring horror out into the sunshine. Can fear and terror and horror function in the same way in that kind of environment? Also I think it can be easy to forget that horror is an emotional state and so much of the context is based on jump scares and your heart suddenly leaping out of your chest. But horror is an emotional state too, and building that ongoing, always-evolving sense of dread was a really key aspect to have something together. Sun Choke is not by any means a standard I guess in quotes “horror film,” but it’s been really wonderfully embraced by the horror community on the festival circuit, and I think that the most exciting things I’ve heard has all been about that very idea that no, it’s not a standard horror film. It doesn’t scare you in the way that standard horror films do, but it’s no less scary and no less horrific. I have my own relationship to horror films, but seeing the depth of knowledge in the fans, I think is a really [amazing thing they] embrace Sun Choke in spite of all its weirdness and all of the potential barriers that somebody might have going into it.
Look for the film on VOD NOW!
Written and directed by Ben Cresciman (Negative Space), Sun Choke stars iconic horror film actress Barbara Crampton (You’re Next, Re-Animator, Lords of Salem), Sarah Hagan (“Freaks and Geeks,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”), and Sara Malakul Lane (17 & Life: Jailbait, Kickboxer: Vengeance) along with Evan Jones, Joe Nieves, and Jim Boeven. The film features a haunting score by noted musician/producer Boom Bip (aka Bryan Hollon) and is produced by Georg Kallert, Rob Schroeder, and Peter J. Nieves of Lodger Films with Wandie Kabule, Leigh Jones, and Ian Keiser.
Synopsis:
Janie (Sarah Hagan) is just trying to get well. As Janie recovers from a recent violent psychotic break, she’s subjected each day to a bizarre holistic health and wellness regimen designed, and enforced, by her lifelong nanny and caretaker, Irma (Barbara Crampton). Janie begins to veer off the road to recovery when she develops an obsession with a young woman, Savannah (Sarah Malakul Lane), to whom Janie feels an inexplicable yet profound connection. The obsession turns increasingly invasive and wedges all three women into an ever-tightening and terrifying struggle for control. Will Janie pull herself back from the precipice of insanity? Or will she go over head-first, taking everyone down with her?
Categorized:News
