Horror movies &stuff Interview: "The Haunting At The Beacon" Director Michael Stokes!
We recently got a chance to talk with Michael Stokes, director of the upcoming supernatural horror film "The Haunting At The Beacon". The film will screen in Texas later this month, and stars familiar genre faces such as Teri Polo and Michael Ironside, among others. In the movie, Bryn and Paul Shaw are trying to get their lives back on track after the loss of their four year old son, so they move to the charming old Beacon Apartments. Bryn however begins seeing a ghostly little boy skulking around the building. Now...with the help of an eccentric young professor and a tough old beat cop, Bryn tries to uncover the details of the boy's death. She hopes that freeing the child will allow him to carry a message to her son. Too late she realizes however, that a second malevolent entity stalks the halls of the Beacon: one that doesn't, want the boy to escape.
MR. H:"The Haunting At The Beacon" is your directorial debut. Were you at all skeptical about making a horror film your directorial debut?
Michael:I love horror films. When I was starting out as a screenwriter, I was sure my first film would be a low-budget horror or science fiction flick. I'd read all about Romero's making of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and Carpenter's adventures on DARK STAR and ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13. But I came into the business post-DIE HARD when everyone was looking for action scripts. Turns out I have an affinity for blowing stuff up. It wasn't until SHADOWBUILER that I had a chance to get a horror script produced. Making my directorial debut with a ghost story like THE HAUNTING AT THE BEACON was a dream come true.
MR. H:"The Haunting At The Beacon" seems like an adult, ghost story, rather than a mainstream teen-aimed horror/thriller. With that being said, how do you think the horror genre has changed from the 90's and early new millennium, to now? Has the material gotten a bit more mature you think?
Michael:You mean post-SCREAM? As sacrilegious as some of your readers may find this, I'm not a huge fan of that film. It was enormously clever and the opening sequence was great -- easily as good as anything in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET -- but the rest left me cold. It was like watching a magician on stage demonstrating how the trick works, then performing that same trick and expecting you to be amazed. Worse, for me, it ushered in a whole series of so-called "ironic" horror movies. Ugh. Those kinds of films -- like the gooey, angst-ridden vampire flicks we seem to be currently saddled with -- should be dragged staked and screaming into the sunlight.
For me, horror movies should be served like a slug of Jack Daniels: straight up and mean. That's why I'm not a big fan of horror-comedies. When they do work for me -- as in TREMORS or ZOMBIELAND -- the horror is still genuine. The monster will eat you. It won't stop and explain how being unloved and lonely made it a monster.
But that having be said, I think there is always intelligent genre material out there. The trick, sometimes, is finding it. I picked up MAYBERRY STREET on a whim (Rat zombies? Cool!) and was blown away. The movie has real heart and none of its characters are treated as mere monster fodder. Jack Messit's MIDNIGHT MOVIE was another terrific surprise. It was bouncy, malevolent fun. PONTYPOOL certainly won't be everybody's cup of blood, but it keeps creeping back up on me.
MR. H:For everyone out there who doesn't know, what's the full plot synopsis for "The Haunting At The Beacon"?
Michael:A couple, recovering from a devastating loss, moves into a new apartment to get a fresh start. The woman begins seeing a little boy prowling the halls. Is he real? A ghost? A figment of her grief-stricken imagination? She attempts to convince the boy to pass on, hoping he can carry a message to her own child, but discovers there is something else -- something evil -- that doesn't want to let the boy go.
MR. H:You landed a terrific cast for this movie. Teri Polo, Elaine Hendrix, Michael Ironside, and Marnette Patterson. Tell us about how this cast was pulled together during casting.
Michael:Full credit to my producer, Sally Helppie, and our brilliant L.A. casting director, Karen Margiotta. They brought in Teri, Elaine, Marnette and Ken Howard. For the role of Teri's husband, I wanted David Rees Snell from THE SHIELD. I had worked with him on my last movie, EXIT SPEED, and knew he was the perfect actor for the part. I've known Michael Ironside for years. He actually gave me my start in the business by optioning my first screenplay. When I told him I was making THE HAUNTING AT THE BEACON, he reworked his schedule to fly to Texas to take the part. For me, that was one of the highlights of the shoot.
THE HAUNTING AT THE BEACON was the second film made by Sally Helppie's Sabbatical Pictures. The first was EXIT SPEED and David wasn't our only alumnus. We brought back Nick Sowell to play Teri's sympathetic neighbor and Kelli Dawn Hancock as a damaged cop investigating the strange events. Everett Sifuentes (who steals every scene he's in in EXIT SPEED) played the building manager and Jonny Cruz -- whose only line in the first film ended up on the editing room floor -- came back to play a young professor with an interest in the occult. He gives a great performance.
MR. H:Not only did you direct this movie, but you also wrote the script for it. That's a rarity these days, to have so much control over a movie in it's most vital areas.
Michael:For a writer, it was glorious to shepherd the story through from blank page to final fade out. But I had great support too. As you mentioned, we had a terrific cast. Teri Polo really grounds the film with her performance and Elaine Hendrix and David Rees Snell match her nuance for nuance. I also had an amazing crew. My DP, Don Reddy, was as committed to getting this film made as I was. No way we'd have finished this on time or on budget without his drive and dedication. I wanted to steer clear of the washed out, monochromatic look that has become somewhat cliché in horror films and Don and our A Camera Operator, Allan Westbrook, gave me a rich, textured palette that adds so much to the story's atmosphere.
Our production designer, Eric Whitney, and his team also went to heroic lengths. Check out the Nash Apartment scene for a great example of their handiwork. They made a spotless bathtub look so disgusting that Teri at first refused to get into it. Turns out Teri was just playing a joke on us but it's a credit to Eric's team that no one on the crew doubted for a second that she might balk.
In post-production I also had the talents of editor Stephen Lovejoy and composer John Majkut. Editing is a fascinating art and, for me, equivalent to writing. Instead of assembling words into sentences, you assemble shots into scenes. Every film has a grammar of its own and Stephen was instrumental in helping me find the right one for THE HAUNTING AT THE BEACON. John's score was eerie, elegant and haunting: exactly what you want in a ghost story. It tells you immediately that there is something wrong. I love the way it undermines the warm and happy scenes between Teri and David at the start of the film.
I also have to thank producer, Sally Helppie, who, along with production accountant Jayne Royall, ran an incredibly tight, well-organized production. They stretched every dollar until it screamed. We shot in a real-life haunted hotel: the Rogers in Waxahachie, Texas. In a brilliant move, they saved the cost of cast and crew accommodations, star trailers, hair, make-up, and wardrobe trucks, and production offices by booking out three floors. The cast came to rehearsal in their pajamas, then went off to get ready while the crew set up. A few people had spooky incidents -- things moving, unseen figures sitting on beds; one crew member heard children crying some mornings at 3.00 a.m. -- but, overall, it was a very relaxed and companionable set.
MR. H:How does "The Haunting At The Beacon" stand apart from other ghost tales that have come and gone through theaters as of late, and the ones that breeze through the video store every other week? Considering ghost tales are a saturated sub-genre these days, when you were writing the script, what did you set out to accomplish with "The Beacon" to make it stand out, and to hopefully get genre fans to like the film overall?
Michael:As a writer, I've always been fascinated by the way ghosts have their counterparts in human emotions. Feelings of loss and grief and guilt haunt us as thoroughly as any specter. Think about it: these feelings are more powerful in the dark when we're alone and vulnerable; they come upon us -- startle us -- at unexpected times; they gnaw and feed and cling. When writing THE HAUNTING AT THE BEACON, I thought, "What is the worst thing my heroine can face? What would bring her into contact with all of these dark and hungry emotions?" The answer was the loss of a child.
I think the difference in THE HAUNTING AT THE BEACON is that these emotions actually drive the character. They aren't simply offered as back story. It isn't simply what I call "busload of nuns" exposition. You know the scene. At some point in the story, your steel-eyed, I-can-kill-with-an-eyelash hero grudgingly admits that he wants to settle down and hang up his guns because he's burdened by the memory of accidentally using a rocket launcher on a busload of nuns.
Now the busload can be effective. THE BOURNE IDENTITY makes marvelous play of it. I've used it myself on occasion. But in THE HAUNTING AT THE BEACON, I wanted to go beyond that and see what being haunted really might do to people. And Teri does a brilliant job in conveying the effect. She's heart-breaking. And because of that, you want her to win!
MR. H:Have you gotten any feedback yet from people who have seen the film? How scary have they told you it was? How scary do you feel it is?
Michael:The reaction so far has been great! After one screening, I overheard a woman who was so creeped out she was begging people to walk her to her car in the parking garage. That made me smile.
We had an enthusiastic audience reaction at the 2009 Paranoia Film Festival and ended up coming away with the Best Feature and Best Lead Actress awards. Both the horror movie blog Fatally Yours (
http://www.fatally-yours.com/news/paranoia-horror-film-festival-report-march-2009/) and the AMC movie review site (
http://blogs.amctv.com/movie-news/2009/05/cannes-film-festival-market.php) have been positive. This past weekend, Sally won the award for Best Producer at the La Femme Film Festival in Los Angeles.
I'm very curious to see the reaction to the Texas screenings. I sit in the back and watch the audience watch the movie.
My favorite 'review', though, came from a movie-savvy nineteen year old who is seldom impressed by anything. After the lights came back up, he looked at me almost surprised. "That was good. That was really good," he said.
MR. H:"The Haunting At The Beacon" from the outside looking in, doesn't look like the type of horror movie that's going to get really bloody or really gory at any point. Am I wrong or am I right?
Michael:THE HAUNTING AT THE BEACON isn't a splatter film but we do have our moments. Vincent Guastini designed the special effects make-up. He's the maestro behind REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, DOGMA, and the burn masks on LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA. I think fans will be pleased. We pull out the stops for the climax.
MR. H:What are three necessary rules that must be followed when penning and directing a Ghost Tale?
Michael:Respect your own rules. It doesn't matter what they are. The ghosts and monsters can do anything you want them to do. But once you have established the rules of your world, play fair by them. If your zombies can only be put down with a bullet in the head or by setting them on fire, the hero can't suddenly stab one in the heart with a paperclip just because the story needs him to get away. Same is true for your super-fast, throat-ripping vampires. They're not gonna eviscerate a dozen extras only to pause to snarl while the hero reloads his pistol. I'm looking at you, DUSK 'TIL DAWN.
Respect your material. It's my bet that some of humankind's earliest stories were about spirits and monsters. That is a hell of a lineage. Beloved horror flicks that get remade solely on the basis of "name recognition" and young 'auteurs' who decide to dash off a scary flick 'cuz all you need is some boobs and fake blood make me long for a good sharp axe.
Most of all, respect your audience. I'm a horror movie fan, which means I'll eat my way through a lot of greasy burgers to find a savory piece of steak. Some might think that's stupid but really it is love. I remember to this day how excited I was watching JAWS on the big screen. I remember the way the crowd moaned when that damned rubber ball came bouncing back down the stairs at George C. Scott in THE CHANGELING. I remember sitting in the audience, stunned, long after the house lights had come up on THE THING. I was back the next night. I remember standing in line for ALIENS listening to the people at the early show screaming through the entire third act, all the while thinking 'I can't wait to get in there!' That's love. I want to fall in love with every horror movie I see. I know I can't because...well, I'm opinionated, and horror is often personal. But if I can't fall in love, I at least want to be treated with respect.
MR. H:Do you feel that ghost stories work better when children or a child is/are involved? Do you feel that an audience can relate more on an emotional level to a childs sad story rather than an adults sad story?
Michael:I don't think there is any hard and fast rule on this. Two of my favorite ghost stories -- Robert Wise's THE HAUNTING and THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE -- don't have kids in them. THE CHANGELING has one but he's the ghost and is played as a wonderfully ambiguous, amoral force. POLTERGEIST mines a mother's love to great effect as does -- in a totally different way -- RINGU (and ALIENS).
But, truth be told, I often find kids in horror films annoying if only for the fact that you know they're not going to be touched. They get a pass. That's why I find movie like JAWS and the Russell's remake of THE BLOB so brave. The kids are in as much risk as the adults. When a kid gets chomped, you know anything is possible.
MR. H:"The Haunting At The Beacon" is scheduled to screen in a few locations in Texas later this month. After those screenings, where does it go from there, and what's the latest on any potential DVD distribution for the film?
Michael:We have foreign distribution through American World Pictures. Our producer, Sally Helppie, is fielding offers for domestic distribution from a number of outfits right now.
MR. H:What approach did you decided to take when promoting this movie, so that you could get it's name out there best you could?
Michael:That's the question, isn't it? Independent films don't have an advertising budget that can compete with the studios. Our distributors will have campaigns but we're also mobilizing grass roots awareness. The festival circuit has been helpful and these screenings in Texas will start some buzz. We're also promoting on the social networking sites and trying to reach fans directly on web sites like this. If any of you reading this are in Dallas or Houston, come out and see us. I'll be at all the North Texas screenings, sitting in the back row, watching the crowd. Come up and say hi.
MR. H:What's next on your plate as far as the horror genre is concerned?
Michael:Crazily enough, I am currently the story editor and head writer on BABAR, an animated children's show. How's that for a double life! On the horror front, I have a script called NIGHTFALL under option with Frank Mancuso Jr., the producer of SPECIES, RONIN, and some of the FRIDAY THE 13th films. It's an action-horror flick that pits two of my favorite predatory species -- vampires and mercenaries -- against one another. No angst-ridden bloodsuckers in this one and the only gooey moments are the ones in which bodily fluids spray liberally.
End.
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