“I think it’s an easy genre to enter but very difficult to master”
Pair of Made-in-Manitoba horror flicks aim to spook and unsettle at UWPG Film Festival
Jason Pchajek, staff writer
Manitoba should be the perfect place to make a horror movie.
Sprawling open fields, dense and overbearing forests, long and dark winters. It should be a playground for any young director or screenwriter wanting to cut their teeth on the road to being a Blumhouse Productions staple.
For a few filmmakers at the 2020 UWPG Film Festival, their home province provided such a perfect backdrop.
Still: August Long
First, there is August Long, directed by Graham Boyd and Ethan Billard-Dooley, which is a Manitoba spin on the country-bumpkin horror trope, with a twist ending that’ll be sure to leave the audience spinning.
For the pair, while it wasn’t easy, finding the right inspiration changed everything. At home making comedies, the two “decided to change it up for this one, and ended up having a ton of fun doing it.”
“We knew we wanted to make another film following our entry in the WFG 48 film challenge, and we decided on horror, but couldn’t think of a good idea,” they said.
“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre inspired us to play with the country horror genre, and we thought subverting some of the tropes within the genre would be an interesting take on it.”
Part of this was capturing a feel that is quintessentially Manitoban, with country roads, small towns, corn fields, and a sharp divide between urban life and a rural one.
“Yes, this was intentional!” the directors said.
“Usually when you think of country horror, you think of the deep south in the USA. We wanted to take some of those concepts and put our own Manitoban spin on it.”
Still: August Long
The spin doesn’t stop there, though, as the pair took the story in a direction that dumps Leatherface for something a little like a cross between Norman Bates and Patrick Bateman. Without spoiling it, the twist would sit right along side some horror greats with a feature-length release.
“We certainly hope it surprises people,” the pair said.
“We didn't want to make the movie predictable, so we decided to use the tropes and expectations within the genre to our advantage to catch people off guard.”
While the directors of August Long were inspired by a classic of the country horror genre, Murderman director Jacob Markham’s inspiration came a bit closer to home – a childhood game.
Still: Murderman
“Murderman was a game we used to play as kids,” he said.
“We would sneak around the block at night and my dad would be hiding dressed in all black with a laser pointer also sneaking around. The goal was to avoid getting hit (or murdered) sounds pretty dark for a kid’s game when I look back on it.”
The film’s inspiration goes beyond this little game however, as the visual style – with a black-and-white aesthetic and classic 4:3 aspect ratio – is evocative of early horror cinema, and a more recent spin on the style.
“I really love ‘oldschool’ films, I love the style and the tactile feeling of it all,” Markham said.
“Using a filmic style hopefully creates a sense of nostalgia and makes our film look more expensive than the cost of a laser pointer from Dollarama.
“I already was thinking of doing a black and white 4:3 film before I went to watch The Lighthouse by Robert Eggers, but it solidified that idea. The Lighthouse was a huge inspiration visually.
“I also watched Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock to gain more inspiration. There was just something about both of those films that dug deep under your skin. I had a lot of fun trying to recreate that visual style and hope I portrayed it well.”
Like Boyd and Billard-Dooley, Markham is a comedy director, but decided to jump into the horror genre for a change of pace. But unlike the previous pair he didn’t totally abandon his comedy roots, as Murderman does have a slight twinge of horror-comedy.
Still: Murderman
Even so, for Markham turning toward horror was a great chance to grow as a filmmaker, and practice some skills he’d never been given a chance to with comedy. Horror demands a different eye – and different ear – which was a welcome challenge for the young filmmaker.
“I think a lot of first time filmmakers start out thinking they have to make the most dramatic or weirdest film right off the bat, sometimes it works out, sometimes experience holds back the weight of the film,” he said.
“Comedy has been a way for us to play off our amateur productions and inexperienced acting as part of the joke and really experiment with the craft in a way that anything goes. I’m so grateful to be working with the funniest and most creative people I know, so I always encourage them to improvise which usually ends with everyone breaking apart laughing unable to finish the scene. It really changes the atmosphere.
“On the horror side of things it’s a little different. I’m not an avid horror film watcher myself, but always appreciated the craft. I think it’s an easy genre to enter but very difficult to master. I thought we could give a crack at it.
“What I like about horror is that the scariest points have no words which really pushes the filmmaker to use visuals and sound to their highest potential. It would give me an opportunity to practice my sound design skills.”
All this hard work paid off for Markham, as his film has a visual flare that catches the eye, and the way he plays with sparing use of colour really elevates the impact of certain scenes.
You can catch both August Long and Murderman tonight at 8:30 CT, or anytime on the UWPG Film Festival website.