By: debbie lynn elias
With The Last Horror Movie, director Julian Richards took us deep into the mind of a killer, establishing himself as a leader in the realm of psychological horror. In his latest feature, SHIVER, written by Robert Weinbach and based on the novel by Brian Harper, Richards continues that psychological exploration as we watch the mental declination and depravity of one, Francis Rood aka The Gryphon, as he stalks young women, kills them and beheads them; that is, all but one, the one who fought back, the one who got away – Wendy Alden. What was once a game of death fueled by hate and cruelty as opposed to graphic violence, turns into an obsessive love parlayed with a cat and mouse race against time by law enforcement (and the audience) as they try to out-think, out-guess and stay one step ahead in order to catch The Gryphon.
Brimming with notables of the genre, Richards provides a rich palette of performances thanks to leads, Danielle Harris as Wendy Alden and John Jarratt as killer Francis Rood. Layering emotional and ambient texture are Rae Dawn Chong and Casper Van Dien as Detectives Burdine and Delgado, respectively, plus an over-the-top guilt-inflicting-complaining Jewish mother compliments of Valerie Harper.
I had a chance to speak with Julian Richards in this exclusive interview where we talk about SHIVER, horror icons Danielle Harris and John Jarratt, and the awe of Valerie Harper.
I have to commend you on this delightful horror film. I love horror films but what I love most are the ones that are not gratuitous but are a “thinking film.” SHIVER is a thinking movie as you put the audience in the shoes of law enforcement and one knowing victim, trying to anticipate what Francis Rood is going to do.
Thank you. That’s exactly right.
How did this story come to you and what made this a good story for you to tell?
It came to me through an actor who I previously worked with, Kevin Howarth. He played the villain in two of my previous films, The Last Horror Movie and Summer Scars. He was being considered for one of the parts in SHIVER by the producer, Robert Weinbach. Robert was also looking for a director and Kevin suggested that Robert should contact me because Kevin just thought it was the right kind of material for me. I met Robert on Skype and sent him my films and a week later he offered me the job. When I got the screenplay, I just thought it was a real page turner; not a dull moment from page 1 to page 90. It made me think very much of Alfred Hitchcock, sort of crime thrillers in a way, more than horror films, that are driven by suspense. In many respects, with a strong female lead played by Danielle Harris this was very much a case of a tourtiere heroine, which was one of Hitchcock’s favorite mottos.
Danielle really steps a little bit out of her comfort zone, even though she’s known for this type of genre, with the way her character of Wendy is created and the way she develops. In many of her roles, Danielle gets a one-note female role, but here we see her develop and progress emotionally. Also, through your costuming and use of color, she goes from wearing muddy dark browns trying to be invisible and by film’s end she’s got pops of purple and is wearing a mauve colored lipstick. Add to that the resonating emotion and the phone conversations that Wendy has with her mother played by Valerie Harper, all is very defining in creating Wendy.
This was a leading role for Danielle. She’s been in a lot of horror films but she often gets supportive roles. This was the kind of leading role that a lot of actresses would dream about because she’s in almost every scene. It’s her story. As you say, there’s a very specific character arc, a journey that that character [Wendy] goes on. It is very much a rites of passage story for her.
Hand-in-hand with Danielle is Valerie Harper. The timing of having this film come out now on DVD with Valerie so in the news not only for health issues but after just coming off of Dancing with The Stars, it’s very fortuitous for you!
[laughing] I’m glad you told me because I’m over in the UK and I had no idea that Valerie was on Dancing with the Stars so I’m going to bring that into my conversations! [laughing]
She made it through 4 weeks and even though she got voted off this past week, she is still America’s darling for having the guts and the courage with her brain cancer battle to come on and dance and remember the routines and the footwork all these weeks. And if the show runs it’s usual course, she will be back for the finale.
That is interesting. I’m wondering if the producer, Robert Weinbach, knows that because we should definitely make that part of our marketing! I grew up with Valerie on tv playing Rhoda. It was a real surprise to me when she came up for casting in SHIVER. I think the first thing I recognized was the voice. Then I thought, “Oh my God! It’s Valerie Harper from Rhoda!” The whole cast of SHIVER were for me icons from certain parts of my childhood and my adolescence. Working with Rae Down Chong, Casper Van Dien and John Jarratt was fabulous.
I saw your cast and was very excited. Your casting put me in heaven with the possibility of seeing what they could do.
[laughing] Well, I think Robert Weinbach has a lot to say for that. He’s very good at putting projects together and getting interesting people attached.
How did approach working with John Jarratt to develop the character of Francis Rood? There are moments when he comes across as a mentally challenged child and then other moments as a very polite, well read man quoting Poe. It’s a very interesting dichotomy to see this man with his politeness but then contrasted with the very innocent juvenile behavior and then snap on the turn of a dime.
Yes. This material was there in the novel and very much there in the screenplay, too. When John came to the table to play Rood he sort of brought to it some additional elements which, at first, took me by surprise. I suppose that in the novel and in the screenplay there was much more of him being the mild-mannered, sort of intelligent, serial killer. But John added the eccentricities and the immaturity and those more vulnerable elements. John was cast in the film before I got involved with the project. When I had read the screenplay, I thought of John. I thought, “John’s great in Wolf Creek, but how’s he gonna play this part because it’s so opposite to his nature?” He’s a big Australian, sort of redneck kind of character. I was really sort of curious to see what he was going to do. When I saw him in the rehearsals I was also quite surprised because it wasn’t necessarily what I had envisioned. I’m a director who listens and thinks my way through the process. I give room for contributors to bring their ideas in, and then it’s about managing it. So with John, we did probably three or four takes of each shot that we did. The first take I would let John do what he wanted to do. Then every subsequent take I would refine the performance. What that gave me was a bracket, a latitude, in post-production and the edit to make sure that we struck the right tone with his performance. There’s always a danger in something like that, that it goes over the top and becomes too comical. This was important. It was a risky thing to do and it was either gonna fall flat on its face or it was going to work. Luckily for us all, it worked.
In choosing Zoran Popovic, your cinematographer who did so beautifully with the imagery on War, Inc. for John Cusack, what were your considerations in designing this visual palette. You make the best out of using of water, night, light. There’s some beautiful imagery with colored lights that delivers a beautiful visual result.
With this kind of material I usually go for very desaturated colors and concentrated blacks as sort of an old thematic “bleach bypass” kind of feel. In addition to that, for some reason I’ve worked with a lot of Serbian cinematographers in the past. Zoran is the third Serbian cinematographer that I’ve worked with on a feature film. I think they have a certain school of cinematography that involves a lot of color, too. I went through a lot of images and paintings with Zoran before we shot the film and we decided on the color schemes and degrees of light and shade that we wanted to achieve.
Thank you so much, Julian. It’s a wonderful piece that steps away from the slash and hack horror film, making you think and appreciate the characters within the construct.
That was a key thing with the whole approach to the film. The killer in the film is the first character you meet. He’s not a shadowy shape that’s revealed at the end.
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10/8/2013
