March 5, 2011

It’s been a long time coming for Stevan Mena’s BEREAVEMENT, his third full length feature film and the “prequel” to his debut movie MALEVOLENCE. But as of this weekend, it’s now playing in select theaters on the East Coast with West Coast dates to follow. After a long post-production process, Mena opted to release it theatrically via his own Crimson Films banner. If anything, BEREAVEMENT is a truly independent horror film playing on big screens by the filmmakers’ own rules.

Back during the production, Massive Hysteria writers Adam Barnick and Robg were on-set to witness the re-filming of the scene that opens MALEVOLENCE; seeing it this time in a completely different context. After the evenings wrap, we spoke candidly to writer/director Stevan Mena on how BEREAVEMENT all came together! – by Adam Barnick, Robg.

Adam Barnick: Can you tell me a bit about the origins of this film? When did this start to take shape? I know this started as a novel, or series of novels that you changed into 3 films.

Stevan Mena: I always intended for there to be three films. It was originally a book I broke up into three scripts. This story we’re telling now has kind of evolved over time. It’s nothing close to what I originally wrote in the book. A lot of themes have been expanded upon, characters have changed; new characters have been developed. A lot of things I was influenced by when making the first film have also changed the story.
The inspiration came from partly what I originally wrote, and partly what I experienced making the first movie; the two met, and have morphed into this ‘third story’ that is now Bereavement.

AB: Can you give me a synopsis of Bereavement?

SM: It’s essentially a love story that gets totally fucked up. You’ve got the lead character, Allison (Alexandra Daddario), her parents die and she’s forced to go live with her uncle in Pennsylvania. Her uncle happens to live in the same area that Graham Sutter’s (slaughterhouse) is. She’s precariously close to these murders that are taking place that nobody’s aware of.

One of the interesting things about Sutter is that he’s able to exist in a ‘normal world’…walk among us with nobody really recognizing that there’s something out of the ordinary. Because he’s just like you or me- and that’s what’s kind of sinister about him, and scary about him. He can just blend in. Certainly his place doesn’t, but it’s in an area that’s located so far out in the middle of nowhere, that it kind of gets overlooked.

(Allison), being an outsider and because she’s not so desensitized to her surroundings, notices there’s something not right. That initiates her wanting to investigate it further and further, until she finally goes in and disturbs the hornet’s nest; and it comes out and destroys everything close to her.

AB: Can you tell me where this takes place in the Malevolence timeline? Because while it stands totally on its own, it’s still a prequel.

SM: The first film was 1999, this takes place in 1994 when Martin’s eleven years old. Five years after he’s been kidnapped. And we show all that; this is all about Martin’s story. Martin is kidnapped at six years old, and instead of jumping forward like we did in the first film to ten years later when he’s more of an adult, this goes five years ahead to where he’s right in the middle of the situation he deals with, with Sutter.

Martin’s being abused by Sutter- and it’s about how he transforms from a normal kid into what he is in the first film, a serial killer. It really dives into the psychology and the psychosis of what creates a serial killer; what made Martin what he is. That’s really what we’re going for with this film.

AB: The first film discussed nature vs. nurture, and development of these aberrations- what does this one explore thematically? I think it deepens that; but it seems like you’re hitting a bunch of other things too.

SM: The themes are…one of them is the repercussions of our actions, the cycle of violence and how things are handed down from generation to generation, including violence and the way you treat people. Of course in this situation it’s an extreme example. Where Martin is bearing witness to murder. It’s one of those cases where he may have turned out normal under normal circumstances, but he’s been put in very adverse circumstances. And the fact that he was also not quite right to begin with- we talked about how the seed was there for him to blossom into the destructive force that he becomes.

AB: Had you always intended this chapter to be much wider in scope? You’re digging in deeper, there’s more characters, you’re shooting it “bigger.”

SM: I always intended all of the films to have a broad scope. But when you have budgetary restrictions, it restricts your story and what you’re able to tell and fit onscreen. Now with a larger budget, I’m able to spend a little more time developing these characters. And go into deeper themes.
One of the themes we talk about is the theme of being trapped. Allison is trapped by the circumstances that force her to come live with her uncle, the character of Ted (John Savage) is trapped by his condition of being in a wheelchair, his son who takes care of him is trapped because he’s forced to care for his father and he can’t leave and grow up and move on. Martin is trapped by Sutter. Sutter is trapped by his demons… and the town itself where they live is just kind of mired in failure. It’s a place you wouldn’t want to live, it’s run down… that theme is constantly circulating throughout the story and it gives the film an oppressive feel. It is a really ‘down’ story, and this helps amplify that.

AB: One of the things you hit on in the original, which I really see you utilizing now that you’re shooting in a really wide aspect ratio, is using open space as a prison. The one tree in the middle of a field is even more emphasized in widescreen photography like this.

SM: Yeah! We were just talking about being trapped. .even things like power lines that we’re filming; they’re another recurring theme that kind of links all the locations together. Someone on set made a comment that the power lines look like they’re trapped too- looking like people with wires in them, fixed in place- it’s another visually thematic thing we throw in there. I’m trying to use atmosphere and location as another character in the movie.

AB: While this does tell its own story, can you comment on its connections? Is it important to know the original when seeing this one?

SM: It’s certainly tied into the first film, but the story and the way it’s structured. I don’t think you need to see the first film in order to understand, follow or appreciate this film. I think the connection between the two is merely like a reward; for those who do know the first film; there are certain beats in the story that will connect..that people who know the first film will see it and say ‘I see where that fits in. But it’s not one of those sequels/prequels where it’s inherent that you have to watch the first one in order to follow it.

AB: Can you tell me about the syndrome you’re exploring with the relationship between Sutter and Martin. That’s another example of the trapped theme to me; there’s no barrier, but there is. Why does Martin stay? He could leave..

SM: That’s one of the things. Martin certainly has the ability to leave but the mental torture that he goes through, I equate it to the Helsinki Syndrome because he’s a prisoner, and yet he’s not.. He’s a prisoner in his mind. At some points in the story, he wants to leave but he can’t.

I was certainly inspired by stories, for example, of girls who are kidnapped and kept as slaves in closets and have every opportunity to just walk away, and yet they don’t. Whether it’s a fear of what the repercussions will be to them, or to their family, or if it’s just that the mental conditioning has destroyed their capacity for rational thought to the point where they don’t even know what’s good f or themselves anymore.

We touch on that with Martin. Sutter has certain psychological weapons that he uses to keep Martin where he is. And those are pretty obvious in the story; you see them right from the beginning. But there’s also some stuff going on at a deeper level. It’s almost that Martin can’t function in a normal society. It’s almost like he’s scared to be where he is but he’s even more scared to go out into the real world..he just doesn’t know what that even is.

AB: I’ve seen this in abusive relationship patterns, even if it’s not a kidnapping scenario- someone understands the order of the relationship they’re in even if it’s not a proper or rational relationship- they just ‘get it’ and that’s why they stay, despite abuse or danger. It becomes ‘normal’ after a long time. Do you have a particular hope, of what you’d like audiences to come away with from this film?

SM: I would like audiences to watch this film and realize that horror films don’t have to be shallow, or single-minded. What I’m trying to achieve with this film is create a movie where you know the characters on an intimate level. True suspense for me is watching a film where I absolutely fall in love with the characters- if I achieve that, and you really appreciate and like these characters for who they are as people- not just the circumstance or whatever they’re doing, but as people themselves- then anything that I do to them, minor or major, is gonna create suspense. If you love a character, if I’ve created someone that you care about; if I just point a gun at that person, already I’ve created suspense. So in essence, whenever there’s a murder in the film, if you’re emotionally invested in those characters, the impact is that much greater.

The idea behind the writing of this story was to achieve exactly that. Make you really like the characters so that you have an emotional response to their death. For me, that’s what makes the difference between a horror film that grosses you out or gives you that little scare- or a horror film that affects you on a deeper level that you take with you and makes you think about the world itself, and life and death, just the human condition in general. Makes you appreciate… obviously there’s real evil in the world, but there’s also hope. So I’d like to present both sides. The fact that yes there’s evil but there’s also hope that keeps the world together. I know that’s a really obscure way of talking about a horror film. But if you don’t have both sides, you end up with a one-sided horror film where all it does is gross you out or give you a cheap scare. And it doesn’t really have the emotional depth or weight to last and become an enduring film. Like, say, The Exorcist. Or Se7en.

AB: I think it doesn’t matter if something is very downbeat, or relentless. As long as there’s something there that’s deeply felt.

SM: It’s all about having an emotional response to what’s happening onscreen. If you’re just watching kids having sex and doing drugs and getting killed right before they get laid- what do you take away from that? It’s maybe a visceral rush when the murder happens, but..

If I achieve anything with this film it would be to introduce people back to horror films with storytelling as the primary goal. It’s a lofty ambition, but that’s what I’m trying to achieve- and if they just get a few scares out of it, then they do. But that’s my ultimate goal with it.

Robg: What’s the experience been like, to be back– you had such a crazy experience with the first film, now you’re in the slaughterhouse again, you’re in the thick of it.. What’s it like this time?

SM: This time it’s completely different. Last time, it was like making a movie with a gun to my head. Just desperately trying to get it finished. Now I can kind of relax and enjoy the process which I was never able to do on the first one. That’s the difference. I’m working with a much bigger crew, a more experienced crew, a crew that allows me to just think about the movie and about making my film and not about how I’m gonna survive to the next morning and what disaster’s gonna happen next. That will definitely, I hope, translate into a much more watchable film.

BEREAVEMENT is now playing in select East Coast theaters with West Coast dates to be announced.