For my readers unfamiliar with you, who is Shawn French?I’m a former film critic and lifelong movie freak who is finally making a film of my own. I’ve been writing scripts for years and I have several that I’d love to make. But THE WRONG HOUSE was the first story I’ve written that I HAD to make. Initially, we were going to shoot it on my little Panasonic 100B. Then word spread about the film and people stepped up to help. Everyone who read the script wanted in.
Emptyhouse Film, Motion Media and Robert Fiske hooked us up with amazing gear. FX artist Eric Anderson of The Shoggoth Assembly and makeup artist Kristina Ellery (“2”) jumped onboard. Suddenly, our little movie had become an HD feature film. How did The Wrong House come about and what was the inspiration behind the film?
My wife [Sue Stevens, co-star of The Wrong House] and I came up with the story three days after our home was robbed in March 2008. We needed something to pour that anger into, so we put together this story about kids who rob the home of serial killers. As the script developed, we realized we had to shoot this movie. Filmed at our home. With my wife and I as the crazed residents of THE WRONG HOUSE.Since we had so much genuine anger to work with, we did everything we could to blur the lines and piss ourselves off even more. We had the actors break in through the same window the actual thieves did. We had them trash the same parts of our house. The wounds were still so fresh at that point. Filming these people looting our house really jacked up the intensity. We weren’t so much acting as we were venting.
She [Sue Stevens] and I came up with these characters almost ten years ago. Husband-wife serial killers who believe themselves to be agents of karma. They enforce their very painful brand of justice on pedophile priests, wife beaters and child abusers. They punish those who prey on others.We weren’t sure what story they belonged in, but we always thought it would be insanely fun to play psychos in a movie. After our house was robbed, the question popped up, “What would Susan and Steve do?” We knew that instant we had a movie and got to work making it happen.
How much did the film cost and how was financing obtained for the film?
Around $5,000. Sue and I paid for everything out of pocket as we went. It required some very careful budgeting and living off PBJs for a year, but it was worth it. Where this was my first film, we needed freedom to spend however long it took to get it right. Without investors or credit card bills hurrying us, we weren’t pressured to rush out the film before it was ready.
What was it like balancing so many roles in the film, producer, director, writer and co-star?
I wouldn’t do that again, but it was definitely the right choice for this movie. Our cast and crew made it much easier than it had any right to be. Also, a local filmmaker (he doesn’t put his name on films unless he has final cut) helped us out as co-director and cinematographer, which was huge. Having someone I trusted behind camera freed me up to focus on my performance and get to the very dark places I needed to go.The torture scenes, while not overly graphic, are quite disturbing. What was the filmmaking process like during those scenes and how did the cast handle it?
You never really know how actors will react to being pushed so far until that moment comes. We warned everyone at the first audition that we were all getting banged around. Each actor in this film has at least one scene where they get put through the ringer and I broke three ribs in the final day of the shoot.
When their pivotal scenes came, each member of this cast stepped up big. They embraced the physicality and were so fully committed that we were able to push things to some pretty extreme levels.
There isn’t a ton of gore, but it’s definitely a twisted film with some imagery that’ll stay with you. We also improvised a lot during the torture scenes, so the actors often didn’t know what was coming next. It was another way of blurring the lines and making everything more real.
Why should people check out The Wrong House?As dark and messed up a movie as this is, it’s also a fun flick that takes place in a sort of moral grey area. Sure, Susan and Steve are nuts, but they’re right when they say they didn’t start the fight.
Also, a lot of people (myself among them) are annoyed about Hollywood releasing mostly horror remakes and sequels these days. That’s more reason to support original, independent horror movies. If you find an independent film you like, spread the word about it.
You can pick up a copy of THE WRONG HOUSE for $10 at http://www.thewronghousemovie.com/ or Amazon.com. In Maine and New Hampshire, we’re available at all 10 Bull Moose music locations.
Any other final comments you would like to get in?
The actors playing the thieves (Stacy Ann Strang, Brendan Potter, Daniel Galloway, Megan Mathieu and Julian Brand) showed such incredible trust in allowing us to push the onscreen action as far as we did. The success of this film is a direct result of this group of people who were willing to do whatever it took to bring this story to life. We can never thank them enough.
For more info. about the film visit http://www.thewronghousemovie.com/
For more info. about the film visit http://www.thewronghousemovie.com/
