Untitled

Please watch the video first in the files section below, or here for full screen. Lights out, headphones on for optimal enjoyment. I promise there are no loud noises.












Director's Commentary
Like all Director's Commentary, you should watch the movie first.

I love horror movies. And I love to make movies. But I've never made a 'straight' horror movie. I've helped make a tongue-in-cheek horror movie (Don't expect much, this script was essentially written on a dare), but I've never been able to make a serious scary movie. Maybe it's too hard for me to be serious, easier to go for intentional comedy than get the unwanted laughs.

At any rate, I saw this task a little over 48 hours ago, and the tight deadline and the ridiculous length made it impossible for me not to try.

The story, if there is one, is a fairly typical horror movie plot. Boy does a bad thing (breaking and entering) and Boy is subsequently murdered by a mad man. It came to me in pretty much no time at all. I had originally intended to make something like the video in "The Ring", unconnected, disturbing images; but a 30 second, 48 hour video of that nature would have seemed slipshod, too thrown together. The B&E plotline came soon after, and I just ran with it.

Interestingly, this film pretty much embodies everything I hate in horror movies.

It's overtly moral, the victim commits a small crime first, and therefore we are led to believe he deserves his fate. It's not even a moral I agree with, as the establishing shot of the abandoned hospital is a place I've been trying to infiltrate.

It fits in best to the sub genre I would call Gore-Porn, a not so new style brought back into fashion by films like Saw, Hostel, and Turistas. I should mention here that these are three films I hate, and a genre I despise. It focuses on shock and revulsion, which are cheap and easy emotions.

You never get a sense of the location the main character is in in 'Untitled', to it's great detriment. For me, horror movies that build slow dread and tension are the best of the genre, and a good setting is key. But instead I've opted for quick shocking images.

This is not to say I don't like 'Untitled'. I'm quite pleased with it actually. Despite being essentially a regurgitation of the tropes and cliches of things I generally dislike, I think these elements work better in 30 seconds, and not 90 minutes. I like the way the jumpy editing works.

I'm pleased that there's no overt economic message (think about how many horror films involve the immoral rich or the backwoods inbred lower class tormenting generally good middle class white kids. Now that I've pointed out that the slasher genre is mostly expressing a middle class fear of the poor and the rich, you can never enjoy them again. cheers.)

I also like among other things, the high contrast black and white look, and the fact that there more the impression of violence, than actual violence. I was heavily inspired by the opening credits of Showtimes 'Dexter', of all places. Check it out.

Watched at a slower speed, some elements are probably quite funny (there's quite a few frames of me carving a pumpkin in there), but the high speed, close up, short shots become abstracted, and force your brain to invent a narrative for what you've just seen: chocolate syrup and pumpkin seeds. Trust me.

That, for me, is the difference between 'good' and 'bad' horror. Bad horror shows you the blood and guts and forces you to watch. Good horror makes you interpret what happens, what might have happened, or what might still happen; it implicates you in the violence instead of letting you passively absorb the spectacle of viscera. 'Untitled' is... mostly Bad under this rubric.

I suppose the difference there is between Horror, the revulsion and shock, and Terror, the anticipation and dread. I guess I always wanted to make Terror movies. 'Untitled' is about 90% Horror, and 10% Terror. And I'm okay with that.

Happy Halloween.

Thanks much to Britt and some special guests for helping me shoot nearly 30 unique setups in 90 minutes. That's probably a record of some sort, but I had about 1 hour to plan, 2 to shoot, and 3 to edit between work and sleep this week.

Given more time, I would have taken multiple re-shoots, obsessed over every element and ultimately abandoned it. Deadlines and limitations are, creatively, a wonderful thing.

Music by The Books. And yes, it does end with a single frame of a drawing from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Know your roots, bitches.

Also available on YouTube