Insides is a new short-film directed by Mike Streeter. Insides tells the tale of two friends Sandy (Karen Wilmer) and Selina (Morgan Poferi) as they have a get together for a night of catching up and reminiscing. Over a bottle of wine and a home cooked meal courtesy of Sandy, Selina begins to tell Sandy that this innocent get together is not just for catching up. Something awful has entered her life. Selina explains that she has been having nightmares, and these nightmares have been about something entering her body and taking control. Selina has also seen Sandy in these dreams. The two girls share similar scars that each has received during lapses in their memory, Sandy explains her scar had to have occurred after a drunken incident at a party. Sandy is confident that everything will be fresh in the morning and insists that Selina stays the night since she is freaked out. That evening, Sandy dreams of Selina leading her to a tunnel.

The next morning Sandy finds a bloody mess in the bathroom that she is sure Selina is responsible. Sandy finds herself in an uncertain state as nightmares and reality come together, no one is safe.

In the horror genre so many themes exist that will place fear into our hearts, but the thought of having something inhabit my body gives me goosebumps and sends a streak of sheer terror down my spine. Streeter does an excellent job of creating this fear, within the allotted nineteen minutes. The special effects in the film were impressive and at most constructive for this film. An important element for me was the girls friendship; it was very believable and well played. Had the film not done A+ work on this, I would not have continued. The score and the cinematography created that eerie feel and the film continued to keep me guessing and wanting more. The storyline made for a good short indeed. However, I have the utmost confidence that this story contains enough to be transformed into a kick-ass feature film.

Insides filmed over a four-day period (two weekends, a few weeks apart). The first two days of filming consisted of all the tunnel scenes, as well as most of the exterior shots in Santa Clarita, California. The second two days was filmed at the special FX team’s home (Jeff Collenberg and Eden Mederos of BLOODGUTS&MORE) in Lawndale, California. The interior days were longer as many as 40 setups a day with a total cast and crew of seven. The film budget was amazingly less than $1,500.00. Streeter described the project “as a fun experience, and I think everyone involved had a good time. It was hard work, but it never really felt like it.” iHorror had a couple questions that director Mike Streeter generously answered:

iHorror: What were your inspirations for creating such a sinister short-film?

Mike Streeter:  There were a number of things that inspired the film. Firstly, I knew about a creepy tunnel location that I wanted to use. I also had just met a wonderful FX team in Jeff and Eden and wanted to do something with cool, practical FX (I hate CG. Practical FX are so much more effective). Knowing our budget limitations, I came up with a script that would use the tunnel location, two actresses, one interior location, and lots of blood, without being too difficult to make. I am a big fan of 70s and 80s horror and wanted to do something evocative of that era. Not an homage or throwback, just a slow-burning, psychological horror film that creeps under the skin and gets into darker and darker places. Most of all I wanted to make something cinematic. Films that directly inspired Insides were Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), Possession (1981), Rosemary’s Baby (1968), and Alien (1979), as well as the films of John Carpenter and David Cronenberg.

iH: Are you going to submit your film to any film festivals?

MS: Yes. We have been submitting the film for the last few weeks. We wont hear back for a while yet, so I’m not sure which ones we’ll get into, but we’re submitting to most of the big horror festivals as well as a good amount of smaller ones and some of the non-genre Los Angeles based festivals that would be easier for us to attend. It’s too early to know how festivals will receive the film, but I’m cautiously optimistic. We have other horror projects lined up, so it would be nice for this to generate some buzz for us. Mostly, I just want people to see it! I’m a huge horror geek, and I hope I made something that other fans can enjoy.

Thanks, Mike! Again, you did an amazing job with your budget limitations, and I am sure that horror fans will enjoy your film as they squirm in their seats! ( I know I sure as hell did).

Take a look at the trailer below, and iHorror will continue to bring you up-to-date information on Insides.

 

[vimeo id=”123263686″]

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