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INTERVIEW: Derrick Borte on Bringing ‘Unhinged’ to the Big Screen

Published

4 years ago

August 21, 2020

Unhinged, the new action/thriller is out today in theaters starring Russell Crowe (Boy Erased), Caren Pistorius (Mortal Engines), and Gabriel Batemen (Child’s Play 2019).

In the film, Rachel (Pistorius) is driving her son (Bateman) to school. Along the way, she ends up pissing off an unnamed man (Crowe) who has the worst case of road rage I’ve ever seen. As the man begins to track down her friends and acquaintances, killing and maiming anyone who gets in his way, Rachel is forced to embrace her own rage in order to stop him.

iHorror spoke to Derrick Borte, the film’s director, in advance of the release. The director had a lot to say about making the film which all began after he was called in for a meeting with the execs at Solstice Studios who saw and loved his previous film, American Dreamer.

“Like, literally a week later, I get a call and they passed along the script,” Borte said. “I picked it up and clearly it was one of those scripts I couldn’t put down. I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen on the next page. I liked the script which is a great place to start. I liked the people just from previous experience or knowing them before. It just felt like the right thing at the right time.”

He had no idea just how challenging making the film might be, however. Nor did he realize how much the environment would play into their shooting schedule.

They arrived in New Orleans to face daily lightning storms that regularly shut down production for hours at a time. Then there was the actual hurricane that hit during production which left power outages and flood streets in its wake, a particular challenge for a film that takes place primarily in constantly moving cars. This is to say nothing of the heat index that kept temperatures well above 110 degrees some days.

“You have to get an IV at lunch just to stay hydrated,” the director joked. “You’re dealing with cars, sometimes old cars where the air conditioning isn’t that great where the actors are in vehicles that are not able to keep them as cool as we’d like to keep them.”

Luckily for Borte, his cast was up for the challenge, and helped keep him on track with their sheer resilience and work ethic.

“You had Russell who knows what everyone on set is doing or is supposed to be doing better than they do,” he explained. “You really have to step up and bring your A-game with him. And Gabe has such experience as well and knowledge for a teenager. He’s such an old soul. Caren Pistorius was such a find and such a pleasure to work with in that she just has a wonderful combination of authenticity and strength along with being captivating on screen. Everyday was great coming to work with these guys, you know.”

With Unhinged finally “in the can,” the long journey through editing began. It wasn’t easy piecing together a film with so much action. Choosing the best shots that carried the narrative forward while still maintaining and sometimes ratcheting up the level of tension was an arduous process all on its own.

Again, Borte says, he lucked out, though. His editorial team was incredibly creative and the process was a lot smoother than it could have been in less capable hands.

“Some days I’d come in with an idea and I’d say, ‘Hey do you want to try this?'” he said. “Or some days I’d come in and they’re already two steps ahead of me with three different versions of a scene cut together. And knowing me, I’d say, ‘Give me the beginning of option 3, the middle of option 1, and then the end of option 2. Let’s try it again.’ It’s a huge undertaking but when you have a great team it makes things a lot easier and a lot more fun.”

What neither the filmmaker nor cast could have anticipated, however, was the arrival of Covid-19 and the havoc it would play on the release schedule for Unhinged. The film has been delayed multiple times as studios and theaters scramble to come up with new ways of distributing films with the new safety measures in place.

Luckily for the director, he was able to attend a screening of the film in January and he says, seeing Unhinged in a theater was the ultimate experience for the film.

“We did a test in January for 450 people,” Bored said. “That was really amazing to see the film in a packed room like that. The tension level was so high. The gasps and the reactions were so different than someone watching it at home or even worse, on a phone somewhere you know. Seeing this film in a room full of people adds a whole knew level to how thrilling it is.”

The theaters may not be full, but Unhinged is finally out for audiences to see beginning today August 21, 2010. Check out the trailer for the film below, and let us know if you’ll be seeing it down in the comments!

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News

Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

Published

5 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

Published

8 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film

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Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

^Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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