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Directors Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead Talk ‘Spring,’ Upcoming Projects [Exclusive]

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Spring, the new film from Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, who brought us 2012’s Resolution, is hitting theaters and VOD on Friday, March 20. Be sure to read our review, but if you just want to know if it’s any good, I’ll tell you straight up. You should watch this one.

We had the opportunity to ask Benson and Moorhead some questions about Spring and some upcoming projects, so let’s get right to it.

iHorror: What were some of the challenges in working on a bigger film like Spring compared to a smaller one like Resolution? Do you prefer the larger or smaller scale?

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead: SPRING was hard because our trailer was too big, they had trouble towing it down to the beach, and being inside it gave Justin the exact opposite of claustrophobia.

But honestly, the challenge wasn’t anything related to creative control, thank God. We had complete control of SPRING. It’s mostly that things expand exponentially in how complicated they get when you involve more people and a larger story. It sometimes seems like it would have been physically impossible to make the film with a hundred dollars less than we had. The budget for SPRING was really modest, though, and as producers we had a strong grasp on where and why it was being spent, plus our producer David Lawson is a demigod. It’s a miracle that a movie like Transformers doesn’t cost 3 billion dollars and either never finish or become a complete mess — maybe Michael Bay should get more credit.

We definitely sit most comfortably at a level where we feel like everyone has what they need and is provided for, but not then by proxy giving up our craving to do as many jobs as we can get our hands on (directing, cinematography, editing, producing, writing, vfx, etc). On Resolution we had fantasies of future work with a legitimate budget, and on Spring we had fantasies of running off with a camera and two of our favorite actors and inventing something. It comes and goes with the tide.

iH: You talk a lot about building mythology with your movies, and with Spring in particular it plays right into the love story backbone. Which idea came first with Spring? The love story or the mythology?

JB & AM: At a certain point it all blends together into story-mush. You know you want to tell a love story, at some point in your life you also get this idea about a very special type of monster that you’ve never seen before, you create characters, make them talk, put them in situations…it’s hard to pin something like that down, and honestly it’s just a lot of hard work to sit at your desk and think something new up. It’s really just a recipe of a lot of hours sweating and thinking hard and trying not to look at the internet, and the script is the result.

WARNING: MINORLY SPOILERISH LANGUAGE AHEAD.

iH: One of the lines from Spring that really stuck with me was the one that said something along the lines of “Just because you haven’t seen something before doesn’t mean it’s supernatural.” Can you talk a little bit about keeping the mythology grounded in reality?

JB & AM: As natural skeptics ourselves, we always have to ask what would make me keep thinking after the movie’s over? If we don’t buy the possibility in the natural world, it can only get under our skin for a second. But there’s something about Nadia in the film that you think…maybe. The Universal movie monsters (were-man, zombies, dracula, frankenstein) are all inventions with relatively arbitrary rules. We thought — what if there were a skeleton key sort of creature that inspired all of these, and the features that it took on reminded of our own evolution? A werewolf has fangs, like our ape ancestry. A Creature from the Black Lagoon has scales, like our primordial predecessors (sorry/not sorry for that PERFECT ALLITERATION). That tiny little potentially-coincidental crossover from each of our zeitgeist’s “monsters” was enough to intrigue the inner skeptic and to design something larger.

iH: Another thing I thought you guys did really effectively was using things that secondary characters would talk about, which would maybe influence main character Evan’s thought process down the line. Examples that come to mind are when one of the guys that Evan meets up with in Italy tells a story about a woman who left him, and of course the old man’s mourning of his wife. Can you talk about that?

JB & AM: We are in love with our secondary characters. We have a firm belief that they’re more than a way to salt-and-pepper your story, and too often they feel like a tool by the writer to get somewhere with the plot. For us, our side characters are about exploring another human interaction, one perhaps that can inform the plot a bit, but much more so to deepen our understanding of who these people are.

Also, Nick Nevern is hilarious and we just want to keep him talking, y’know? There’s this idea people have that if one character says or does one thing, one inspirational thing to the main character, it can solve the problem the main character is having. But nothing can solve the death of Evan’s mother and his ensuing listlessness, nothing but time. So here’s this macho guy surrounded by a bunch of guys, all trying to make him feel better rather than empathize because they have no idea how else to do it, but the only way he can really move on is by spending the rest of the movie with him and just watching him do it. Humans are complicated.

END OF MINORLY SPOILERISH LANGUAGE

iH: I’m a huge fan of The Battery. How did you get involved with Jeremy Gardner?

JB & AM: We met him briefly at a festival in Amsterdam. He thought we were pricks. We thought he was awesome. We met him again in Brazil, he revised his opinion of us, we drank together, lots of late nights were had. Had to fight with SAG to let us cast him. You can see why we did that, he’s amazing. We are opening a timeshare in his beard.

iH: I think Spring might be the most romantic horror film I’ve seen. What romances in horror film history have stuck out to you as particularly noteworthy?

JB & AM: There’s a long history of love stories with horror elements or vice-versa, but we’d be lying to you if we said we watched them all and they inspired the film. We had no idea if a love story with a supernatural side would work, we were just really confident in the script.

iH: What is the status of your Aleister Crowley movie Beasts?

JB & AM: Train’s just about to leave the station!

iH: You said in one interview that Beasts might be the darkest thing you’ll ever do. Can you elaborate on that?

JB & AM: There’s no way to tell an Aleister Crowley story with a happy ending, it’s that simple. That complicated man’s life is not a happy story, and his personality tends to lean toward extremes that many people will have trouble accepting. But it’s amazing in its meanness, its darkness is kind of like that of Boogie Nights (remember what the 3rd act becomes) or There Will Be Blood. We guarantee the film will still be fun to watch, but happy it will not be.

iH: IMDb has you guys pegged for an “untitled UFO cult comedy,” and at one point you said you were considering making an action-adventure film with horror elements, a romance with a horror element and a revenge western. Obviously Spring is the romance. Beasts is next right? Where do these other projects fit in these days?

JB & AM: Beasts is next at the moment. The other projects are stuff we’ve talked about or started: the action/adventure/horror and revenge western are orphaned scripts we’re seeking homes for, the romance with horror element became SPRING, and the UFO cult comedy is the product of our desire to constantly film stuff so we shoot it as we travel abroad and it stars ourselves. Who knows if/how it will ultimately finish, but at least we’re workin’.

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New Poster Reveal For Nicolas Cage’s Survival Creature Feature ‘Arcadian’ [Trailer]

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Nicolas Cage Arcadian

In the latest cinematic venture featuring Nicolas Cage, Arcadian emerges as a compelling creature feature, teeming with suspense, horror, and emotional depth. RLJE Films has recently released a series of new images and a captivating poster, offering audiences a glimpse into the eerie and thrilling world of “Arcadian”. Scheduled to hit theaters on April 12, 2024, the film will later be available on Shudder and AMC+, ensuring a wide audience can experience its gripping narrative.

Arcadian Movie Trailer

The Motion Picture Association (MPA) has given this film an “R” rating for its “bloody images,” hinting at the visceral and intense experience awaiting viewers. The film draws inspiration from acclaimed horror benchmarks like “A Quiet Place,” weaving a post-apocalyptic tale of a father and his two sons navigating a desolate world. Following a catastrophic event that depopulates the planet, the family faces the dual challenge of surviving their dystopian environment and eluding mysterious nocturnal creatures.

Joining Nicolas Cage in this harrowing journey are Jaeden Martell, known for his role in “IT” (2017), Maxwell Jenkins from “Lost in Space,” and Sadie Soverall, featured in “Fate: The Winx Saga.” Directed by Ben Brewer (“The Trust”) and penned by Mike Nilon (“Braven”), “Arcadian” promises a unique blend of poignant storytelling and electrifying survival horror.

Maxwell Jenkins, Nicolas Cage, and Jaeden Martell 

Critics have already begun to praise “Arcadian” for its imaginative monster designs and exhilarating action sequences, with one review from Bloody Disgusting highlighting the film’s balance between emotional coming-of-age elements and heart-pounding horror. Despite sharing thematic elements with similar genre films, “Arcadian” sets itself apart through its creative approach and action-driven plot, promising a cinematic experience filled with mystery, suspense, and relentless thrills.

Arcadian Official Movie Poster

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‘Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 3’ Is a Go with Enhanced Budget and New Characters

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Winnie the Pooh 3

Wow, they’re churning things out fast! The upcoming sequel “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 3” is officially moving forward, promising an expanded narrative with a larger budget and the introduction of beloved characters from A.A. Milne’s original tales. As confirmed by Variety, the third installment in the horror franchise will welcome Rabbit, the heffalumps, and the woozles into its dark and twisted narrative.

This sequel is a part of an ambitious cinematic universe that reimagines children’s stories as horror tales. Alongside “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” and its first sequel, the universe includes films such as “Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare”, “Bambi: The Reckoning,” and “Pinocchio Unstrung”. These movies are set to converge in the crossover event “Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble,” slated for a 2025 release.

Winnie the Pooh Poohniverse

The creation of these films was made possible when A.A. Milne’s 1926 children’s book “Winnie-the-Pooh” entered the public domain last year, allowing filmmakers to explore these cherished characters in unprecedented ways. Director Rhys Frake-Waterfield and producer Scott Jeffrey Chambers, of Jagged Edge Productions, have led the charge in this innovative endeavor.

The inclusion of Rabbit, heffalumps, and woozles in the upcoming sequel introduces a new layer to the franchise. In Milne’s original stories, heffalumps are imagined creatures resembling elephants, while woozles are known for their weasel-like characteristics and a penchant for stealing honey. Their roles in the narrative remain to be seen, but their addition promises to enrich the horror universe with deeper connections to the source material.

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How to Watch ‘Late Night with the Devil’ from Home: Dates and Platforms

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Late Night With The Devil

For fans eager to dive into one of this year’s most talked-about horror films from the comfort of their own home, “Late Night with the Devil” will be available for streaming exclusively on Shudder starting April 19, 2024. This announcement has been highly anticipated following the film’s successful theatrical release by IFC Films, which saw it earning rave reviews and a record-breaking opening weekend for the distributor.

“Late Night with the Devil” emerges as a standout horror film, captivating audiences and critics alike, with Stephen King himself offering high praise for the 1977-set film. Starring David Dastmalchian, the movie unfolds on Halloween night during a live late-night talk show broadcast that disastrously unleashes evil across the nation. This found footage-style film not only delivers scares but also authentically captures the aesthetic of the 1970s, drawing viewers into its nightmarish scenario.

David Dastmalchian in Late Night with the Devil

The film’s initial box office success, opening to $2.8 million in 1,034 theaters, underscores its wide appeal and marks the highest opening weekend for an IFC Films release. Critically acclaimed, “Late Night with the Devil” boasts a 96% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 135 reviews, with the consensus praising it for rejuvenating the possession horror genre and showcasing David Dastmalchian’s exceptional performance.

Rotten Tomatoes score as of 3/28/2024

Simon Rother of iHorror.com encapsulates the film’s allure, emphasizing its immersive quality that transports viewers back to the 1970s, making them feel as if they are part of the eerie “Night Owls” Halloween broadcast. Rother lauds the film for its meticulously crafted script and the emotional and shocking journey it takes viewers on, stating, “This whole experience will have viewers of the Cairnes brothers’ film glued to their screen… The script, from beginning to end, is neatly sewn together with an ending that’ll have jaws on the floor.” You can read the full review here.

Rother further encourages audiences to watch the film, highlighting its multifaceted appeal: “Whenever it is made available to you, you must attempt to view the Cairnes Brothers’ latest project as it will make you laugh, it will creep you out, it will amaze you, and it might even strike an emotional cord.”

Set to stream on Shudder on April 19, 2024, “Late Night with the Devil” offers a compelling blend of horror, history, and heart. This film is not just a must-watch for horror aficionados but for anyone looking to be thoroughly entertained and moved by a cinematic experience that redefines the boundaries of its genre.

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