 [news] [reviews] [features] |
|
 |
YOUNG BLOODWe cornered 21-year-old Nine Lives writer, director and producer Andrew Green, minutes after the world premiere of his movie, at London's Lupo Frightfest 2002... |
Hello, Sir! That must have been nerve-wracking, watching your movie in a cinema full of people... Andrew Green: "Oh, yeah, but really exciting. The worst part was having to speak at the beginning: I can't deal with public speaking. It was the first time I'd seen it on a big screen, so it was definitely an experience. I hope everyone had a good time." There seemed to be a few laughs, where you maybe didn't intend them to be. "I like that, actually! Sometimes people take themselves too seriously. Everybody's got their own reaction to certain bits: my date was laughing at certain bits, just because she was scared and having to deal with it." Was John Carpenter's 'The Thing' a big influence on Nine Lives? "Oh yeah, that was a big one. There's lots of echoes of that in there. There's also stuff like the Hitchcock 'top shot'. You have to try and do the masters justice!" You have an American accent, yet 'Nine Lives' is a British flick. Where are you from? "I'm from Bermuda, but my dad's from Manchester and my mother's from Scotland. I was born here - I'm British by blood but not by accent!" " So you wanted to put a British movie together first? "Oh, absolutely: I didn't wanna work anywhere else. I worked in LA for a few years, but knew it wasn't for me. I love London." " Is this your first movie? "It's my first feature. I did a short film a few years ago, in Bermuda, which was a bigger logistical operation, because I had to get all my cast over from LA. That was only nine minutes long, but it was a 35mm film. This was a breeze compared to that: I had a great crew and we finished right on schedule." What were you trying to achieve with the script? "I had the budget in mind, because I knew I only had limited access to what I could get. I wrote something which is always popular: horror. I developed it from a premise and just worked around it." How would you feel if 'Nine Lives' was described as a slasher movie? "I don't like the term 'slasher', but nobody does! " I don't know why... "I'd like to call it a paranormal thriller that happens to 20-somethings. I tried to avoid blood and guts, generally speaking. It's more psychological. What you didn't see was gorier than what you did see." How did you make the killers' eyes hollow? "We used white contact lenses throughout it. We were doing quite well with budget, so we decided to use CGI hollowed-out eyes, which looked terrific. We started off with no special effects in it, and ended up with about 60. It turned out a lot more ambitious than I planned, which is great." Name us a few of your favourite horror movies. "The Shining's up there. Night Of The Living Dead is probably my all-time favourite - it's a terrific classic. Everybody's got their guilty pleasures, too: I'm a big fan of the Leprechaun series. You can't beat Leprechaun In Space! It's a classic." You must be a fan of the Halloween series. "Oh yeah, terrific. John Carpenter did a great job on the first one." Would you like to think you're strengthening the British horror industry? "I don't wanna criticise the British industry, but it's very drama and character oriented. Which was initially a difficulty when I was pitching this around. I'm just hoping that UK films can get a revival..." [Back To Top] [Features Menu] [Home] |
|||