‘It Was a Primal Scream That Came Out of Me’: ‘Elm Street’ Meets Social Distancing in ‘The Harbinger’
25.07.2022 - 21:15
/ variety.com
Marta Balaga Director Andy Mitton takes on night terrors and social distancing in his new horror movie “The Harbinger,” fresh off its world premiere at Fantasia. Recently picked up by XYZ Films, it was produced by Jay Dunn and Richard W.
King.Originally set to follow his well-received 2018 release “The Witch in the Window” with “Walk with Me into the Darkness,” the U.S. director changed his mind after the pandemic hit.“It was probably parallel to what everyone else was experiencing when it finally dawned on us that it wasn’t going to be just a two-week thing.
Our plans went down the tubes,” he reminisces at the Montreal-based fest.Starring Gabby Beans, the film shows a woman who, after quarantining with her family, decides to venture out into the world again to help out a friend (Emily Davis), suffering from loneliness and terrifying dreams. “Back then, I was also in the midst of a horrible bout of nightmares, which is unusual for me.
I was afraid of going to sleep at night. It just kept getting worse,” says Mitton.“I wanted to use our collective dread as fuel, make something that could remind people of ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street,’ although for me, it’s more of a tonal relative to ‘Jacob’s Ladder.’ It was a primal scream that came out of me.”Once the cast – which also included Mitton’s wife Laura Heisler and their two children – started rehearsals on Zoom, they would often share their respective stories of loss.“We were still living in that pre-vaccine moment and we were all feeling it,” he says.“As a storyteller, you always look for things that connect us.
Usually, we are so ‘regional’ in our experience and our history, but this we all shared. To me, it was irresistible.”As Beans’ protagonist Monique starts spending
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