Official Synopsis: WITCH tells the story of a troubled relationship between two young lovers who encounter a mysterious woman while going through a very public argument. The couple helps the woman into her house where strange things begin to happen. The seemingly sweet woman is not all that she appears to be leading our characters down a twisted and bloody path toward reconciliation.
I recently interviewed one of the directors of this upcoming horror short “Witch”, Tyler Mager, who co-wrote the script with fellow director Americo Siller. Who talks in depth about the story of “Witch” and some of the bloody perks that they have for you! Enjoy!
Horror Society: For fans that don’t know about your guy’s project, can you tell us a little about it?
Tyler Mager: WITCH is a sort of throwback 70’s style horror with a strong emotional core. It’s about a couple in the middle of a very public break up when they bump into a mysterious woman. She invites them into her home where slowly the woman reveals herself to be a much more dangerous, dark force. As the situation changes to something a bit more sinister, all hell breaks loose as the couple spiral down a bloody path toward reconciliation.
HS: Where did you guys get the inspiration for the story?
TM: Some of the short films we write end up being way too ambitious in terms of budget and narrative scope. WITCH is an attempt at something a little more straight forward narratively but still technically ambitious. We knew we wanted to do a creature driven horror movie with strong characters who are believable and relatable. This isn’t Ripley in Aliens you know, these people have no idea what’s about to happen to them. These are real human beings going through a very tough time and just so happen to find themselves trapped in the web of a much bigger, more sinister force that uses their emotional situation against them. Our love of 70’s horror movies, and more specifically John Carpenter movies, helped focus our goal a little bit more. It’s a fun little horror flick with some subtextual stuff that people can look for if they want to, otherwise there will be enough blood, guts and craziness to hopefully satisfy horror fans.
HS: You’re right now doing an indiegogo campaign, what are some of the cool perks that you want people to know about?
TM: Well, right now I think one of the coolest options is the latest poster we’ve just had designed for the film. It’s available at the $250 legend level and will be a limited edition print from a local Austin artist. Like the movie, it’s a fun little throwback hand drawn poster that represents some of the general influences of WITCH.
In addition to the normal stuff like t-shirts, DVDs and downloads, we’ve also added a few more large donation options that allow people to become Associate or Executive Producers on the film. It’s definitely pricy but if someone has been waiting for a moment like this to truly be apart of something special, WITCH is a good opportunity. You aren’t just investing in the short film, you are investing in our creative future as well.
HS: This is you’re guys directorial debut, are you guy’s feeling nervous, and what are some of the challenges you see in bringing your visions to life?
TM: A little nervous, sure. All of us work in the film industry, we know what it’s like. Day of stuff will of course be a little nerve wracking, it always is but honestly I feel good and I’m eager to see what we can do. For the most part, everyone working on this film will be people we know, people we’ve worked with before in one capacity or another. That goes a long way in helping us calm our nerves a bit.
The biggest challenge is working within the constraints of a short form narrative. We know we won’t get a chance to fully explore these characters so it’s on us to make sure the audience has an idea of who they are. The emotional sequences have to pay off at least in some way. There’s a lot of information to get across in a very short amount of time, how do we make it enjoyable without losing the thematic stuff? It’s a fun challenge and one that will force us to be creative.
HS: What are the plans for the film once completed?
TM: We’ll be taking the film on the festival circuit for a while in addition to drumming any interest in a feature film version. There’s some wild concepts we are playing with involving a whole universe of films and ideas that build on what you see here. It’s about exploring where these creatures come from and what they are. Whatever comes of it, we mainly just want people to know that we’re out here making weird stuff.
HS: An easy question, what’s your guys favorite horror films and why?
TM: Not as easy as you might think! For me, many of my favorite horror films aren’t straight horror. As mentioned before Carpenter is a huge influence so THE THING is definitely up there. THE SHINING blows my mind every time I watch it and Kubrick’s visual style and thematic depth definitely influenced WITCH. My all-time favorite horror movie though is the original ALIEN. That’s sort of a cheat since the film is more of a sci-fi/horror hybrid but I think that’s what makes the film so interesting in a lot of ways. So much time and effort was put in to create a mythology, all these little nuggets of information from the production design to the characters really opens up a bigger world that this smaller story fits in. For us, that’s the kind of storytelling we want to do. Incorporating science fiction in ways that allow us to build these big mythologies and enhance whatever other genre we might be working in.
HS: My last and final question, is there anything that I forgot to ask, that you’re just dying to tell the fans about the Witch?
TM: The special effects in WITCH will be 95% practical with little to no CGI present. We’ve spent a lot of time designing and coming up with ways to make these creatures look unique and frightening. CGI is a wonderful tool that when used correctly can be insanely helpful and effective enhancing a movie. However, the most terrifying horror effects are always practical. There’s nothing better than transforming a normal object or person into something other worldly.
I want to thank Tyler Mager for taking the time to do this bloody awesome interview. You can check out their indiegogo campaign.
Indiegogo Campaign: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/witch-short-film
