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Marcus Dunstan is a well known name in the horror realm. Alongside Patrick Melton he wrote four of the Saw films (IV \u2013 VII), as well as directing both The Collector and The Collection. He steps ever so slightly away from the horror genre though with his latest film \u2013 The Neighbour. The film is an intense thriller with nods to horror. We caught the film at Frightfest and thoroughly enjoyed it.<\/p>\n
The film stars Josh Stewart and Alex Essoe as John and Rosie, a young couple that have been downtrodden by life. They make their money by helping out John\u2019s Uncle, a man with heavy criminal ties. To make matters worse, their neighbour Troy (Bill Engvall) is exceptionally creepy. Desperate to break out of their rut, the pair decide to leave town after one last job. However, after John returns home and Rosie is nowhere to be seen he realises that Troy has something to do with it. John then starts a rescue mission and discovers a dark and disturbing truth.<\/p>\n
We spoke to Marcus ahead of the film\u2019s release. He was in high spirits when we spoke to him and didn\u2019t even mind that it was exceptionally early in his part of the world, telling us he was embracing his jet-lag. He was very chatty and happily discussed the filming process, and the importance of chemistry, as well as sharing some interesting insights into the Saw series.<\/p>\n
Where did the idea for The Neighbour come from? <\/p>\n
Well The Neighbour idea was born of a desire to see an adult thriller again. What I mean by adult thriller, is a thriller that centres on only adults. People above or around thirty that had already accepted their hand in life and were playing it. Then I added a few more layers to it that would be unexpected in the thriller area that we learned from horror movies. In terms of a plot we wanted to set something that was a little closer to home, to our back yard of the heartlands.<\/p>\n
The concept and theme that has been fun to play with in The Collector movies, Saw and even God of War, was someone who clearly has committed a bad thing, or lived in the world of villains and maybe wanted to make good of that or get away from it, coming face to face with something far worse. Thereby it\u2019s who the people are inside, deep down, what they\u2019re willing to protect, fight for, kill for, bleed for, that defines them.<\/p>\n
So it didn\u2019t have anything to do with a former bad experience?<\/p>\n
(Laughs) No, no, no! I mean I have a genuinely creepy neighbour now, but it\u2019s handle-able (laughs).<\/p>\n
Bill Engvall is known for his work in the comedy arena, what convinced you that he could inhabit this menacing character?<\/p>\n
Well how about this, when it comes to someone with the skillset of Mr Engvall, he cut his teeth and put food on the table and provided for his family in the realm of comedy. But that starts with stand-up comedy. That starts with road tours. That starts with going to every possible show that will take you. To stand up, in a dark place with strangers who demand that they laugh. Whatever day Mr Engvall would have had, could have been the worse day of his life, could have been the day all four tires blew out, something hits him and he has to have a mechanism to become that affable guy no matter what. He has to make that room of silhouettes laugh. I thought \u2013 \u2018okay, here\u2019s a gentleman that has a switch\u2019. He has to switch it usually to \u2018Hey everything is fine isn\u2019t it?\u2019 and it was fascinating to consider the gentleman he could be if we flicked the switch the other way.<\/p>\n
Personally I didn\u2019t realise he was from a comedy background. I assumed he\u2019d always been playing these dark roles, he does them so well. <\/p>\n
The first dailies I showed, people didn\u2019t recognise him. I think that is a testament to how dedicated and marvellous an actor he is. He was willing to go through all of that work to change his appearance and he became someone else. As a true joy to all of us, he was still the affable, humorous, gentle soul we all know him to be. In between every set-up and every shot he was joking, but when it was action, boy Troy came out.<\/p>\n
So he didn\u2019t go method then?<\/p>\n
Thank goodness he didn\u2019t so, because (laughs) life\u2019s too short you know? (Laughs) If I were really going out there, and everybody went method on that movie, I think that none of us would have done it. We laughed the entire time we made it. It was a joy. This was the one movie where I really never wanted it to end. I could have kept shooting and shooting. It was such a wonderful time to show up and everyday just hang out with my friends. We had one common enemy and that was the clock. That was it. We fought the cause all day and laughed as we did it. It just doesn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n
Every single actor\u2026 I\u2019ll refer to them as a two-take actor. They\u2019d do one just like the script is, and one however they\u2019d like to do it. Time and time again we had all these things to play with and shape the narrative. They inspired us. Bill inspired humanity in a villain role. There were scenes that weren\u2019t in the script initially. We were like \u2018wait a minute\u2026 Bill in real life is a father, so let\u2019s let him have some paternal moments\u2019. Then we have John, Josh Stewart\u2019s character, who we already have empathy for six minutes in because of how we see him interact with the woman and her daughter. These two people would both be villains in their own thriller, but you put them in a collision course and that thriller becomes horrific. That made it all the worthwhile. I wish that experience upon any filmmaker.<\/p>\n
This is your third project with Josh Stewart, what makes him your top choice of leading man?<\/p>\n
I think Josh Stewart is a diamond. I believe that he is not only a marvellous colleague, but this is a talented force who directs, who acts, who produces, who is also a father, but most gratefully, I am grateful that Josh Stewart is a friend. Josh Stewart is a friend that will do anything for you. I\u2019m just so fortunate to be in orbit with a talent such as him. You can tell how much work he does in the subtleties and the quiet moments of each scene. Now that we\u2019ve developed this short hand and we know that we can make fun of each other in a loving way. What it transforms to when we\u2019re working together is well now we can get right down to it. We can then find more unique variations on scenes and moments. Gosh, he\u2019s legit. He is absolutely legit and we are so lucky to have ever crossed paths with him.<\/p>\n
He sounds committed to his craft too. We spoke to Alex Essoe and she recounted a tale of Josh finding a cockroach in his beer during a take. <\/p>\n
(Hysterically laughs) Yes, and I have that clip on my phone. He has his back to camera\u2026 \u201cyou know what greed does, it makes people unlucky,\u201d he takes a swig and then \u2018cut\u2019 and he shouts \u2018oh man I just swallowed a roach!\u2019 We were all laughing so hard and he\u2019s just saying \u2018oh that\u2019s so gross.\u2019 (Laughs) Alex was there in just a shirt and shorts, she\u2019s so brave. They were both so brave to stay in that room. The house, it was an actual house we were shooting in, we didn\u2019t realise it was infested until we turned the heat on. To even make it shootable we had to turn off the plumbing, because it would shoot off in every direction. But once we brought in the space heater, roaches started to crawl from everywhere, light sockets, out of the appliances and we were like \u2018Holy Cow! Oh my Gosh! Well it\u2019s the middle of the night, let\u2019s just finish the scene\u2019 and sure enough one of them sought shelter in Josh\u2019s beer.<\/p>\n
Alex herself ate bugs in her previous film Starry Eyes, so it seems they have a shared trauma, though Alex volunteered for it\u2026<\/p>\n
And does that not speak to how awesome she is? Alex Essoe and Josh together had\u2026I had heard of this term chemistry. It\u2019s a term that is applied in a lot of articles \u201cI knew they were the right people for the roles because they had this instant chemistry.\u201d I had an idea of what I thought that was, but I didn\u2019t know for certain until those two worked together.<\/p>\n
Chemistry is one thing where the camera can fake it. A camera can make two people feel like they are in love and we know that they both couldn\u2019t be more opposite, One is a robot, the other one is in another part of the world, but you take the footage of each of them and put it together it looks like they\u2019re in the same room having an emotional moment. But in this case the chemistry that I would like to emphasise is that these were two professional actors who worked together so easily it was as if they were from the same DNA of how they approached their craft. That chemistry is altogether different. That struck me as a vital chemistry to go for. You\u2019re looking for a like-mindset. You\u2019re looking for people who in their real lives defend without a blink, stand up for themselves, love this way, protect ruthlessly. Then when you say \u2018hey, would you guys mind working together?\u2019 they have chemistry.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a lot of fight and stunt sequences in the film. I read that you used to throw yourself into stunt work, did you do anything on The Neighbour?<\/p>\n
No (laughs hysterically). The last one I did, and hopefully it is the last one, was we had a little extra time and some extra breakaway glass, and I wanted to make a gag moment\u2026 this was years ago. In-between shooting the sequels to the Feast movies there was a weekend where a friend, whose name is also Josh, but not Josh Stewart, he wanted to film a Civil War era short. So all of us snuck out at the weekend to help Josh make this film \u2013 Josh Smith.<\/p>\n
The film\u2019s name was Thus to Tyrants. So we went out there all dressed in our Civil War attire. The story revolved around the audience thinking they were just watching some guys at a camp settling down for the night. Then you realise it is John Wilkes Booth when he was a solider hearing the critical speech that he needed to hear that would forever effect the way he viewed politics for the negative.<\/p>\n
So now I\u2019ve gone on this wild tangent, there we are finishing out The Collector. We were shooting some really cool stuff just for some inserts and opening credit sequence material and what not. I just had enough fake glass, and a door and a table and a shotgun. So I dressed up as Abraham Lincoln. I said \u2018right just aim at the glass, roll sound and action!\u2019 I had on the tuxedo, the hat, the big beard holding the shotgun and this was going to be the teaser trailer for Thus to Tyrant 2: Lincoln\u2019s Revenge, So I kicked the door open, go running for the glass, my plan was to do a flip through the glass and land on my feet. I did not. I did a barrel roll through the glass and landed on my face. That was probably my last stunt (laughs).<\/p>\n
The Neighbour is different to, but still feels similar to, The Collector. Was it fun to explore a new genre?<\/p>\n
Well that question is a high compliment, thank you very much. That was the goal. I didn\u2019t want to jump into a PG-13, and I didn\u2019t want to jump into something that stops short of violence. I wanted to maybe move 15% back from gore into thriller, so what are the familiars? Well I don\u2019t want to do anything without Josh Stewart, I liked the look, mood and the vibe that we create with our kind of cinematography and blended in vintage film stocks with modern and digital, but also vintage lens. Maybe we\u2019ll set it in the Mid-West. It\u2019s a Metropolis yes, but it\u2019s got to look haunted and decrepit and have that same colour palette. Then finally and most assuredly our sound and our score, which is a character in the film in its own right. Let\u2019s pull back as much dialogue as we can and live in the suspense as if this was the most savage movie ever, but when we get up to the punch, it doesn\u2019t require gore. It will require an absolute no-holds-barred performance. That alchemy, all of that coming together, allowed that to happen and that was the absolute goal.<\/p>\n
It meant certain sacrifices. If we were to call this movie The Collector 3 our budget would have been triple and we\u2019d probably still be shooting (laughs). But we\u2019re at that point where I don\u2019t know that the adult thriller, the thriller that really is the bulls-eye we\u2019re trying to hit is so, so tiny. The world isn\u2019t at stake, no one has a cape, it\u2019s not sequel, it\u2019s not a remake or a reboot, it\u2019s its own thing. This is a broken heartland suspense thriller. I thought \u2018wow, the door is open just wide enough. I think we can make this great. We can take advantage of every experience that we\u2019ve had in our previous collaborations \u2013 let\u2019s go.\u2019 I loved that that instinct inspired a lot. It is when Alex unleashes at a key moment. We were starting to get into this thriller mechanic where we chose horror versus thriller aesthetics and Alex really goes off on someone that is quite evil. (Chuckles) She came up with her own line just there and it was like \u2018this is what the camera wants. It\u2019s this great moment with Josh where she says \u2018Let\u2019s go Baby\u2019 (laughs). That was our philosophy everyday! We\u2019ve got all the machines here, we\u2019ve got all the gasoline, let\u2019s throw matches and see what happens \u2013 Let\u2019s go Baby! So when Alex actually said that in the movie, I just thought \u2018Holy Cow! There\u2019s your Ripley moment.\u2019<\/p>\n
The other night we were at the Cinema La France in Paris and I have only seen the movie with an audience maybe three times, and this moment comes up, we\u2019re in the biggest theatre we\u2019ve ever played. I don\u2019t know anybody there, I\u2019m not fluent in French and I\u2019m waiting and waiting, and sure enough Alex slams down her authority and says the line and the entire audience erupt into applause. In that moment, because I was covered in stress sweat and freaking out, that made every struggle worthwhile.<\/p>\n
You wrote four of the seven Saw films, Saw Legacy is in development at the moment. Are there any plans for you to be involved again?<\/p>\n
Oh no, they are doing their own thing. I\u2019m really excited to see because that\u2019s when Patrick [Melton] and I went into that world. We had just finished Feast and it was a new voice into that world. Now I\u2019m eager to see what the next new voice does. It\u2019s such fertile soil to grow many, many marvellous stories. I\u2019m just as excited to see that as anyone else.<\/p>\n
I like what those movies did do. They didn\u2019t pick on teens. They didn\u2019t reduce the female characters to damsels in distress, running around in tank tops. They\u2026 if anything there was an equal playing field for all. The only thing that was judged was what was the worst in each character. What\u2019s the worst decision they made? In that there was a commonality.<\/p>\n
I loved how Saw can be a social commentary as well. Gosh, I have a fantasy version of what this one could be (laughs) given like to all political instability, especially here [in America]. We\u2019re not judging what\u2019s great about our candidates anymore, we\u2019re judging who\u2019s less bad. It\u2019s like a Saw game on TV and I can\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n
At the end of Saw VII Doctor Gordon has some accomplishes. Did you know who they were and might they pop up in future films?<\/p>\n
Yes, and it is shot and online somewhere. At the beginning of Saw VII there is a pretty big public trap, calling back to the idea of the public execution as a way of telling the town what not to do. It was called the Lover\u2019s Triangle and had Brad and Ryan and the woman they were fighting for. Her duplicitous nature comes out and the two guys end up getting beat up and sawed, but they get out with their lives.<\/p>\n
So at the end of the movie when Doctor Gordon reveals himself before the stunned Hoffman, the two accomplishes are either side. They take their masks off too and they are Brad and Ryan, then they formed a circle around Hoffman. Throughout any number of things that happened in the post process they elected to go with the take where the masks stayed on a little longer. But that\u2019s what was shot, so we did know and yet at the same time that is not cannon. I like to think\u2026I\u2019ll tell you another secret, the first time we were brought in for Saw IV they showed us where Saw III was and Donnie Wahlberg \u2013 Detective Matthews, he was killed. He was killed in a hallway scene. Amanda finds him in the hallway, there\u2019s not much of a fight, she kicks his ankle out from under him and stabs him in the throat dead. I remember Patrick and I passionately begging for them to not show that, \u2018he\u2019s vital, he\u2019s a sequel. If we got him we got something to motivate a little bit more, please kill off everybody, but just give us Matthews!\u2019 Fortunately one by one the powers that be agreed and we were able to have him.<\/p>\n
So in this case I\u2019m now putting on the executive mindset of \u2018Wow you\u2019ve got two people established in your through line that could be accomplishes, you\u2019ve got a free mystery right there \u2013 who are they?\u2019<\/p>\n
View this article at Hollywood News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Marcus Dunstan is a well known name in the horror realm. Alongside Patrick Melton he wrote four of the Saw films (IV \u2013 VII), as well as directing both The Collector and The Collection. He steps ever so slightly away from the horror genre though with his latest film \u2013 The Neighbour. The film is
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