The Cottage Movie Preview – Manchester
William’s New Movie Leaves Us Wondering, What Next?
Paul Andrew William’s first full length movie, London To Brighton, was an unsettling experience for the viewer but within a few minutes it made compulsive viewing, even the bits that had to be viewed with eyes half closed . The inventive director gave us a two hour insight into the world of prostitutes and their pimps and young girls gripped by fear and despair. The second offering from Williams, The Cottage, is at the other end of the spectrum and nothing like you would expect after ‘London to Brighton’.
The Cottage is a horror story coupled with dark comedy that will have you rolling in your seats and wondering why you are laughing in the face of adversity. ‘The Cottage’ refers to the little house in the country where a pair of incompetent brothers hole up with their kidnapped victim, Tracy (Jennifer Ellison). The brothers are David (Andy Serkis), who is supposedly the brains and the brawn of the organisation, and Peter (Reace Shearsmith), his drippy, spineless sibling. The duo have Tracy tied up and gagged outside in the boot of their car. Tracey has a filthy rich dad and an even filthier mouth, and has a devious, underhand step-brother Andrew (Steve O’Donnell) who has an evil streak in place of a backbone. His arrival puts the cat well and truly among the pigeons as far as the brothers are concerned and leads to a hot pursuit through the woods somewhat reminiscent of the Keystone Cops, except this outing is about to come to a bloody end. Hidden in the middle of the woods is another house belonging to a hideous grotesque farmer and his faithful weapon of choice, the pick axe.
The Cottage draws comparisons with other cult horror movies but has to be viewed with a barrel of salt, not just a pinch! For some bizarre reason, every time a limb spurts blood and the crunch of broken bones is amplified, the laughter mounts to near hysteria. The Cottage starts on the back burner, simmers for a while then soon turns up the heat, with limbs, blood and guts in abundance. The Cottage spans the divide between comedy and horror with skillful simplicity.
Graham Gartside-Bernier had the pleasure of speaking with the cast at a recent viewing of the movie in Manchester.
What inspired you to write this story?
Paul: Originally I was intending to write a film that cost no money and was all set in one location-that was the first section of the film involving the kidnapping. For the second section I got a bit carried away! I was always interested in the relationship between brothers. I think without this relationship the film would be pretty boring. The reason I wrote about two brothers is because siblings argue and talk to each other in a very different way. There is always a certain bond that no matter how stamped on it gets, it will always be there.
I read on the Internet that the movie is slated to go straight to DVD in the US. Considering how well received movies like Hot Fuzz and 28 Days Later were, why do you think this is?
Paul: Basically, to be honest, I think when they first saw the promo’s they were pretty much all horror. They read the script and thought they were getting American style slasher movies. When they saw the first half and didn’t see young virgins running around everywhere I think they were a bit disappointed.
I was personally surprised after watching the first half of the movie. A lot of things were unexpected and you have some ingenious maimings and deaths as the action gets going. Do you think this why the US audiences just don’t get it?
Reece: We were asked to do more of a build up to the horror for the Americans so that they could expect it coming rather than be a surprise.
So what can audiences expect?
Paul: Something interesting and something funny, something very different from my last film. I hope they have a good time. This is not meant to be terrifying. It’s meant to be a ghost train or a rollercoaster. We want people to be scared but laughing. Getting horror and comedy to work together is really difficult. It’s not easy because you’re asking people to feel two very separate emotions at the same time.
Andy, my publisher has been badgering me for a week. He wants an apology for the 20 minutes you made his wife cry when you died at the end of King Kong.
Paul: What? She cried? That’s *@$!. Why?
TWICE: Because it was, erm… sad!
Paul: No!
Andy: LAUGHS
It’s been quite some time since we’ve seen your face Andy. Do you feel like you’ve been hidden behind the CGI of late?
Andy: Not at all. A character is a character whether it’s manifested as CGI or as a live action character. It’s all about that character and what the character brings to the story so it doesn’t make any difference to me.
And does Gollum haunt you?
Andy: No. In fact he’ll probably be making a come back very soon.
Reece, you seem to be building up a catalogue of very adult work. I have to ask you, does having two kids ever make you want to do anything a bit more, disneyesque?
Reece: Well, I have done a few children’s voice-overs for cartoons, which they have seen. They will get to see what their daddy does when they are at an appropriate age. They don’t know anything yet so they call it my silly work.
While I scoured the Internet I discovered a small fact. You were once in an episode of London’s Burning. Is that true?
Reece: Yes, I played a bloke that got caught photocopying his arse in the office.
Paul: Really? No way! (Laughs).
TWICE: Is it on your CV?
Reece: No, it’s not on my showreel. (Laughs).
Jennifer, what surprised you most on this film?
Jennifer: What surprised me most was probably how much fun you can have while you’re making a horror film. When you’re watching them in the cinema or on DVD it can be really scary and intense and you sometimes forget that it’s actually just a film and what goes into making it. We had a great time, yet the film’s going to be very scary.
Did the weather help the atmosphere?
Jennifer: The first night I started filming I just felt normal. I didn’t feel I was doing a performance because the cold just took me over and I was so tired. I literally got woken up at one point and sat by a fire, by a little heater. Reece and I fell asleep and then woke up to “come on, ready for you on set.” So it was really difficult!
You swear a lot in this movie and I have to say, you really have championed the word c$*t in my vocabulary.
Thank you, thank you.
So Paul, it is common knowledge that you borrowed £80, 000 from a friend to make London to Brighton. Do you think with the success of The Cottage they’ll be getting it back?
It wasn’t really borrowed. More like invested and yes, they’ll be getting it back.
