Film Name: Love Dogs
Director: West Eldredge
Writer: West Eldredge
Starring: Ethan McDowell, Kyla Diane Kennedy, Dwayne A. Thomas, Marlowe Holden, Thomas
Parobek
Love Dogs is a gripping thriller that follows the life of John, a grieving local man, as he finds solace and intrigue in a mysterious young woman who purchases his old farmhouse. Simultaneously, a sense of unease grips the town when a resident goes missing, leading the local police captain to suspect a sinister presence looming over their community.
In a new Exclusive Interview on Blazing Minds ahead of Horror-on-Sea I got a chance to ask writer/director West Eldredge a few questions about the film ‘Love Dogs‘
Love Dogs will play at Horror-on-Sea on Friday 10th January at 3:00pm.
Q. Your film ‘Love Dogs’ has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell
us what we can expect?
A. You can expect a film that tip-toes multiple genres. It’s a drama-thriller with a big horror folk-lore undercurrent. It’s a film that I think will keep people on the edge of their seat as the story evolves. It’s probably best to go into a screening knowing little about it because there’s some reversals and surprises sprinkled around.
Q. What were some of your influences when writing the script?
A. I was really influenced by Rumi when writing the script. That’s where movie gets its namesake, Love Dogs. I wrote it during the pandemic, so it was a time of a lot of reflection, and I kept coming back to this sort of lonely lost character seeking help when nobody was giving it to him. I think there’s some Arrival in there, some Let the Right One In, some of my own satire written in.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. We were definitely influenced a lot by Blue Ruin, Arrival, and Let the Right One In. Which makes sense when you consider the three elements of our film. The sort of cat and mouse chase through the rural countryside, the intimate flashbacks, and the horror elements sprinkled throughout. The DP, Kenny Keeler, and I really wanted to shoot it wide and big and lonely for a good chunk, and slowly bring the camera into the character’s worlds. The hope was to punch the cinematography above its budget and plan as if was always going to be shown on the big screen. Which I think we achieved.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. We made so many changes. We cut about four scenes during production. We had a skeleton crew for the entirety of the shoot, and we were trying to do big ambitious things and couldn’t quite keep up with our ambitions at times. I was going home at the end of the night and just reworking scenes and moments and trying to speed everything up. Production is its own beast. Every day is a new problem solving moment, but the crew was awesome, and everyone chipped in ideas and worked around the clock.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. I loved working with our two leads and our cop character. I really consider them three leads all converging. They were so talented and everyone brough something to their roles I wasn’t expecting. There was another moment when suddenly we had like 5 PAs on set, people running transpo, an ambulance scene and some really fun night time scenes, that I had to take a few moments just to breath it all in. It was the first time that I felt like we were making a really cool feature film, and I sort of forgot to look around until that point and acknowledge all the crazy things we were trying to do.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. On the very first day of filming our gaffer was supposed to make his way down to Virginia from New Jersey with all our lighting gear and some camera gear but he got into a car accident and fractured his back. Fortunately, he’s ok now, but we lost an entire day– on our first day. I think that sort of set the tone for how behind we were the rest of the shoot. From day two to day fourteen we were just playing catch up and squeezing pages into the schedule wherever we could. Testament to the crew that we actually got this thing in the can in 13 days. (We did have two pick-ups down the line.)
Q. What makes it stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. I think we are a horror film in the sense that there’s nowhere else to put us. We’re a little horror, a little thriller and a little character drama all bundled into one film. I think there is a sense of dread that just fills the space, but there’s this beautiful little sad converging story with all three of our main characters at the same time. The horror is happening around them, but the trauma of their lives is what we focus on.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. I had a thought on this when I was writing it but don’t really want to share. I just hope everyone really enjoys it. I don’t want to force an opinion on people. I want to let them project their thoughts and feelings onto it however they see fit. I hope we were able to take the resources we had and make a movie that resonates with people. It’s a very hard thing to do at any budget level, but there’s a harder hill to climb on the low budget/micro-budget level.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. I’m outlining and writing two features currently. I will admit it’s a slow go. I’ve been spending so much time producing Love Dogs it’s a little hard turning the metaphorical page, but I’m very excited about starting a new script and potentially a new project. We also have a couple short films on the horizon, so that could be a nice palate cleanser.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. Just plan as much as you can before you hit day 1. Be as flexible as you can with your cast and crew and let people have a say in your vision. It’s no longer yours once you hit set. It’s everyone who is working on its movie now.
Something is going to happen that you never expect and it’s going to cause a huge challenge, but the more you plan and prep and meet with your crew, the more you can pivot and protect yourselves. If you’re microbudget filmmaking you have zero room for contingency. Always plan for the bad thing to happen so that you understand how you can turn a challenge into positive momentum.
You can find out more about the film on the films website Lovedogsfilm.com, IMDB and Instagram
You can follow Writer/Director West Eldredge on Instagram
Love Dogs will play at Horror-on-Sea on Friday 10th January at 3:00pm
You can find out more about the festival and purchase tickets here
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
