Film Name: When the Trash Man Knocks
Director: Christopher Wesley Moore
Writer: Christopher Wesley Moore
Starring: Cheryl Abernathy, Allie Bennett, Derek Robert Hull Bond, Keni Bounds, Jeff Buchwald
An agoraphobic woman and her son must face their fears when the killer who traumatized them
returns.
In a new Exclusive Interview on Blazing Minds ahead of Horror-on-Sea I got a chance to ask Writer/Director Christopher Wesley Moore a few questions about the film ‘When the Trash Man Knocks‘
When the Trash Man Knocks will play at Horror-on-Sea on Sunday 12th January at 10.00am
Q. Your film has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect?
A. It’s a mix of psychological horror/family drama, a bit of Southern gothic, and more traditional slasher. It’s about a mother and son who survived a horrible tragedy that killed two of their family members 20 years ago on Thanksgiving and, now, the killer has returned and they each have to figure out if they’re going to run away or stay and fight.
Q. What were some of your influences when writing the script?
A. HALLOWEEN – the original – was the biggest one. I mean, if you’re going to be inspired by anything, be inspired by the best. Some of the sequels, too. There’s elements of H20 and even Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN II in there. I’m sure PSYCHO probably came to mind, too, since there’s a mother/son relationship at the heart of the story that seems like it could turn into Bates family drama at any second. Caroline’s mother appears as a taunting, ghost-like figure in the film and that has a sort of Mrs. Bates quality. There’s also a murder in a bathroom like PSYCHO. Whenever anything bad happens in a bathroom in a horror or suspense movie, you can’t help but think of PSYCHO. Although, the way that scene is filmed is more of an homage to TENEBRAE and THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. Dario Argento and Mario Bava always shoot to the top of my list. I love their use of extreme colour. It gives movies such an odd, dreamlike quality and what are horror movies supposed to be but our nightmares reflected back to us? Besides those two, I always love the compositions in any John Carpenter movie. I love the way he uses space. You get a lot of really great wide, establishing shots in his films and lots of information on the sides of the frame. That’s why we shot this in anamorphic – so that you could have all kinds of things happening on the sides of the frame. It gives you lots of exciting places to put the threat off to the side, lurking, while the character in the foreground is oblivious or too preoccupied to notice.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. There were a few scenes that were shot and cut later on. There was a scene that established that the character of Paige actually worked at the same restaurant as Justin and then a scene between her and Hope after they’ve had their fight and come back home where they make up before things get really intense. Occasionally, you improvise a line here or there or something of that sort, but nothing major like a different ending. In an early draft, there was a different opening scene, but that was never shot.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. The finale was really fun, because you really had to choreograph it completely in order for it both to look good and for the safety of the actors. A lot of it was shot in a higher frame rate and sped up in post. It started raining that night, so the ground was wet and, at a certain point, I’m on the ground, soaking wet with rain and mud, filming a portion of this thing handheld and still having such a great time. I remember how exciting it was when Jo-Ann got that one tear to roll down her cheek during the final shot of the movie and the way Cami and Derek lit it was so magical. It’s one of my favourite moments of any shoot I’ve been a part of. You just knew there was something really cool there.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. We had a bit of rain during the shoot and, usually, on days when we were supposed to have it. We also shot a portion of the film right during the yearly time change in the spring and it made some of our night shoots tricky, because it started getting darker later and we didn’t have much time to film those scenes at certain locations. It’s usually issues of timing, scheduling, and weather on low budget films that are the biggest pain in the neck. There was one day where an actress had gotten her call times mixed up and Meredith Mohler’s mom, Tracey, had to step into that role with about 5 minutes of prep time, but she rocked it. I also seem to remember that the opening of the film kept getting delayed due to some scheduling and location issues and was one of the last things we shot, which I was grateful for, because I was able to fine tune the script a bit along the way.
Q. What makes it stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. There’s a heavy focus on characters and human drama that you won’t get with a lot of these kinds of movies. You get to know them a bit before they’re thrown to lions. It goes a long way to making those scenes more suspenseful and intense, I hope, because you’re invested.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. That fear is something you can beat. It won’t be easy. It’ll be hard, but it’s worth fighting it for all the good stuff still out there in the world. You can’t run away or hide from things forever. You have to face them.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. I do. I just finished another draft of an erotic thriller/giallo that I’m hoping to film in 2025. It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for ages and it looks like it’s getting closer. The script is really fun and I’m having the best time writing it. Lots of twists and turns and drama and cool characters.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. Start small. Scale it down. Make something with the resources and people close to you right now. You can aim for bigger things later, but don’t bite off more than you can chew. See if you actually enjoy the process first. Keep it low stakes and don’t think you have to hit a home run the first time at bat.
You can follow CWM Entertainment on the following social media: Facebook – Instagram
When the Trash Man Knocks will play at Horror-on-Sea on Sunday 12th January at 10.00am
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!
