Film Name: Medieval Maze
Director: Nina Romain
Writer: Nina Romain
Starring: Aoife Hogan and David Matthew Ryan
When two friends visit a recreated medieval village off the beaten track for a fun day out, they’re horrified to find they’ve been trapped in the past with their 1700’s doppelgängers lying in wait for them. And some mazes you can’t escape from.
In a new exclusive interview on Blazing Minds I got a chance to ask writer-director Nina Romain a few questions about her film ‘Medieval Maze’ which will have its World Premiere at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 24th January at 10:00hrs.
She mentions her horror of doppelgängers in an “eerily authentic” recreation of medieval England, getting accidentally smacked in the face with her own camera on set, and creating a world full of “glamourous dislocation” from reality.
Q. Your film Medieval Maze has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect?
It’s a micro-horror about three friends visiting a recreated medieval village for a day out, and it’s safe to say things don’t go to plan. They find themselves confronted by their doppelgängers who not surprisingly see them as a threat, and as it’s found footage, you only see what my character sees of their friends, played by Aoife Hogan and David Matthew Ryan.
Q. What were your inspirations when writing the script?
A. I’ve always been interested in the idea of a recreated vision of another place or time of a perfectly created, but completely artificial, world. Like the dystopian nightmare of Westworld – both the 1973 original and the 2016 Netflix remake. There’s this place where supposedly everything is recreated for your entertainment, where you can do anything you like, in a beautiful, dangerous world that you both created but are now desperate to escape from. You want to be in this perfect world until it turns on you.
I was also interested in the idea of being a freak show in your own life, the bizarre abnormality about someone, who looks exactly like you, turning on you. Plus, meeting your evil clone always struck me as a terrifying idea, which is why Jordan Peel’s Us (2019) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) are so good. I wanted to get the audience to see everything through the eyes of the main character, and hopefully pick up on their terror.
Q. Did you have any of the cast in mind for the characters when writing the script?
A. Aoife and David were great to work with as always. I’ve worked with them both on locations as deserted as the UK’s most haunted village, a deserted zoo in Los Angeles and a nightmarish Halloween horror boat cruise. The only way it could have been better is if they’d both had a real-life twin so I could have had them interacting with a genuine doppelgänger, in a found-footage short with a time travelling twist. That could have been Dead Ringers (1988) meets The Shining (1980) meets The Village (2004), dammit (laughs). Maybe I can try that for next Horror-on-Sea for 2027!
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. I wish I could say I made it all look a bit 1973 in direct homage to Westworld for that old- school horror vibe. However, obviously I couldn’t afford that, so maybe as it’s all shot from a found footage perspective so it might end up looking like a bit like Blair Witch set in England in the 1700’s. I always aim to create a feeling of being lost in a different world so you feel what my characters feel.
I was lucky enough to work again with the very talented photographer Pete Muller, who always creates a real sense of glamorous dislocation from reality, in the publicity shots for my micro-horrors.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. There was a bit of the haunted-house horror vibe added towards the end. I just added an ending scene with my character getting trapped in the medieval cottage as they try to find the portal to get home to their real life in the 21st century. And of course the portal is now gone. The story comes full circle as that’s how they entered the village in the beginning. I’ve always loved the idea of being trapped in a house that comes alive and tries to kill you – the doors don’t keep out the evil, the nightmare is in the room with you. And the evil is of course waiting outside for you, as well.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. Working with Aoife and David is always great, and I love being on location with both of them. The location was amazing as well, so atmospheric. One unexpected bit was towards the end of the shoot, the character I’m playing, who is never seen as the film is seen from their perspective, gets into a scuffle with the medieval version of Aoife and David’s characters. This leads to a fight in the cottage as my character desperately tries to get back to the way they came in, back to the safety in their time. We all got too enthusiastic in the last take – and accidentally I got smacked in the face with my own camera! It did look authentic on film though, as you hear my skull collide sharply with the Nokia. Gotta suffer for your art, as the saying goes. Fortunately, the camera survived intact!
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. The outfits did present a bit of a challenge as they were very authentic, so quite heavy. It’s quite difficult to change into an authentic 1700 ballgown in a field! Aoife was dealing with wearing the full outfit of hoops, stays, a corset, and had to get changed in a deserted field next to a castle, but she was a total professional as she always is, and the photos looked incredible in our posters.
Q. What makes Medieval Maze stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. Hopefully that unusually for a horror, there’s no real sense of who’s the bad guy or girl – shouldn’t you be prepared to be a threat to yourself from another timeframe? The title is more of a maze of being lost in time than lost in the physical sense of not knowing where you are. It’s more the metaphysical sense of not knowing who to trust and who is the person who’s not supposed to be there.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. I just hope they won’t think they’ve seen it before, with a different title – that it’s been done before! Having said that, I keep trying to think about different takes on classic horror themes. Another inspiration for me was Get Out (2017)with the thought about how much you should trust reality, or what you feel is reality.
Right at the beginning, David’s character describes the medieval recreation they’re in as “eerily authentic” and he’s right, they are in a completely accurate world. And then as Aoife’s character says towards the end, some mazes you can’t escape from. You can’t explain who you are or where you’re from, since to them you’ve just arrived from another time into their world. It’s hardly surprising that they turn on you. Maybe we’re all trying to escape the maze we’ve made in our own lives, or maybe we just don’t want to see the way out.
If they enjoy watching it only half as much as we enjoyed shooting it, I’ve done my job.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. Fingers crossed, I can start work next year on a post-apocalyptic dystopian short, with a disturbing twist. I always love working on other people’s sets as well, as I do a lot of stuff behind the camera, BTS and continuity.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. Find whatever your horror obsession is – vampires, werewolves, sci-fi horror, body horror, whatever – and try to give it a new lick of paint. Take a fresh look at it and don’t talk yourself out of it. You never know until you try.
Medieval Maze will have its World Premiere at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 24th January at 10:00hrs.
You can find out more about Writer-Director Nina Romain on the website http://www.girlfright.com/
You can find out more about Horror-on-Sea and purchase tickets for Medieval Maze here
Photography Credit: Pete Muller
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!
