A Stranger Among the Living (2020)
Director: Chris Moore
Writer: Chris Moore
Starring: Meredith Mohler, Jake Milton, Chris Wesley, Victoria Posey, Mandy Kate Myers
A young teacher finds himself haunted by the undead after narrowly escaping a school shooting.
In a new interview in the series leading up to Horror-on-Sea Film Festival, I got a chance to ask A Stranger Among the Living writer-director Chris Moore a few questions about what we can expect from the film.
Q. Your latest horror film A Stranger Among the Living has been selected to play at Horror-on-Sea. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film?
Yes, I’m super excited. It’s a really spooky slow burner. Something along the lines of Carnival of Souls (1962), Let’s Scare Jessica To Death (1971) or maybe a Twilight Zone episode. It’s hard to really categorize it as a sub genre, but I’d say it’s more like a ghost story in terms of pace and mood.
Q. There is often a social commentary with your films and a Stranger Among the Living deals with a teacher who finds himself haunted after narrowly escaping a high school shooting. What made you decide to write about the themes of a high school shooting and develop this into a horror story?
It seems like these shootings are happening every other day in the states and it’s been on my mind for awhile now. I’m more scared of being shot in a public place than anything else these days. Every time I sit down in a movie theater or wait in line at the grocery store, my anxiety kicks in and I’m scared of someone gunning us all down. Mostly, it was in there because it genuinely scares me and I think it’s a relatable fear that many of us have these days.
Q. Your previous films which also played at Horror-on-Sea; Blessed are the Children and Triggered, both incorporate your unique visual style despite being very different. Is this something which you have deliberately maintained so people can instantly identify that they are watching a Chris Moore film?
I’m not even sure if I’m aware of any intentional style I have. I’ve been inspired by different things for different scenes in different movies. I know there are a lot of certain compositions and lenses that I prefer and enjoy using and I definitely love bringing a lot of the same actors back. It feels sort of like a family like that. Maybe that’s how they’d know one of my movies. I cast so many of the same people.
Q. What were some of your other influences for the look and style of the film?
I tried to keep this one sort of pared down and simple. I looked at a lot of the 70’s horror movies that had that overcast, gloomy atmosphere. I love that sort of stuff, especially the more low budget ones that had to rely on more creative ways to get their point across. There’s something about those movies that’s very unique and haunting and has a feel all its own.
Q. Where there any elements of the original script which were adapted during filming?
Most of it is pretty close to the script, but the finale where Henry is at Jarvis and Wells’ house had to be reworked pretty extensively due to location issues. It forced us to really think on the spot and band together as a team. It probably helped the film in the long run, because it forced us to make the finale a little more simplistic. Originally, that whole sequence was a bit more action packed and had a lot more gore with people getting stabbed in their necks and beaten to death with hammers and all this bloody stuff.
We’d already shot the scenes that followed where Henry was drenched in blood, so we had to have him get bloody somehow. That was the big trick – finding out a way to get him bloody before getting back into his car so that it would match what we’d already shot.
Q. What makes A Stranger Among the Living stand out as something different in the horror genre?
I think it’ll stand out, because it’s not one that you can really classify. There are some scenes with knives and sharp objects, but it’s not a slasher movie and no one is a ghost, possessed by a demon, turns into a werewolf or anything like that. All the fear comes from death itself and its cold unpredictability.
Q. You are working again with Meredith Mohler and Keni Bounds who were both excellent in your previous film Triggered. What can we expect from them in A Stranger Among the Living?
They’re absolutely terrific! I love working with the same actors on several different projects, because when you click with an actor, it’s like you’re both speaking your own language together and it’s easier to have little shortcuts you can use on set to get them where they need to be. There was one scene in this movie where Meredith has to grin this creepy smile and I told her just to grin a creepy smile and she said “oh, like the one I did in that scene in Triggered?” And I’m like “Yes! Exactly! You get me!” I hate that Meredith’s role isn’t as big in this film as in Triggered, but she was a dream to work with and she’s great in the role.
Keni has a pretty dramatic role in this one and it’s very different from her roles in Triggered or Blessed Are the Children. It was really fun to coax her into that darker place and try something a little different. I think people who have seen her in the previous films will really be surprised by her in this. She certainly loved her costume for about half of her screen time which were these super comfy pajamas that she kept after filming wrapped.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
Besides that one location issue I mentioned earlier, everything went pretty smoothly besides one time we didn’t realize we’d only secured permission to shoot in one part of this huge building that we were going to use other parts of for other scenes. We’d wrapped all our scenes in that one part of the building and were heading to shoot the rest of it and this guy came up to us and said we were only allowed to shoot in the space we reserved. We had no idea we were only allowed to shoot in that one part of the building, so we packed it up, left, and retooled that scene to fit in a different location, which ended up being more effective I think.
That was one of those little moments that could only happen on an indie film set. Something goes horribly wrong, but your solution to the problem ends up being better than what you’d originally planned. I look at moments like that as gifts.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
We had to shoot all the scenes at the gas station in one night and it just so happened to fall on the night of a rainstorm. We were like “do we cancel this in case it gets really bad and our camera is blown away by the wind or something?” We ended up powering through and, as if by cue, the real heavy rain didn’t start up until we were almost through. Nature was very accommodating that night, almost like it was participating in the film as well. A few times, it gave these great flashes of lightening right after someone’s line as if it was adding a dramatic sting for emphasis. It was terrific!
There was also a scene between Victoria Posey and Jake Milton that was stunning. It’s a big dramatic scene towards the middle of the movie and we shot it on the 2nd day of the main shoot and I remember not being able to breathe during a lot of the takes, because I was so engrossed with their performances and I remember thinking “If this scene doesn’t work, it’s definitely you and not them.”
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
I hope they just have a good time. That’s always my main intent. And to get them to think about things that they might not have thought about much before.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
Too many, which I guess is better than too few, but I can’t decide what to do next. I have a dark comedy murder mystery that could be fun or a type of fairy tale or a more psychological horror film. I’ve been working on a few plays, too. I might have more definitive answers in a few more months or so.
Q. If someone was looking to get into film making as a writer-director what advice would you give them?
With modern technology the way it is, you can tell your stories yourself easier than ever, so quit stalling and just make something. Even if it’s just to see if you can or not. They might not be technically perfect and maybe your Aunt Mae wasn’t meant to be an actress, but she’s the only adult you can find to play this part and it’s OK to make a flawed movie at first. If you have a story you can’t wait to put on the page or screen, the odds are you’re probably at least not going to make a boring movie. It’ll have passion and heart, which is something a lot of movies don’t have, so you’re already ahead of the game. If you’re thinking about making a movie just to say you’ve made one, stop before it’s too late. These are the movies that never turn out well, because they have nothing to say and no one is passionate about the story. No fancy cinematography or A-list actors will save a passionless story.
A Stranger Among the Living will be playing at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 18th January at 12:30 hrs
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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!
