Bite Night (2020)
Director: Maria Lee Metheringham
Writer: Maria Lee Metheringham, Will Metheringham
Starring: Dani Thompson, Maria Lee Metheringham, Mj Dixon, Marcella Edgecombe-Craig, Rachel Brownstein
‘Haunted Honeymoon’ meets ‘My Best Friend is a Vampire’ meets ‘Clue’. When three beautiful ladies manage to grab the attention of a group of punks with their enchanting voices. They become the lucky guests or rather victims of the house of Valice. However the tables turn quite suddenly when the ladies realize they are in fact the unfortunate victims of the madness which they themselves created.
In a new interview in the series leading up to Horror-on-Sea Film Festival, I got a chance to ask Bite Night co-writer/Director Maria Lee Metheringham a few questions about what we can expect from the film.
Q. Your latest horror film Bite Night has been selected to play at Horror-on-Sea. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film?
Well now, how to explain ha ha! It’s pretty ridiculous and odd. We were going for a very 90’s feel with this one. People will hopefully find it a very fun horror with lots going on.
Q. What were your influences for the original script which you co-wrote with Will Metheringham?
We really like those crazy horror films which are set in a crazy big house with lots of odd and mismatched characters. We came up with Valice the character who is the head of the household with her weird entourage and then built on from there. The punks in the film were inspired by the film Shopping (1994) and Valice was inspired by Grace Dixon in Vamp (1986).
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
We really liked the colour schemes in films like Fright Night (1985) and Vamp. They have a lot of neon colours which are very cool and 80’s/90’s looking. The setting we wanted something like Haunted Honeymoon (1986), a big quirky looking mansion with strange and unsettling characters living inside. We’ve gone very different from our last film Pumpkins (2018) which was more about creating atmosphere, this was more about creating fun.
Q. Where there any elements of the original script which were adapted during filming?
We stuck pretty much word for word to the script apart from some rather elaborate scenes at the end for the big climax. Unfortunately one of the things we have to sacrifice is our expensive endings which in our heads and on paper look great but budget doesn’t like it ha ha. Maybe one day we will have one of those!
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
We had to re shoot the biggest scene in the film with pretty much every actor in the scene! Not going to say what happened because we don’t dwell on things like that but we did It, We got it done and it looked great. Totally different location but it matched extremely well. Panic over! Plus it was a bonus getting all the cast together again.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
We had so many laughs because the script was so silly it was hard for the actors not the crack up laughing due to the ridiculousness of some of the lines we wrote. Even we were saying ‘did we write That?’. It was so great having all the cast and crew sharing a big Victorian mansion for 5 nights up in Snowdonia. We certainty lived the full experience of the film.
Q. What makes Bite Night stand out as something different in the horror genre?
I would say it’s very different to a lot of Horror being released recently. It’s not different or unique in general but I feel like we’ve brought that fun, silly and quirky horror that you don’t see much of anymore back into the present. We’ll I hope so anyway! We’ve tried to give it a lot of style and coolness that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
I hope they go away feeling like they could watch it again and have a lot of fun watching it. I hope it makes them laugh even just a little bit and really like the characters within the film.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
I’m currently working on a comedy feature film in Wales with Lynx Elite Productions called Cowgirls Don’t Lie, which is two thirds through production. Also myself and Will are in pre-production with another crazy horror film called Creeps at the Gym which we hope to make next year. Just got to find some money to do it and we’re good to go. Easier said than done.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
I’m pretty sure a lot of people say this but just do it. It’s that simple. Find yourself a good DOP and save some money, cut back on holidays and nights out and invest in making it happen. You don’t need a lot of money to make a film, you just need imagination and organisation. Also tale your time, don’t rush!
Bite Night will be playing at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 18th January at 17:30 hrs
You can find out more about Horror-on-Sea and purchase tickets for the festival 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!
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