Film Name: Escalation
Director: Christian Bachini
Writers: Christian Bachini, Charlie Cooper (dialogue)
Starring: Christian ‘Kang’ Bachini, Derek Blakely, Charlie Cooper, Giulia Serafini, Lucy Chun Yan
In a new interview leading up to the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival, I got a chance to ask writer-director Christian Bachini a few questions about what we can expect from his film Escalation.
Escalation will be showing at Horror-on-Sea at 5.30 pm on Friday 13th January
Q. Your film Escalation has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film?
A. I can summarize the answer by saying that when watching Escalation, you will feel the same as if you were sitting on the craziest and most dangerous roller coaster ride ever created. Prepare to be grossed out, prepare to laugh, to cover your eyes with your hands like a little kid and get ready to fight against yourself as you try not to look at all the beautiful gory mayhem that is going on the screen. At a few festivals, I had people who were surgeons or first-time responders leave the theatre when Escalation was playing because the bloody scenes were getting too intense and realistic. I had the same people stopping me outside of the screening room to shake my hand and tell me that they loved the film but it was just so intense they could not take it, but they still loved it all around. For a horror filmmaker that is the best compliment ever.
Q. What were some of your influences when writing the script for Escalation with Charlie Cooper and what was your process for writing together?
A. Actually Escalation was born as a feature film first. I wrote the feature film draft myself when I was still living in Shanghai. For obvious reasons I could not get a feature done on my own and with just my savings so I decided to shoot Escalation as a “proof of concept” short film taking one of the opening scenes of the script and extending it so that it would become its own story. Charlie was one of my best friends and colleagues during the Years I spent in Asia working as a fight choreographer and action director in action movies, and he was also based in Shanghai. I knew his writing skills were excellent and he has this very dry and incredibly appealing sense of humour that I knew would have been killer when mixed with the blood and gore-heavy scene of the film, so I reached out to him to get him on board on the film but the first time we could not make it work as he was busy. I went ahead and shot Escalation based on my script. The two other characters in the film were Mike, a friend on the phone and a creepy voice speaking from the outer world. With this approach, I knew I had kept a lot of freedom in terms of what the dialogue could be. After I edited the film, I reached out to Charlie once again and luckily this time he was free to join. At that point, the dialogue had to be based on my lines and what was the story arc but with Charlie on board, the characters of Mike and the Entity really came to life in the best way possible. Our process was writing down some concepts for what the characters could feel and behave like just based on their voices, and each of us wrote a list of jokes and punchlines. Then we would meet up and act those lines out, say them aloud to feel which one would feel more natural and which jokes would actually make us giggle. By the end Charlie became Mike so to speak, his perfect delivery and his more mild and polite character was the perfect contraposition to my flamboyance and pompous behaviour on screen when he stepped in as voice actor. And he was also the one who introduced me to Derek Blakely, who plays the entity in the film. Escalation was always supposed to be very fun and gory but also hide underneath the fun a morality tale, a message I deeply care about, and when Charlie brought Derek on board and wrote for him some amazing lines about Society and the modern-day hypocrisy that is plaguing recent times, the Entity came to life more powerful than ever. And with Derek’s amazing voice work the villain of Escalation truly became iconic so much that people now ask me if I will ever shoot another movie with the Entity once again haunting a different character.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. My approach to Escalation was very simple. I asked myself “what new things would I want to see in a horror film nowadays?” I asked myself this question as if I were just a fan and not the maker of the film. The answer I got was that I wanted to see a horror movie that looks incredibly beautiful, where every frame is like a painting and where even the gore looks elegant and artistic. Plus, I wanted to have fun, just pure, sheer fun. Nowadays a lot of horror movies become “elevated” so much that they get so heavy and dark you completely lose the sense of awe and fun that horror films from a couple decades ago were instead delivering. To make an example, even a movie like “Scream” talked about society and was a critique of modern youth but even so, Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven made it fun to watch. The kind of movie that you could choose to just enjoy it as a thrill ride or read deeper under the lines and have a talk with your friends about the topic the movie was focused on. I wanted to bring back the fun with Escalation while at the same time make it also arthouse and beautifully shot. Coming from Italy, and being the DOP myself, obviously Dario Argento and Mario Bava were great influences for me growing up, and you can see that in the colour palette and in the way the location is lit, and style wise my favourite saga of all times in Evil Dead. I love Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell and I think that transpires in Escalation as well. So much that some reviewers call Escalation “Evil Dead 2 on steroids”. It was never intended for the movie to draw a comparison to anything, but I am glad the work of the masters that helped me shape my approach as director and writer is felt on the screen. And if you are a lover of cult horror films you will find in Escalation call backs to many films, Demons from Lamberto Bava, the very same Scream that I mentioned above and even more.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. As I mentioned before Escalation was written as a feature film script in the first place. The kitchen scene which has become now the Escalation short film, was much shorter and mysterious that what I ended up concocting for the short. But once that script was locked in that was it. I had in my mind the whole film played out with all the editing and even the sound design that I wanted so I left no room for rewrites. That was the story I wanted to tell, the pace, the whole vibe. But one thing that I like to do on set is implementing some ideas that I may have while looking at the location or maybe that come out of an accident or unfortunate circumstance. So, I don’t rewrite the script but I can extend it on set if a cool idea comes to my mind. For example, while filming, I injured my eye and got a blood leak that made my left eyeball completely red and disgusting. And that went on for a week. Instead of panicking I just used the injury to create a brand-new sequence for the film that involves an hallucination where my character feels the pain and starts to lose blood from his left eye for then after a few seconds be totally fine once again. The scene is only present in the Director’s Cut of the film which runs 28 minutes compared to the 16 minutes Festival Cut, but it is one of the scenes that people who check the Director’s cut love the most.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. Two come to my mind. I faced a lot of challenges while shooting the film, and the biggest one was the day that the make-up effects person who was supposed to help me with the practical effects on set suddenly refused to do so. She told me in front of the whole crew that I had no idea of what I was doing, that my props were not enough to obtain a realistic result and that I needed more money and time and that was not how movies were supposed to be made. She walked out of the room and went to watch TV on her phone in another room. I went like “well, if Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson can make this work in the 80s there is no reason, I cannot make this work as well”. The sequence I was shooting was one of the key moments once the mayhem begins and so I started to look at the props I had and visualize in my mind the shots over and over again. Then I got the prop ready myself, set the camera and shot it. After the sequence was done, I edited it very fast on my laptop and called back the makeup person. The response was total silence at first and then the most sweet “sorry” I have ever heard in my whole life. Funny thing is that the very sequence I am talking about is the sequence that gets some of the biggest reactions from the audience and makes everyone look away from the screen. The second greatest moment was during the final cannibalization scene when almost the entirety of the members of the crew began to walk outside and throw up. As I was laying on the floor covered in fake blood, I kept thinking “if this is the reaction I am getting on set I guess I may be doing things right” lol.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. A lot. I am the kind of crazy director that is not afraid of taking a shot forty or fifty times if the camera movement is not done properly. This scared a lot some members of my crew who didn’t understand why a short film needed to be so perfect. I lost two camera operators during filming; they deemed the shoot too tiring and keep in mind I was paying them. Finally the third camera operator showed up and look at my shots and told me right away that he loved what I was creating and that he would have not bailed on me. This person worked completely for free even chipped in helping me buying a few hard drives for storage once I was running out of money. Goes to show the truly passionate artists and talents and those who just want easy money and have no care for the final result or art in general. Other issues were the many injuries I endured while filming. I come from the old school Jackie Chan way of making movies, maximum realism, no fear and no stunt doubles. I ended up cutting my hand with a real meat cleaver and landing after a fall on a prop made in real glass that broke right underneath my back. Those injuries were really hard at the time because I had to go days without being able to frame my left hand for example and had to wait until the wounds healed.
Q. What makes Escalation stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. First of all it is something that people would never see coming. A brand-new approach to horror where you have a villain that is not even visible. It’s a total mind f..k I’d say. Then it’s the mix between beauty and gory mayhem. The feature film version of Escalation is also part of the “elevated horror” genre that is popular nowadays, movies like “Hereditary” or “The Witch”. But while being elevated and very artistic it is also very entertaining and commercial so to speak. I want to give my audience the chance to choose their own way of experiencing the film. Lose themselves in the story and just enjoy the fun, the scares and the gore, or dig deeper into the topics I am dealing with and the message I want to send. As a short film Escalation does the same. Many people just enjoy the hell out of it, it’s so extreme, so over the top and shocking but so beautifully and artistically shot that makes them want to look away from the screen while at the same time being unable to do so. To quote a review for the film “I succeeded in making the repulsive incredibly beautiful and appealing”. Another part of the audience comes to me to tell me how much the epilogue and the discussion about what a guilty conscience and toxic personality can do to us really struck a chord with them.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. I just want them to have fun and remember what horror films all are about. On a more personal level I hope people will consciously or subconsciously get the message that it’s always good to be good to each other. The main character in Escalation is a bad egocentric, spoiled person who thinks he is untouchable, and he ends up “eating” himself. In this time and era we should all strive to spread love and care for others instead of fighting and arguing all the time. Arguing, even if it’s for the right cause, it’s always a way of spreading angst and negativity and many people cannot see that. I hope after watching Escalation these thoughts may come to their minds. For filmmakers I hope my film can be a good motivation for them to work hard to make their artists dreams a reality. It doesn’t matter how hard it seems; it doesn’t matter if you are alone. You have always the power to make something happen. So just do it. Make it happen. Believe in yourself. Always, because if you don’t believe in yourself first you cannot pretend others believe in you either. Before shooting Escalation many people, even friends, told me I would have failed. Now, more than sixty awards later and after being screened at dozens of prestige festivals, like Horror-On-Sea, all around the world, I can proudly say they were wrong, and I am glad I didn’t let their negativity stop me.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. After the success of the short film now I am finally at work to make Escalation the feature film happen. At the same time, I am also working on another feature film titled “Haunting Skies” which will be a mix of horror and sci-fi and that will bring back in the mix my trademark style of action and martial arts fights. I found some great collaborators for both these projects, right now sponsored by one of Spain most prestigious film Festivals, the “Galacticat – Mostra de Cinema Fantàstic de Ponent” whose directors Ramon Bochaca Sandiumenge and Ramon Sanmartin are executive producing both projects that aim to be a co-production between Spain and the US.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. Go hard or go home. If you believe in your talent and your art got for it. Sell your car, your comic book collections, ask the help of your friends. Do all you can to make it happen. Never worry about the “after”, just do it. I have had countless friends saying they will become famous directors, that filmmaking is their life and more blah blah, but once things got real, they chose to spend time at home with their fiancées and their pets and settle for a normal job. That is not how you make it as any type of artist. It will be hard, it will be messy, life will knock you down dozens of times, but once you keep getting up life, the universe will see that there is no stopping you. Then is when you make it. Just go for it. There is always a way. If you cannot find it it’s not because life is awful and unfair, it’s just because you are not really motivated enough. So be honest with yourself and make a choice.
You can find out more about on the website https://www.escalationmovie.com/ and following social media Facebook – Twitter – Instagram
Escalation will be showing at Horror-on-Sea at 5.30pm on Friday 13th January.
You can purchase tickets and merchandise for the festival on the website 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!
