Film Name: A Mormons Guide to Home Invasion
Director: Jack Burney
Writers: Christopher Roberts, Jack Burney
Starring: Grant Liston, Cassandra Hasswell
When Brother Grant encounters a lost soul who spends their time practising sex, witchcraft, and caffeinated drinks, he realises he must do everything he can to save them. Even if it means resorting to light breaking and entering.
In a new exclusive interview on Blazing Minds, I got a chance to ask Director/Co-Writer Jack Burney a few questions about his film ‘A Mormons Guide to Home Invasion’, which will have its UK Premiere at Horror-on-Sea on Sunday 25th January at 15:00hrs.
Q. Your film A Mormons Guide to Home Invasion has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect?
A. Expect some tongue-in-cheek humour, a good time, some light religious horror and some good, old-fashioned guerilla filmmaking.
Q. You co-wrote the script with Christopher Roberts. What were some of your inspirations when writing the script and what was your process for writing together?
A. There weren’t many active inspirations for the script. Due to the nature of the project, we conceptualised and wrote the script all in one night. Drawing from one initial idea from Chris, we worked it into something more fleshed out and rounded. Due to the time pressure, we were very bare bones about the process, outlining basic character wants and desires and filling it out from there. It all came very naturally and very easily working with Chris.
Q. Did you have any of the cast in mind for the characters when writing the script?
A. Yes, due to the nature of the production of the film, we had our cast of Grant and Cass before we wrote the script. Chris and I specifically wrote the roles with those two in mind.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. We had to shoot the film in a very handheld way due to the film needing to be shot in one day so we decided for big, bold, simplistic shots that conveyed the message in a very efficient manner.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. Due to the process of making the film over a weekend, there were some minor changes to accommodate for actors learning lines in such a short period of time, paragraphs of dialogue were shortened to sentences, etc.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. One of the standouts had to be a very simple moment when we realised that we could film through the peephole in the door. Originally, we were planning on using a camera strapped to the door and creating the effect in post-production, but upon realising that with a bit of lining up with the camera, we could film it for real, it really made for an interesting shot.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. The main issue that was presented was simply stamina. We had to shoot the entire film in one day and this meant we were pushing a 15x hour day. Towards the end, stamina was low and energy was dipping fast, but with the amazing crew, we pushed on through it and got everything filmed that we needed to!
Q. What makes A Mormons Guide to Home Invasion stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. I hope it’s a breath of fresh air in sometimes quite a dark festival. Horror inherently leans into the morbid, the horrifying, and the heavy subject matter but with this film, we wanted it to be a light-hearted film that is fun and pokes fun at some of the prejudice surrounding religion.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. I hope people have some fun with it and remember it as being a fun, light-hearted film. I hope that it makes people stop, even for just a moment and think about the prejudices they might have had and how the film gently subverts them. Most of all, I want people to take away the indie, run-and-gun style of filmmaking that this leans into and shows that sometimes, the grittier low-budget style of horror films can resonate just as much!
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. Yes! The co-writer of this film and I are working on multiple projects, including a short film about Sea Monsters that invade Southend-on-Sea every summer! We are also working on another, much larger, film which will be a feature length horror film about the Witches of Essex.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. It is possible to completely write, direct, and edit the film in one weekend! This short film was conceptualised, shot, and finished all in 66x hours! Get the cast and crew ready before-hand and write with a co-writer who can keep you engaged and high-energy, and just go for it! Having a great cast and crew will save your film, keep the energy high, and motivate you across the finish line!
A Mormons Guide to Home Invasion will have its UK Premiere at Horror-on-Sea on Sunday 25th January at 15:00hrs.
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!
