Film Name: Demons at Dawn
Director: Randy Kent
Writers: Chris Sanders
Starring: Amber Doig-Thorne, Dani Thompson, BJ Mezek
Demons At Dawn follows a retired hitman who is blackmailed into taking one last job. During his mission, he uncovers an elite Satanic cult that use human sacrifice to summon Demons.
In a new interview leading up to the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival I got a chance to ask writer-director Randy Kent a few questions about what we can expect from his film Demons at Dawn.
Demons at Dawn will be showing at Horror-on-Sea at 5:30pm on Friday 13th January
Q. Your film Demons at Dawn has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film?
A. Expect to be creeped out by the circumstances of what the lead character, Mickey, goes through in the movie. The music, the sound design is all made to add a level of uneasiness to the whole thing that I hope people respond too.
Q. What attracted you to the script which was written by Chris Sanders?
A. I really like the isolation and overall dread aspects of the movie. That journey of being stuck in a lone cottage with very few people in the middle of the English countryside was very intriguing. And that’s also somewhat what we experienced as a cast and crew as well, so we were right there with the lead character. I liked the hero’s (in this case, the anti-hero’s) journey.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. Movies like Dog Soldiers (2002), early John Carpenter and for me, An American Werewolf in London (1981) because that’s what I was on my end. Being in the middle of the moors of England at night with a backpack and uncertainty. With very few characters in 1-2 locations, we were doing practical effects and had to make use of the limited time and resources we had for the England portion of the film. When I got back to Los Angeles and we shot 2 days at a studio, it was a challenge to maintain that same feel with a completely different set of actors and crew but ultimately it was the atmosphere that carries through.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. Yes there were some small dialogue adjustments made during the initial rehearsals and then some other fixes made on set for various reasons. Our main cottage is fairly small, so we had to consolidate some of the dialogue in order to fit the location. There were also some minor adjustments made for the L.A. shoot once I got back to help tie the 2 portions together better.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. I think for me just the overall aspect of being in the middle of the English countryside filming was the favourite part. It was a different experience, working with an English crew, in that kind of climate (I’m so spoiled by sunny California!) and such. But specific things would be the happy accidents we found on set like the sheep on the hill and the general production value from the surroundings of our locations were the best moments.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. The whole time we were shooting at the cottage it was good weather, aside from the general cold of winter. On our very last day there, we were filming our big exterior ritual scene with a bonfire and of course it started raining. We had to quickly adjust and come up with alternatives but ultimately the rain wasn’t a huge issue because it was mostly on and off drizzling. It kept putting out our fire and so we had to keep lighting it all night. I was honestly a little upset and disappointed at the time because I wasn’t able to do what I wanted with that scene, but it wound up being just fine in the end and it came out great.
Q. What makes Demons at Dawn stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. I think the acting of our leads is top notch and everyone gave their A game. Also, as mentioned earlier, the music and sound design and the tight editing are something you generally don’t get in these low-budget horror films like this. We worked hard to make this look and sound as big as can be.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. That you can do great things with a low budget. We were a very small crew with limited resources and managed to give even the moderate-budget films a run for their money.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. As of the January 2023 screening of the movie at Horror-On-Sea, I am in England again shooting the next film for Black Coppice Films called Bring Me A Skin For Dancing In, almost exactly a year to the date we started shooting Demons at Dawn. I’m also in post on a project with a filmmaking partner called Café in the Void which will be a 6-episode fantasy mini-series hoping to be released in early 2023.
Q. If someone was looking to direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. Just go for it. Everything as far as equipment and editing software is so cheap now and there are so many avenues to release the final product that there’s no excuse anymore.
Demons at Dawn will be showing at Horror-on-Sea at 5:30 pm 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!
