Film Name: ‘Harvest of the Dead: Halloween Night’
Director: Peter Goddard and Terence Elliott
Writer: Terence Elliott and Peter Goddard
Starring Dani Thompson, David Spinx, Tim Faraday, Terence Elliott, Abby Wareham
In another interview leading up to the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival I got a chance to ask, ‘Harvest of the Dead: Halloween Night’’ co-writer/directors Peter Goddard and Terence Elliott a few questions about what we can expect from Harvest of the Dead: Halloween Night which will be playing at Horror-on-Sea on Sunday 23rd January at 20:00hrs
Q. Your latest horror film Harvest of the Dead: Halloween Night has been selected to play at Horror-on-Sea. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film?
Terence Elliott – You can expect a continuation of 2015’s Harvest of the Dead, along with a gory slasher that stands on its own.
Peter Goddard – Myself and Tezz very much wanted to improve upon the first Harvest of the Dead and with better equipment and an amazing SFX team, we sure managed that. We also wanted to make this very much a love letter to classic 80’s horror films, as well as mixing things up a bit and trying to include as many of our influences as possible.
Q. What was the process of co-directing the film and do you both bring something when it comes to directing?
Terence Elliott – This really was Peter’s film throughout. On the final big house shoot for the zombie attack, we collaborated on ideas for shots, and overcoming obstacles on the day. I suppose what I brought was just ideas of how we could get around difficulties.
Peter Goddard – I think Tezz is very much underestimating his input on this a bit. He wrote most of the script and came up with loads of ideas at the pre-production and development stages. Then on every shoot day, he’d come out with loads of brilliant ideas and ways of working around obstacles as they arose. It was really by that last day when I was stuck on how to change the final few scenes that he just came through with a brilliant workaround, and I then felt that it would be a disservice to not credit him as a co-director. I think we work well because I bring a load of technical knowledge of the filming process, as I have a lot more experience with the practical side of filmmaking. Whereas Tezz has this massive wealth of film theory, based upon the countless more films that he’s seen over his life. We’re also so in synch with our love of the genre that it just works seamlessly together. Never did we have an argument over anything. We just knew what would or wouldn’t work.
Q. What were some of your influences when writing the script for Harvest of the Dead: Halloween Night and what is the process for you co-writing?
Terence Elliott – We took a similar approach to how we wrote the first film. We’d discuss a general idea for the overall story, usually over a pint at the local! Then we’d basically just send the script back and forth, adding to and discussing proposed changes until we were happy with it. Influence wise a big one was Halloween, taking the action to a suburban setting, along with HP Lovecraft and some hints of Italian Giallo.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
Peter Goddard – 1980’s VHS style horror and slashers were a big influence on both of us. I’d just started using Blackmagic cameras and getting into colour grading, so it was amazing to be able to use colour to recreate that 80’s film stock look. We also went very Giallo with some of the scenes with Tim and Tezz filmed in my garage. Got all the red and green gels out for a really surreal look.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
Terence Elliott – I’d say quite a few, but maybe not as many as the prior film. The main one that comes to mind is one of the actors who only had to do 2 days of filming, he no-showed the second day. No communication, nothing. So, I’d had some friends come along to be background party guests, and asked one to step in, say some lines and get killed so we could get the kill in. We just had to explain the previous actor’s absence with a throwaway line of dialogue.
Peter Goddard – I think pretty much every scene had changes in (the biggest being, as Tezz mentioned, about having an actor just not turn up for their second day of filming.) The key thing is not to get attached to every last line of dialogue. Just let the actors go with their characters and the scenes pretty much evolve in a very organic way.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
Terence Elliott – My good friend Dean Jovi who played Detective Bava, he stole the show for me with one scene in particular! More so for the humour, I’m sure viewers will know as I reckon, they’ll get a laugh too.
Peter Goddard – Probably working with David Spinx. He was a real pro and had travelled for around 5 hours just to shoot that one scene between him and Tim. Was also a great little shoot as we had Jon Fry and his excellent steady cam work, so I was able to pull off a crossing the line shot, which I really wanted to be able to do.
But I also think the scene between Abby and Nick was just incredible. It was the first time that Abby Wareham had done a scene like that, and she was just amazing. Massive amount of respect to her for just getting into the character and the scene and not holding back. I really think she’s a talent to watch.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
Terence Elliott – The final house shoot had so much going on, that myself and Peter held almost a Cobra meeting. Time was ticking on, with actors needing to leave soon to catch the train, so we got together in a separate room, talked through the remaining scenes, how we could shoot them efficiently and to not hold anyone up. We managed it, we’re a good team.
Peter Goddard – I think every day is an issue when making a zero-budget film. That’s why it’s always good to keep your initial vision for everything open, so that you have no reservations about making sudden changes on the fly. We did have some tricky scenes for a few of the actresses (mainly Abby and Francesca) who hadn’t done those sorts of scenes before. But both were amazing when it came time to shoot them. They simply just got into the zone and pulled off amazing performances.
Q. What makes Harvest of the Dead: Halloween Night stand out as something different in the horror genre?
Terence Elliott – I feel it’s almost a throwback to the gory slashers of yesteryear, and this is something that today’s horror fans look for, the hardcore fans. We don’t focus on jump scares, or fake outs, just terror, and I feel especially with our almost nihilistic ending which I felt passionately about leaving questions hanging with, that it’ll please the fans.
Peter Goddard – It’s kind of a mishmash of lots of different styles and horror sub genres. One minute you think you’re watching a standard slasher in the style of Halloween, then, out of nowhere, it turns into a zombie apocalypse film, before taking another swerve down mad scientist territory. Before the audience can grasp what’s going on it’s over.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
Terence Elliott – I hope they get at least one good scare. Whether it’s watching a particular scene through their fingers, or feeling a sense of panic or dread, I want the viewer to have a favourite moment.
Peter Goddard – I just hope they have a lot of fun with it. Like the previous Harvest, we just wanted to do something which was short, full of references to some of our favourite grindhouse movies of the ’80s and which was a joy to watch. Hopefully, we’ve ticked all the boxes for the target audience.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
Terence Elliott – We’ve got a couple of shorts in the pipeline along with a feature we’ve been working on the script for, so we hope to get a lot of filming done in 2022, but we also now run the infamous UK Horror label Vipco with Producer and Author David Rogers. That has been a labour of love and we’re very excited to finally get the ball rolling with some fresh horror releases from around the globe!
Peter Goddard – As Tezz has mentioned, we have this folk horror feature called ‘Blood will have blood’ which we’re hoping to make next. It’s a title that has been floating around with us for a couple of years now. Initially, we wrote a revenge story using it but have since gone back and started from scratch a whole new concept. Hopefully, in the new year, we can finally get it going. Just always hard work to fit it around everyone’s lives as well as the current global situation.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
Terence Elliott – I would say first and foremost: Do it. Don’t spend years just talking about it, get any sort of camera, get a script written and some passionate cast and crew together and get filming. Doesn’t matter if it’s a short or straight into a feature, you will learn and grow from writing and filming. You’ll find out what works and what doesn’t, and when you’ve got downtime, buy a book, watch online tutorials, and have an open mind to advice. But mainly…..write it and film it!
P: When I first started getting into filmmaking the first book which I read on the subject was Chris Jone’s excellent ‘Gureilla Filmmakers handbook’. Its motto is ‘Get a camera, get some stock, go shoot a movie’. It really is that easy. I couldn’t afford to buy much gear when I first started, so I went to a site called Pixmania and bought my first camera on finance, then I went to P.C world and got a computer, also on finance. I think the total was around £50 per month for something like 4 years. But with a camera to film on and a computer to edit it, I had the basics of what I needed to start shooting something. I then wrote a script and made it so that I knew I could make it for little or no money, ran some ads on star now for actors, then just got to work. These days, with the advent of super cheap 4k cameras and really powerful editing and grading software such as Resolve, you really can make professional results in the comfort of your own home. Horror is always saleable, and there’s always companies in America who are looking for content to release. Make it gory and fun and you’ll have no problem getting it picked up. You’ll make many mistakes along the way, but that’s just part of the process. Learn from them and keep learning, until you make a low (or zero) budget masterpiece.
You can find out more about the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival on the website https://www.horror-on-sea.com/
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!
