Film Name: Beyond Fury
Director: Darren Ward
Starring: Dani Thompson, Jeff Stewart, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Tina Barnes, Joanna Finata
Ex-Mercenary Michael Walker and his pregnant girlfriend Claudia are brutally attacked. Now with Claudia and the unborn child dead, Walker reverts to his military training to hunt down and serve his own kinda street justice.
In another interview leading up to the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival I got a chance to ask Beyond Fury writer-director Darren Ward a few questions about what we can expect from his film. Beyond Fury will play at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 15th January at 20.00 hrs
Q. Your horror revenge horror film ‘Beyond Fury’ has been selected to play at Horror-on-Sea. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film?
A. So excited to be showing the film at Horror-on-Sea, until now only workprints have been shown at a few select festivals (missing final grade and 274 VFX shots).
I see Beyond Fury as a crime/splatter/thriller where the audience can expect high octane adult entertainment in terms of action, splatter and gore in this throwback thriller that unleashes the goods with a euro look and feel. Finishing off with a great international cast and plenty of upcoming faces on the UK indie scene. An epic tale of uncompromising revenge.
A throwback to the golden age of hardcore film making.
Q. What were some of your influences when writing the script for Beyond Fury?
A. It was originally written in 2000, when I was keen for it to be the next film I made after Sudden Fury (1997). Things got in the way (all covered in the book I am writing about the 25-year journey of the trilogy), and it fell by the wayside whilst over projects took president. After we shot ‘A Day of Violence’ in 2009 I knew then that the time was right to get the cogs turning on making ‘Beyond Fury’. I dusted the script down and changed the whole first act (originally it starts directly at the point where Sudden Fury finishes. Walker getting out of the car etc etc), too many years had passed, and Walker would have been a lot older, in a different mindset, a different character all together. Plus, I wanted to lose the cartoonish elements that were in the script (I wrote it almost immediately after Sudden Fury), so some of those over-the-top elements had crept into the script. I also took a longer look at my characters and expanded them, made them more human.
Like with ‘A Day of Violence’, I wanted ‘Beyond Fury’ to be hyper realistic when it comes to the carnage. I wanted to make the most epic indie action/crime/thriller to date.
It was fun writing a more world weary ‘Walker’, a man that had everything ripped away from him, forcing him to become the ‘Angel of Death’ and dish out the most brutal revenge killings.
Q. Did you have any actors or actresses in mind to portray any of the character when writing the script for the film?
A. We did originally have Michael Berryman, Barbara Cupisti and Bobby Rhodes on board for major characters, but due to schedules, and other unforeseen circumstances it never happened. I am hoping I can write a character for Barbara in the next film.
But yes, the characters of Walker, Lenzivitch, Frankie and Rev. Mortimer were written specifically for Nick Roberts, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Jeff Stewart and Dan van Husen.
Q. What were some of your influences on the look and style of the film?
A. My trilogy is my love letter to Italian cinema, from Sergio Leone to Lucio Fulci, to Ruggero Deodato to Umberto Lenzi, the list goes on and on. I am drawn and influenced by the impact these films made on me as a teenager and still to this day. The balls to the wall violence, from camera setups to lighting designs, music, editing, the whole deal.
That’s also why I must work with actors/actresses that played a huge part in my love for Italian cinema.
For example, I always wanted the opening credits for Beyond Fury to give homage to the dollars trilogy and other Italian westerns where the credits would be so in your face, colours and sound popping off the screen. Even the first shot of the film where Claudia’s face fills the frame is a homage to Leone’s The Good the Bad and the Ugly (1966), where Al Mulock’s face looms in from the left of frame to fill the screen. There are lots of little touches like that throughout the course of the film.
We even squeeze in a little black glove action into one scene to pay homage to Dario Argento and the Giallo genre.
The end shot of the movie is a direct nod to the Long Good Friday (1980). Musically the brilliant Dave Andrews has knocked it out of the park once again. Lovely electronic score that at times soars with a soprano, back down into dirty analogue.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. My original script had to be scaled down when the millions never turned up! It was an insane John Woo filled last 30 minutes. Buildings exploding, chainsaw fights, car chases and an absolutely insane gunfight. It was every 80’s action flick thrown together.
So, I scaled it back a good year or two before the cameras rolled. The version we shot is actually a much more gritty and darker script. We did, unfortunately, have to ditch three killer set-pieces from the finale of the film due to budget restrictions as we were filming though.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. Getting back in the saddle after wrapping on ADOV in spring 2009. Six long years, but loved every moment of shooting our first scene, which was the church sequence with Dan van Husen & Nick Roberts. April 18th, 2015. It was great easing into the long shoot with a very visual sequence, all dolly and jibs. Of course, it was a huge honour to work with Dan (over 180 credits to his name), he had worked with Sergio Corbucci, Duccio Tessari, Werner Herzog, Steven Spielberg plus many others. And here he was in sunny Southampton adding Beyond Fury to his credits. Dan had waited seven years for me to start filming. We first talked back when I was nearing the end of ‘ADOV’ in 2009.
Every now and then we would speak, until finally, the day came.
Every day that we were shooting action and gore I was absolutely in my element. Having Giovanni back and this time head lining the movie was a blast. He is so great to work with, has his lines down and never misses a beat (this legend also comes with a bible of stories from the great sets and directors of the past we all love).
The last nights’ shoot was emotional, it was the end of a 25-year journey making this trilogy. A trilogy that has taken me to many countries and to meet some fantastic people who I now call my best friends.
A journey that has seen these micro budget films been shown at the biggest film markets and festivals in the world (Cannes, Raindance, Sitges, Fantasporto). Winning a fistful of awards along the way.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. Yes. Mainly wondering where is the next scenes budget coming from. It was the hardest production I have ever been involved with. Personal loans, Indiegogo campaigns and private investment finally got us through the finishing gate. Unfortunately, my usual special effects wizard Alastair Vardy was in Ireland shooting Game of Thrones (2011-2019) for the first three years of production, so all the big gun set-pieces were bumped to the end of the shoot starting January 2018. We filmed the last 9 set-pieces during 2018 till the last day of filming 28th November.
We eventually found our Executive Producer in Laurence Harvey, who put in the much-needed cash to complete the film without compromise.
Q. What makes Beyond Fury stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. It doesn’t sit firmly in the horror genre, but some of the set-pieces are truly horrific. I know my films are known for the violence, but we pushed hard on this one to make it truly wincing in scenes. The poor character of ‘Skank’ is given the most punishing of deaths over the course of the film, the man is literally broken down into a shell. If you don’t like hammers meeting soft feet, then you’re watching the wrong film (laughs).
Splatter aside, we really wanted the look of the film to juxtapose the cliched drab and grey British crime films. that we are all used to. All of our daytime exteriors are in the blazing sunshine, where these terrible acts still unfold. We shot the film in 2.5k RAW with 70’s ARRI prime lenses I wanted it to look as epic and popping on all fronts as possible.
Beyond Fury is a revenge caper that charts the face-shredding, bone-splintering, stomach-blasting consequences of one act of violence.
It is my love letter to the great Italian Poliziotteschi and Splatter genres that I grew up watching and fell in love with.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. I hope they enjoy the film firstly and get into the spirit of what it is. A throwback movie from the lost 70’s era. A film with no boundaries or shyness when it comes to violence, a film that isn’t scared to go that bit further, to keep going, when you think it will cut away. A film full of raw passion from the most committed team I have ever worked with.
Ultimately, I hope people, laugh, wince and are entertained.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. I am currently on/off writing a book about my 25-year journey on making the crime trilogy. The ups, the downs, anecdotes from festivals and the actual shooting of the three films. I have over 9000 photos from the trilogy, so I want a large coffee table book full of BTS and productions stills from each film. With a narrative guide as to how each one was achieved etc…
I am also writing a revenge drama ‘Lottie’, central female character, who 25 years after a serious trauma runs into one of the perpetrators and it spirals from there…still in the early writing stages.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s impossible. That is BULLSHIT. I am living proof of that, make your film by any means possible. It will be hard, the toughest thing you can ever undertake at times. For me, finance has always been the toughest thing when starting a project. Things have changed so dramatically since I released my first feature film in the 90’s. Now technology is so readily available, it’s hard not to find something to shoot on if you are just starting out.
I made 15 short films between 1989-1994 with friends, some of who are now in the industry still work on all my films as they come along.
When writing your screenplays don’t get bogged down with writing your locations and set designs, don’t let the finance get to you at the first hurdle. Write without budgetary compromise, worry about that later if need be.
It’s not classed a failure to have a plan B, C or D – It’s called turning shit into gold when things go wrong. David Warbeck told me this whilst we were filming Sudden Fury in 1996. He had been told this by Joan Crawford on the set of Trog (1970).
Turn shit into gold!
You can find out more about Beyond Fury on Facebook
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!
