Film Name: God Squad
Director: James Plumb and James Morrissey
Writer: Lucas Eisele
Starring: Rob Murphy, Lucas Eisele, Earl Palmer, Rose Granger, Ceri Mears and Beatrice Plumb.
Set in a barren hellscape, otherwise known as present day South Wales, a force for good and justice and righteousness, known as “The God Squad” fights against the armies of Satan and the immense power of Warner Bros’ legal team to make the world a better place…
In a new exclusive interview on Blazing Minds, I got the chance to ask Co-Directors James Plumb and James Morrissey a few questions about their film ‘God Squad‘, which has been selected to play at The Horror-on-Sea Film Festival on Sunday, 25th January at 12.30 pm.
Q. Your film God Squad has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect?
A. Expect to be entertained. Expect to be thrilled. Expect to be moved. Expect to have your very notions of reality challenged. Expected to be touched by two priests (in a legally consensual way).
Q. What were your inspirations when writing the script?
A. Our scriptwriter Lucas pitched it as a buddy cop movie, but with exorcists. Of course we were in.
Q. What was the process for co-directing the film, and do you each bring something different when it comes to directing?
A. Myself and Jim mind meld quite a lot on set, as our tastes in film and story are pretty similar. So when deciding on shots or performances, we are pretty much on the same page and if not, a quick film reference will get us on track. I guess the only slight difference is that my thinking on set leans a little toward the visual (as the DP) and Jim’s the performance, but it’s not an exclusive thing. We can trust the other to take control over either role as co-director and also interject with ideas on either performance or the shot.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. I’m huge Dean Cundey fan. Dean tends to keep the lighting simple, and that was my overall approach, particularly for low budget filmmaking as we do not have all the time in the world. When merging genres such as comedy and horror it is food for thought when it comes to the look, but essentially the lighting has to be more ‘horror like’ than comedy and allow for the performances and script to lift the comedy side. And yeah, The Exorcist (1973) was also on my mind. The exorcism scene was simply a strong backlight in the doorway and one practical light on the beside which I would sometimes, depending on the shoot, accentuate with an RGB light.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. We made sure to factor in time to allow the actors to improvise. There are hours of footage of each of them riffing on gags. On set this creates a great atmosphere and keeps us all cracking up. But in the edit is where we need to be brutal and make sure that any improv jokes still fit within the context and the pacing of the scene. So there are some differences in the final film, but only minor.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. Earl, who played the Dad, making me laugh so hard that the camera shook.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. We could have done without the plague of locusts…
Q. What makes God Squad stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. We are absolutely fearless in making ourselves look really, really stupid. And we introduce the world to the soberhose!
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. Hopefully all their personal belongings.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. There’s a feature length script to God Squad that we would love to get made. But our next project is a nice nap.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would yougive them?
A. Connect with other filmmakers. Pull your resources together. Write a script with the realistic intention of making it – No over the top sci-fi and fantasy scripts that would requireinsane budget!
God Squad’ has been selected to play at The Horror-on-Sea Film Festival on Sunday 25th January at 12.30pm
You can find out more about Magenta House and purchase tickets for the film 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!
