Film Name: A Final Exorcism
Director: Sam Mason-Bell
Writer: Sam Mason-Bell
Starring: Ayvianna Snow, Charlie Bentley, Keeley-Jo Jupp, Suki Jones, Cy Henty, Simon Berry
Elderly Anne Lewis, believing herself possessed, requests an exorcism, with her two children by her side. On the third night of the ritual, Father Stone, the priest performing the rites, begins to doubt the family’s intentions. Is Anne truly possessed, or are her children deceiving him? Told in real time the lines between truth and deception blur, Father Stone must confront whether this is a sinister manipulation – or a true encounter with evil.
In a new Exclusive Interview on Blazing Minds ahead of Horror-on-Sea I got a chance to ask Writer/Director Sam Mason-Bell a few questions about the film ‘A Final Exorcism‘
A Final Exorcism will play at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 11th January at 5.30pm
Q. Your film has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect?
A. Hopefully something different from what you’d expect from an exorcism film.
Q. What were some of your influences when writing the script?
A. Obviously I can’t ignore the Elephant in the room, The Exorcist, but as I wanted to tell the story in real time I was influenced by films such as 12 Angry Men and the theme of doubt. I’m not religious so I treated belief like mythology, I picked up various High Anglican Exorcism books and read the stories and learnt the methods. The bible is a strangely fascinatingly dark book so I used direct psalms as ways to defeat the evil but also as a cathartic release for Father Stone.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. Like most of our films it was an improv based film with a loose narrative to follow. I kept scenes where it was going to be more surreal loose in the story, and found through the actors what could work for those scenes. In particular Anne (Suki Jones) backstory was originally from Annes perspective and a lot more vague whereas I decided it was better to see it through the eyes of the daughter, and allow me to bring in more actors and crew for some great strange flashback set pieces.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. Honestly I loved watching the actors work together seeing the chemistry between the main leads was a joy, they embraced the characters and kept me transfixed. I also loved expanding our skills with set pieces, bringing in other creatives such as SN Sibley, Darren Ward, Jason Jay Lowe along with our usual crew to do things Trash Arts hadn’t tried before. I also loved seeing Katie doing some excellent work on our various demons all played terrifyingly by Ella Palmer.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. It’s in indie horror of course there was issues! On the first weekend of filming Suki had unfortunately injured herself, we had originally intended to shoot everything in order but we had to move some scenes around, in hindsight the opening scene would have been a heavy start to the film! By the end of the first weekend of shooting Keeley found herself getting ill so we had to increase the days of shooting. But all of this allowed us to add more to the story and not rush through the days. Strangely a few actors got ill through this shoot…. On the SFX day the egg that forms burst and flooded the studio we were filming in, we cleaned it up and luckily the owner was none the wiser.
Q. What makes it stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. I always find this question hard to answer, I think any film that has strong performances and can take you away into a story with the craft of the film makers then it stands out right? I’m really proud of this film but it’s not for me to judge what makes it stand out. I do believe this is a unique take on an exorcism and I hope that, and the excellent actors are enough to entice the audience.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. An overwhelming sense of bleakness that creeps over them for a few days… hahaha.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. I’m currently in pre-production on a new horror with Ayvianna Snow and Jessica Hunt where crowdfunding till December 9th and we have some amazing monsters for that one. We are also developing part 3 of our Taped Up found footage series, hoping to shoot next summer. Also where currently in production on a new horror anthology called Exhibition of Evil with directors Darren
Ward, Jessica Hunt, SN Sibley, Jackson Batchelor and me!
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. Learn from every mistake, each film will only get better if you keep expanding who you are as a filmmaker. Most importantly find yourself a community of creatives, film is pure collaboration and creativity thrives with people working together.
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A Final Exorcism will play at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 11th January at 5.30pm
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!
