Film Name: VideoShop Tales of Terror 2: Lust and Revenge – The Gory Hole
Director: Richard Rowntree
Writers: Matthew Davies, Richard Rowntree
Starring: Eliza Leonard, Liam Richards, Jia Khan, Phelim Kelly
Synopsis: Dig out your membership cards, as it’s time to rejoin the Video Dungeon in this sequel to the retro VHS horror ‘Video Shop Tales of Terror’. There are such sights to see – four tales of terror, a myriad of trailers, and a few surprises too. Come on in and see what’s on the video racks for your entertainment – if you dare!
In a new interview on Blazing Minds ahead of the second weekend at Horror-on-Sea, I got a chance to ask co-writer/director Richard Rowntree a few questions about his segment of ‘Video Shop Tales of Terror 2: Lust and Revenge‘ – ‘The Glory Hole‘
Video Shop Tales of Terror 2: Lust and Revenge will have its World Premiere at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 18th January at 20:00hrs.
Q. Your film has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect?
A. Haha! I’m really excited to see the full feature myself! Our segment is typically “Ash Mountain” in it’s content and delivery…don’t want to give away too much, but it’s a morality tale that might make you think twice before trying something new!
Q. You co-wrote the script with long term collaborator Matthew Davies. What were some of your influences when writing the script and what was your process for writing together?
A. Matt and I are on the same wavelength, in terms of our love of horror and also comedy. I think the seed for this script came from a news report one of us read about someone visiting a glory hole with disastrous consequences. I find the idea of them very bizarre. It was a short that we had written quite a long time ago – it’s only 5 pages long, and I think we wrote most of it in one sitting, but there’s always a few tweaks along the way – especially when you’re shooting something with practical effects. When Lall (producer) approached us to see if we’d be interested in doing a segment for the feature, we jumped at the chance – and once we told him the title of the short, he was sold!
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. We wanted it to have a campiness to it, but also a very stylised colour palette. We referenced Weird Science for one of the shots – you’ll know when you see it – because that kind of represented the tone of the film – in that it’s a typical teenage male fantasy. In terms of colour, we wanted it to have those deep greens and blues, which is something I always associate the bathrooms of masculine drinking establishments with – and then off-set that with the antagonists bright red costume. Obviously in indie film, you have to work with what’s available in terms of locations and so on – but Mel our designer did an amazing job of bringing it to life and tying it in to the location where we shot the bathroom sequence. We wanted the bathroom to have a really disgusting feel to it – a la the bathroom sequence in Trainspotting – so that there would be a juxtaposition between the sexual arousal and the utter horror of the environment.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. Not really changes from the script, but definitely changes from the storyboarding we had done. Our DOP Frank always has some innovative ideas when we’re on set once the cameras are set up, and they worked better than the original plans by managing to capture a couple of the sequences in one shot rather than having cuts in there. It always makes the story flow better if you can do that, particularly in a story like this which takes place over a matter of a short period of time. We also had to amend some of the plans when we were shooting the bathroom sequence because, logistically, you can’t get much space in an actual toilet cubicle!
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. We left shooting the “money shot” until right at the end – partly because we knew we’d be able to do that without our performers present, and so could have feasibly shot it at another time if we had over run. We had so much fun capturing that – as always with practical effects, it was somewhat trial and error – but I don’t think I’ve ever shot anything where the entire cast and crew stood and watched and laughed so much!
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. I found myself pretty repulsed by the set dressing in the toilet cubicle to tell the truth! Mel did a wonderful job of making it disgusting, and Chris (Foulser) and Matt (Davies) added their own special touches to it as well! The shoot was fairly smooth on the whole to tell the truth – we had some very gracious locations, and the cast & crew were amazing in their efficiency and enthusiasm. I know we had a slight issue with continuity for one of the costumes that has beer spilled down it – but it all worked out in the end!
Q. What makes stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. Hopefully it’s memorable – we’ve been lucky enough to screen it as a stand alone short at a couple of festivals abroad and the reaction tends to be the same – audible winces at one point from the audience, and then the reaction afterwards when people meet us tends to be “You guys are pretty fucked up!” It doesn’t re-invent the wheel – but hopefully it’s one which evokes a bit of a reaction!
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. That maybe they shouldn’t be sticking things into glory holes! Seriously though, I just hope people can laugh about it and be equally disgusted!
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. We have several scripts on the go right now – one is shaping up to be quite exciting – it’s a bit of a change for us in that it’s sci-fi based – but still with a large element of humour and stylisation – and that’s a feature that we hope to be in a position to shoot some time in 2025. We have some test shoots for it next month, so stay tuned!
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. Just go and do it! There’s so much cool technology available now, even through your phone – that there’s really nothing holding you back if you want to make a film. Study screenwriting – because you can’t make a good film from a bad script – and watch as many movies as you can to figure out your preferred style!
Video Shop Tales of Terror 2: Lust and Revenge will have its World Premiere at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 18th January at 20:00hrs.
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!
