Here Comes Hell (2019)
Director: Jack McHenry
Writers: Jack McHenry, Alice Sidgwick
Stars: Tom Bailey, Maureen Bennett, Alfred Bradley, Jasper Britton, Margaret Clunie
A 1930’s dinner party descends into carnage, gore and demonic possession in Here Comes Hell, a genre-clashing horror comedy.
Following the showing of Here Comes Hell at Arrow FrightFest, I got an opportunity to ask co-writer/ director Jack McHenry and producer Olivia Loveridge a few questions about what people can expect from their new horror-comedy.
What can we expect from your film Here Comes Hell?
Jack – The pitch was Downton Abbey (2010-2015) meets Evil Dead (1981) so you can expect cocktails and axes…
Olivia – The sort of stiff upper lip English sensibilities that get thrown off balance when the sale goes wrong, so they have figure out how they are going to cope with it.
Jack – With demons and monsters.
Olivia – Yes and it all gets pretty messy.
Where did the original idea for the film come from?
Jack – I really wanted to write a full feature, so me and my girlfriend wrote it. We are both massive fans of Agatha Christie and films from this period that we’ve set; early Hitchcock with films like Rebecca (1940). We wanted to make a movie in that world, but also I am a massive fan of Sam Raimi and John Carpenter, so it kind of came about by taking the first half applied spirit and then smashing an 80’s creature feature half way through. Kind of like From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), that was the jumping off point.
Olivia – In terms of making it, it was about 2 years ago when Jack first started talking about this idea of a Séance that goes wrong type of situation. Because Jack had made no budget shorts before, we thought what about if we just make a feature film. Not mess around by developing something for ages, make lots of shorts and then get a big budget. Let’s just make this independently and once we started raising money we were like, ok this is really happening.
The film was obviously filmed in Black and white in the 1920, do you think that was a bit of a risk doing it like this, especially as a first feature?
Jack – It was written in the script from the beginning. This is a black and white film, shot in an academy aspect ratio. It was so integral to the beginning idea we never really thought much more about it, it is the only way you can tell the story.
I also really love black and white; it has such a nice aspect to it. If it was shot with a modern technique, I think you would lose the humour and what we were trying to do.
Olivia – We had total independence, artistic freedom and at the end of the day we were making it as Jack’s first feature, so we wanted to show what we could do on a small budget. The main thing was to make the whole concept really inventive.
Jack – We wanted to make it so if you watched the trailer or the first five minutes you get what we were trying to do with it, we didn’t want anyone to feel confused in the tone.
This played originally in Glasgow so what has the reception been like following the initial premier?
Olivia – Glasgow was great. We were saying being encouraged and complemented by FrightFest was where it all started gaining momentum. They are like gatekeepers of the horror world and they are so passionate. They got the film, had so much interesting stuff to say and got in touch with people who they thought might like it.
Jack – That was the first festival we got into as well. From that it was like, wow its a movie! We made it, but now this is going to be shown in a cinema which I thought was never going to happen. That was pretty amazing, and I think the reception has been going pretty well.
Olivia – The laughs where where its meant to be funny.
Jack – Yeah, in Glasgow people seemed to be getting the tone, people were laughing at the right bits. It is a weird movie, but people are getting on board with it which is really nice.
Did you experience any issues with the making of the film?
Jack – Everyone was pretty chilled because everyone was friends and family.
Olivia – There was never enough money, but I tried to never let them know. I tried to hide that a little bit.
Jack – Yeah, you didn’t let me know (laughs).
Olivia – I think once something is over you block out any traumatising parts so you will do it again.
Jack – It was really cold. We was in this old dilapidated house with no windows , a bit of the roof missing and it was January.
Olivia – Margaret (Clunie) and Jess (Webber) were in dinner dresses
Jack – And it was bitterly cold. You had to wear full on coats and hats which is where you get the breath when people were talking.
The obvious things with low budget filmmaking, you never have enough time. There were bits where we would finish as scene and have to run upstairs, grab a camera and run because we have a hour to shoot a fight sequence, but then also make sure no one dies.
Olivia – No rest days.
Jack – Oh yeah and we didn’t have any days off. The cast and crew so up for it and really gave it everything which you really need with a film like this. If you have one person who is annoying or nasty the whole thing spreads. But everyone got it and was really on board with what we are doing. There was a lot of food and alcohol in the evenings so that was good.
Was there anything different from the original script to the finished film?
Jack – That’s what I have realised with short films you can pretty much do what you write, but with a feature it is always growing and changing. With locations you are always like “We can’t do that” so you’ve got to write something a bit different. So, there are sequences that change and evolve, but that is just something which I have learned, feature films are just growing.
Olivia – That was always a mentality. It would have been impossible and unpleasant for me if Jack was like,” No, this is my concept, it’s my way”. It was always flexible
Jack – We just had to try and do it in a way we could do it.
Olivia – There were going to be tentacles as well.
Jack – There were going to be massive tentacles! There was a lot of it in the first draft there was going to be a huge budget. The giant tentacles got replaced by a locking door (laughs).
What were you favourite moments during filming?
Jack – I really loved working with the actors, I’d never had the chance to work with actors on a big project like this before. It was really exciting to work with them on developing the characters and just seeing them performing, the cast were amazing.
Where can people see the film?
Olivia – Signature are releasing the film under their FrightFest Presents label, which we are really excited about. It will be available online from 11th November. We’ve also got a limited physical release, scheduled (fingers crossed!) for Halloween.
Are there any other projects, which you are currently working on?
Jack – We’re currently developing a bunch of ideas, some are more developed than other, so in the writing stage at the moment.
Olivia – And I’m in the hassling stage! Definitely more horror next, working on getting a simple and effective story so we can take the horror up a notch.
What advice would you give to someone who is looking to direct their own movie?
Jack – Make it. You’re never ready and you never will be. Don’t be afraid to just go, it the only way you and make it. And don’t be afraid to ask for help for anyone and everyone.
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!
