Abnormal Attraction (2018)
Director: Michael Leavy
Writers: Michael Leavy, Steven Della Salla, Jason Leavy
Stars: Michael Buscemi, Malcolm McDowell, Leslie Easterbrook, Jim Hanks, Gilbert Gottfried
In a world where fairy tales are much more than tales, monsters and humans are forced to live alongside one another. Much like in our world, many people find it possible to peacefully coexist, however there are plenty of others who do not. Nick Lane (Nathan Reid) is one of the few people who stand in the middle and try to bring both sides closer together instead of pushing them further apart. However, when the tension that has been building between both sides reaches its breaking point, the middle isn’t necessarily the best place to be. Nick’s morals are tested, and his own weaknesses are revealed as all these problems come closer to home. ‘Abnormal Attraction’ – where it’s weird to be normal.
In my latest interview I got an opportunity to ask the multifaceted film maker Michael Leavy a few questions about his latest fantasy horror-comedy Abnormal Attraction.
Q. Your new fantasy comedy Abnormal Attraction has just been released on DVD, Blu Ray and Digital Download. For those who haven’t seen the film, what can they expect
For one I’d hope for them to expect to be entertained, we made a film that is off the beaten path for sure and could eventually and hopefully have a cult following. We wanted to make something fun and unique and that was sort of a mash up of our favorite childhood film’s and tv shows. To sum it up as best I can, Abnormal Attraction is an adult fairy-tale with unexpected twists and turns. It’s a ride, that I can you!
Q. You co-wrote the film with Steven Della Salla and Jason Leavy, how did the original concept for the film come about?
It’s funny the film was originally a short that was conceived at the New York Horror Film Festival. That is also where the three-chapter structure came from and we wanted to keep the original story intact, so we came up with three parallel story lines that come to a head at the end.
At the festival we looked around and saw many guys and girls dressed in different costumes and cos-play and thought there is something about this that is interesting. Seeing a man dressed as a werewolf still ripped and muscular, girls dressed as zombies or undead cats with half their clothes half missing covered in blood and for some reason it was all still sexy to people. There is an attraction there, perhaps an abnormal one? Then we joked about what if there was a support group for these type of people with bizarre monster fetishes, like an AA meeting of some kind, and I’m sure you could probably gather the rest.
Q. What were your inspirations for the look and style of the film?
All of us in Fuzz on the Lens Productions are fans of 80’s and 90’s film, especially comedy and horror so that was an inspiration for sure, but we didn’t want to just make a silly film and call it a day, although it has it’s campyness mixed in we wanted to give the story some weight and heart to stand above the rest, nothing bothers us more than a film that goes nowhere and has no deeper meanings, even if it is just a comedy. You can mix comedy and horror nicely if you balance it right and fairy tales by nature, have moral lessons for kids so with Abnormal Attraction we wanted to give adults the same types of lessons if you will, just more serious ones wrapped in a wacky film.
Q. Abnormal Attraction has an impressive cast. Were you surprised at the names you were able to bring together in the film and what were they like to work with?
No we weren’t surprised to bring the names in, we were honoured and flattered of course but never surprised. We know our work speaks for itself and we always have confidence in ourselves if nothing else. We also knew we had something truly different and unique at play. We are tired of the same old garbage recycled and remade, audiences crave for something fresh and we wanted to give it to them. The actors and actresses saw that too in the script, most of them after reading simply wanted to be a part of it because they have never read anything like it.
They all were so great to work with and so supportive of us and the project. They were true professionals in every sense of the word and it’s great that we all remain friends to this day.
Q. You bring together a mixture of mythical creatures and monsters, but what were your favourite characters to create?
There are just so many wonderful characters in the film, and they all bring something different to the table. But since I do have to answer, I know two that come to mind that were our favorite characters to create, and we constantly found ourselves quoting and excited to film are sort of are mirror images of one another. They are out-casts of their respected ‘races’ and those characters are that of Finbar and Bernie the Cyclopes. Both actors who portrayed them couldn’t have been more perfect for the roles. Another character we love is Frank Stein who is played by none other than Jim Hanks.
Q. Did you make any changes to the original script during filming?
Yes, we absolutely did, there were constant changes being made, somethings being added, some taken away or never shot. There is always a movie you conceive, then a movie you write, a movie you shoot, and a movie you edit and then ultimately the movie you release and a lot of the times they can seem like many different films. The original cut of the film was something like two and a half hours and we had to cut a lot to speed up the pacing and of course get the run time down considerably.
Q. Did you experience any difficulties whilst making Abnormal Attraction?
When you make a movie there is always difficulty and Abnormal Attraction was no different. One of the biggest ones for us was scheduling the actors. A lot of them never even met each other during their scenes and the shooting was spread out through multiple months and locations and then in post matched to look like it was all happening at the same time. It was a fun challenge though.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
I think anytime Finbar is on screen, especially in the third act has to be some of my favorite moments. I really enjoy the entire battle sequence too, that was a lot of fun to shoot and of course get scored. I really enjoy Bruce Davison also, he is a pro and watching him in the Abnormal Attraction meeting is just out of this world. His performance is top notch and really enjoyable. For more about my thoughts on everything and everyone else involved in the film, make sure to check out the Blu-Ray, we have over 90 minutes of exclusive content included on the special features a “Making of Featurette” with behind the scenes and bloopers.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
Of course, we are currently putting together a few films and tv shows. Too many to name them all but one of which that already has some funding into it is entitled Stream. It’s a full-blown action/ horror that we believe could be the next big new horror franchise, so if anyone is looking to invest …. we also have a thriller we are working on entitled William Froste. You may have heard of it around the internet a few years back, we have since gotten the rights to the project. Then besides that we have many comedy film’s that we are still tweaking the scripts. We pretty much try to do it all, as long as it’s entertaining and involves a camera, we are in. Also, a film we shot a little while ago is close to announcing its release, it’s called Penance Lane film that stars Tyler Mane, John Schneider, Scout Taylor-Compton and Daniel Roebuck. But right now, it’s a lot of fun going around promoting Abnormal Attraction and the film Terrifier (2016) which we were a part of.
You can see my original review of the film here
Abnormal Attraction is available to buy now on Blu Ray from Amazon
You can find out more about Fuzz on the Lens Productions on the website and the social media pages Facebook, Instagram and Facebook
You can find out more about Abnormal Attraction on IMDB
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!
