Live or Let Die
Director: Manuel Urbaneck
Writer: Manuel Urbaneck, Jan Bohlenschmidt
Starring: Jan Bohlenschmidt, Steven Moores, Alona Hertha, Micheal Valentin, Heiko Schulz
Through an outbreak of a virus, the human race has come near to extinction.
The undead walks among the land and hunts the living.The very few that are left, aimlessly searching for a better tomorrow. The Survivor and lone wolf Nick (Jan Bohlenschmidt) finds an old Diary that contains a map, his last chance for hope to a Safer sanctuary.
After a bloody encounter with reckless John (Manuel Urbaneck), both get together and wander through the dead and destroyed Land. Day after day it´s a hard fight of survival for their own lives, after they encounter a group of brutal thugs, murderers, and thieves things get out of control.
Quickly the two realise that one thing is clear.
Among the dead, the survivors develop into a greater threat!
In a new interview in the series leading up to Horror-on-Sea Film Festival, I got a chance to ask Live or Let Die co-writer and director Manuel Urbaneck a few questions about what we can expect from the films.
Q. You original made the film as a short in 2014. What made you decide to adapt it into a feature film and are there any major differences between the two?
The short film on which this feature film is based was, so to speak, my first short film that I made. It ran worldwide at festivals and ended up on YouTube. Now 5 years later, the small but fine short film has almost 1.5 million views, which is impressive, especially since it comes from Germany.
In 2016 we came up with the idea for a feature film and what could be better than the basic idea of taking the characters and turning them into a feature film, and coming back to the question there are huge, big differences. In the make the special effects of the drama. We have all been able to learn over the years.
Q. You co-wrote the film with Jan Bohlenschmidt were your inspirations when writing the script for the film?
I would say our greatest inspiration is our long-standing friendship, which is also reflected in the film. Jan not only brought ideas, he also played the same as in the first short film and is one of the main actors.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
I love the camera work of Emmanuel Lubezki, his long but meaningful shots; you can see that live or let them too. His feeling for breathtaking landscapes is exactly my inspiration. Maybe it’s also due to the (almost) same first name.
Q. Where there any elements of the original script which were adapted during filming?
The script had a completely different ending that we changed shortly before this shoot and it was the best decision.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
The last day of shooting and knowing we have finally made it and have everything in the box. We were relieved to have sweated, froze and hated us but we carried through our vision and I am very proud of that as a director.
Q. There are a lot of zombie films being made, but what makes Live or Let Die stand out as something different in the sub genre?
The first, Live or Let Die is not a pure zombie film, it is more a post apocalyptic drama. The zombies only play a small role in the whole scenario because humans are much more brutal than the current dead, it was a horror, zombie, drama, but you can see for yourself.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
I hope everyone will see the vision I had in this project and enjoy the 105 minutes
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
Yes, we are planning a new feature film and this time it will be paranormal/ demonic. Damn, I love horror
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
keep your vision in mind, carry out your project and bring it to an end even when the day comes (I had it myself) and you think that will never be finished. It costs strength, time and nerves. And above all, be open to new things and don’t follow any rules from books, but try out only in order to create something new.
Live or Let Die will be playing at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 11th January at 12:30 hrs
You can find out more about Horror-on-Sea and purchase tickets for the festival here:
You can find out more about Live or Let Die on the Facebook
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!
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