Neil LaBute, writer and director of 'House of Darkness,' joins Cheddar News to talk all about his latest horror film. 

Between Bells

Neil LaBute Talks New Horror Film 'House of Darkness'

Okay, welcome back, Friends Between Bells, That's Head and Nine baker. So there's this new film that's combining horror with a little bit of seduction and mystery. It's called House of Darkness. And it's from the creative mind of director Neil LaBute who tells the story of a man who meets a woman at a bar. But this is a little different because she invites him in after he drives her home. And what follows from there is a night of seduction and secrets and it takes audiences on a wild ride. Look at this. Let's play a game. I want to play a game. Let's play lucy. Hello! I thought this was just the two of us. You still don't understand what's going on. Do you understand what? Oh my God, I'm tired. I'm gonna go home. No, you're not. I mean, this is right up your alley. My name all over it, joining us now is Neil LaBute writer and director of House of Darkness, Neil Welcome to the show. This film really keeps audiences guessing until the end, but it really place the social themes we're used to seeing from you what was the inspiration behind creating this, what you wanted to do differently? Or similarly to your previous work. What were you thinking as you were putting this project together? Well, I've been told in the past that I you know, I started making horror movies by creating these dynamics between men and women that were sometimes, you know, vicious and and and looked at the psychological damage that we can do to each other. So it didn't seem like a natural progression to take that and move it over into the world of horror and so I kind of went with the idea of you know, what's your worst date and can I make that even worse? Yeah, so let's talk about the cast, look at this is amazing Justin long kate bosworth really playing off each other, what was it like directing them? Why were they sort of perfect for this? Well, you know Justin was he's someone who's done horror before but he has a persona that I think people, you know, even if even if they don't know his name, they go, oh I like that guy, that guy is funny, you know and they see him in in a magazine and so it goes a long way towards taking this character who is a self professed nice guy and watching him gradually show his true colors over the course of an evening. And so Justin I think can get away with saying a lot of stuff that I put on the page that somebody else might get called out on a lot more quickly. Justin by the way remember he's a jeepers creepers, it was insane like how good he is in the movies Neil you're getting me so excited about this movie the more you talk about it, let's talk about the cinematography, it's so beautifully shot, it has this Gothic feel, how does that play into the storytelling of this movie? Well, you know, our poster and the first, the first thing you see in the film really. It says once upon a time we tried to take this kind of idea of a fairy tale and move it into modern times. And so we wanted the feel of the, of the home, you know, most of it is a chamber piece. It takes place in this, in this one uh kind of castle location. So we wanted to make sure that it felt very much like something that was a throwback like you know, on a dark and stormy night and so dan catch the cinematographer really tried to light almost the whole movie by candlelight. So Neil by the way, it's been about 15 years since the wildly popular horror film, The Wicker Man was released, which was an incredibly, really spooky movies still to this day, it still gives me nightmares. What is it about the horror genre Neil that allows you to sort of explore your creativity as a writer and a director here. Well, I think it's a, it's a world that people, you know, plays on your, your, your most primal fears. You know, someone was asking me about horror the other day and I was saying what films I really like and and jaws was one of the seminal movie that's out right now and in uh, you know imax in theaters and and playing to a whole new generation and scaring them the same way. I mean my my fears of water just were multiplied after I saw that film. I just every like swimming pool, bathtub was ruined for the rest of my life. But what a great, what a great time I had Well on top of that meal, why do you think, I mean look, horror films do incredibly well at the box office also we are drawn to them even though we love to get scared the crap out of. What is it about the horror genre? You think that drives audiences to them? Yeah. You know, you'll have to ask my mom, she was the one who dragged me through them first, you know, and she loved to be scared and and but hated to be scared that that push pull that dynamic of and they really work on a lot of levels and a lot of genres very big, you know, it holds everything from psychological to body count, horror to home invasion to you know, some that's much more cerebral like like this this sort of is there's a lot of talk in our movie, but what scares as well. So I think it just plays on our utter, you know deepest fears and we love those to be touched and and you know in the safety of a theater where you get to go home at the end and you're not really going through this horrible thing Neil, you've been in the business for so long. You've created amazing work as a writer, as a director as a producer. Is there a hat you like to wear more than the other? Well yeah, because of curly hair, it's hard to wear hats, but if I do it's um it's probably writer because that's where I started and you know it's the it's the it's the greatest job in the world where you you sit and you you create these things, that's where it all starts. Um So that's what I'm most comfortable and familiar with, but all the other jobs get me out of the house and around people. So those are good things. I like them all. I'm lucky to be doing what I'm doing and I hope I get to do it for a lot longer. Well we can't wait to see this movie. I am so excited Neil Writer and director of House of Darkness, you can check out the film and theater september 9th and on demand on digital, september 13th. Thank you