Exclusive Interview with 'Prowl' Director Patrik Sversen

Read our exclusive interview director Patrik Syversen, who helmed the upcoming horror movie ‘Prowl.’ The film is being released theatrically as part of this year’s After Dark Films’ Horrorfest, more commonly known as the 8 Films to Die For film festival, on January 28, 2011. The movie will then premiere on DVD, On Demand and Digital Download on March 29. The director, who has made a name for himself helming, writing and editing such horror movies as ‘Manhunt,’ discusses with us, among other things, why he was attracted to ‘Prowl’ and what differentiates the film from other horror movies.

Written by: Karen Benardello

Shockya (SY): Your upcoming horror movie, ‘Prowl,’ follows a small-town girl, Amber, as she moves to the big city with friends. After accepting a ride from a trucker, the friends discover he has brought them to a warehouse where humans are the prey for blood-thirsty creatures. What was it about the script that convinced you to direct the movie?

Patrik Syversen (PS): I was attracted to the themes, and the fact that the film is a sort of coming of age survival horror. For me to do a film, it has to speak to me on a personal level. Making a film is a lot of work and effort, so the more personal, the better the film will turn out. The script was well written, had a clear central character with an interesting arc, and that really appealed to me. It was also one of those things, the main character is always running away, but in the process of running away from things in her life, she realizes who she is as a person. I like working with specific themes, and using genres to explore them. In this case, a survival horror works really well. It’s in your face, intense, and violent, yet it’s all grounded in a central story. Being a fan of both character driven films and horror, choosing this project was a no brainer, even though it’s the first film I’ve done that I haven’t written myself.

SY: How did you decide what the creatures would look like? Did you work with a particular visual effects supervisor/make-up artist to create the creatures?

PS: The creatures were initially written as birdlike, but time and budget gave us lot of restraints. In the end, this really helped in the decision of what the creatures should be. I wanted the film to have a realistic feel, so we sort of stripped it down to the bare essentials; sharp fangs, black eyes, and then focused on the performances to make it creepy. And sometimes less is definitely more. We did a lot of work on different designs, and some of them were really cool, but in the end, the more direct and simple, the more relatable. So, I’m really happy that it turned out the way it did.


To read the rest of this interview, please visit:
http://www.shockya.com/news/2011/01/27/exclusive-interview-with-prowl-director-patrik-syversen/