Interview: Padraig Reynolds Talks Rites of Spring

Interview: Padraig Reynolds Talks Rites of Spring, Written by: Karen Benardello Sometimes the most horrifying experiences in life are just the beginning for a surprising, even more heinous event that no one can ever prepare for. That’s certainly the case for both the victims and the kidnappers in the new horror-thriller ‘Rites of Spring,’ which hits select theaters and IFC Midnight Cable VOD and Digital Outlets, including SundanceNOW, iTunes, Amazon Streaming, XBOX Zune and Playstation Unlimited, on Friday. While people may believe they have their lives planned out, the film proves that one unpredictable event can change lives forever. ‘Rites of Spring’ follows a group of kidnappers who abduct the daughter of a wealthy socialite and hide in an abandoned school in the middle of the woods. As several of the kidnappers begin to feel guilty over their decision, the group begins to divide, which puts the plan in jeopardy. The evening further unravels when a mysterious creature that requires springtime ritualistic sacrifices appears, making the school its hunting ground. The scribe and helmer of the horror-thriller, Padraig Reynolds, who is making his feature film directorial debut with the movie, generously took the time recently to speak to us over the phone. Among other things, he discussed where he came up with the idea for the story, the difficulties of having a short shooting schedule on a limited budget and what the casting process for the main cast was like. ShockYa (SY): You both wrote the screenplay for, and directed, ‘Rites of Spring.’ What was your inspiration while you were writing, and where did you come up with the idea for, the script? Padraig Reynolds (PR): I wrote ‘Rites of Spring’ and its sequel back-to-back when I moved to Los Angeles in about 2002. Friends of mine wanted to do two horror movies back-to-back, and approached me about writing and directing. Those two movies fell through, and didn’t happen. I kept plugging away, and kept sending scripts out. In 2007, I met Eric Thompson, who was working at Maverick Red at the time. He fell in love with ‘Rites of Spring,’ and brought it to some investors in Mississippi. They liked it as well. Our plan was to do two movies back-to-back last year. But when we were doing it, they asked if we could only do one. I said yeah, let’s do one, so we did one. I think the influences for ‘Rites of Spring’ are a Don Siegel movie I loved from the ’70s, called ‘The Black Windmill.’ There’s also a Piers Haggard movie from ’81, called ‘Venom.’ It’s about a snake that gets inside a house when kidnappers are there. SY: Speaking of kidnappers, ‘Rites of Spring’ follows a group of kidnappers abduct the daughter of a wealthy socialite. What kind of research did you do while you were writing the script, in order to tell the story? PR: When I sit down and write a story, I always look at locations a lot. the locations will dictate how I write a story. I had the creature’s back-story, and I had the farmer’s back-story already written. So they sort of fell into place. As for the kidnappers, I heard of a story recently that a guy got fired from his job, after like 10 years. He went to his boss’s house and tried to kidnap his kid. I think I read that in the newspaper. I thought that was an interesting idea, especially in today’s economy. Somebody could work at a company for so long and could get fired for somebody else’s fault. I wondered what kind of emotions that could bring. The guy basically said he was going to kidnap his boss’s kid and extort money out of him, because he took away his life. To continue reading this interview, please click here.