Alex and Oli Santoro are a directing team to be reckoned with. Their first feature "The Other Side" is technically a short, but plays so complete and is shot with such scope that it defies the format definition. Not only that, the their creation; Death Face is a thing of beauty. Though they are in the process of touring the film all over the world, they took a time out to chat about 13 question marks of horror...
1. You obviously have a love for horror. What
was the first horror film that really got under your skin?
We’ve been watching horror films since we were very young. Since about
2 or 3. The stuff we were seeing perhaps shouldn’t have been seen by kids so
young but… I guess it worked out for the best. There are a few movies that I
recall as having some kind of impact on my life. It’s always too hard to name
just one. Child’s Play, American Werewolf in London, The Candyman, The Exorcist
& Halloween were our favorites. These films have certainty had a sub
conscious effect on our psyche.
(Alex) For me it’s not about a movie getting under my skin, I am very
rarely scared by a film (if ever) I just really love it when other people get
scared around me! I kind of get a buzz off of them. My brother and I were
always dressing up and trying to scare the hell out of people.
I remember in school once when I was extremely young, the teacher asked
me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I said ‘a murderer’. Unfortunately I
never lived up to my potential and had to settle for killing people on screen
rather than in real life. Similarly, my brother always wanted to be a vampire
and once asked my parents for a coffin for Christmas! Haha.
2. You are based in the UK, so I’ve gotta ask,
who did it better, Classic Universal or Hammer Films?
(Alex) It’s a toughie but I’d have to go with Universal. Personnel
favorites are Frankenstein & The Wolf Man. Although, I’m a massive Christopher
Lee fan so it’s close. That said, we would love the chance to work with him!
3. How did you get into working in film production?
(Oli) I left school at 15 without any qualifications or degrees. Alex
has both but I don’t think they have come in handy at all! Film is an industry
where experience is key. Also it’s all about who you know sadly rather than
what you know. So at times it’s been a struggle but The OTHER SIDE is a good
example of the good times. We’ve both done our fair share of running around film
sets like headless chickens but the experiences we gained have proved
invaluable.
4. When it came down to jumping behind the
camera, how did you choose your subject?
It was always going to be horror. We came up with the idea for The
Other Side a few years ago. The story just organically evolved over time. Being
our first narrative film project, we didn’t set ourselves any restrictions
whilst generating ideas. We wanted car crashes and people being thrown into
walls etc. But when it came to making it, we were like, ‘how the hell are we
going to get this made!’. We knew that we had given ourselves an uphill task
and written an incredibly ambitious short project. We did everything in our
power not to compromise too much and hopefully stayed true to our original
intentions and vision.
5. The hardest thing to come up with is
creating a memorable killer. How did you come up with Death Face?
(Oli) We always envisioned having a killer crying. Black tears running
down a white, rotten, torn and tattered mask provided the perfect contrast. We also
wanted someone huge, a towering figure, a monster of a man with straggly hair! We
tried to make Death Face into a ‘super slasher icon’.
6. You’ve spoken about possibly expanding the
film into a feature. Is what we’ve seen the beginning or would you fill out the
events in fuller detail?
Oh we need to go much deeper. The original script was a lot longer. It
came out at around 30 pages. The shooting script was 15. So we already have a
lot down on paper. Also the original ending was much more Hollywood that the
one we went for. We were forced into a few decisions mainly due to budgetary
constraints.
7. Do you have a full mythology to be explored
in the future?
We already have the complete story for ‘The OTHER SIDE’ feature and if
anyone came to us and said they were interested in making it, then we would
definitely entertain the possibility!
8. This is possibly the most engrossing short
that I’ve ever seen. It actually plays like a pilot. Was the film completely
storyboarded?
Thank you. Yes. I must give a special thanks to Lianna Wield (our
artist), she really helped us out. We had a storyboard of over 500 shots. We
loved every single one of those shots. We only managed to get around 150 so
thankfully whilst you claim it to be engrossing, you can only imagine what we
could have produced if we managed to get all our shots. That was one of the
hardest things, selecting the right shots to make a potential mini feature in
to a powerful short. When we sat down with our 1st AD Joe Geary and
DOP Wedigo von Schultzendorff they thought we were crazy but admired our
spirits. Sadly, we had to cut down on the day. Honestly I cried over every lost
shot! I literally just got over it, thanks for bringing up bad memories! Haha.
9. The biggest mistake that new film makers
make is treating their Cinematographer like an afterthought. The Other Side
looks great. Was your D.P. involved from the very beginning?
When we got to the nitty gritty part of pre production, we were very
insistent on having an experienced DOP as we were fully aware whilst working on
other projects the importance that this role could bring. We really wanted
someone special and we saw ‘Pandorum’ in the cinema a few years earlier and
thought it looked phenomenal. He remained in our minds and we sent him the
script, he read it three times before he even got back to us. He knew it was an
ambitious project with some young guys at the start of their journey and was
excited. Wedigo remains a close friend today and we shared something very
special with him. He’s an incredible guy and I feel very grateful just having
the opportunity to work alongside him. A true professional and incredibly passionate
about filmmaking. He graciously came down a week early and gave us his time for
free. He spent one week at our house going over each scene and shot meticulously.
Wedigo is the king.
10. Not only is the look of the film spot on,
but the actors turn in such complete performances. Was the dialogue set in
stone or did you allow improving?
We will always allow for improving. If someone makes the scene better
then we are all for it. The dialogue will never be set in stone with us. The
film is a collaboration of every person we came in contact with, especially the
actors who were at the forefront of the project. An actor has to feel comfortable
saying his line otherwise it just won’t feel right. We had a circle of action
etc but we employed the actors to do a job and we tried to leave them to it as
much as we could. We had full faith and trust that they would do a fantastic
job and they didn’t disappoint.
11. You’ve put so much into the film including
the poster. Since horror posters today are less than inspiring, did you have a
specific idea in mind for how you wanted the film represented?
Yes. We wanted something different. Something with a classic feel.
Graham Humphreys is a legendary British artist and we knew he was exactly the
right person to pull off that kind of old style movie poster. His work speaks
for itself.
12. Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen
our slasher icons like Freddy Kruger and Jason Voorhees, stumble. Do you think
it’s time for a changing of the guard?
Yes please. I think they need to go back to basics. It’s so why so many
horror films fall down today. They need to go much darker. The number one rule
is you have to be a fan! And please just stop selling out!
13. You and horror seem like such a natural fit,
do you plan on continuing or do you want to explore other genres in the future?
Our next film that we are writing at this present moment in time is a
classic British horror / thriller. I’m very excited about it! I can’t say too
much but it’s called The Practice (working title) and we are about half way
through the script. We are writing it with our cousin and best friend Ben
Scott, an extension of The Santoro Brothers, so much so that we were
considering changing the name to ‘The Santoro Triplets’. He also wrote The
OTHER SIDE. An incredible talent and in all seriousness we feel very fortunate
having someone this good apart of our team.
In our minds, Thrillers and Science Fiction films run very closely
behind. But for us horror holds a great sense of nostalgia and will always
remain close to our heart. It’s the only genre where it really feels like a
ride at an amusement park. And hopefully people will enjoy our future rides.
Other Horrific Musings:
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