Interview: Ben Collins

 

In this edition of Interview, Last Resort Films president Phil Dolan sits down for an interview with long-time LRF writer Ben Collins (Tail, Burnt Dreams) to talk horror films and the future of his "Creature" series.

PD: After all these seasons and over a dozen films, horror films seem to be your go-to genre. What are some of your horror influences?

BC: Yes, horror is without a doubt my favorite genre, I grew up watching films by the masters John Carpenter, Romero and Wes Craven from an early age and I love almost all of their films. My favorite monsters from cinema history that come to mind now are the xenomorphs of Alien, Leatherface, Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers (I like Jason Voohres less). As for some of my favorite horror films are Romero's first zombie trilogy, Wrong Turn, Alien (and Aliens), Us, Saw.


PD: Many of your more recent films have tied into your "Creature" series. Is that something that is going to continue?

BC: Yes it's true, many of my recent films are related to the "Creature" series. I had a lot of fun creating those original stories from the distant Season 4. Initially the film was supposed to be just one and at most it had to have a sequel, which then turned into a prequel. Later, however, when I was writing the film "The Mutation" I had a strange and curious idea of ​​creating a shared universe in which creatures and monsters of various kinds lived on our planet and make a series of films about them and see what happened by putting details within the movies so that they linked to each other. Then I also began to insert a dangerous association that would capture or kill these creatures. My idea was to create a series of characters and monsters that would then give life to a hypothetical "The Creature 3" in which many of them would have had a more or less relevant role. Amanda, Ana, Amber, Daisy and all the other actors, actresses and directors have been fantastic at bringing this magical world to life. As for the takings, I think it's a real miracle that none of the films were negative at the box office. It must be said, however, that none of them have made truly excellent results (The Mutation, almost 14 million) and even the critical reviews have been mixed. For example, the two mother films of the series, The Creature and The Creature: The Beginning only earned 5 million in total. Now let's move on to the bad news, unfortunately the script for this third film is having problems and is still about halfway through and if anyone wants to participate there would be no problems. So at the moment I don't know if a The Creature will be there or not. The hope there is however the chances that the film will be made is 50%.


PD: Care of Death is your second film in as many seasons to take place primarily in a psychiatric hospital. What do you think makes it such a strong setting for horror?

BC: I start by saying that Care of Death will be a minor horror film of my filmography. It will be a series b horror (a bit like Damned Ship was in the past) made solely to entertain the viewer and I don't expect much from both the reviews and the box office, although obviously I hope the film makes a profit. In this film there will also be the presence of my muse Olivia Munn (albeit in a supporting role), for the first time outside the series "The Creature". That said, I believe that psychiatric hospitals can be very interesting because they are places that in themselves give a little anxiety and tension and can give life to various types of different stories and scenarios. The last film was a horror-thriller with a supernatural presence which in the end did not exist while in this case it is a totally different horror film. For example Nightmare 3, The Ward, Madhouse, ESP or Unsane are very different films and have various disturbing aspects to them. Also, working in the world of psychiatry every day, the people who are present in these places are usually people who are in trouble for various reasons, who have their fears and can transport themselves well in a movie. Obviously I've done it in horror and thriller movies but I'd also like to write something different, maybe doing another transposion of the book Girl, Interrupted.


PD: What's next for you, Ben?

BC: In the future I will also move to other genres, not remaining anchored to the horror genre alone. In the next season, in addition to Care of Death, there will also be "The Brilliant Friend" with Lily Collins and Samara Weaving as leading actresses for which some photos from the set have also been released. This film is not a horror film but it is more a fantasy with supernatural shades, I sincerely hope it will be appreciated. Then a film was announced for season 19 to be directed by David Fincher set in the 15th century in Spain, a dark historical period for that nation. Again it will not be a horror but there will be moments and heavy scenes in it. The cast will be choral and made up of some rather talented actresses who will have to try to survive in a terrible situation. Next will be The Creature 3, if the script is finished. I also reveal that in the future there will be the film adaptation of a very important Italian novel of which a photograph of Katherine Langford was also released a few weeks ago.
I've only done one historical film so far (Black Dublin) and it turned out to be a pleasant surprise and I hope these films will be too in the future.