FAWCETT AND THE DARK
Fangos Canadian correspondent Scott Rollans has been busy on the set of the GINGER SNAPS sequels, getting all kinds of exclusive coverage for FANGORIA. Among the people he talked to was John Fawcett, director of the original GINGER and executive producer on the follow-ups, who gave us the scoop on his next directorial project, the British chiller THE DARK.
THE DARK tells the story of an American family who have moved to Wales to fix up a house, Fawcett tells Fango. They encounter a sort of nasty tragedy of the land. There is an evil there that comes from a kind of disease of the animals that somehow makes its way into the humans. The movie is based on a British book called SHEEP [by Simon Maginn], and this evil has infected the sheep of this farming community. Now the people are slaughtering them because they think theyre sick, but in fact this disease is not a parasite, its not medical, it cant be explained. Its something else. Its a disease of the mind.
Its a nice little psychological horror tale, Fawcett continues. It has the feel of a ghost story, although its not a ghost story. I really wanted to do a smaller film, with a small cast. I love movies in that vein, like THE SHINING, THE OTHERS, THE DEVILS BACKBONEthat kind of vibe is what Im trying to get from THE DARK. Its a pretty creepy, sick little story.
The movie will be produced by Jeremy Bolt, whose credits include RESIDENT EVIL and other films by director Paul W.S. Anderson. Those two guys have been together for 10 years; they saw GINGER SNAPS in the UK and liked it a lot, Fawcett says. They called me up when they were in Toronto doing some additional shooting for RESIDENT EVIL, so I actually went down to the set and hung out with them. Since then weve been trying to find the right project to do together, and this is a movie we all really like. The plan is to film it in Britain. Well shoot our exteriors on the Isle of Man, and then go back to London for all our interiors.
While Fawcett has been closely involved with the new GINGER SNAPS filmsworking with the scriptwriters, hiring the directors (both of whom were part of the originals team) and helping with castinghe opted not to take the helm again himself. I had other movies that I wanted to do, he explains. Making films takes an enormous amount of time and energy, and I didnt see myself dedicating another year of my life to trying to get a sequel to GINGER SNAPS made. Now, in hindsight, I think, Hmm, maybe it would have been fun to direct it, but at the time I said, Great, Im interested in being creatively involved, but I dont want to be the director.
Courtesy of Fangoria
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