Interview With Writer/Director David Bryant: Splinter

I recently had the chance to interview Writer/ Director David Bryant about their new horror thriller film Thriller, which follows a guy, played by Bill Fellows, who sinks into the abyss after the death of his wife and child, and whilst there he believes something is watching him with the question then becoming is it a benevolent or malevolent presence. In this interview we discuss processing depicting mental health on screen, the metaphorical significance of Christmas, and the labour of love that is filmmaking.I hope you enjoy.

Q: What was your message with this film?

DB: On Splinter, as with many of my screenplays, I try to bring in a social aspect, something relevant and contemporary. I knew I wanted to base the film inside a single location, a house; So, why is someone trapped inside their own home? This is where I wanted to make the film about a mental prison. A man dealing with multiple issues from anxiety and OCD to agoraphobia but place him in a horror/thriller. It’s more an examination and depiction of the failing of someone’s mental state than a message. I prefer to pose questions than give a complete answer with my work, so people can discuss how they read the film compared to other people.

Q: How did you try to approach the topic of grief with this film?

DB: My whole approach to the film was to play it as real as possible. To create a genre film but stage it like a kitchen sink drama. This extended to how John, played by Bill Fellows, deals with his grief and loss. I felt this approach would form a stronger link to the character, an empathy that would bond you to him. Hopefully you feel his grief in a deeper way because of the down to earth depiction.

Q: In what way does Christmas play a role within the film?

DB: Christmas is a wonderful visual metaphor for family and joy. It instantly places you in a safe place. Then I wanted to twist that, a man trapped in a time capsule, literally it is “Christmas everyday”, but it’s not as fun as Wizzard told us! The tree and cards also give the film a sense of time and place and on a low budget, creates a more interesting environment.

Q: Would you call this film a Christmas film?

DB: Ah, the age old question. I think it falls into the category, though most of it is not set at Christmas. I think Christmas horror/thriller is a big market so I say a big YES. I have co-written a very cool Christmas anthology horror that I would firmly put as a Christmas movie plus a family non horror Christmas movie. I sound like the new Shane Black… Which would be nice.

Q: What is your favourite moment from the film?

DB: I’d call the film a slow burn that builds to a crescendo. I like when Bobby enters the story. It’s the most visceral and violent moment. The finale with Michael and Bill I really like too. Bill certainly enjoys playing off another actor whether Michael McKell or Jane Asher.

Q: Any funny stories from production?

DB: It was a small shoot, just a three man crew most of the time and shot over several weekends so not a lot of time for hi-jinks. Wish I did have a funny story, just tales of hard bloody work.

Q: What does the future hold for you, any other films in the works?

DB: I hope I get to make more movies. I’m working on several feature screenplays including a sci-fi UFO horror, a pirate horror and a Western horror and have numerous completed scripts ready to send out that have placed in screenwriting competitions. I work mostly in genre and have two projects I am working with producers on to develop; Flesh & Blood, a vampire story and a female led revenge thriller, Scavenger. I want to move on to a higher level and both these films have a real cinematic feel. We just need funding! I’m also open to offers of writing or directing!

Q: Any words of advice for future filmmakers?

DB: My advice is always to not wait. Many filmmakers think they need a million dollars to produce this incredible film that will catapult them to legendary status. It can happen, but not often. So I suggest you practice your craft. Learn the art of screenwriting by reading and writing dozens of shorts or features. Get a camera, find a few actors and go make a short film. There is a lot of pressure filmmakers put on themselves that everything they make has to be outstanding- it won’t be, and if you see getting out and shooting your film a chore, maybe filmmaking is not the life for you?

If you would like to check out Splinter for yourself it is currently out now on iTunes and Amazon Prime in the US and Canada with it coming to the UK and other territories next year.

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Splinter: The Darkness Stares Back At You

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

After the death of his wife and son John, played by Bill Fellows, sinks into himself. Whilst gazing into the abyss he begins to feel as though someone or something is watching him.

I thought this film was a smart psychological thriller, it played with you in all the right ways whenever you started to feel like you knew what was going on it then veered in a completely different direction and kept you guessing. The way the film approaches ideas of grief and mourning are also really well formulated and written as it brings a sense of grey tinged moral nuance to things and reflects deeply on a shared sense of emotion that most people can on some level relate to.

In terms of the scares/ thriller aspects of the film I thought they landed really well. Like a lot of good horror films Splinter is very focused on building and establishing an atmosphere, that feels just the right amount of oppressive, throughout the film and doesn’t waste its time stuffing in tons of jump scares.

The performances across the board were strong with Fellows being the obvious standout as the haunted man, the man out of touch with time and reality, the man lost in his grief. Fellows gave a very believable emotional performance that really powered the film forward.

Overall, a good film with an intriguing premise, definitely one to watch.

4/5

Pros.

The themes and message of the film

How it plays with grief

Fellows

The ending

Cons.

The pacing dropped a little bit in the mid-second and it started to lose me a bit

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On The Line: This Is What Killed The Radio Star

0.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A radio host, played by Mel Gibson, has his family held hostage live on air.

Man this film is hard to get through. Mel Gibson love him or hate him, is absolutely unbearable here and has one of his worst and hardest to like characters ever, honestly it feels so much like the cliched old man complaining about kids today that at times I had to check and see whether the film was a parody of something. This characters is awful to everyone around them and then we are supposed to care when his family get taken hostage and want him to save them, no honestly I just felt nothing.

Then as the film progresses we get the twist, and boy is the twist going to annoy you. Everything that has happened up until that point in the end of the second act has just been one big prank, surprise. This is terrible because it feels in line with one of those dumb it was all a dream plots and makes you feel like you have wasted your time which is the worst part for sure.

In terms of Gibson’s performance there is a question to be asked here about less being better. Gibson makes so many of these straight to DVD films or straight to streaming that he doesn’t turn up and not only that but he feels angry to be there and that comes through in his performance, not in a good way.

Overall, if this is the sort of trash Gibson is putting out these days then his career as a movie icon is well and truly dead.

Pros.

It is unintentionally hilarious at times

Cons.

The twist is awful

Gibson is loathsome

Gibson doesn’t bother to give a performance here he is just there reading lines

It is too long

It doesn’t respect the audience even a tiny bit

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The Long Kiss Goodnight: Is It Really Christmas Without A Shane Black Film?

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

An amnesiatic school teacher, played by Geena Davis, must team up with a private detective, played by Samuel L. Jackson, in order to get to the bottom of a sinister conspiracy.

A lot of these sort of Neo-Noir films do tend to blend together, they all have similar features, characters and themes and ultimately struggle to feel truly different to one another. That is the main issue with this film, in that I feel like nothing about it is organic, nothing is fresh and unseen.

However, though that is a problem for the film Shane Black’s writing helps to save it, as it is spot on not just in terms of tone and pace but also in terms of crafting characters and a world that you end up caring about even if it is just the same old same old.

Furthermore, the words are really brought together by the performances of both Davis and Jackson and not only do they end up embodying the characters but also give such immersive performances that you forget you are watching a film and feel like you are looking through a window in the real world outside.

Overall, though generic and formulaic in many ways Black’s strong writing and Davis and Jackson’s commendable performances help to make this a good film.

4/5

Pros.

The writing

The performances

The ending

The tone and the emotion

Cons.

It is very cliched and generic at times

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Dahmer-Monster, The Jeffery Dahmer Story: Netflix Should Be Ashamed And The Victims Families Should Sue

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A dramatic retelling of the life and crimes of Jeffery Dahmer, played by Evan Peters.

I think this series would have been a lot better if Ryan Murphy hadn’t been involved in it. Murphy brings his trademark soft core porn feel to this series and we have a lot of scenes of Jeff touching himself or of him and his victims, sometimes during and sometimes after death. To say this show fetishizes the crimes committed by Dahmer for cheap thrills would be an understatement. There was no need for half of the intimate scenes we got, in the context of the show and considering as well that Dahmer’s victims families are in some cases still alive it felt to be the height of bad taste.

I think Evan Peters fit well in the role, he brought the right level of detachment and coldness to it. However, in many other ways his performance was quite limited and felt very reminiscent of Peters’ performances elsewhere. I think very much like Jack Black, Dwayne Johnson and Michael Cain Peters is a one note actor.

Overall, a good and at times very compelling series, however, after watching it you will feel like you need a shower and be angry at Netflix for sexualising a series of brutal murders.

Pros.

It is compelling

Peters

It is watchable

Cons.

It fetishizes events

Peters hits his limits

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Old Man: Stephen Lang Has A Bad Day

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

An old man, played by Stephen Lang, who lives alone in the woods is surprised to receive a guest.

I think this film is entirely dependant on Stephen Lang to break even. By that I mean if you judge this film by the sum of its parts then you get a very pretentious, but not a very deep film. Add in that a lot of the thematic beats have been hit before and you have a recipe for a bad film, however, Lang’s masterful performance which is able to be compelling, sinister and also strangely warm all at the same time really raises this film up and out of the dirt. Truly this film does not deserve Lang.

I saw some listings that had this film as a horror, I would say that is untrue. It is far more of a claustrophobic thriller, and in this area the film does have some success as there are a number of tense moments between the two men and the whole film keeps you on edge.

Overall, a fine film made better by Stephen Lang without him this film would fall apart.

Pros.

Lang

A number of tense moments

It is watchable

Cons.

It is predictable

It is overly familiar theme wise

It has pacing issues

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Emily The Criminal: April From Parks And Rec Breaks Bad

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Emily, played by Aubrey Plaza, turns to crime after not getting anywhere in life.

I was very excited for this film before I had seen it, and after watching it I am decidedly more mixed on it. The one thing I can tell you up front is that without Plaza in it the film would have been a lot worse.

I think this film clearly highlights Plaza’s skills as a performer, but more specifically her dark side and dramatic sensibilities. Mainly before this role I have seen Plaza in a lot of dark and or quirky comedies and I think outside of the God awful remake of Child’s Play this was the first time I had seen her tackle something more or less straight with no jokes and I think she nailed it.

My main issue with the film as a whole was that it was a fairly generic breaking bad premise. Person turns to a life of crime, person makes money and doesn’t want to stop, and then they encounter negative consequences and either die or get arrested. For the most part this film was fairly generic only lifted above average by Plaza, however, I did appreciate that the ending didn’t skew the way I was expecting it to with Plaza’s character escaping and for the most part winning.

Overall, the film is been there and done that, but it does have a good ending and it also highlights Plaza’s skills as a performer.

Pros.

The ending

Plaza

It is very watchable

Cons.

It is generic

A lot of the plot is very predictable

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Lou: Netflix Needs To Learn That Having The Most Bad Action Films Isn’t A Good Thing

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Because it is still so fresh and novel, sarcasm, an old person has surprising skills and helps prevent a kidnapping.

So when I saw the trailer for this action thriller film starring Alison Janney I was intrigued, I wanted to see how this film would be different from the hundreds of other films in the genre that share the same premise, and the honest answer is that it isn’t.

This film was a slog to get through because the more it went on the more obvious it became just how generic it is. Nothing happens that you don’t already know is going to happen, in that regard it is certainly one of the most predictable action thrillers I have ever seen. This fact is not even made up for by the action, which is pretty bog standard again.

The performances across the board are instantly forgettable and the film does not use its talented cast in anyway to bring out their skill.

Overall, yet another boring Netflix action film.

Pros.

It has mildly appealing premise

It is sometimes quite unintentionally funny

Cons.

It is boring and bland and so is the action

It wastes a fairly talented cast

It is predictable

It has pacing issues

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The Birds: Why Is Hitchcock A Cinematic Icon? I Don’t Get It

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A woman with too much time on her hands, played by Tipi Hedren, starts getting attacked by birds.

I am going to say something that within some film circles is the highest form of blasphemy so get ready. I don’t really like the films of Alfred Hitchcock, I think they are often slow and badly paced, and more often then not seem to think they are smarter than they actually are. His films have a certain smugness to them, the only one I actually like is Psycho.

Anyway, I did not think this was the worst film I have ever seen but I did think it was boring. Scene after scene of Hedren’s characters personal drama as she obsesses over a man she met in a pet shop, played by Rod Taylor. Honestly it is quite a ways into the film where the titular birds start to turn bad until that point you would be forgiven for thinking you are watching some old fashioned drama/romance film. The pace during this early section is so bad that it almost made me turn it off.

I enjoyed the cinematography and the shot choice and would even go so far as to say a few of the shots were quite inspired, but this didn’t make up for the wider short comings of the film. Chief amongst these I would say were the performances that frequently felt quite wooden.

Overall, painfully slow.

Pros.

A few strong shot choices

Visually a beautiful film

Cons.

It is badly paced

The birds don’t turn bad until way into the film

The performances are fairly wooden

It is boring

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Andor: Aldhani

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Andor, played by Diego Luna, embarks on a heist and the embers of the rebellion begin to form.

I think this was a very good episode and way better than a lot of the other Disney + Star Wars shows we have had so far, however, I would say that it is a step back from what we got last week. This is very much a talking set up episode, which by no means is a bad thing as we will get to, but it does mean that the episode suffers with pacing issues. I think the worst thing about pacing in this episode is where it leaves off on, as the ending of the episode just feels like a random cut to black in the middle of a scene.

I enjoyed the scenes with Stellan Skarsgard’s Luthen, it is nice to see that he is a man of many faces. I have no idea where his story is going but I am excited to find out. Moreover, I thought his scenes with Mon Mothma, played by Genevieve O’ Riley, were really strong, and I thought that O’ Riley was really starting to shine in the role.

I also thought the heist planning scene was a lot of fun later in the episode, I liked the fact they built a model diagram and that yet again it seems like Cassian will be doing a suicide mission. I thought the two stand outs of the Cassian scenes were Faye Marsay as Vel and Alex Lawther as Nemick, both instantly created memorable and likeable characters who I want to see more off.

Overall, a slower episode but still one that is a lot of fun.

Pros.

Seeing more of Luthen

O’ Riley’s Mothma

The heist planning scene was a lot of fun

Seems like there is a lot to be excited for later in the season

Cons.

Pacing issues, mainly where they choose to end the episode

Not a lot happens

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