I was recently lucky enough to ask the brilliant Kevin T. Morales some questions about the genre. Please enjoy the full interview below:
Please tell us a bit about yourself and your relationship with the genre?
I’m a filmmaker with a strong background in theater and Horror really unnerves me. There’s plenty of things I won’t even watch, which sounds silly from someone who likes making it, but I think partially it’s that I don’t often feel the urge to watch something and be scared. I think I’m already scared a lot in life so I don’t often want to add to it. That said, when something is truly gripping and fantastic than there’s almost nothing better. I seek out certain films based on filmmakers I already trust. And then I will watch something if I get multiple people telling me I have to see something. What I appreciate most about the genre is it really allows you to build a Trojan horse. Your audience comes for the horror but you can surprise them with something they weren’t expecting.
What was your introduction to horror, and at what age?
My best friend had a birthday party when I was in 5th grade and his dad rented Aliens for the party. I had my pillow in front of my face half the time. After that I started wanting to see more. My dad showed me The Terminator which of course is also James Cameron but it was seeing Silence of the Lambs in the theater that really pushed me into wanting to play in that genre.
Your upcoming feature Shadow Vaults is due out this year, and is your debut horror feature, could you tell us a little bit about it and your move into the genre?
I’ve been writing in the genre for a while but this is the first things that I could get made. And it’s my 2nd feature so hopefully I can establish a brand of nostalgic comedy and compelling thriller/suspense/horror. Those are my two favorite sand boxes. Shadow Vaults was conceived during the lockdown. I was spending so much time on Zoom with friends, and I really got this odd deja vu from a time when people sat around camp fires and talked and told stories but we had replaced the camp fire with a lap top. So Shadow Vaults is essentially a group of friends and an invited stranger telling each other ghost stories. The aim is to create the creepy sensation you get when someone tells you about the thing they saw and can’t explain, and of course this entered my mind during lockdown when we were all hiding in our homes from this invisible threat that could kill you.
Your last feature Generation Wrecks was one of my absolute favourites of last year, how did your creative approach differ from one genre to another, if at all?
The big difference was for Gen Wrecks, I gave Victoria and Bridget a premise and basic story, and then they wrote the hell out of it with some input from me. And I tried to capture that experience of being a teenager going away with friends on a long weekend. This time I made Shadow Vaults as a way of deflecting the stress and fear of the outbreak. I thought if I could take the stress and pretend I’m making a film, I will handle this much better and it worked. Writing it, getting cast and crew on board, arranging for gear to be sent to the actors, directing everyone over zoom was a fantastic distraction from the incredible dread I felt.
Where did you draw your inspiration for the film?
I wanted to recreate that camp fire ghost story telling experience with some new twists. The cast is majority people of color and and majority queer. And each of the ghost stories in some way reflects the fears we had in 2020, not just with the virus.
Generation Wrecks featured great diversity on screen, is it important to you to deliver that representation in your work?
It’s a primary directive for me. I’m a Latinx filmmaker and for most of my childhood people really tried to erase that. As if it was something I should want to distance myself from. It matters to me that we normalize seeing people of color, queer people, and different genders in traditional roles. So that people stop questioning the existence of people. To move away from white being the default.
What is your favourite horror trope?
Oh wow. So many. I think one thing that really gets me is when someone enters a location and it’s displaced from reality or out of time, but the character doesn’t know it. Like then Jack enters the bar in the Shining and their are people there and a bar tender and it doesn’t occur to him that the hotel is empty. He just accepts the illusion. That really fucks me up.
What is something you'd like to see more of on the future of the genre?
I think it’s difficult to pull of but if you can, having the threat of being killed not be what’s at stake in a story. What I love in Silence of the Lambs is you’re not worried necessarily that Lechter is going to kill Clarice. You’re more afraid what he will do with her personal information he wants from her. That’s creepy.
Who are some of your favourite people working in the genre at the moment?
Jordan Peele for sure. Del Toro. I will see anything he does. I was so impressed with Emerald Fennell’s film, “Promising Young Woman” I don’t know why that film doesn’t have a horror tag. It scared the shit out of me.
And are there any other projects you're involved with that you'd like to talk about?
Another horror film I wrote called "War Of Terror" is being produced by an Irish team. I really hope they can find the financing because I would love to bring a horror film about U.S. Foreign policy and military strategy in middle eastern countries to audiences everywhere. I also am trying to get a vampire film made, but I’m going to keep the details of that to myself for a little while longer haha.
Thank you again to Kevin for the wonderful interview!
You can find Kevin T. Morales and his work by following the link below:
https://www.kevintmorales.com/about
