In Werewolves (now in theatres) director Steven C. Miller takes on the difficult task of bringing many, many werewolves to the big screen in the new film starring Frank Grillo. But to have a rather robust theatrical release for this horror film, the director was “blown away.”
“It’s kind of surreal,” Miller said told Yahoo Canada. “Most of my films have had fairly decent releases, this is easily the widest release, and for it to be a werewolf movie, it’s even more surreal, because that’s the genre that I absolutely love.”
“For a lot of people to maybe see [one of my movies] for the very first time, or even heard of me as a director, is going to be on a big screen like that, I think for me it’s really awesome and … I’m really grateful.”
Written by Matthew Kennedy, in Werewolves a supermoon event results in anyone who meets the moonlight turning into a werewolf.
In order to portray these creature, Miller was faced with the daunting task of just getting the sheer number of werewolves on screen that that story needed, while also being packed with action.
“What got me was the amount of werewolves on screen in the script that I saw, and the amount of action with the werewolves,” Miller highlighted. “I just hadn’t seen that in a long time, probably since Underworld.“
“I think it was daunting at first, especially when we were talking about how many we wanted to put on screen and prep, especially when these are practical werewolves running around. You have guys in suits, and it’s hot in Puerto Rico, and to get all of that stuff to work properly is not an easy task, but we really just had a great crew who was able to come together and push really hard to make something really fun.”
With Miller being a fan of 1980s films, in addition to being inspired by Jaws and Jurassic Park, practical effects were the way to go for him to make these werewolves appear on screen with all the texture and personality he wanted. Miller thought about how he could make an indie movie “feel” of a big studio, popcorn flick.
“I like to see things on screen. I like to be able to feel, touch,” Miller said. “I like the audience to be able to feel like … it’s there.”
“So for me, it was really important from the get-go to try to be able to create something practically. I also just feel like everyone is so used to the CGI thing. I thought maybe kids now would be like, ‘Oh, what is this?’ And it sort of feel and look a little different to them, because it is so practical and it’s in your face, and they are living and breathing on screen.”
Steven C Miller (Kenneth Rexach)
‘I just like to be in the mix’
Miller has played in the horror genre before, with movies like Margaux, but it’s really the way fans of the genre engage with these movies that appeals to the director.
“I really love how horror fans react to their movies,” Miller said, “They come together and get behind horror material.”
“I think that’s just not like any other genre, in my opinion. You have a really great group of people that want to see things on screen, that want to go to a theatre and experience it. And I think that’s what I love about horror films, is that you feel like you’re making it for the fans, for them to enjoy.”
At the core of Miller’s approach to filmmaking is being as engaged as possible, including his excitement on set.
“I need to be involved. I really love being involved and it’s just because I love the process,” Miller said. “It’s not even about an ego thing, I just really love the process of filmmaking. … I want to be able to do it as much as possible in the moment, because you just never know you’ll get to do it again. So I want to be as involved as possible.”
“There’s a lot of directors that may be behind a tent somewhere directing, I’m the kind of director that’s literally by camera in the moment. … I just like to be in the mix with them, so that as soon as they need something I’m right there and we can talk about it, or work our way through it. Especially … because with practical effects, it can be intense and things don’t always work correctly.”
In terms of editing in particular, it’s still a collaboration, but he’s adamant that he wants to be heavily involved.
“I have an editor, Greg MacLennan, who’s really great, but Greg would also tell you that I am in every day. I’m touching something,” Miller said. “Every day we’re usually even sort of going back and forth.”
“We’ll cut a scene, and then I’ll take it and kind of mess it up, and then he’ll come back and be like, ‘What did you do?’ And then we’ll kind of go back and forth until we find the right medium.”