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Deadly Games
Writer/director Jon Cohen is calling the shots on his latest thriller, ‘Rules of the Game’, which is shooting in Sydney now.
Despite the recent slew of bad weather, director Jon Cohen is nearing the end of shooting his newest endeavour, a horror/thriller entitled Rules of the Game. The film is set to diverge tonally from the director's previous work, including 2010's comedic short film The Game, which enjoyed a successful festival run last year. "The Game was a whimsical comedy," says Cohen. "Rules of the Game is a completely different story."
One thing's for sure. The film has a cracking premise. Rules of the Game follows Detective Nick Mathers (Richard Carwin) who has lost everything in the pursuit of a killer: his wife, his eldest daughter, his girlfriend. When the case that cost his daughter's life resurfaces, the Chess Piece Killer wants to finish the game. Each piece has a name on it, and if Nick loses a piece, that person dies. Things become a whole lot more personal when Nick's youngest daughter is taken captive...
What was the inspiration behind the premise, which deftly weaves a game of cold calculation into the mix? "I studied a lot of forensic psychology at uni," Cohen explains, "and the need for control rather than just the killing as a dominant factor in a serial killer's makeup got me hooked. From there, the idea of the killer controlling his victims and their deaths through a game of chess kick-started the story."
Thematically, Rules of the Game brings to mind another of Cohen's earlier works, the horror film The 7th Hunt, but Cohen is quick to point out the differences between the films. "Having done straight horror with The 7th Hunt," says Cohen, "I didn't want to revisit that, so my aim with Rules of the Game was to have more suspense, and more implied violence, rather than straight blood, guts and gore. That didn't interest me this time. The film has its share of horror moments, but it's more about the thriller aspects than the blood."
According to Cohen, the film shoot was a mini horror movie in itself. "The weather suddenly made things tough with our night shoots, but we all stuck it out! We've had sore muscles and bruises, all the usual for a horror/thriller film. Long hours are always hard to cope with but it's a good cast and crew, so we're powering along nicely."
Starring largely new screen talent, the film was funded by Cohen himself with the writer/director saving the funds over three years from the rental and film company, CineGear Productions, which he co-runs. "In terms of creative choices, one of our aims was to try and not let the budget curb the story we wanted to tell, but we did keep an eye on budget during the writing phase," he explains
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As for distribution plans, Cohen tells us that he's hoping to talk to the distributors who released The 7th Hunt in the US and the UK, as well as take the film to market at the American Film Market and Cannes Film Festival. "Ultimately, I'd just like a wide audience to see the film, and enjoy the efforts of a talented group of filmmakers."
The Rules of the Game is currently shooting in Sydney.
