By Erin Free
After releasing the short film While He Was Waiting back in 2010, writer/director David Pether now takes the feature route with Ashburn Waters, a canny mix of slasher kills and supernatural thrills. Working with minimal funds, Pether grinds out am impressive sense of atmosphere with the help of his young, largely unknown cast. At the centre of it all is Brett (Kyal Scott), who is still hurting from emotional wounds inflicted by a heartless ex. Brett is convinced, however, by his not-always-honorably-intentioned buddy Binns (Andrew Lowe) to join up with their old high school friends for a fun camping trip. Unfortunately, Brett’s pouty, aforementioned former girlfriend Scout (Jade Prechelt), is also in the mix, with a new boyfriend to boot. The much nicer Cassie (Maia Rose Michaels) provides a more positive option for romance, while the boof-headed Trim (Adam Pether) provides way too many opportunities for general annoyance. And then people start dying, and not at the hands of your standard sex crazed killer in the woods. No, this menace is far more mystical…
Can you talk a little about your influences? Were there any horror films in particular that you used as touchstones? Any directors?
“I’m a huge fan of 80s slashers, in particular the Friday the 13th series. i always thought it would be fun to make a camping horror film. At the time I was writing the script, the Paranormal Activity series was huge and brought supernatural horror back into the spotlight. I thought it’d be great to mesh the two genres, and create a fun 80s style horror film with religious/supernatural elements. Steven Spielberg and M. Night Shyamalan are probably my biggest influences when it comes to my directing style.”
Supernatural horror has a very limited history in Australia. Did you really feel like you were striking out on your own with this one?
“I hadn’t thought about this at the time, but you’re right, we aren’t really making these kinds of movies here in Australia. But they are starting to sneak in with brilliant films like Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook. I really just wanted to make a film that I would want to watch, and the supernatural horror genre is definitely my jam. I’d love to see more Aussie takes on it.”
What sort of funding process did you go through?
“We ran an Indiegogo campaign back before the shoot that was really helpful in getting word out about our film and giving fans a chance to help us make it. But the majority of the budget came from money I borrowed from family and friends who were excited about the project, as well as any cash I could spare from my own pocket! On low budget films, it’s all about having people behind you that believe in your film, and we were so lucky to have that.”
Where was the film shot? How did shooting on location affect the filming process?
“We shot the film in a little mountain town just outside of The Gold Coast in Queensland called Canungra. They’ve got a great camping spot at the showgrounds there that was perfect for our film. We were also lucky in the fact that we could use our tents on set as accommodation too if the cast or crew wanted to camp overnight! The biggest challenge of shooting there on location was that it was still a functioning campground, and because we were shooting overnight, some of the other campers became disgruntled by all the noise we were making and by our lights shining into their tents! We tried to make as little impact as we could, but this sometimes couldn’t be helped. It was also August when we shot, and at night it could get rather chilly. The film is set over Easter weekend, so the cast were wearing summer clothes and keeping them warm between takes became a priority!”
How did you assemble your young cast?
“We put out an extensive casting call throughout the Gold Coast/Brisbane area which resulted in hundreds of applicants. We held auditions over a couple of days at a local acting school, which ended up being ultimately beneficial! Kyal Scott, who wasn’t even aware of our film, was taking some classes at the acting school and was dropping in an assignment while we were doing our auditions. We happened to have a gap because of a no show and asked Kyal if he would like to try out? He agreed, knocked it out of the park, and then was cast as our lead, Brett! A character that we had some difficulty finding was the bogan, loudmouth Trim. We wanted a bigger guy who could act like a bit of a larrikin, and found that most actors just couldn’t pull it off. Then somebody told me that when they read the script all they could think of was my brother, Adam Pether, who funnily enough I partly based that character off of. Adam didn’t have any acting experience at the time, but he’s always been a confident, out-there kind of guy, so I thought he could do it. We did an audition over Skype, he nailed it and BOOM, he was in the movie! He has now gone on to pursue more acting opportunities after having such a great time on Ashburn Waters.”
The film’s violence and horror is suggested rather than shown in explicit detail. Was that a conscious, deliberate choice? What was the thinking behind that?
“It’s 100% deliberate. I’m a firm believer that anything I show you won’t be nearly as terrifying as a nightmare that you yourself have conjured in your imagination. I mentioned before that I idealise Spielberg and Shyamalan as directors, and those guys are the masters of off-screen horror. I want you to be more scared of what might be lurking in the shadows, and I’ll tease you just enough to push you in the right direction.”
How did you create your monster? Can you take us through that? What were your inspirations?
“When writing Ashburn Waters, I tried to think of the type of creature that really scares me. I’ve always found horror with religious elements relating to demons and the like more real for some reason. So, I created this demon that was on earth to perform a certain act at a certain location in an effort for it to rise through the ranks of hell. When coming up with the look for the monster, I always wanted to have the glowing eyes in the darkness be the demon’s signature, and that it would form a body out of materials from its surroundings. Being a campsite, that would mainly be leaves, sticks, grass etc. Make-up artist Shani Mustey, costume designer Lynette Turner and myself worked together to finalise the look of the demon. But it was stuntwoman Carly Rees who truly brought it to life with the way she moved inside the costume. Working with Carly was awesome; she was at the beginning of her stunt career and wanted to get more experience with fire stunts. It just so happened that we had fire in our script and everything worked out perfectly! Carly has now gone on to a super successful career, working on some really big films, so I’m very grateful that I had the chance to work with her.”
You push the envelope a bit with the behaviour of some of your male characters…did you want to press the audience’s buttons a little bit?
“It’s not really about pushing the audience’s buttons, but more highlighting how everybody has their own issues or insecurities and they can deal with it in different ways. Whether that be within themselves like the character Rhi, or in an openly vulgar matter like Binns or Trim, I tried to write every character as if they were broken in some way. But I will admit that I did make some characters a little more annoying so the audience would feel more satisfied if they were to die!”
You have some fun with the Aussie vernacular. Was that an enjoyable part of the writing process?
“Oh absolutely, that’s where a lot of the flavour of our film is delivered. I grew up making short films in North Queensland and I’ve never seen a movie with the kind of humour that we use up there. To make the characters feel real, I wrote jokes and dialogue that are similar to how I would speak with my friends up north.”
What’s life like for a filmmaker trying to put projects together in Australia? You’ve been around for a little while now – how have things changed over the years?
“It is hard being an Indie filmmaker in Australia. We just don’t have the money to throw around in the film industry like some countries overseas do. It can be tough to convince somebody to fund you and give you a start. So that’s why we did it ourselves for the most part. But over the years, the biggest thing that has changed is that film equipment is so much more accessible. You can shoot something on your iPhone these days and make it look good if you know what you’re doing. And online video streamers like YouTube or Vimeo have given filmmakers a great way of getting their work seen.”
Have streaming services opened up opportunities for filmmakers?
“Streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Stan have really opened up some doors, if your content is of a high enough quality. Because more content is needed to cater to all these services, it can only be a good thing for the film and television industry. Even in Australia, some of the Stan Originals have been fantastic. I do hope that this doesn’t kill off cinema though, because that is my one true love when it comes to film. Nothing beats a true cinematic experience at the movies. We’ve been lucky enough to have a few cinema screenings of Ashburn Waters, including a screening at IMAX Melbourne on the 4th of February, and I’m so glad that viewers have had the chance to watch the movie the way we intended it to be seen.”
What’s next for you? Any projects on the boil that you can talk about?
“I’m currently working on a script about a brother and sister who are put through an experiment that heightens their primal instincts, effectively rendering them more animalistic than human. I’m going for more of an action/horror feel with this one as opposed to the slow burn type that is Ashburn Waters. It’ll be a kick ass ride if I can get it made!”
Ashburn Waters will screen at IMAX Melbourne on February 4 with a special Q&A session afterwards. For all venue and ticketing information, click here. To read our review, click here.
