by Dov Kornits
“One of the things I love most about the horror genre is its ability to engage with challenging, controversial topics in a subtle, nuanced way,” says Lauren Shaw. “I believe the best horror films are ones that are layered such that they are both entertaining and can make you think. For example, the original Halloween can be enjoyed as a slasher film about teenagers being murdered on Halloween night, or it can be viewed as deeper film about the nature of evil and our fears. Similarly, with Black Christmas – it can be viewed as a slasher movie, or it can be seen as a commentary on women’s issues such as reproductive rights and the right to have agency over their own bodies. We wanted to make a film that was similar in this respect – we didn’t want to just make a schlocky horror film, we wanted to make a film that can be enjoyed as a slasher film but leaves the audience room to think about deeper issues of trauma, male entitlement and toxic masculinity.”
That film is Bliss of Evil, co-written and directed by Josh Morris, which follows a grunge band in the ‘90s, rocking up for rehearsal and meeting their new guitarist. Before long, they’re locked in the recording studio with a killer on the loose inside.
How did you become involved with Bliss of Evil?
“I’ve been friends with my producing partners Corrie Hinschen and Josh Morris for a very long time; the three of us became friends through a love of film, particularly horror. Over the years, we’d discussed several ideas for horror/thriller films that we’d like to make, but many of them were not feasible given our very limited budget. Bliss of Evil was the first idea or project that we came up with that was do-able both practically and financially.”
The film is inspired by true events. Can you discuss those?
“Corrie and I have both been involved in the music scene. I come from a very music-orientated family and spent a lot of my young adult years in rehearsal and recording studios. Corrie and our composer, Nate Collins have been involved in the underground Brisbane music scene for almost twenty years. The inspiration behind the story was an amalgamation of things Corrie, Nate and I had experienced or observed. For me, I witnessed a lot of really appalling behaviour among bands and noticed that for many bands, there was often one member who was difficult or irrational and sometimes truly creepy. When telling Corrie about this, he shared his experience of an incident involving a former bandmate who lost it at rehearsal one evening and assaulted and threatened to murder people. The idea grew from there.”
You’re a Dr with a PhD in subject matter that’s not too dissimilar to the film. What do you feel that you contributed creatively to the film in terms of that?
“Yes, I have a PhD in psychology and research social-psychological and personality-related predictors of aggression and antisocial behaviour. While the main themes of the film are not my area of research expertise, I was able to provide Josh with some insights into nuances of how the psychological motivations of the characters, particularly our villain, might manifest behaviourally.”
How did you raise the $15k budget, and how did you spend it?
“My producing partners and I all have our normal, regular day jobs. When we realised Bliss of Evil could be made on a shoestring budget, we each started to put a portion of our pay aside to fund the film. In terms of how it was spent, most of the budget went on location hire. We hired a small, independent rehearsal studio in Brisbane for four weekends in a row, so we had to pay the owner of that studio for his time in shutting it down for us. The rest of the funds went on paying and feeding the cast and crew during production. All cast members were paid the same day rate. We were very lucky to have a team of cast and crew that had a lot of faith in the film and wanted to be involved regardless of how much we could pay. For example, our co-producer and cinematographer, Damien Hussey, provided equipment such as the Blackmagic Pocket 4K camera and lights for very minimal pay because he believed in the film and saw its potential.”
In terms of releasing the film in Australia, what are your plans?
“We have entered Bliss of Evil in several Australian and International Film Festivals and the response we have had internationally has been phenomenal. We’ve been an official selection for six major film festivals worldwide, including Fright Nights in Austria, Cine-Excess in the UK, where it played alongside films by Peter Strickland and Ti West, and the Spooky Empire Film Festival in America, which is essentially the ‘Comic Con’ for horror. We would love for the film to be released and widely seen in Australia – we are Australian, after all, and there are some aspects to the film that only Australian audiences would understand. So far though, the interest and support is coming internationally, but we hope that changes.”
What’s next?
“Corrie, Josh and I have had several ideas and scripts for horror films over the years; Bliss of Evil was just the first one we could make. We have several other scripts and projects in the works, but which one comes to fruition next will depend on what happens with Bliss of Evil. We are hoping to secure distribution and attract potential investors for our next project – if we can achieve the look and effect that we did with just $15,000, we hope prospective investors will have faith that we can create something just as great with more funding.”
