Exclusive chat with filmmaker Ledes
Filmmakers taking a trip into the supernatural in the coming months are faced with the challenge to be unique in the ever-growing crowded marketplace of films about hauntings, possessions and other “paranormal activity” (catch my drift?). Yet, writer-director Richard Ledes thinks he’s got an edge with Foreclosure which will begin shooting in March of 2010. The conceit of this story is simple. A broken family moves into a home where the ghosts residing there try to tear them apart.
“The seed of the idea came from films that were important to me growing up,” Ledes informs us. “Some Val Lewton films and more recently The Shining. These were some films that were lodged in my head from an early age and I was able to work some ideas out and they’ve grown into this film.”
Ledes loves the element of isolation involving someone where the houses in a particular neighborhood were foreclosed. Asked if his film stemmed from the recent house market crisis, Ledes agrees right now is “totally the environment for our film. It picks up on a number of dimensions around the housing crisis that, when I started writing it, I had no idea how long it’d go on. Nor was I aware the ghost theme would become such a scene.”
He’s hesitant to reveal any of Foreclosure‘s plot details, but he hints that it takes its cue from a famous biblical story. “There’s an element of Abraham and Isaac which inspired The Shining, the father who goes back and is obliged to kill his son. That’s one important theme of my story.” Stylistically, there are elements of The Haunting as well and Ledes aspires to capture the psychological terror Robert Wise evoked in that film. “It’s that type of horror that relies on a primal expectation and darkness – what can’t be seen.”
When cameras roll next year, Steve Kazmierski (Transamerica) will serve as the cinematographer (get a glimpse of a teaser trailer he shot with Ledes here). “We haven’t gotten to the point where I can name actors, but we’ve got a few people who I’ve worked with before from various HBO show. Then we have a couple of actors that we’re just starting to have conversations with.”
Ledes says some casting announcements should come out within the next month or so. A website for Foreclosure has been set up at GhostsDontMoveOut.com. There you’ll find behind-the-scenes material as principal photography begins.
Stay tuned for more updates here at Shock Till You Drop!
Source: Ryan Rotten, Managing Editor
