Monday, January 28, 2013

Rising Voices From The Grave: My Interview With Directors Richard Stoudt And Laurence C. Holloway


Voices From The Grave

There may not be a lot of horror fans out there who recognize the names Richard Stoudt and Laurence C. Holloway as quickly as some rising Indie directors. Both men are most notable for their writing talents in the Independent horror community having only directed a couple of short films separately. However both men have joined forces to create a nightmarish anthology of supernatural prominence.  “Voices From The Grave” is the duo’s first feature project with some pretty icon and stylistic attitude attached. Reminiscent of classic Anthology tales that dominate the cult graphic novel genre to the awesome days of the late 70’s and early 80’s with such fan favorites as “Tales From The Crypt” and “Creepshow” Stoudt and Holloway pays tribute while staying current with their collaborative tales of terror that promise to thrill, chill and delight horror fans. Just to amp the cool factor of “Voices From The Grave” there will be a story based on Horror legend Gary Brandner’s (The Howling) work. One that was personally approved and by the icon who basically defined what was terrifying about werewolves once allowed to be monstrous and scary! I validate all lycanthropic material on the standard set by Brandner’s vision of the creatures.

 I had the opportunity to throw some questions to Richard Stoudt and Laurence C. Holloway about “Voices From The Grave” and Gary Brandner’s involvement and here is what they told me. An anthology that is stated to bring feeling of classic Amicus anthologies of the ‘70’s into the 21st century as stated by the two directors who say Amicus defined what made horror films work, the atmosphere, suspense which stimulates imagination about what you don’t see as opposed to the graphic nature of what you do see in a story. Also check out the ninety second trailer for “Voices From The Grave” below the interview.

ASouthernLife: Tell me about working with Gary Brandner who basically defined what a werewolf is for a whole generation?
Richard Stoudt: Mr. Brandner was incredibly gracious to us in many ways. For cinematic reasons we wanted to extend the ending of his story a bit. He not only let us, but had an invaluable suggestion that just made it even better than what we came up with. In short, he’s been amazing.
Laurence C. Holloway: Gary has been great and very generous with his contributions to “Voices”. His input and suggestions are something Richard and I really took to heart. His script approval and willingness to assist us on the project was really a validating statement to us.

ASouthernLife: “Voices from the Grave” is your first complete anthology project, how did the project come about, was it something you had already been working on?
Richard Stoudt: “All Hallows’ Eve” is based on a short I did many years back with Mr. Evans and “Re-Possessed” is a story I wrote a long time ago but never got a chance to do until now. The wrap-around story was written with my wife Darlene Stoudt. Mr. Holloway convinced me we could put these 3 stories together and have a spooky old fashioned anthology movie like the Amicus movies we grew up on.
Laurence C. Holloway: Richard had written a script based upon Gary’s short story ‘ Mark of the Loser’, which he had me take a look at initially. I thought it made for a thrilling segment, with a punch ending. We contacted Gary, got his approval on the script, and that was that. Richard had written two other screenplays that I thought would just be great as separate segments for what we eventually developed into a three part anthology. Thus, ‘Voices from the Grave’ was born.

ASouthernLife: What are the stories about in “Voices from the Grave” and how has the process been bringing those stories to life?
Richard Stoudt: A man finds an obscure Horror book in a used bookstore and begins to read stories out of it. This is the framing device for the 3 stories. ‘All Hallows’ Eve’ is a ghost story set on Halloween night that is thick with atmosphere and suspense. “Invitation” is a layered story about a loser who gets invited to an odd cocktail party where a sinister woman is watching him from the windows. When he confronts her, he realizes everything isn’t what it seems. “Re-Possessed” has a young man buying a vintage Corvette from a shady character who has plans of bringing his dead brother back to life by using the car.
Laurence C. Holloway: The first story ‘All Hallows’ Eve” is our homage to our favorite holiday Halloween. Richard had written it in the late ‘80’s, and made it as a home shot short. With a little retooling we restructured it and refined it for today’s audience. The second story is ‘Invitation” Gary’s story. We changed the title with Gary’s blessing, but very little else. The third story ‘Re-Possessed’ is Richard’s tale about a car that’s supernaturally inclined. Although it was trying at times, the results we achieved on all the stories filmed, we’re close to exact on what we were shooting for.

ASouthernLife: Will there be a lot of gore or will the plots have more of a classic thriller atmosphere?
Richard Stoudt: These are ghost stories essentially. Style, atmosphere and suspense are what we set out to do. There are some nasty bits sprinkled throughout however, with “Re-possessed” being the goriest.
Laurence C. Holloway: We do have some nasty moments, but we’re really going for atmospheric and unsettling over brutal and disgusting. The effects are in context with events that unfold to tell the story. It’s not just gore for gore’s sake.

ASouthernLife: You also worked on the “Scream Machine” anthology which is due out this year, could you tell me about your involvement on that project?
Richard Stoudt: My friend Walter Ruether, a.k.a. Scarlet Fry was looking for another story for his anthology film “Scream Machine”. So I asked if I could take a shot at it and he liked what I wrote. I wrote the Screenplay for “Regenerate”. I didn’t direct it though Walter did. I’ve seen a rough cut and it plays really well. I’m grateful to Walter for letting me write it for his film.
Laurence C. Holloway: I wrote the wraparound for “Scream Machine’ based off an idea I had and Walter Ruether, Scream Machine’s Director, loved the concept. It was a lot of fun to write! No directing chores, though. Walter is the man behind ‘Scream Machine’.

ASouthernLife: Have you always had a goal to be a director or is it something that you have recently become passionate about?
Richard Stoudt: I started shooting things with my Dad’s super 8 camera when I was 9 years old, so I guess it is something I’ve always wanted to do.
Laurence C. Holloway: I wanted to make movies since I could crawl, it feels like! I’m a big film fan, period, and I always said…..someday! Making short home movies with my brother when we we’re growing up was a great training ground. Our parents would show our little opuses to friends, and that was gratifying to know people are enjoying something I had a hand in making. Walter Ruether and I made ‘Nightmare Alley’ on a micro budget in 2007 and watched as it eventually landed on Netflix! That’s a great feeling.

ASouthernLife: Who are some of the directors, past and present that you admire in the Indie Horror community?
Richard Stoudt: My all time favorite Director is John Carpenter who of course started doing independent movies at the start of his career. Recently I would say James Wan (Insidious is a masterpiece), Maurice Devereaux (End of the Line), Ivan Zuccon (Colour from the Dark), Mike Flanagan (Absentia) and of course my partner Laurence C. Holloway!
Laurence C. Holloway: Of course John Carpenter was an independent when he made ‘Halloween’. Recently, I gravitate towards James Wan. He’s really brining style back to horror.

ASouthernLife: What were the horror films and stories that inspired you growing up as a horror fan?
Richard Stoudt: There were many but John Carpenter’s “Halloween” by far was the most inspirational. The 1980 Peter Medek film “The Changeling” is my favorite haunted house film, Carpenter’s remake of “The Thing”, “Night of the Living Dead”, and many more.
Laurence C. Holloway: I loved the Hammer studios films, and grew up reading Creepy magazine, E.C. Comics, and anything else horror related I could get my hands on.


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