WHO LET THE DEMONS OUT? AN INTERVIEW WITH THE DIRECTORS OF HOSTS, ADAM LEADER AND RICHARD OAKES

The relentlessly gripping possession thriller Hosts is coming to VOD/Digital 10/2 from Dark Sky Films. And I was lucky to be able to sit down and chat with Adam `Leader and Richard Oakes the writers and directors of this excellent tense and unrelenting horror film 

On Christmas Eve, an innocent couple become hosts to a malicious entity. Throughout the night they proceed to terrorize a family of five in unimaginably violent and disturbing ways. But these demonic possessions won't end with this unfortunate family; they mark just the beginning of a horrific worldwide epidemic. Beneath its nerve-jangling suspense, the film offers a dark and bloody insight into how lying to your loved ones can not only alienate them, it can completely destroy your bonds with them forever.
  
The film follows in the footsteps of classic successes such as, The Exorcist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Inglorious Basterds. Hosts was written to keep viewers on the edge of their seats and leave a lasting impression

 Rich ‘n’ Adam reveal all!

Hello guys, how are things with you?

RICH - Really Good thanks! We have been on a super high with this film and excited for everyone to check it out.

ADAM - Yeah great! Same as Rich, couldn’t be more excited to start the next part of the journey!

Just to get a feel  and by ways of an introduction to you, you have been asked to curate an all-night horror film festival, what four movies would you pick as being the cream of the crop, and what one film would you choose for a Mystery Science Theater 3000 type mickey take/

RICH - Oh good question, I think, ALIEN, RINGU, THE SHINING, MIDSOMMAR and for the mickey take maybe TEETH

ADAM - Hereditary, Last House On The Left, It Follows, The Exorcist, and for the Mystery Science Theatre I’d have to go with a film called Excision. One of the best and most horrific discoveries I’ve made film wise. It’s so messed up. You should check it out!

Hosts is unleashed today how are you feeling in the run up to its release?

RICH - I’m 50% excited and 50% nervous coming up to the release, when you have directed, and edited your own film and seen it 82 gazillion times, you really have no idea what you have created. It could be great and received really well or it could be a brown stain smeared on Ghislaine Maxwell's prison cell bed pan. So far we have received overwhelmingly positive responses so I am quietly optimistic for the release.

ADAM - I think obviously leading up to the release, especially like Rich mentioned having watched it way too many times for our own good, I began to get nervous about what others might think, but then recently I kind of took a step back from all that fear of judgment from others and remembered why we did this in the first place. Rich is my best friend, and we’ve gone through so much to get to where we are today. After day one of shooting, we were all best friends with each other, and since then we’ve all been super tight. So the fact that we’ve all made something together that we’re all massively proud of means more to me than anything, and because of that, I already feel successful. The entire Hosts journey was incredibly special and will forever hold a place in my heart... But yeah, I hope the general public dig it, haha!

In terms of being on the filmmaking scene, you are both relative newbies, can you tell the readers about how you first came on to the scene and some of the events that lead you to create Hosts?

RICH - I began my career as a Bin man and hated every second of it, I quit my Job and decided to shoot music videos instead focusing on VFX, people seemed to like what I was creating. By my 3rd music video I was creating videos for bands on Universal and moving onto bands on EMI and Sony. Creating features was always in the back of my mind as the long game and after doing music videos for 6 years I felt I had gained the experience to push into narrative work as a DOP. I worked on many short films and pushed from there to shooting features before deciding to make Hosts as my directorial debut.

ADAM - Since I was a kid I always wanted to make movies and play music. I chose music first, since leaving school I joined a number of bands and nothing ever really clicked. So I started my own and found the other members. We’re called In Search Of Sun and we’ve been going for eight years now. In terms of how that ties into this; Well, by chance, Rich was hired to shoot our music video back in 2014 and as of that day, the two of us just clicked. We are one but the same! Not long after that, I ended up working alongside Rich and the two of us would go out and shoot music videos for other bands, including mine, until eventually we both decided that it was about time we stepped up and made our first movie. So we did, and here we are today.

We may as well get the elephant out of the room; Host was released just before your film, how has having two very similarly named horror films released so close together affect the publicity for your film?

RICH - Hah Ha, this comes up a lot, The thing is we had HOSTS written, shot, and edited before the COVID 19 Lockdown in the UK and was clearly up on IMDB for a year prior to that. Host on the other hand is a film centered on the recent lockdown situation. We checked IMDB for any similar film titles out the same year before we settled on the name HOSTS, which at the time there wasn't. Whether the guys behind HOST looked into that, I’m not sure, you would have to ask them. But there is no issue there, their film is getting a lot of praise and I’m hoping ours does too, aside from the title there aren't many similarities other than them both being kick ass horrors ha ha.

ADAM - Yeah, well like Rich touched on, we wrote Hosts at the end of 2018 and shot it in the summer of 2019, so it’d been floating around on iMDb for a while, but perhaps they missed it. Either way I don’t mind. I’m an optimist, perhaps both movies can do each other favours having similar titles, who knows? All we know is that it’s too late to go back now. I actually watched their film a few weeks ago and I have to hand it to them, they did a kickass job. To have that pressure of getting it shot and edited with all these restrictions in place, all the way to cutting a distribution deal in time to coincide with the lockdown ‘hype’ must have been such a huge pressure on them, and knowing what goes into making a film and how time consuming it can be, I praise them for working so hard on that. Hats off to them, and I don’t take my hat off that often.
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You first came up with the concept of Hosts in 2018, did you attempt to shop to film to other production companies before deciding to produce it yourselves?

RICH - Not really, We have run a music video production company for the past 9 years so we already had a lot of the tools and skills we needed already in house. We also run a semi spoof youtube channel called Dark Fable Media that teaches new cinematographers how to shoot a film so it would have been a bit hypocritical to pass the buck when the rubber hit the road.

ADAM - I think I can speak for the both of us here when I say that this was always going to be our baby, and will be the film that opens doors for us moving forwards with our future projects. That was always the plan, so signing it over to anybody else just wasn’t an option. It needed to be a Dark Fable production in order for us to prove ourselves as writers and directors, and I think we’ve achieved that. It’s turned into an even bigger beast than we ever anticipated.

Dark Fable Media has developed a lot of music videos, what lessons from your time producing these did you bring onto the set of Hosts?

RICH - A lot of the same skills and processes carry across, I do think that having seasoned myself as a music video DOP has created a unique style to my work, and perhaps enabled me to push into more creative lighting ideas, The same with the edit. When you have been editing to a musical rhythm for years, you can take that into features and work with the rhythms in different areas, whether it be the score or the movement of the actors, you get a real feel for the pace and flow of the film. As I'm used to editing to music we asked Benjamin Symons, our composer to write us 5 tracks prior to the edit for me to edit to, this ensured the music and the edit flowed harmoniously.

ADAM - And to add to that, it was amazing to be able to shoot certain things to Ben’s already written score pieces in order to really get those feels, you know? Even before we started shooting the film, having that music on as background atmosphere when we were tweaking bits of the script or creating shot lists was super helpful. In terms of what we brought to the set of Hosts, I think having worked together for a few years now, the most valuable thing the two of us could bring to the table was our friendship. Don’t get me wrong, of course the in house equipment and knowledge of shooting, lighting and rhythmical editing helps a great deal, but writing, planning and shooting a full length feature film as a duo on the foundation of a solid six year friendship was the glue, in my opinion. A lot of the time, mixing business and friendship can get ugly, but with me and Rich, everything has changed for the better! We share the same ideas, the same passion, the same morals and neither of us are ever thinking about paychecks.

Who was your favourite artist to work with?

RICH - Well, that would have to be Adam’s band ‘IN SEARCH OF SUN’ who also did the end credits tracks for HOSTS. We have created a music video for one of these songs titled ‘HOSTS’ which releases on the 9th of October make sure you check it out!

ADAM - Yeah man, the title track and music gets released on the band YouTube channel on October 9th. It will also be out across all music streaming platforms on the same day so look out for it!

Many would think that it is just a case of scaling up production, what was the biggest hurdle you faced getting the film to the filming stage of the process?

RICH - I think the biggest hurdle being absolute nobodies in the film industry was finding someone willing to throw money at our project to get it off the ground. As we ran a youtube channel who had a small but loyal, passionate following, we thought it might be an idea to crowdfund through youtube. What never sat well with me tho about the usual way crowdfunding is done is that the people trusting you with their money and ultimately pay for the film rarely get anything decent back, maybe a dodgy print of a poster or a home printed DVD-R of the film. We Didn't feel happy with that and wanted anyone who contributes to have something more. So What we did was offer investment into the film itself, so anyone who invests becomes a part of the film and earns a percentage of the film's revenue for life. At this point in time, before the film has even been released, all those investors have now been paid back in full and will continue to receive payments as the film sells.

ADAM - I wouldn’t have wanted to do it any other way. Essentially, our board of investors for Hosts are a handful of people who trust us fully as both individuals and as a filmmaker duo. It only extends that tight nit family of awesome people on this special thing we’ve all got going on. Something that I personally think is extremely hard to ever recreate. The fact that regular people such as ourselves can benefit a little financially as opposed to an already financially comfortable investor is so much more rewarding in my opinion. I kind of see it as creating opportunities for people who could; A, do with some extra pocket money, and B, invest their money in something they’re just as passionate about as we are. It’s a win win situation all round.

It's hard to talk about the film without giving to much away, thanks to the many "watercooler moments" that are key to the film's success, in this eras of digital knowledge, how concerned are you about people talking about these and lessening the "WTF" reaction from the viewers?

RICH -It is a concern, The best way to experience this film is to go in dry without hearing anything for sure. So if you want the best experience from this film, try to avoid spoilers.

ADAM - It will always be hard to keep those key moments under wraps, impossible to be honest, because there really are some scenes that still to this day make mine and Rich’s jaws drop when we watch it for the millionth time, so I think people will inevitably have no choice but to talk about those moments. I mean, those scenes were ultimately the reason the industry got talking about it, which felt great (not for the people in the scenes though… Nevermind).

I've got to admit; there were a couple of scenes that I am in no rush to go back and watch again, to the point where I don't think I can look at DIY in the same way.  Did you ever think, boy, we might have gone a bit too far?

RICH - Quite the opposite, as I said previously I have been watching this film on repeat for what seems like 82 years in the edit, you become very desensitised in that time. The film is supposed to shock and my fear was that it wasn't shocking enough. But it does seem from the feedback we have received so far, that this may not be a problem ha ha.

ADAM - We went as far as we always intended, and that never felt ‘too far’. It’s intention is to shock, and by the sound of it, they do, haha! One thing we seriously wanted to focus on in the writing process were the characters, and we can’t stress enough just how crucial it is to NOT rush into a meaningless kill just for the sake of having something violent on screen to suit an algorithm. What’s the point? That’s not horror, that’s just short lived, easy to forget senseless violence. Instead, why not feel your stomach plummet when people you actually care about are in serious trouble, and there’s literally nothing you can do about it! That’s terrifying in itself because I’m sure we’ve all been in relatable situations where we feel the sheer dread and anxiety of being absolutely powerless. I know I have, although in most of those situations I was the victim unfortunately!

When filming "that scene"  did the rest of the cast know what was coming, and did any of them need a sick bucket?

RICH - They did know what was coming, but they did seem confused that Adam and I burst out laughing every time we called cut and a few comments of “What is wrong with you guys?” did float around the set.

ADAM - Haha, yep! The cast did such a phenomenal job, but one thing that always crosses my mind is if we had the time to be able to hide what was coming to the rest of the cast, like they did in the first Alien film, just to be able to see their genuine reactions would have been hilarious for us to watch.

It is set during Christmas, and you filmed the outdoor scenes during the winter, what challenges did that throw up? 

RICH - It threw up a few when we first tried to film these scenes in the summer, something about the blossoming flowers and butterflies just didn't quite work so we put the film on hold for 6 months and shot in the winter. It turns out it was the coldest night of the year and the poor Girls were out in thin dresses in the icy night. Half of our equipment died a death right there. But we got through.

ADAM - Shooting the majority of it in the summer was such a challenge. Obviously the film is set mostly at night, so come 3am, we were boarding up all the house windows and waiting for the damn birds to stop singing. But waiting for the winter to shoot those outdoor scenes was definitely the right call, even though we were all freezing to death, haha.

The cast of the film is very small, did this allow them to riff off each other?

RICH - it was a very intimate cast and crew, 20 people all in all. But to be honest we were tripping over each other as it was in that small bungalow any more would have been a nightmare. It was like a family all going mad together for 10 nights, we all loved each other and had such a great time, there were no complaints, everyone chipped in wherever they thought something needed doing and it was the best shoot of my life. The cast became very close, combining that with the long all night nature of the shoot and confined spaces really brought magic from the cast onto the screen.

ADAM - I cannot praise the cast enough. They’re all just phenomenal actors. The way they bought the script and those characters to life was just pure magic. They’re all insanely talented and I can’t wait to see what comes their way next!

One of my favourite scenes in the film is set in the attic, where Samantha appears to relish her role as a soulless killer, how many times did you have to shoot that scene, it looks like it was perfect for the cast cracking up?

RICH - Like I said before us and the cast are so close we are like siblings especially Nadia and Neal as we go way back. Now and again we like to prank each other, especially Nadia. We did that dribble shot about 15 times, I think the first one is perfect. We just had fun making her have to get dribbled on a lot ha ha. (this is actually be the reason we wrote it in in the first place but shhhh)

ADAM - Yeah, that entire night shooting in the attic, I think Nadia had it the worst! Not only the many, many dribble retakes, but I remember taking Neal aside before we started rolling and telling him to make Nadia feel as uncomfortable as humanly possible, and I’m sure you can tell that this comes across on screen. Bless her.

I'll assume that wasn't all her spit; there had to be some SFX involved there?

RICH - It was a saline solution I believe.

ADAM - Or was it...

In terms of casting, when did you know that you had the perfect actors for Lucy and Jack?  Samantha looks like she wouldn't say boo to a ghost, at least with Neal he has that look in his eyes ( no offence Neil)

RICH - Neal was cast before there was a script and he even sat in on the writing sessions and offered ideas, many of which ended up in the final film, he is one of my best friends and an incredibly talented actor. Sam was a different story, we initially didn't cast her (stupid I know) but the Actress we cast pulled out 2 days before the shoot because she demanded a private villa or something which we couldnt provide. So Neal stepped in and Recommended Sam and she stepped up, learned 20 pages of script for the first day of shoot and smashed it! Then there is the pure dread the both of them bring to the screen when it hits the fan, Incredible! I really can't rate these 2 enough!

ADAM - Yeah, the fact that she literally had to learn 20 pages of full on dialogue in like a day and totally nailed it only shows how talented she is. Not only that, but later on in the film, the times where she isn’t speaking at all, the way she composes herself, the expressions she pulls off, her movement and her overall presence throughout Hosts is a product of sheer talent. Same goes for Neal. The guy is a chameleon. One minute he can play the kindest, most thoughtful dude in the world, and then the next, he’s a cold blooded devil. There will never be a better Jack and Lucy.

In terms of extraneous plot, Hosts is a very tight and lean film; you don't waste any time with needless supposition or explanations. Is there a draft of the script where everything is explained fully?  And are you concerned that some people might not like that the film isn’t all wrapped up in a nice neat package? 

RICH - What you see was what was written. Our favorite films are the ones that don’t give you all the answers, they are the ones that sit with you or make you have a second watch. We wanted to create conversations and theories about the non spoken elements of the film. There is a lot of allegory hidden in there if you want to look. On the flip side of that we didn’t want to make a film that you couldn't follow, you needed to be able to just mindlessly watch with some popcorn and find enjoyment that way too.

ADAM - There’s a time and place for handing people things on a plate, and there’s a time and place for leaving things open to interpretation. Sometimes we don’t always know what’s next or what’s likely to happen in the moment, and if anything, not knowing makes it that more frightening. In this instance, it’s impossible to just close the book and be done with it. Your imagination runs away with you, and before you know it, you’ve got your own theory based on what you think should happen, or what you want to happen and sometimes that keeps us awake at night. The unknown is scary!

Where did the inspiration for the demonic plague come from, and what is the significance of the TV?

Rich - Growing up in the church I read a lot about the history of demons and the end times etc . What I find interesting is their origins. God initially made them as his children but they were ultimately banished. The whole film is a duality between the henderson children who feel let down by their father in our reality and the demons who are angry that they were cast out by their father God. Mixing these themes together created some really interesting concepts. The TV is very Metaphorical being Michaels inheritance that he must pass on, it represents the truth of a situation in plain sight that noone wants to look at and after knowing the truth nothing can go back to how it was. We inherit a lot of our problems and flaws from our parents, and the fact that Michaels inherited the TV from his father makes you think what did Michael's father do to pass on his demons to him?

ADAM - I’m huge on metaphors, and being able to express something that happens in day to day life via the use of horror can really help emphasise a powerful message. There are layers to this film, there’s so much subtext. On the surface, what you see is obviously what you get, then you’ve got the metaphor of your truth being locked away because you can’t face it, only to manifest itself as a demon and eventually finding its way out to destroy everything you love, all because of your own selfishness and deceit, which you were too cowardly to take responsibility for, and all of a sudden there’s this negative, unstoppable domino effect. Then there’s the whole biblical story similarity, which is another layer in itself! When writing it, I was super keen on involving the supernatural element, not because I believe it, but because I find it fun and fantastical, and I grew up watching films like The Exorcist, Poltergeist etc, so it was a huge influence on me. Rich is more into the real home invasion type films, things that can actually happen in real life. So with Hosts, we married the two and it works well I think. The visceral side is very real and, let’s face it, could and does happen, and the supernatural side is a platform to tell the story on, in order to elevate that metaphoric message.

Some of the scenes make excellent use of colour grading, was there a reason other than it looks really cool for this?

Rich -  Most horrors we see are bleak and desaturated, we wanted to have the welcoming warmth of the home evident representing the seemingly happy family at christmas and slowly bring in that cold darkness in the outside scenes and finally into the house as the film progressed. I’m a fan of classic horror and wanted to give a timeless feel to the film and using very tungsten lighting gave a more classic feel. Juxtaposing that with the steely cold blue on the outside and mirroring the eyes helped shift the tone of the final scenes to elevate the horror and the feel that the outside is coming in.

ADAM - Rich is a cinematic genius. Need I say more?

You wrapped up shooting of the film just before lockdown hit the country, but the film could be seen as a metaphor for what has happened since. Stay indoors, don't socially mix, and wear a mask.  How would you feel if Hosts is tagged as a pandemic horror film?

Rich - I see the resemblance for sure, and people will put their current fears onto a film that has a lot of ambiguity. But personally I wouldn't want to push it that way, everyone and their mums have asked us since if we should do a pandemic locked in movie and I'll be honest, I’m not interested. If everyone is having the same idea then it won't be original to do that film and I personally wouldn't feel comfortable trying to cash in on a world wide tragedy that has claimed the lives of thousands of people just because It’s currently on trend.

ADAM - We’re not about following trends. We’re not about making a quick buck. We’re about telling powerful stories and making films that leave you thinking about life, the ones you love and encourage personal growth, and sometimes, to really learn a lesson, you need something drastic and traumatic to slap you in the face.

And on that note is the film a metaphor for anything?  Rich - Yes it is, the theme of the film is failed fatherhood and is laced throughout if you know where to look.

ADAM - If you lie to the ones you love, it will always find its way back up to the surface after consuming you for so long. It’ll destroy everything you love!

How happy are you with the film, if you could go back with a magic bucket of cash is there anything that you would change?

Rich - hmmm, you know what? There may be some things I would change given more budget, but I do feel that the lack thereof made the film and the whole experience we had together as a family on set the most amazing experience ever, and I wouldn't change that for the world.

ADAM - I wouldn’t want to change anything. Sure, having a higher budget always means bigger, but not necessarily better. I feel like a lot of films these days can spend millions on crazy elaborate sets and CGI etc, but then, more often than not, the story gets left behind. You don’t need an endless pile of cash to tell a compelling story.

The film is distributed by Dark Sky films, what does working with a company like them bring to the table?

Rich - Dark Sky are amazing and they showed us from day 1 that they understood our vision and what we creatively made with this film. We really didn't want some corporate company throwing numbers and algorithms around, Dark Sky are that continuation of the family of HOSTS and they truly believe in the film like we do and that was so important for us as a distributor.

ADAM - We had our eye on them for a while, and having them keen to sign with us was a dream come true. They’re an incredible team of people who, like us, are fans of horror first and foremost.

Hosts is released on 2nd October, where can we watch?

Rich - US and CANADA for now not sure on them all but most VOD channels including APPLE TV and ITUNES, Playstation store etc


​​ADAM - Follow us on our socials too

Facebook/hostsmovie
Facebook/darkfablemedia
Instagram - @hosts_movie, @darkfablerich
Twitter - @hostsmovie, @DarkFableMedia

So what's next from you guys?

Rich - We have 3 more films written and they are some crazy shizzle, just watch this space!

ADAM - Yep, what Rich said. The world isn’t ready for what we’re about to pull out the bag!

tune into tomorrow for my review of Hosts