An interview with Rise’s Sebastian Gutierrez
One entry taking a bite out of the Tribeca Film Festival this year is Rise, Ghost House Pictures’ long-delayed segue from cantankerous black-haired ghosts to the world of vampires. Since its addition to the New York City-based fest (with a premiere set for Saturday, April 28th), a sub-title has leeched on to the film so it is now known as Rise: Blood Hunter. But don’t let that pseudo-pretentious add-on fool you. Rise is far from the hyper vamp-fu universe of the Blade trilogy and don’t expect any glam-rock teeny-bopper intrusion. These are bloodsuckers as seen through the eyes of writer-director Sebastian Gutierrez and as you will soon read, he prefers bitter tragedy, hard talkin’ broads and bloody payback – all classic noir tropes – as opposed to leather, lace and tedious reflection on self-worth as an immortal.
Gutierrez’s second go in the director’s chair originated early during Ghost House’s introductory days. Production began in Los Angeles on an estimated $6million budget in 2005 after the success of The Grudge. Svelte leading lady Lucy Liu (Kill Bill) entered into the project as Sadie, a reporter who wakes up in a morgue after being brutally raped and killed. Undead and now looking for answers, she discovers that a cult of vampires are responsible for her death…and rebirth. Michael Chiklis (Fantastic Four, “The Shield”) co-stars as a cop who joins Sadie in her mission.
Rise marks the latest horror contribution in Gutierrez’s modest resume which began with 1998’s crime drama Judas Kiss (starring girlfriend and consistent creative partner Carla Gugino) and took a hard turn into the monstrous She-Creature, part of Showtime’s “Stan Winston’s Creature Features” series. He took a break from directing after that 2001 telepic and re-focused on his screenwriting career. The Halle Berry-starring Gothika was his contribution to the Dark Castle Films slate; later came Snakes on a Plane, 2006’s quirky reptile romp, and The Big Bounce, based on a novel by Elmore Leonard. Currently, his adaptation of The Pang Bros.’ The Eye, directed by Xavier Palud and David Moreau, is in post-production for Lionsgate.
Shock had a chance to pick Gutierrez’s brain about Rise and what’s been stalling it from release. At the time of this writing we’ve learned Destination Films and Samuel Goldwyn will let the film live a limited theatrical run beginning June 1st.
ShockTillYouDrop.com: You’ll probably see when it comes to the vampire genre that people will say they’ve seen it all, so what drove the writing process during “Rise”?
Sebastian Gutierrez: I love the gothic vampire myth in all its permutations in different cultures, but personally, once there’s garlic and flying, it becomes sort of camp and I am no longer scared. I tried to think back to the last vampire movies I really liked. And those were The Hunger – love the little blade to slice the neck – and Near Dark, where the word “vampire” is never mentioned. Neither one is without its flaws, but they’re both full of ideas. I wanted to try something closer to that. Less CGI, more reality-based cult.
Shock: Your film has a Raymond Chandler-esque revenge premise, was “noir” at the forefront of your brain when you did this?
SG: Definitely intentional. It is a straightforward noir, with vampires in place of gangsters and hoods. It’s Lucy Liu as Lee Marvin in [John] Boorman’s Point Blank – left for dead and royally pissed.
Shock: Do you think cross-pollinating genres is the only way to keep bloodsucker films fresh at this point?
SG: I don’t know that it’s the only way to keep vampire films fresh. I suppose you could stick to the strictest conventions of the genre and still be effective, I just think that it’s hard to resist the temptation of cross-breeding genres at this point. We all have a basic film references where we know it’s fun to put, say, Jaws in outer space and call it Alien.
Shock: This was one of Ghost House Pictures early productions, how did they get involved and was Sam Raimi ever around for input?
SG: I initially brought the script to Sam’s partner Rob Tapert, and he, in turn, brought it to their partners in Ghost House, Mandate Pictures. Sam was swamped with Spider-Man 3, so his involvement was more karmic than anything else, but the little contact I had with him was great.
Shock: You attracted a strong cast – how did Lucy and Michael take to the script at first given its nature?
SG: Lucy and Michael, I think, were both surprised they liked the story so much. Because it’s noir and not, say, a jump scare-every-five-minutes kinda movie. There’s a lot of room for character development. They both understood that ultimately this was a very sad, f–ked up tale. These are damaged characters on a suicide mission. In Lucy’s case, she’s literally “undead,” so she has nothing to lose. In Michael’s case, he’s so devastated over the loss of his daughter that he no longer cares about living. They’re both very smart actors and Lucy in particular is asked to do some pretty brave stuff. She did it because she liked the character so much. The actors understood that in order to avoid all the hammy sub-Hammer horror stuff they had to play the material straight, never tongue-in-cheek. There’s humor in it, but it’s never campy.
Shock: And the visual approach? Because, again, we’ve gotten it all from the elegant look to the sterling silver goth thing…
SG: We really had lots of minefields to deal with. I wasn’t interested in the prevailing comic book look these movies often have – metallic blue, futuristic, Ridley Scott-inspired bullet time videogame thing. Nor the Anne Rice gothic stuff. Both have already been done very well by other people. We really tried to keep it grounded in a sort of no-man’s land L.A., concentrating on downtown and the more Latin/ethnic side of the city, as opposed to the glamorous “beautiful people” clubs and modern buildings, etc. That being said, the movie has a sort of dreamy aesthetic, which owes a bit to the lush reds and greens of certain Asian films. We were lucky enough to have John Toll [The Last Samurai, The Thin Red Line] shooting and the man is no slouch. But “grounded” was the operative word. There’s a reporter and there’s a scary cult. A cult we know very little about. They happen to be vampires. The mood is more The Dead Zone-era Cronenberg than comic book horror.
Shock: You cast Carla in a prominent role – who does she play? Some of the clips that have already surfaced online don’t give any indication other than she gets frisky with Lucy’s character.
SG: Not sure what exactly is on YouTube, but as I said before, The Hunger was a reference point in that the entire subtext of the vampires’ existence is “sex and murder.” That’s what they spend their time doing. The flesh is key. The hunt, therefore, is very sensual. Carla plays Eve, the vampire responsible for bringing back Lucy. Granted, she only brings her back after participating in her rape and murder – with cult head honcho Bishop, played by James D’Arcy [An American Haunting]- so it’s a complicated dynamic between the two. There’s a whole death-rebirth connection between the women, so Lucy’s character is very conflicted about whether to kill Eve once she catches up with her. They’re sisters in a way. And lovers. And Eve represents what Sadie could become, but also Eve is tired of her existence. Like I said, it’s a complicated dynamic.
Shock: And I hear you’ve cast Marilyn Manson against type.
SG: I think Manson – don’t call him Marilyn – found it really fun to be in a vampire movie where he’s not a vampire. In fact, he’s not even a bad guy. You feel kinda bad for him. And he’s very film savvy and smart so it was fun to have him on set.
Shock: Maybe you can explain to me how, exactly, a girl like Sadie goes from being a reporter to a vampire ass-kicker
SG: Without giving too much of the plot away – as part of the mythology created for the movie – there is this sort of shadow figure, this “Alchemist,” tracking Lucy’s progress. He has a vested interest in the success of her journey and takes her under his wing. The movie doesn’t feature the standard Rambo training scenes, but it’s implied.
Shock: I’ll be honest, I’m kinda turned on by one publicity still where Lucy’s covered in blood. So you obviously don’t skimp on the red sauce, eh?
SG: It’s a vampire tale, so blood was always going to play a big part. But it’s more the Cronenberg or early-70’s Euro-horror cinema. Sort of bodily fluid fetish than the slasher movie splatter stuff, if that makes any sense. Lucy, incidentally, looks great with blood, which obviously I didn’t know when she was cast, but there’s something about all that shiny red stuff that looks really good against her pale skin. Kinda sexy in a sick way. On the other hand, hanging her upside down was tricky. There’s a sequence where she hangs in a sort of meat freezer room upside down and naked. That was challenging. Again, she was a total trooper.
Shock: You shot this film, seemingly, ages ago. What has been holding it up?
SG: How to answer that diplomatically? Tell you what, I’ll go with the truth. I shot the movie I wrote and the cast signed on for and was ecstatic about it. Unfortunately, it’s not unusual in Hollywood that there’s a lot of second-guessing in the protracted post-production process as to whether the movie should be less of the “creepy sexual thriller” we made and more of the “jumpscare-every-five-minutes” horror movie that seems so prevalent with the teen crowd. Re-cuts and re-shoots were ordered. What you will see in theaters is what I’d like to consider a solid “studio version” of the film. Edges have been dulled – less sex/lesbian innuendo, less humor, less character stuff – and there’s some stuff in it that isn’t quite what I wanted, but the mood and story survive. It’s a lot more linear now, and some of Lucy’s cynicism and tragedy have been sugarcoated. Nonetheless, I think the smart fans will be able to see through it and hopefully at some point a director’s cut will come out.
Shock: You’ve written your creature feature, your ghost story, your vampire flick and your B-movie flick…is there any other horror subject you’d love to tackle now?
SG: A tiny break from horror, I think, is in order. As you know, Hollywood loves to put you in a box and suddenly they think you only ever like one genre or are only interested in doing that. Also, after a while, you start rolling your eyes when you’re having to describe another creaky door in a script or a “strange, wettish sound” coming out of some ghoul’s mouth. Variety is key. Everything in moderation, right? Including moderation. Having said that, I was recently approached about collaborating on a comic book about a succubus…so you never know. That could be fun.
Shock: I was on the set of “The Eye” a few weeks back and spoke to directors David and Xavier. They tell me the original film has been Americanized somewhat because it needed to reflect the U.S. culture. The original was geared more towards Asian superstitions. Can you talk a bit about adapting the film for the States?
SG: I haven’t seen any dailies yet from the Eye but those guys (David and Xavier) are great and their movie [Ils] is terrific. You should definitely check it out if you haven’t seen it.
Shock: We have and we’re right there with you on that recommendation.
Source: Ryan Rotten
