Filmmaker Marc Meyers is known for his work in indie films, but got his start on the stage. He took a series of his own stage monologues to create his first feature film, Approaching Union Square. He would follow it up with the critically acclaimed Harvest. After that and How He Fell in Love, his film My Friend Dahmer, about the friendship between graphic novelist John “Derf” Backderf and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in junior high wowed audiences. Meyers’ latest, the 80s set horror-comedy We Summon the Darkness, comes On Demand and Digital on April 10 from Saban Films.
WorldFilmGeek had the chance to talk to Meyers about his latest film and what is next.
Thank you so much Marc for taking the time to talk about We Summon the Darkness. I loved the film as I am a fan of horror-comedies, 80’s set films, and heavy metal. I felt it was a great meshing of all of it.
Thank you so much! I am so glad to hear that.
What inspired you to direct the film?
After directing My Friend Dahmer and getting the amazing reaction from the horror community, I wanted to do a project to continue that run. And then, I was given the script for the film and as I read it, I knew I wanted to go into a wilder, crazier direction to go in. In addition, I was really fascinated by the subculture of the film, the heavy metal music, the 80’s setting. I mean when doing a period piece, you get yourself immersed in the fashion, the cars, and the time period.
I also like that it gives a relevant message about the era, where it was about Satanic panic and the creation of fear. And so I wanted to get all of that out with the film.
That’s great! You have a stellar cast in the film, especially Alexandra Daddario, who goes from cool to crazy on the level of Fairuza Balk in The Craft (Laughs). Was it like working with the cast on the film?
Thanks! They were the true highlight of the film. When you have a fun story, you want to come into work each day and get into a comfort zone. I mean everyone was really into the story and we all just had a good time making the film together. We really supported each other and even when we had some of the difficulties, it overall was a great experience.
I mean Alexandra, she is a great talent in addition to her beauty. Maddie Hasson and Amy Forsyth struck up an amazing friendship on set as her counterparts and they actually end up becoming best friends so that chemistry really helped along the way. Overall, it was such a wonderful experience.
Was there a scene in the film that you felt stood out?
Not really. When you are directing your film and in the editing room, it does get hard to look at a scene that stands out. You want to make the best film you can. But I do like the contrasting of scenes where we did the heavy metal parking lot and then the action sequences. The girls really wanted to do their own fight scenes as much as possible. The stunt involving someone getting thrown out of a window, the blood and gore, I mean overall, the film as a whole I think is great.
How long did shooting last and were there any difficulties you had to endure?
Well, with independent films, there will be always some sort of obstacle. In this case, we moved production to Winnipeg, Canada because of the budget. However, we were blessed to have a great local crew help us out. The only big thing now was that we only had a sixteen-day shoot, but we had so much fun that it just went quite smoothly for the most part.
Are there any new projects that you can talk about?
Well, right after we finished this film, I flew out to New York in September 2018. Two months later, I directed a film called All My Life starring Jessica Rothe of Happy Death Day and Harry Shum. This film is different as it is a tragic love story. We were supposed to get a theatrical release but with the situation going on now, the film was just released on Digital a few weeks ago.
I also directed a film called Human Capital that stars Live Schreiber and Marisa Tomei. I’m currently working on post-production remotely with my editor who is on the West Coast. We shot that one in New Orleans. I’ve also been looking at and working on scripts. With everything going on, I’m trying to make the most out of my downtime and maybe unearth some old scripts out and bring them back to life.
That’s great to hear! We Summon the Darkness comes out on Demand and Digital on April 10. The film is a great 80s-set horror comedy with frenetic performances and thank you again Marc for talking about the film. I hope you stay safe!
Thank you for having me and I hope everyone stays safe!
A Special Thank You goes to Katrina Wan PR and Marc Meyers for making this interview possible.
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