Wes Craven Q&A

Chris Tilly talks to the horror maestro about his new psychological thriller, 'Red Eye'.

Sep  2 2005

He made his name with horror classics like 'The Last House on the Left', 'The Hills Have Eyes' and 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' and re-invigorated the genre with the 'Scream' trilogy. Now Wes Craven is back with 'Red Eye', a psychological thriller about an internal flight that turns into a seriously bumpy ride. Time Out caught up with this master of the macabre earlier in the week to discuss filming on a plane, working in Vegas and trying to escape his horror past.

How did you become involved in 'Red Eye' in the first place?

Basically, my agency called up and said DreamWorks has a script that they want us to look at. I recall I was on a shortlist, there were 3 or 4 other directors they were looking at, and I was actually towards the end of 'Cursed' which had gone on and on, so I really wasn't of a mind to do a film right away and this had to go immediately. Usually when you finish a film, you just want to go some place and sleep for a week. But I read it and I just couldn't stop, it was such a page-turner. I was like 'damn…I can't say no to this'. So I went in not really thinking much at all except that I really enjoyed reading the script, and the meeting was one of the great meetings. By the time I got back to my office, my agent had called to say 'they want you to do it'. And off we went, so we were literally mixing the last of 'Cursed' as we were casting. It was a little crazy but it was interesting because you couldn't think too much about anything, you just had to go on instinct all the time. It actually turned out to be a good way to do the film.

Had you been looking to do something that wasn't out and out horror?

Yes, and 'Cursed' was kind of horror, so the idea of doing something different was great. It was also something that my producer and I always talked about. I've wanted to do something different for some time and she said, 'you should do a thriller', but we just weren't finding any scripts that were good. Then suddenly there it was, so that old dream became possible.

It's quite claustrophobic watching the film, was it claustrophobic making it in the confines of your plane set?

Yes, it was hot and close, and at any given time there were 30-60 extras, sometimes upwards of 80, and then these two poor actors, and they were just stuck in those seats for long, long periods of time. But I thought that would work for us. We never took the lens beyond where the airplane would be, so we shot over seats and in front of them and we always kept that closeness there because I thought it was important.

How did you decide to cast Cillian Murphy? Was he someone you had in mind from the outset?

The studio called me and said 'do you know Cillian Murphy?' And I said 'you mean the guy in "28 Days Later…"?' They said 'yes' and I said 'he's Irish!' We had been looking for an American actor because they wanted to do a film that was accessible to the audience, they didn't want to do an art film or anything with anyone Americans wouldn't feel comfortable with. And I said 'this guy is Irish to the bone. You should hear his voice.' And they said 'well… we’ll put you guys on the phone and you can talk about it.' So I talked to him and at the same time he's telling me 'I can do this and I can change my voice,' I'm hearing this incredible Irish brogue so I think he must have been able to tell that I wasn't convinced. I told the studio that I thought it was a really dangerous idea. Then the next thing I heard was 'Cillian's on an airplane and he just wants to have lunch with you. He's going to come hoping that you'll have lunch with him.' It was really strange but by that time I had a laugh because it took a lot of chutzpah. And so we went to LAX, he got off the plane, came across the street and into the restaurant so full of energy. And his face is this strange combination of sort of a boyish face and also it can very… almost broodish. It has big bone structure and a lot of sharp angles and then these incredible eyes. Seeing him up close and personal, the way I knew this film would have to be shot, was a revelation. And he was not only enthusiastic but he swore to me that he would be able to do it and it was just one of those things… we hadn't seen anyone who even came close to the presence he had in the films I'd seen. We decided to risk that he would be able to speak like an American. He got a voice coach and…

He pulled it off.

Pulled it off! And there was no way to know until he started acting whether that would work or not and he and Rachel McAdams had no time together to rehearse or anything. They met, I think, a day or two before we started shooting. They just went in and started. There was a lot of very risky behaviour on our part, but it was the only way we could make the film in the time the studio wanted it to be made because they wanted us to be out before 'Flightplan'.

The film has been well received both critically and commercially in the States. How has that affected you? Are you receiving lots of thriller scripts now rather than horror?

Yes. First off I've never received such rave reviews from so many sources, especially places like the New York Times, where the critic is notoriously tough, and Rolling Stone, and the LA Times – reviewers that usually stand back a couple of steps from looking at a horror film with any sort of parity. So that was great. That first weekend, I was in Cleveland with my wife visiting family, and we got a short story and two scripts sent and none of them were…well one was kind of a genre idea, the short story. And then there was a family drama and the other was a police drama. I feel like those doors are creeping open just a few more inches and there's a lot more doors I can possibly walk through. I mean if I fall on my face in any given other genre, it'll be difficult to have people trust that I can do it again. But I feel confident that I can do a lot of different kinds of films.

So, do you know what will be next then?

No, we don't know for sure but we're going to Paris tomorrow to meet with the producers of 'Amelie' and 'Delicatessen'. They're doing a film with 20 directors, each doing a portion of the film. It's about the 20 districts that surround Paris and I'll probably do that. I'm also quite far along in talks to make a deal with John McColgan, who is the guy behind 'Riverdance'. He bought the act of a young man who had a stage show in Ireland that was magic and illusion but macabre. And he wants to do 'Wes Craven's Magic Macabre in Las Vegas', which is so outrageous I had to say 'Fine, let's talk about it'. It would be a mime show in a fifteen hundred seat theatre every night, so you have to imagine it dramatically and visually without people talking. That should be kind of fascinating.

What about films?

We have three scripts around the office, any one of which I'd love to do. The one that a studio is kind of interested in at the moment is a road picture about a young action movie star who is blowing his career and life because he's a drunk and on drugs. He gets sent by a judge to do community service at a hospital at the same time this 11-year-old girl comes in to have her chemotherapy. He doesn't know how sick she is but she's a total movie nut for films made in the '50s and back. She especially loves Audrey Hepburn and has this secret agenda of wanting to get to Tiffany's in New York to have 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'. She cons him into a situation where he ends up driving her across the country. They bicker the whole time and he's always being tempted to do drugs or get drunk and she kind of turns him around and he kind of turns her around in a very interesting way. So that would be a very low-budget film, I wouldn't take my fee or anything. I think there's a high likelihood that will go forward.

What about the other two?

Well, one is a period piece, 'Drowning Roof' which is based on a novel by that title, and the third is a romantic comedy called 'Susan's Last Liner'. You know, I just feel like why the hell not if the script is good? Like in the mid '80s, through a fluke of knowing the producer of 'The Twilight Zone' when it was remade, I directed seven episodes and they were love stories and comedies and everything else and they were all great. So I know I can do it, but it's just a matter of gradually educating the public, my audience and everyone. It's not like Wes Craven is going to cease to exist if I do a romantic comedy, it's just I'll do it with my sensibilities and hopefully it will be surprising and fun. It just won't give you nightmares.

You won't stop the horror though will you? Or do you feel like you've been there and done that?

I certainly feel like I've been there, done that. When I wrote 'Nightmare on Elm Street' there was a sense of 'God, there's nothing out there that's interesting', and then I suddenly got this idea, so I think if I get an idea, I'll probably write it and probably do it. But right now I just don't seem to be thinking that way and it feels fun to be doing other things.

'Red Eye' is released nationwide today and is reviewed here.

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