When
filmmaker Johan Bodell looks at his back catalogue, he realizes
there’s a bit of a common thread : the element of blood. The
Swedish filmmaker talks up his latest spookfest The
Cabin.
Would
say this is a genre you’d normally gravitate towards, Johan?
I
would say no at first, but when I look at what I’ve done previously
a lot of the films have its fair amount of blood as well, just like
The Cabin. My ambition isn’t to lock me into any genre. I want to
be just like Spielberg. One day making a film about the Holocaust,
and then an adventure film like Jurrasic Park.
The
main reason this became a horror film was the location we decided to
build the story around. I have a lot of concepts and ideas for films
I would like to make sometime in the future, some of them horror,
some of them historical dramas and adventure films.
Have
any films or filmmakers from your youth -heck, even now –
influenced this one? How so?
The
main influence for this film would have to be The Shining. There’s
something about the tone in that really hit me. That’s the only
reference I gave to both Charles Doan (DP) and Matt Donner
(composer). Before we even started to shoot, Matt gave me a
minute-long draft of the soundtrack for The Cabin. That was really
helpful to get me in the mood before start shooting and remind myself
of the overall tone of the film.
Also,
Denis Villeneuve is a huge inspiration, there something in the tone
of Prisoners and Arrival that I gravitate towards.
When
I was around 13-14, the Swedish public television had a thing where
they showed classical horror films every Tuesday during the summer. I
didn’t miss any of them. Often recorded them on VHS to re-watch it
again and again. Halloween and Poltergeist are
two films I watched a lot at the time.
We
know you have a love of comic book films but growing up, did you have
a favorite or go-to scary movie?
My
go-to scary movie growing up wasn’t really a movie, but rather the
X-files. When I was 8-9 I was allowed to stay up late on Thursdays
when it aired in Sweden. I was so scared but watched it every week.
That and some Swedish crime shows are some of the scary memories that
I can think of.
This
movie is a bit of a mixed-genre movie – was that part of the appeal
for you?
As
I mentioned earlier I don’t want to go to hard into any genre. I
believe that even in a horror there’s a layer of drama to make the
characters relatable. I think that’s a healthy approach to whatever
genre you’re working in. I would like to include elements of horror
in a comedy or drama.
CGI
or practical effects. Preference?
Practical
as long as it’s possible. I think the best effects is where you
have physical objects and sets, and use CGI to expand that world.
Instead of making it all CGI, which can feel unnatural. We didn’t
use that many effects in The Cabin, but where we used it we did it to
enhance the reality with some extra blood splatter.
Are
any of the characters in the film based on yourself?
I
didn’t think so at first, but then Erik (screenwriter) told me that
some of the main characters dynamic are based on us. He got some of
that inspiration from the trip we first took together to the location
in the middle of the winter so he would get an understanding and
feeling of the location. I wandered in the snow all exciting while he
was a bit more restricted like Rose.
The
Cabin is now available on VOD.
