IN CONVERSATION WITH STEWART SPARKE & LYNDSEY CRAINE

Based on the Full Motion Video (FMV) game released by Dark Rift Horror and Wales Interactive, Dead Reset arrives on the big screen from writer and director Stewart Sparke. The film tells the story of Cole Mason (Daniel Thrace), a surgeon who discovers himself in a mysterious facility and is forced to extract a bloodthirsty parasite from a patient. Upon his near immediate death, Cole has to relive the experience again and again, gradually uncovering the dark secrets of the facility, with the help of Fearne, played by Lyndsey Craine. Ahead of the films Tubi FrightFest World Premiere, Gore In the Store sat down with Stewart and Lyndesy to discuss the origins of the film, the challenging but rewarding aspects of practical effects and how FrightFest have encouraged Stewart over the years with his filmmaking.

Was it always the plan to do a video game and a movie at the same time, or did one come out of the other?

STEWART SPARKE - So when we were first contacted by Worlds Interactive after they'd seen BOOK OF MONSTERS, which was at Fright Fest in 2018. They asked, "Have you ever thought about making a choose-your-own-adventure-style movie?” And we were like, yeah, actually. Weirdly, for the BOOK OF MONSTERS Kickstarter, the people who backed it could choose the monsters, they could choose the deaths, so we kind of did a bit of that already. So we were like, yeah, we'd love to do that. And I was already a fan of that publisher because they've kind of revived FMV games, and I used to play like old FMV games. There was a Star Trek Borg game, which I was obsessed with, and  The X-Files game, which I actually have on the shelf here. We found it in a charity shop like two weeks ago, which was a weird coincidence. But I was obsessed with that genre anyway. So when they asked us to do it, we were delighted! And then when we were writing it, they said, "Oh, if you want to make a movie edit out of this afterwards, we'd be really interested in supporting that.” I think they'd done it previously with maybe one of their other films, but they said DEAD RESET has so much potential for a film version. So obviously, when I was writing it, editing it, directing it, I had that in the back of my mind the whole time. Like, okay, that's going to be in the movie. That's in the movie. People always say movies are made three times: the writing, the shooting, and then the edit. This movie really was made in the edit because I could literally look at this four and a half hours of footage of different scenes and different performances and pick out  the best possible entertaining movie to turn into a 98 minute film? So that was just really fun. So yeah, it was kind of very much always the plan to do both, and they both are very different. If you play the game, it's much slower paced. There's a lot of decision making. There's a lot you as the player you can put into the main character of Cole. You can have a relationship with Lindsey's character Fern. You can not have a relationship. You can have a lot of different allegiances than in the movie, and four different endings. So it's very different. And then the movie is just tailor made, specifically designed to just be a really great experience for movie fans as well. So yeah, very much a symbiotic relationship. 

So did you do the game footage first and then the film, or was it a mixture of both?

SS - Yeah, it was. So that essentially, when we were writing the game, we were thinking it almost included the film inside of it. So whatever we shot, we essentially shot all of the game, so to speak, knowing that the film was inside of that somewhere, so because again, we realized the biggest challenge of shooting an FMV game is it's like making a TV miniseries. I mean, we essentially shot a small TV show instead of a film, so it was quite a challenge to capture all of that footage and still stay sane at the end of the whole process. But, during that whole shooting process, I was constantly thinking that's the film. This is the film. Let's shoot a shot here that I know will only work in the film version, because again, the game's so different, and when you play it, and I encourage people to play it after they've seen the film to feel how different it is, all the actors' performances have to be slightly different because they've got that we're constantly acknowledging the players' decisions, and you'll notice that a lot of characters in the game talk to the main character and go, "I really like that choice you made earlier!” and that obviously can't happen in a movie. So we were filming a little movie version along the way. It was a scheduling nightmare. It was a production nightmare to do. But we all feel like we went through this amazing new version of film school where it's like you're not just going to make one film. You're going to make five, and then at the end of it, you can pick another movie out of the stuff you've made, which was really fun. It's a bizarre process that I don't think anyone else does. No one else goes “I'm gonna make a four and a half hour mini series and then make a film out of some of that.” We really are some of the first people to do this kind of thing, so it's kind of hard to capture how we did it in a way.

You both took on quite a lot of multiple roles during the film. Lindsey, you did the costumes, assistant makeup and hair, assistant editing with Stewart doing the editing as well. So how did that come about? And was that an extra strain on both of you, as well as having to act as well?

LYNDSEY CRAINE - It was really exciting, actually, because I'd never done a lot of the production side of it before. Obviously, I've predominantly been acting, but Stuart and I discussed beforehand that costuming was something that I'd always been interested in, and we thought, let's keep that in house. Let's just see what we can do and come up with. We kind of knew how we wanted the film to look, and how we wanted each character to have sort of a very individual look. Everyone's kind of got a uniform in a way with the jumpsuits, but I wanted everyone to have an individual kind of color and theme. But it was difficult on some days. Obviously, I'm about to go into a scene, but then there's a costume issue that I'm having to sort out, like running off set. I remember one day we were shooting quite an emotional scene, and then halfway through, I had to cut to go and sort out the costume for Cole and Slade's characters. So, going off set, coming back on. It was kind of having two heads really on set, not as many as Stewart. He has to have a million heads on set. But in terms of post production, it was really cool to get to help Stewart out with the editing side and helping out with the assistant edit and the sound and the music and things. It was just a huge learning experience as well. But I actually really enjoyed it. It gave me such a bigger understanding of the whole filmmaking process. But from an acting standpoint, I think as Stewart said earlier, it was such an interesting way to film, particularly when we were doing the game, because there were so many different variants and doing scenes back to back that were completely different depending on whatever the player has chosen to do. I am super excited for people to see the film and to see what's been chosen for that. I just had an absolute blast working on this. It was such a cool character, and yeah, as I said, to be given an opportunity to be working on so many different roles. It really was a lot of fun, and it made me appreciate how Stewart has to work because he wears so many hats on set. So yeah, it was a lot of fun.

There are quite a lot of death scenes in the film, even just for one character especially. Were there any death scenes that you wanted to include but you couldn't for any reason?

SS - I think we filmed almost all of them, apart from maybe three. There's a big fight time loop sequence in the final act, in the main control room set, and I wanted to have loads more occur in that space because we set up various props in the movie. There's a defibrillator prop, and there's these shutters that come down in the tunnels of the facility. And I wondered how we can use that in the boss fight. Can we have it cut off a tentacle? Does he shock the monster and things like that, and I think unfortunately, just due to time on set, we were getting towards the end, and we essentially had to cut a few little bits from it. ButI always forget this. I've made four monster films now. I always forget how long practical effects take every single time, because you've got to get the performers into the costume. We have Daniel Bruce on this one, who plays the adult creature. He's like seven foot tall in this big costume, and then you've got to slime him up, and then you've got to get all the blood rigs together, and all of that takes a lot of time. Our team, thankfully, is absolutely incredible. Every time we did something, they nailed it, but you eat so much time doing actual filming that we just didn't leave enough time for certain things. You don't feel like you are missing anything watching the movie or the game at all, but in my head, for the next movie, I know I want to do those cool things next time. We really prioritize what are the coolest, goriest ones that we can do. And again, the beauty of having a game as well is that there are about three times the deaths in the game than there is in the film. So if you watch the movie and you go, "There's not quite enough death in this” which there is, if you play the game, depending on what choices you make, there's even more ways that you can kill Dan's character, or Cole’s, which is really fun for us.

You mentioned there, and I really commend you for it, the use of practical effects. Especially in this day and age, with some filmmakers making the decision to use AI more and more now.

SS - I'm very against using AI for any kind of creative reason. It is especially unthinkable to think of using it in our films because our whole kind of thing at Dark Rift Horror, what me and Paul Butler, who's the co-founder of the company, every film we make, we're just making our childhood love letters to EVIL DEAD II, ALIENS,THE THING every time. So to imagine those movies with AI or CGI now is kind of crazy. With DEAD RESET in particular, because we were making this as AI had started to get big, there was never any question that everything needed to be practical, and even when there are computer-generated visual effects in the film, I did it all myself. I literally had to learn how to do After Effects, and any effects that we did have, like the odd bit of electricity effect. I was looking at GHOSTBUSTERS, going, how did they do lightning? I want it to look like GHOSTBUSTERS. I don't want it to look like crappy CGI plug-in lightning. It has to fit the authenticity of the world. It has to have film grain. It has to look like an optical effect. So I'm really proud that we can say every single effect in it is pretty much 100% practical. There is the slightest amount of VFX touches, but hopefully when you're watching it, you're just fully immersed in it being practical. I think it helped the actors as well. I'm sure Lindsay can attest to this: when Brucey, who was our big monster wearing the costume, is barrelling down a hallway towards you, screaming, you genuinely are just like, “I need to run away from this thing. It's disgusting.” Likewise, when you've got blood spurting out of your neck from a wound or something, and it's going all over you, you are screaming for real, and it really helps. And I think, you know, it's our responsibility as independent filmmakers, at this level, to continue that kind of trend, and again, it's great that festivals like FrightFest champion this real, authentic filmmaking, and I think that's only going to continue.

How do you feel about the issue as an actress, Lindsey?

LC - Yeah, it's concerning. I'm very much with Stewart on this as you know. I'm very against any use of AI. It's when you see the extremes of it, where it can be replacing actors. I think it is really worrying. I think you know when you're watching a film, you really want to relate to the actor, especially if you've got an emotional piece or anything like that. I think knowing that that could be replaced by just somebody typing in “Woman cries” and then it's just a computer-generated woman. I'm very proud to be involved in this film that is purely practical, and as Stewart says, it's so much fun working on a practical effects movie because it's right in front of you. I think if you're on another film and they say, "Oh, just look there. There's going to be something there.” Obviously you can pretend, but it's cool when it's really in front of you and you know exactly what you're responding to and what you're acting against. And particularly when you've got blood spraying in your face, and you've got a little creature that you've got to fight against. I think it just adds to and really helps the performance be more natural, as well. That you've actually got something that you can see and you can interact with. Just digitally putting something in with AI, I think it just doesn't have the same feel to it. And I think, as Stewart said, he loves his practical effects and 80’s throwback films, and this film screams that so loud, so yeah, I'm very much with Stewart on it.

SS -  I think the same goes for the artwork as well. We have got Ilan Cheedy who does Uncle Frank Productions to create a hand painted almost poster artwork. And every movie we've done, we've worked with Graham Humphries, and we've worked with Tom Hodge of The Dude Designs for the BOOK OF MONSTERS poster. I think that authentic artistry should extend to everything around your movie, and I must admit, it really grinds my gears when I see filmmakers go, "Here's my new poster.” And I'm like, "You generated that in five minutes, and it looks like every single other AI poster.” I think filmmakers, especially independent filmmakers making their early movies can be afraid of practical effects because they're like, how do I even start on this? But there's this fear that it's gonna look rubbery and silly. Well, no, the human brain completely accepts that. Look at what Disney has done with The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda. They were 100% intending to CGI that until I think Werner Herzog said, "You need to have this puppet for the whole thing.” And that's just shown how people love that puppet. You can see it's clearly operated by rods and strings sometimes but that's part of the charm, and I think that's part of the charm of DEAD RESET as well. When Cole is thrown up against the wall and the monster's biting at his face. It's a real monster that's right there with him. And yes, sometimes you can see the seams, but that is part of the charm. And I think that's what I love about making movies. And I would never change that for the world.

You're returning to FrightFest once more this year? Is this the fourth time for you?

SS - Or is it the fifth?

LC - Fifth including Nick's (Nicholas Vince) I AM MONSTERS, yeah.

SS - This is actually 10 years since our first FrightFest. Our first one was the Shepherd's Bush year, which was a really weird intro for me because I was like, "This is FrightFest!” and obviously everyone was like, "No, that was like a one-off FrightFest!” But yeah, 10 years since my very first film screened weirdly in the very first First Blood that Ian Rattray ran. I'd submitted CREATURE BELOW, and he rang me up, and he was like, “Stewart, it's not a great film, but I think it shows promise. I'd like you to come because I think your next film's gonna be good.”  And then with BOOK OF MONSTERS: “Stewart. It could do with some improvement, but I think we'll let you in.” And this is the first year that Greg Day told us “Oh you're in the main screen by the way!” and I was like “No we're not! That's crazy we're Discovery Screen films!” and he said, "Look, you've done this four times now. You guys deserve to be on the main screen.” So I'm absolutely crapping my pants now that we're somehow in the main screen. But thank you to Ian, Greg, and then the rest of the team for believing in us. And again, it just shows how they support indie filmmakers. They are a massive festival. It's in Leicester Square. It's crazy. It couldn't be more prestigious, and they've got us from York with our rubber monsters continually coming back. And they've done the same with so many other filmmakers. You see the same faces every time, like Dominic Brunt, Andy Edwards, they supported all of us in our adventures in making films. So, yeah, I absolutely love Fright Fest. Love it!

Thank you so much for your time, I really enjoyed the film.

SS - I’m so glad that people seem to like it. I really hope the test will be at the FrightFest screening because the FrightFest audience is very clear about their opinion. I know because I'm one of them. So yeah, I'm excited to see what people think. I just hope people laugh along at the crazy gore and have a good time with it.

Well with the way that you cut in the final scene to the credits, I think that's going to get you a pretty big round of applause.

SS - It's definitely a very different type of ending and different type of film to what we've done before, but it still has that essential DNA. I think again, only our rule is we only make movies that we would want to see, and the main goal is, is this fun to watch, and as long as it's fun and people like it, then yeah we've done it. 

Iain MacLeod

DEAD RESET - WORLD PREMIERE

TUBI MAIN SCREEN - SATURDAY 29TH AUGUST,  1:00 PM