Australian genre filmmaker Kiah Roache-Turner (“Sting,” “Beast of War”) is set to direct upcoming horror “Don’t Look,” reuniting him with fast-rising star (and fellow antipodean) Alyla Browne (“Furiosa”).
The film — which was previously entitled “From Below” and was to be the directorial debut of writer Sean Loch — is being sold by Cornerstone at the American Film Market. Roache-Turner — currently in post on WWI action-horror movie “Lady Death” — has taken over directing duties due to scheduling issues.
“Don’t Look” is described as a “fresh take” on the road movie horror, where the “true source of fear remains elusive and unseen.” Speaking to Variety, Roache-Turner simply said it was “scary as all hell” with scenes are “going to traumatise people very deeply.”
Set against the backdrop of the Australian outback, the film follows 15-year-old Riley (Browne), travelling across the outback with her father when they come across two seemingly abandoned cars at an isolated desert crossing. When an invisible force drags her father away Riley finds herself in a life-or-death struggle against a terrifying creature that is only visible to its next victim.
Alongside Browne — who starred in Roache-Turner’s spider horror “Sting” and whose credits also include “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” and “Nine Perfect Strangers” — will appear alongside George Pullar (“Evil Dead Burn”), Masha Basman (“Bay of Fires”) and Stephen Peacocke (“Me Before You”).
“Don’t Look” was developed with filmmaker Joel Anderson (“Late Night with the Devil,” “Lake Mungo”). Loch’s original screenplay was featured on The Black List, trending under “Top Horror Scripts” for six weeks. Producers include Blake Northfield (“Lady Death,” “Beast of War”), Michelle Krumm (“The Spectacular Now,” “Escape from Pretoria”) and Sam Price (“Rear View Mirror,” “Leech”)
Speaking to Variety, Roache-Turner discusses boarding the project and working once more with Browne.
What was it about ‘Dont Look’ that drew you in?
Quite simply that it was one of the best scripts I’ve ever read. I was intrigued at first by the premise and the idea of a single-location, desert-set creature feature. When Sean approached me with the idea of directing it my tongue nearly got whiplash I said yes so fast.
‘Don’t Look’ is described as a ‘fresh take’ on the road movie horror. Can you explain a little more about this?
I’m a big fan of the road movie horror genre – I can’t get enough of films like “Wolf Creek, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “The Hitcher” and “Jeepers Creepers.” But what I found refreshing about “Don’t Look” was the layered and fertile character work; how the emotional setups were handled with such precision and how they all paid off so cleverly in the final act. It also helps that the central creature feels truly original, terrifying and disturbing in a way that I’ve never seen portrayed in a monster movie before.
You’re reuniting with Alyla Brown after Sting. How excited are you about that? Have you been keeping in touch with her since then (and following her impressive career)?
I am extremely excited to be working with Alyla again! We’ve certainly kept in touch. Every time I see her on a new movie poster it makes me happy. She’s going to be a massive star one day so I want to make as many films with her as I can before she gets too famous and Spielberg snaps her up. She was 12 when we started filming “Sting” and even back then she was one of the most naturally talented and professional actors I’ve ever worked with. She turned 17 halfway through the filming of our last collaboration [a family film about endurance riding called “Chiquita”). But her character in “Don’t Look” is a lot darker and deeper than anything we’ve done before.
So far you’ve battled zombies, giant spiders, sharks, and whatever the monsters in “Lady Death” are. What sort of horrors are we up against in “Don’t Look”
Well, I don’t want to give the game away but we’re up against a monster that I’ve never really seen before onscreen. It’s such weird creature and so beautifully and horrifically creepy that I’ve decided to change my entire visual style just to accommodate Sean’s insanely original narrative. All I can say at this stage is that it’s as scary as all hell and there are scenes in this movie that are going to traumatise people very deeply. Of course, those are the scenes I’m most looking forward to directing!
