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Today, I spoke with Austin Keeling about his film The House on Pine Street, a psychological horror about a young woman coping with an unwanted pregnancy after moving into a seemingly haunted house.
Let me just say this up front, I love these kinds of horror films. The House on Pine Street allows us to insert our own horror because it activates the most powerful fear-generation machine in the world: our imaginations. This film is a throwback to the classics in the horror genre, it’s about the atmosphere and characters building to a real visceral sense of dread, rather than trying to frighten us with a rubber mask or a CGI character.
I’m in love with the films that go back to that old school methodology of experiencing fear. Once you see a monster it’s no longer frightening, so the biggest thing you can do to extend that fear and dread is to keep the monster in the shadows, both literally and figuratively. Austin and his team really wanted to spread the horror by keeping the film grounded in as much psychological fear rather than throwing monsters at the heroine and making her run for her life.
The real fear is the fear of the unknown.
What I hate about horror is how people rely on that “Blair Witch Shaky Cam” nonsense. Enough is enough. If its done well, and I mean REALLY well, it doesn’t hurt the film but I’m going to be completely honest, I’ve not seen a good shaky cam film in a very … very long time. Just stop. Please.
That being said, Austin and his team are a group of like-minded filmmakers who really know how to tell an awesome story. They’ve put together an outstanding film with a wonderful throwback concept and something that I recommend everyone check out. This film was made in 19 days, no break days, and no real downtime until it got finished. (Note: This is insane. Don’t do this.)
Anyway, check out The House on Pine Street and make sure to grab a copy here.
