filmography Neil Marshall (Newcastle upon Tyne, England, 1970) is a collection of love letters to the cinema genre. He made war and horror movies like ‘Dog Soldiers’ or Sitges 2022 presented:’shelter‘ hits theaters Friday the 13th. But it’s also about survival horror (“The descent”) or post-apocalyptic action (“Doomsday: Judgment Day”) or Romans (“Centurion”) or superheroes (“Centurion”) ) Hellboy from 2019.) And we admired his aesthetic treatment of brutality on TV as well: his were two iconic episodes of ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘Blackwater’ and ‘Wallwatchers.’ We chatted with Marshall at the Sitges festival.
So ‘The Lair’ is a Neil Marshall movie. That’s what the credits say: movie, not movie.
I stole this idea from John Badham. I guess that’s what ‘Illegal procedure’ looked like. This is a statement of intent on my part. Because a movie isn’t the same as a movie, and it’s more of a movie than anything else. pure fun. It’s not trying to be a… a movie. Explosive, loud, fast and furious.
More directors should call their movies movies.
Some movies are meant to educate, enlighten or influence people’s lives. I like to do this sometimes but my sole purpose with this was to entertain. It’s pure and simple. It is made for the people of Frightfest or Sitges festival. People who like this kind of movies. Monster movies!
If it’s true that directors only make one movie in their career, theirs is about survival.
Survival is, of course, an important theme in almost all my work. And most of all, what would humans do to survive? This has always been quite fascinating to me. This movie is the first cousin of ‘Dog Soldiers’ and ‘The Descent’. This isn’t a sequel to ‘Dog Soldiers’ but it’s the closest I’ll ever get to what I’m going to do for now. I wanted to reconnect my obsession with terror with the military and history. And ‘Río Bravo’, ‘El Álamo’ or ’13. Let me be inspired by great siege movies like ‘Attack on the Outpost’.
I’m surprised you didn’t quote “Centurion” either. In a way, I think it’s the same movie as ‘The Descent’. Certain images, certain situations…
No one has told me this before. A little ‘descending’ from ground level? There is another movie that is literally like that: It’s called ‘The Fall’. Basically the same plot, with the same twists. Manager [Scott Mann] He’s a friend of mine and he admitted to me, “I totally stole your story.” I said it’s okay for me, it’s okay. I’ve seen elements of ‘Descent’ in many places. ‘Cloverfield had a night vision scene nailed to ours. Such things seem like compliments to me; They never give me a headache.
Do you think it jumps between genres or just between settings?
I like to think I’m jumping between genres. But I always bring my terrible sensitivity to any genre I make. I could be making a movie about the Romans in ancient Britain. [‘Centurión’] and also make one of my most ‘bloody’ movies. So… it’s still like that, and I’m always making the same kind of movie, horror, just different settings.
There is so much beauty in the butcher shop. For example, the large pool of blood in ‘The Descent’ is a wonderful sight. Is there a director you admire the use of blood? Maybe it’s Mario Bava?
I think I don’t drink from other filmmakers. Everyone in my family is an artist and although I am a movie fan, I also love art, especially painting. I’ve always loved Frank Frazetta’s art and this kind of fantasy drawing. Maybe it’s all summed up in the fact that red is one of my favorite colors and blood is that color. Sometimes you can use it splendidly. Nicolas Roeg does this wonderfully in ‘The Shadow Threat’, where the girl initially dies and the blood reaches the target. Or Sam Peckinpah in ‘The Wild Bunch’, a very operatic movie. I have the details of those films.
There isn’t enough red in today’s cinema. There isn’t enough color in today’s cinema. ‘The Lair’ is pretty intense in that sense.
Also ‘Landing’ is painted in bright colours. My next gangster movie ‘Duchess’ will also be very colorful.
It will be another movie starring him and co-written by Charlotte Kirk, like ‘The Den’ and before ‘The Reckoning’. Is it true that you plan to work with him in everything he does?
No, that’s not true. I think someone misquoted me online. We’ve made some movies together and we’re going to do others, but it won’t be like that with everything he does.
Back to the offal: Were you called to direct Game of Thrones because of your ability to make beauty out of violence?
It was a mix of various factors. Of course there was something to it. But it was also my ability to take advantage of small budgets in a short time. It was also very close to where they were shooting at the time, so I was able to come there the next day. I had just shot ‘Centurion’ and most of my crew in that movie were doing ‘Game of Thrones’. They didn’t have a director left for the ‘Blackwater’ episode and the ‘Centurion’ crew approached the producers, showed them my film and told them to call me. Once inside I was able to contribute my own stuff. In the second part I shot [‘Los vigilantes del Muro’]When Ygritte died in Jon’s arms, I wanted us to see the battle behind them in slow motion but I was told no, there was no slow motion in ‘Game of Thrones’. I insisted: “Necessary. It’s just necessary.” When we did that, they said I was absolutely right. The scene was beautiful.
‘Duchess’ aside, is there anything you can tell us?
I’m about to announce the sequel to my previous movie. This is not ‘Descent 2’ or ‘Descent 3’ considering that a sequel has already been released in the video, which I have nothing to do even though I’m mentioned as a producer. On the other hand, I’m trying to come up with three more scenarios: a giallo-style erotic thriller, a horror movie set in a traffic jam, and another movie inspired by ‘The Hills Have Eyes’. Additionally, three of my own series continue, one of which is historical terror. [que ha resultado ser la confirmada en noviembre ‘Nightshade’, sobre las aventuras de una vengadora enmascarada en el siglo XIX].