On January 31st Gravitas Ventures released a new horror film on digital from writer and director David Marantz. The movie features several unique plot points which separates it from your run-of-the-mill nail biter. Not only are the undead in the film faster than your average zombie, which the writer credits 28 Days Later for but the premise includes trying to keep a child zombie alive by feeding it flesh until the group can find a cure for the kid's terrifying affliction.
The main characters soon come across something worse than zombies - survivors, and things get much worse from there. Regardless of which group of characters you agree with, the ensemble film gives reasons to look through the lens of all of the characters.
We were lucky enough to have a chat with the writer and director of the movie, David Marantz, and he shared a number of tidbits with us about his writing process, how he views the film, and which horror flicks inspired the screenplay.
Check out what David has to say in the video below! We've also included one of his quotes from the interview to tease the full video interview experience for those looking to know why he compares the horrifying tale to the classic movie Alien.
David Marantz: When I started writing and creating the characters I thought for some reason it ended up being very close to Alien - not in a conscious way but I just realized it kind of had the same number of characters. And, so, one of the things that always fascinated me about Alien is when you watch the first film on its own it's very hard to tell who is going to live and who is going to die. And that is something the film really pulls off absolutely beautifully and I think in a horror movie this is something valuable, because sometimes in horror movies you know who the star of the film is, you know they're going to make it to the end and you know the extras are going to die. That kind of robs you of the suspense you want in there. So, I think when I was trying to write Alive I also wanted to have that sort of approach on some level all of the characters were important from their point of view, which means they can have their own values and their own personalities so you can't tell who is going to live and going to die. And I think that is very important in a horror movie in general.
What do you make of David's comments? Will you be checking out Alive or are zombie flicks not your forte? Either way, be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section!
Helen navigates a ravaged world with her boyfriend Kevin and her little brother Barney. Desperate to find help after Barney's infection slowly turns him into a zombie, they come upon a house where lives Dan, a man harboring a heavy secret.
Alive is now available to view on digital.