The SAG-AFTRA Strike has caused a major delay in Hollywood, pushing back nearly all films by a matter of years. After the delays from COVID and the prior writer's strike, moviegoers are more than ready to put all of this mess behind them and return to the theaters - something that has been much needed in the days since COVID finally went away.
Even with negotiations said to be taking place there is no end in sight and therefore small budget films have found themselves a place in the spotlight and more important than ever. Horror freaks may be waiting until next October for another slate of big screen frights but for those itching to find entertainment sooner, creators like The Four Horsemen are taking it upon themselves to create movies such as their current project, The Inhabitants, a story about a hive-mind in a small coastal town and the creature that exists as a sinister frequency and takes over the minds of those that... inhabit... the locale.
We were able to catch up with the team behind this movie and pick the mind of co-creator Kyle Kimlick in between shoots so we could learn a thing or two before the campaign comes to a close. After we saw The Four Horseman's previous horror release in What We Become, we wanted to learn more about their next picture, especially as it filmed on the same location and with much of the same crew.
Kyle talked with us about how this being the second film shot on location helped make things smoother, what makes this a particularly interesting time to run a campaign and the obstacles the team has been facing in doing so and the horror to be had in the flick as well as a heap of more information on the movie. We've included a wealth of imagery along with the exclusive interview for you to get a glimpse of what this campaign has in store and what The Inhabitants has to offer.
What do you guys make of The Inhabitants. Will you be taking part in the campaign or will you be waiting for this one to finish up before you check it out? Regardless of your take be sure to share your thoughts in the usual place as always!
Literary Joe: How did What We Become inform this project? Filming both in the same location must mean there are some behind-the-scenes ties to one another or even some more glaring things that remained in either or both movie that viewers like me would be unaware of?
Kyle Kimlick: The lessons we learned from What We Become were extremely present from the conception of this film. First and foremost, the need to shorten and simplify the story we’d be telling. What We Become had five characters with full character arcs and our result was a four-and-a-half-hour movie (that we cut down to two hours, twenty-two minutes in the final cut). As we began the Inhabitants, we knew we wanted to tell a story that focused on one character, with extended sequences that had no dialogue at all. This gave us the freedom to explore our protagonist to the fullest, and allow the story to be shown more often than told. In regards to locations, we have put in painstaking effort to ensure that we don’t return to any locations that could be recognized from What We Become. WWB’s locations utilized forest and rural locations between seasons to reflect the changes occurring in our characters. To counter that, The Inhabitants sticks to a port-town setting, frequently using bodies of water to create a feeling of isolation for our protagonist. For out on the water is the only place he truly feels safe from the threat he faces…
Literary Joe: Did you guys find that it was easier to shift to The Inhabitants than Love Story due to genre and story beats or was it just something that came about for you to float this project first?
Kyle Kimlick: When it comes to Love Story, my best friend and business partner Eli Ansara has been fine tuning the script for over a year now. In that time, his vision for it has been steadily expanding. While it would seem that filming a romantic comedy would be the easiest thing to complete on a microbudget, the story has evolved into a profound statement about what it really means to be in your twenties and a millennial. Yes, the core of the story will be a romance between our two leads, but many other millennial characters have been added to make the movie much more poignant and relatable to our generation, no matter what walk of life you come from. Ultimately, a large budget isn’t needed, but Eli does not want to direct the film without being able to pay the cast and crew for full-time effort in bringing his outstanding vision to life. That all being said, the whole team was dying to get back into production on SOMETHING. So on a whim and after a quick brainstorm session, we really dove into this one and have been flying by the seat of our pants to make it come to life ever since.
Literary Joe: What did you learn from What We Become that has helped making The Inhabitants a smoother process?
Kyle Kimlick: Shotlist. Shotlist. Shotlist. In What We Become, we had a very bad habit of gathering extras and showing up to our location, then “figuring out” how we’d want to it look on camera. I cannot express enough how important it is to have a pre-determined unanimous understanding of how things will be shot and the amount of time it saves you on set.
Literary Joe: What is it about the Michigan landscape that makes you think it is a good filming location for this tale?
Kyle Kimlick: The Inhabitants has a very signature aesthetic style that could only be achieved in Michigan. As I stated before, we utilize lakes frequently to feel safe and isolated, whereas our forest environments feel tense and unsafe, as something could be lurking behind any given tree. The first half of the film also takes place in a number of unique cabins and cottages as well, which we put effort into making sure they feel extremely pleasant and cozy. Filming a high-intensity thriller in settings that typically make you want to relax is a juxtaposition we are very excited for the audience to experience.
Literary Joe: When The Inhabitants was first envisioned how did it differ from what is currently underway?
Kyle Kimlick: So here’s what’s been crazy about filming the Inhabitants, we hit the ground running without much of a plan when we started it and have been taking a “run-and-gun” approach to it ever since. This is not how I would recommend making a movie, but what has been exhilarating about the experience is that the story continues to evolve and get ever-so-slightly bigger with each new idea we implement. With What We Become, we were in soft pre-production for a year and then filmed over 9 months. If someone had a fresh idea, we often couldn’t implement it in favor of sticking to the original plan. With The Inhabitants, fresh ideas are welcome, and the team has remained diligent in adapting to making a film that is frequently evolving.
Literary Joe: What horror stories in other media might pique the interest of viewers who would find The Inhabitants speaks to them?
Kyle Kimlick: Invasion of the Body Snatchers is the first film that comes to mind, though it needs to be made clear that while our concept is similar, our take on it is unlike anything that we have seen before. The original Evil Dead for its nature as a low-budget horror film in the woods built upon pure passion from the cast and crew. I’m also going to add the Resident Evil game franchise as this movie takes on survival horror in a way that is found in video games more often than movies. A lone hero fighting/hiding/scavenging to survive in a setting that has its own identity and townsfolk with a twisted supernatural secret, The Inhabitants and Resident Evil games are alike in in that way.
Literary Joe: Does the team sneak easter eggs into the Four Horsemen films even though they aren't big budget blockbuster movies?
Kyle Kimlick: OH ABSOLUTELY. This movie is chalked full of Four Horsemen easter eggs. While we are not big and famous YET, we still look out for the many local fans we have and have loaded the movie with small things that fans of What We Become and our youtube film, Life, can catch if they’re looking closely. In fact, we’ve purposely reflected a lot of scenes and moments from Life with entirely different context as a fun nod to our journey as filmmakers. For instance, in Life there is a pivotal climactic scene where Eli’s character wakes up tied to a chair while me, the villain, stands waiting for him. In The Inhabitants, there is a pivotal climactic scene where my character wakes up tied to a chair while Eli waits for me... except he has about forty townsfolk by his side. So there’s clear references to pick up, but this movie will handle them all in a new way.
Literary Joe: Were any of the props and weapons in What We Become (such as the replica of Michonne's sword) utilized in the filming of The Inhabitants?
Kyle Kimlick: So far… we have not re-used any props. We’ve really placed a lot of effort into making every aspect of this film be unprecedented. We’d like for our returning fans to see this film as unrecognizable next to What We Become, and send the message that you will be in for a completely fresh experience every time you come to one of our movies. That all being said… we learned who of our friends would be willing to put in the most effort as our extras during the WWB shooting process, and those exact friends have been called back to return in this one. So you will not recognize any props, but you will recognize many of the faces.
Literary Joe: What has been the biggest challenge in shooting a film of this scope during the writers and actors strike afflicting the industry as a whole, and do you think this opens more eyes to your media?
Kyle Kimlick: The writers/ actors strikes are an interesting thing to be happening as we film this movie. On some level, knowing that Hollywood is in a chaotic state has very much fueled the fire to make this movie as good as it can be. While we stand with the actors and writers who are demanding better conditions in an industry we very much care about, this movie is disassociated with any of the parties involved in the strikes. It does bring into question what kind of movies we will be up against in next year’s film festival circuit, we are extremely curious to see if indie movies like ours will have more prevalence in the wake of larger productions being shut down.
Literary Joe:. Will there be another premiere in Michigan like What We Become, and will Love Story also be filmed in the same location? On that note, are there stories the team hopes to bring to the screen that would need to utilize a different filming backdrop, or are you focused on seeing what can be brought to life in the midwest atmosphere?
Kyle Kimlick: There will be another red-carpet premiere! The last event was way too much fun for us to turn down doing it again. We are committed to filming Love Story in the Midwest, to capture a feel that is authentic to us, we need to be making the movie in locations that we personally feel connected to in order to share that feeling with audiences from across the nation. We are very open to broadening our locations, but with budget being one of our biggest inhibitors at the moment, filming in Michigan allows everyone to be close to home and saves us the money that filming in a distant location would require.
Literary Joe: The hive mind is something I always found to be compelling in storytelling. Was this idea pulled specifically from any inspirational stories or was it something that flooded your sci-fi-induced brains on its own?
Kyle Kimlick: I’m so glad you asked! While we were definitely aware of what a Hivemind is from previous Sci-Fi storytelling, the exact nature of the enemy in our movie is uniquely our own. The most significant point being that this Hivemind is a single entity inhabiting the masses of this town, they are not a “we” they are an “I”. It’s a creature completely devoid of any physical shape, solely existing as a frequency in the air that our brains can intercept and succumb to.
Literary Joe: How has the campaign surprised you, either good or bad, so far? How has running the campaign caused this process to be different than your previous work?
Kyle Kimlick: The campaign has been underwhelming to say the least. We spent a lot of time devising our concept trailer, campaign video, and rewards for donation levels. So far it has merited very little return, which has been disheartening. We had a scammer go as far as taking a video call with us to offer us $20,000… but only if we hired their “favorite marketer” from Fiverr. So the quest to find reliable financial support goes on.
Literary Joe: Is this story and world contained to one film or are there characters and plot in The Inhabitants that the Four Horsemen hope to see expand to the screen in other pictures?
Kyle Kimlick: This is a self-contained, open and shut story. We really wanted to create a fun popcorn flick that completed its story within ninety minutes or less. While there is definitely room for this story to take place in the same universe as Life, all of our characters and events will be contained to this film.
Literary Joe: For people interested in becoming a part of The Inhabitants, how can they help bring this movie to life with your campaign in the most useful way at this juncture; a la; what is most needed to see this film's completion at the current point, and how far along is the process?
Kyle Kimlick: The biggest thing we can ask for at the moment are donations to support the completion of this film. While money isn’t everything, it’s the one thing we are in sore need of as all movie expenses are covered out-of-pocket by Eli and myself. For anyone in the local Michigan area, we are always looking for more friends that would like to be a part of the filming process OR provide locations for future projects. Anyone can reach out to the Four Horsemen email for an introduction and to see where collaboration can happen!
Literary Joe: Was the title always set in stone as The Inhabitants or were there other names mulled over before landing on the final pick?
Kyle Kimlick: ‘The Inhabitants’ was coined by Eli out of nowhere and we all instantly fell in love with it. I’m pretty terrible with names, and every idea I played with just didn’t capture the ominous tone I was looking for. Once we heard that name, there was no looking back.
Take a look at the concept trailer for The Inhabitants below and share your thoughts in the comments!
Find out how you can take part in the campaign for The Inhabitants here