Eye On Horror
Eye On Horror
Standing By with Bystanders' Mary Beth McAndrews
Kicking off Season 8, the boys are joined by director Mary Beth McAndrews to talk about her new film BYSTANDERS! Making the jump from editor in chief to behind the camera, Mary Beth talks about the influences behind this twist on rape revenge films, making an indie feature, and more!
Bystanders hits VOD on all major streaming Platforms Tuesday 1/21, THAT'S TOMORROW!
But first, the boys review Wolf Man, Red Rooms, George A. Romero's Resident Evil, Se7en IMAX restoration, and The Creep Tapes! It's all new on EYE ON HORROR!
Movies discussed on the show:
https://letterboxd.com/correianbbq/list/eye-on-horror-podcast-sn-8-ep-1/
More from Mary Beth McAndrews:
https://mbmcandrews.com/
Follow us on the socials: @EyeOnHorror or check out https://linktr.ee/EyeOnHorror
Get more horror movie news at: https://ihorror.com
Welcome to Eye On Horror, the official podcast of ihorror.com this is episode 141 otherwise known as season eight. Episode One, yay. I am your host. James Jay Edwards, and with me, as always, is your other host. Jacob Davison, how you doing? Jacob
Jacob Davidson:doing? Okay, I can't believe we're kicking off a new season in a new year,
James Jay Edwards:eight seasons. And considering we do it, you know, every year, this is our eighth year. Woo, also with us, as always, is your other other host, Jon Correia, how you doing? Correia, it's
Jonathan Correia:a new year, new season. Same bastard,
James Jay Edwards:same three liberal left Grifters. Um, yeah, before we get started here, we have to say yesterday, David Lynch passed away, so we definitely need to acknowledge him. We should probably do like an actual episode of Lynch at some point, but just for now to acknowledge his his passing. What's your favorite Lynch movie? Mine's Wild at Heart. Uh,
Jacob Davidson:mine's Mulholland Drive, although I also really do love Eraserhead, which was the first movie of his I saw, which I saw back in high school at the Coolidge corner theater. And I also want to say just, you know, David, David Lynch was such a presence that him being gone, it does feel like fundamental shift in the world. Yeah.
Jonathan Correia:I mean, for me, I'd have to say his, I'm gonna be that guy at his short films and weather reports. That was I, I loved his weather reports in college. I watched him all the time. And yeah, there was something so weird and strange about them, but also uplifting. Just, I mean, yeah, he's, he's, he was just such a funny guy, so quotable. Just, yeah, so many people were sharing that one weather report of him wearing sunglasses, and he's like, I'm wearing shades because the I saw the future and it's looking bright.
James Jay Edwards:It's like, I just love the the interview he gave, someone asked him, or he said, Eraserhead my most spiritual movie and and the reporter is like, can you elaborate on that? He's all, no, love it. Yeah, for me, the three Davids, Cronenberg, Fincher and Lynch, and one of them's gone, but we'll do a whole episode or something about him later. But for now, let's hop into what's new. I know that at least Jacob and I have seen Wolf Man, which is the big new release this week? Oh,
Jonathan Correia:sorry. Some of us have just been in a state of mass anxiety for the last week.
James Jay Edwards:Some of us have been right smack in the middle of like, four fires.
Jacob Davidson:Man Jacob, I thought it was pretty good. I I liked Leigh Whannell's twist on the Wolf Man, and I thought it was a unique setup. Also, it's been a while since we had a universal monster movie, and it did kind of feel more in line with that. Because, yeah, it's about this guy who lives in the city with his wife and daughter, and like their writers and he grew up in this kind of survivalist compound in Oregon, and he finds out his dad died, so they go up to unpack the land, and there is a wolf man. Most
James Jay Edwards:of the movie, I have to say, I really liked it as well. But here's the thing, I had to temper my expectations a little bit, because I went into it expecting the Invisible Man, which was incredible. And about a third of the way through it, I was like, Okay, this isn't quite an invisible man type take. It's a little more standard, but the whole movie essentially takes place in and around this one cabin. So it's a real compact and condensed, you know, movie, but there's an opening scene where he where his dad. It shows him as a child, and his dad is kind of protecting him from the wolf man. And that comes back because he was protecting his daughter from it. So there's a lot of, like, family, not really drama, like, like, the emotional core of the movie is the family. And I thought that the guy's name is Blake, and his daughter is ginger, the the relationship between dad and daughter is what really did it for me. But one thing that is amazing about it is the monster though, the wolf man himself is all practical effects. And it kind of harkens back to, like, The Fly. He's like, kind of like, oozy and gooey, and they show the transformation is like slow, but they also show it from his point of view. Like, there's like, one point where like the camera will like change to like will like, kind of like dolly to behind him, and all of a sudden he can't understand what people are saying. Or, you know, the the lighting is different. And all of a sudden it's not like, kind of turns black and white. It's, it's really interesting the way that they deal with the transformations, but and
Jacob Davidson:being Leigh Whannell, that also has a lot of other subtexts, like deals with kind of the cycle of abuse, because Blake's father was kind of abusive, and he's got his own anger problems with his wife and daughter that he's trying to hold back. So it just kind of ties in together, yeah?
James Jay Edwards:It kind of, yeah. It kind of goes into that where, because his dad would, you could tell his dad's heart was in the right place, but he was like a disciplinarian, and sometimes that would boil over in Blake, but yeah, it is, uh, it's, it's not quite, there's not quite as much subtext as the Invisible Man. I mean, the Invisible Man, I think is a masterpiece. Oh, yeah. So love the Invisible Man. So it's not quite you have to temper your expectations. But this is not just another January dump movie. It's way better than that. And there may be a little bit of CG with the werewolf movements, you know, because they do some like weird, like crawling around. And there's one that's definitely CG, because it has to do with a missing limb, but most of the creature makeup is actually practical, yeah,
Jacob Davidson:though I do like how they were able to kind of blend that also. I had never seen the original wolfman movie before with Lon Chaney Jr, and I watched it after seeing the remake, and it is actually interesting, because I feel like there were some direct connections and homages to it, like the whole bear trap thing, like the whole in both movies, The Wolf Man gets hit by a bear trap. And do feel like there, there are some parallels, but also the original wolfman is really good. Again. I'd never seen it before, but yeah, just yeah, those lead in the remake. Who was the actor? Again,
James Jay Edwards:the actors, Christopher Abbott.
Jacob Davidson:Yeah, Chris. Christopher
James Jay Edwards:Abbott, he's a guy who played, Christopher Abbott, played The Foreigner in Kraven the Hunter, remember I was talking about that weird villain that I had never seen before. It's the same actor as Wolfman. Well,
Jacob Davidson:him and Lon Chaney Jr, they do such a good job at creating empathy for their characters, especially as they're turning into the wolf man becoming a threat to their friends and family.
James Jay Edwards:I've gone on record before, and I'll say it again, all of the Universal Monsters, with the exception of the Invisible Man, are all pretty sympathetic characters, and The Wolf Man is one of the more sympathetic because it you know, he he doesn't want to change. I actually watched the original Wolf Man the night before I saw Wolf Man, so it was fresh in my mind, too. And one thing that I don't remember is What a creep Larry Talbert is before it before he becomes the wolf man, like when He's creeping on the woman in that curio shop. You know, you're like, dude, no means no. He would have been me too, like a mother, if that was made today. But, um, but, yeah, I think the Universal Monsters, all of them, you know, Frankenstein, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, they're all pretty sympathetic characters and and you're right. Christopher Abbott does do a really good job at projecting that. It's like he knows, you know, he's like this in they, they make a big deal of it too. They're like, you know his because Julia Garner is the wife, and she's like, I love you. And he's like, all, you know, they he can't talk, but they have other ways of communicating. And, yeah, you can tell that he doesn't want to do these things that he's doing.
Jonathan Correia:I would argue invisible. The original Invisible Man is, is sympathetic.
James Jay Edwards:I know he's not psycho. He's an asshole. He wasn't
Jonathan Correia:before the the accident, though, and also, I don't he
Jacob Davidson:revels in being evil, like he blew up a train doesn't the changes man, it's
Jonathan Correia:all, it's all the it's all the chemicals and stuff. Like, just unlock that and like, cause that it's like, it's like, you don't blame someone when they have a brain tumor, you know, when stuff goes bad, or concussions, and cause changes behavior. You know, he's a victim of his own thing also. I mean, I can relate to just wanting to be left alone, to my little project, you know. And everyone just like annoying the shit out of you. Yeah. Yeah. Plus, also, he's sassy, you know, I I can't be mad at a sassy villain. The whole running through this town and just wearing pants bit is brilliant. Brilliant. No notes.
James Jay Edwards:What are those sketch comedy movies? It might have been either Amazon women on the
Jacob Davidson:moon or Amazon Women on the Moon. I know. Is it? Yeah,
James Jay Edwards:he's a where he's like, ever see a shirt make a telephone call? And the guy's not invisible?
Jacob Davidson:Yeah, no, he's just, he's just brain damaged because he was huffing chemicals, but
James Jay Edwards:that he gets naked, starts to run around. They're like, Oh yeah, he's doing it again.
Jonathan Correia:See if anyone is not, if any of them are, it's the Hollow Man. The Hollow Man is not he was Kevin Bacon's character was creeping before he turned invisible. And the second he was invisible, he was like, Oh, I'm gonna do all the creeping. And then it's like, Bro
Jacob Davidson:said. And then the Invisible Man remake the guy in that was also a total monster,
James Jay Edwards:yeah? But yeah, they they made him. And there was a lot of symbolism in that. I like the gas lighting that, yeah, that. That's an amazing take on it, I mean. And, you know, circling back to Wolf Man, if you expect that kind of a take, you will be disappointed. But if you just it's a great Creature Feature. And, you know, I'm not quite sure why they're doing it in January, because it's not a January dump movie at all. It's way better than that. Yeah, no,
Jacob Davidson:it did feel like a good traditional werewolf movie. And, yeah, no, like, like Jay. Jay was saying, you know, just, it's very compact, because it's just about a family in the wilderness with a werewolf, and the dad gets bitten by a werewolf. So it's so they've got a monster within and without. Yeah,
Jonathan Correia:and I, and sometimes studios do release something where they're like, this is good, but it won't do bangers when it's up against the tent poles and stuff. So let's put it in a month that's known for dumping so that it can, you know, hopefully clean up.
James Jay Edwards:Yeah, have either you guys seen Red Rooms?
Jacob Davidson:Oh, I did. I saw, did you? Oh,
James Jay Edwards:that is that movie was, if I had seen it before we made our top 10s, it might have snuck on it. It is.
Jacob Davidson:It fucked me up.
James Jay Edwards:Yeah, it's but the thing is, it's not the movie I thought that it was going to be. I thought it was going to be more exploitative than it is, because you think Red Rooms, you know, it's about these dark web murder rooms, and it kind of is, but it's more about the trial of this guy who's accused of it, and this woman who kind of becomes obsessed with the trial. So it's more of like a courtroom drama, but it, but it's pretty messed up. It's a pretty messed up movie. Yeah, it's, it's crazy. What did you think of it? I
Jacob Davidson:thought it was great. Like, I thought it was very disturbing, very timely. And, I mean, I kind of remember reading, you know, creepy pasts about red rooms as an actual, like, internet urban legend. But, you know, interesting to see kind of whole subject on that and kind of tied into, you know, like that kind of fanaticism that true crime and murders can have. And, yeah, that was very, very disturbing. So yeah, although very, very well made, I did think it was incredible and biting horror movie. Yeah,
James Jay Edwards:it's, I think it's on Shudder now, yes, it is, yeah, so it's, it's not what I thought it was going to be, but it's actually better than I thought it was gonna be. I thought it was gonna be something a little more exploitive
Jonathan Correia:than it was nice. I haven't watched a whole lot of new stuff. If you all don't know, Jacob and I are in LA. We're in very different parts of LA, but so we've been, we've been safe, but it's been, it's been a very anxiety inducing couple of weeks to Correia.
James Jay Edwards:Dropped the map to us of where he is, and he was literally surrounded by, like, four fires. I'm like, why are you still there? But
Jonathan Correia:by a couple of miles. So, like, it's, it's that catch 22 of like, do you leave now? Do you leave later? If you leave now, are you adding to the congestion to of for people who are in more immediate need of leaving and, you know? Or when is it too late? So, like, we've, yeah, we've been watching that evacuation line very close.
James Jay Edwards:And how long will it take you to catch your cat to bring him with not
Jonathan Correia:long, easy, he's doopy. I throw a little catnip in the carrier. He'll jump right in.
James Jay Edwards:Yeah, he's one of those cats. Okay, yeah. BP is all right.
Jonathan Correia:He's a pain in my ass, but he's my guy. But yeah, so you know, just a lot of comfort watching. I watched all of Abbott elementary but, as far as new, newer releases, I did watch the documentary George A. Romero's Resident Evil, which is all about how in the 90s, there was a there was a short period where George A Romero was tapped to do the Resident Evil Movie, before the Paul WS Anderson adaptation was made. And it's, it is. It is an interesting story in the in the fact that, like George A. Romero created the zombie genre, as we all know, being the master. And then this hit video game happens, and it takes such big influence from him, and Capcom actually hired George Romero to direct a couple of commercials, live action commercials for Resident Evil two, which was only released in Japan. And they made a making of and so it kind of got to that point where it was like, well, it makes sense. Let's have him make the movie and and obviously it never happened. But this documentary is out now, and I gotta say, it made me realize how spoiled, especially horror fans, have been with behind the scenes documentaries, making of documentaries, just like deep dives between, you know, Robodoc, the folk horror one, Unearthed, like all these amazing deep dive documentaries have come out in the last few years that when you get one that's kind of okay, it feels like a huge let down. That's not to say that this is, this is a bad documentary at all. There's just it's if you know the story of what happened with George Romero's Resident Evil, or you've listened to a podcast about it, you already know everything that this documentary has. They don't really have anyone that was involved with the process. They do interview a few of the game developers of the original Resident Evil games, which was cool, they interview a few people from GARF, the George A Romero foundation to talk. And they, they, they spend like, the first 25 minutes giving you an overview of like, his life and career, which, again, if you're a big fan of George Romero, you're kind of sitting there being like, Yeah, I know this. Yeah, let's, let's get to the Resident Evil bit, and then it's but, yeah, the only person that's close to the actual project that they interview was one of the actors in the Romero commercials. He played one of the zombies. And so his stories were really cool about like, because they shot it in LA it was very close set. But all the VFX artists at the time came to visit set and like, you know, meet George, because George hadn made anything in town in years. And you know it, and it's so, it's, well, it's, it's well done. But if you're expecting like, oh yeah, let's, let's hear what happened from the guy who killed the project, or this, you're not going to get that. It's mostly fans and people who knew all of the online rumors that were happening for years about it, and they do some pretty fun recreations of some of the scenes from the script that was ultimately leaked. And, I mean, yeah, the main point of it is we got robbed because George A Romero would have done an extremely fateful adaptation to the comic book that would have been over the top and gory and horror, unlike the Paul WS Anderson movies, which were all action focused. But hey, Constantine, who had the rights to it, said we wanted action, not horror, which blows your mind when you think about that statement,
Jacob Davidson:I actually read the original script and Romero script, actually, I did a script reading of it during lockdown. I got to read for Chris Redfield. And, yeah, no, it would have been so interesting, especially, yeah, because, like, it was based on the original, on the original game, and we would have gotten a lot of practical effects monsters and did tie together, and it did have a lot of Romero's kind of anti corporatist message with the Umbrella Corporation. So, yeah, it's one of those things where it's just unfortunate. What could have been, let's see, not technically a new release, but I did see that new IMAX restoration of David Fincher seven in IMAX. Oh, nice. And, yeah, no, it did look really good. I mean, I know. And heard that there was some AI upscaling of it, but it does feel like it was one of those things where, you know, it's like, how Cameron used a upscaling with some of his work, where I don't think it necessarily was just like aI generation, but with digital restoration, with like, actual people working on it, but it looked, it looked and sounded amazing, like it looked very fresh. And it actually been a long time since I re watched seven. And I mean, it's still a classic. Still holds up. And, yeah, it's very, very intense to see theatrically like that. But. Didn't you guys see it?
James Jay Edwards:Not the new restoration, yeah, not the new one did. Did the sloth guy scare you still? And had it been that long?
Jacob Davidson:Um, I mean, yeah, definitely, definitely made me jump a little bit, like, especially with the Dolby Surround Sound, speaking
James Jay Edwards:of AI Brad Pitt, did you guys hear about that woman who got conned out of like, $800,000 by an AI Brad
Jacob Davidson:Pitt? Was a million dollars and, yeah, those photos look terrible.
James Jay Edwards:They look terrible. How did that fool anybody? Yeah, oh my gosh.
Jacob Davidson:People will fall for anything. Yeah, no, it just, it just looked like. It just like stock photos of Brad Pitt in a hospital bed, and that managed to convince her to shell out nearly a million bucks.
James Jay Edwards:It didn't even look like. It didn't even look AI good. It looked like bad. Photoshop, it looked
Jacob Davidson:like the Weekly World News is better. Photoshop, yeah,
Jonathan Correia:hey, don't drag my weekly world news in this.
James Jay Edwards:That's actually what it looked like, though. Like they had, like, his face in a bandage. Oh, my God, it's bad. Um, real quick before we move on to our guest. Um, either of you guys started watching The Creep Tapes on Shudder,
Jacob Davidson:no, I haven't watched it.
Jonathan Correia:I haven't seen anything creep. I've
James Jay Edwards:only seen the first two episodes. Um, you guys remember, you know the movie, the creep movies with Mark Duplass. These are kind of like little short, 20 minute. It's basically more of him tormenting people, like one of them is like a filmmaker that he invites up to his, you know, place to do a doctor or to audition to do a movie with him. And of course, you know, it's not really an audition. He brings the guy up there to, you know, do bad things. I've only gone through two episodes, and I want to go through more of them, but these are short little I mean, if you like Creep these are the this is basically more of that. And now let's bring in our special guest for the episode. This episode, we have director Mary Beth McAndrews promoting her new movie. Bystanders, how you doing Mary Beth?
Mary Beth McAndrews:I'm so good. Thanks for having me.
James Jay Edwards:Oh, thanks for being here. I always like to start with the origin story of how did you get started as a filmmaker?
Mary Beth McAndrews:My story is very funny, because I never thought I was ever going to be a filmmaker, and I didn't really have much of a desire to be a filmmaker, because it's very like, I'm incredibly lucky. But anyway, I'll start from the beginning, because I had always, I've been writing about movies. I went to college and was a film person, but like, academic I wanted. I went and got my masters and wanted to get my PhD, and wanted to teach, because I thought, Oh, really, I love writing, I love analysis, I love doing homework for fun. So I think that should be, like, my career path. And I always was kind of of the mind that I wasn't creative enough, which is, like the silliest thing ever, but like, I just was, like, convinced that I didn't have what it took. And I don't think I really knew what it took. I just assumed I didn't have it, and so I just, like, loved being film journalist. I still do, and I came to this job, and the job being I'm Editor in Chief of Dread Central, which is a horror publication. And in that hiring, I also was lucky enough to kind of be able to start helping with Epic Pictures and Dread, who epic owns Dread Central. They are a distribution and production company, and so I started doing some help with them, especially with the ultra low budget horror stuff, stuff that's like sub 100k weird stuff that's like a little bit out there, but like, you know, cheap enough to kind of play around. And so I have been the Bystander script. I have been familiar with since I was in grad school in 2018. Jamie Ali and I knew each other online as writers, and I was studying rape revenge films in grad school, actually, like I wrote my master's thesis on rape revenge directed by women. And so when she said, I have this script that's a rape revenge movie, I said, I need to read it immediately. And so I read it. Wanted to be involved with it. Didn't know how, didn't know when, didn't know why, but I just, like in my head, knew I wanted to be a part of it. And so when I started working with dred, and I pitched this movie to them, I said, Hey, this is an incredible it's different than with something we've done before, but I think it's really important we can make it on a low budget. And after bothering them for a long time, they said, my boss, Patrick Ewald, said, Yeah, okay, do you wish I'd direct it? And I said, Hey, what do you mean? I don't have experience? And he goes, I think you already like, I was so lucky. He had the faith that I could jump in and try it, and he gave me that opportunity, and I would have been silly in my, in my, from my perspective, would have been silly to say no to that opportunity. So I took it, and I really loved it. So that's kind of. The it's the long story behind getting becoming a filmmaker
James Jay Edwards:that kind of answers my next question too was, how did Bystanders come about? So you basically had known of the script for years, and was Jamie actively trying to get it made and just stumbled onto you, or was it just one of those serendipitous things where you were like, I can get this met, you know? Like, yeah, so,
Mary Beth McAndrews:like I had known Jay again, like Jamie and I had kind of known each other again, like we had both written for similar places. We interacted online, like we DM, and so I knew her there, there and again, like she had posted about the script, and so I wanted to read it, because I wanted to see what she was, what she was doing, and I think she was, she was submitting it to a lot of screenwriting like, like festivals, her screenwriting competitions, was getting accolades on it, and she wanted to get it made. But she lives in she lives in Kentucky, and then she doesn't have as many connections like, unfortunately, with filmmaking, it's all about the connections you have, and she didn't have as many. And I think I she wanted to get it made, but didn't know how, and neither did I, and then I got a connection that was like, hey. And so I said, let's grab this and see what we can do. So it was kind of like she was trying to get it made. Didn't know how, no, and then luckily, like, luckily things kind of turned out the way they did. Yeah, it all,
Jonathan Correia:it all lines up sometimes, right? It's always that damn takes a while sometimes,
Mary Beth McAndrews:but it happens like, it's one of those things where it's like, filmmaking is a pain and it takes a long time. But if you it can also, you know, it can go right. It just gotta be patient, which is, I know, frustrating, but yeah,
Jonathan Correia:yeah. It's been a long journey. I saw on IMDb that it's, it was inspired by the 2016 Brock case, yeah,
Mary Beth McAndrews:so she Yeah, because she wrote, she wrote it, feeling angry about that in like, the wake of
Jonathan Correia:that understandable, yeah, wait the
Jacob Davidson:2016 which case Brock Turner, oh, right, yes, yeah, yeah.
Jonathan Correia:It's it said that it took that long, but also that it's still relevant, not only
Mary Beth McAndrews:that feeling, yeah, yeah. And this comes out the day after the inauguration stuff both times and
Jacob Davidson:and also, I wanted to ask, I think it's interesting that Jamie wrote and also stars in the movie, which I feel is particularly rare nowadays for films to have the writer also Be the actor, but not the director. I was wondering how that came about. So
Mary Beth McAndrews:she had always envisioned herself as Claire, and she had, like, a lot of theater acting experience, and so I think it was kind of like part of the package deal that she really wanted to be Claire, and because we are a micro budget film, we were, like, great, one less person to cast and one less person to have to pay, um, but also, like, she was so, you know, she knew the characters so well. So it, yeah, it worked out that way. But she, she had Connect. She was really connected with Claire, and wanted to play her from, like, the very beginning of writing it. And so we just, we just said, yeah, why? Yeah, of course, it makes sense. Did
James Jay Edwards:she have someone in mind for Gray as well? Because the chemistry between those two characters is it's not only like there, you know, in the movie, but it's also very important. So did did she write because it sounds like she wrote that character with herself in mind. Did she write Gray with someone in mind as well? So
Mary Beth McAndrews:she actually Garrett Murphy, who plays Gray, is absolutely incredible, and he was a find that we didn't just in casting, but she had written him. She had written Gray with Oliver Jackson Cullen in mind the guy from the Invisible Man. He plays the abusive boyfriend, and the Invisible Man Okay, and then he's also in The Haunting of Hill House. He's one of the brothers, and so she, like her goal, was to get him to play that role, and again, budget on an indie feature. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen. But we, who we got with Garrett, like he took what Gray was on the page and made it so different. But like in the best way, he took the character and made him a little bit funnier and a little bit more light hearted, in a way that was unexpected, but I think really important for the tone of the movie, and I'm really glad he took it that direction. And yeah, Garrett was truly just like a find in the casting call. And he is incredible. So yeah, yeah,
James Jay Edwards:he he and Claire and Gray together to me, because she is kind of a sense of humor about it as well. And we always say with movies like this, one of our favorite ways to put it is it becomes a different movie. And Bystanders, if you like, go to the bathroom between the first and second act and come back, you're gonna think you came into the wrong theater. It, it really is a completely different movie than it starts out as. And I think it's so much of it. I don't really want to spoil anything, because I never watched trailers, so I knew nothing going into this. And I think that that little where it turns on a dime, there is so much fun, because it really does. You're like, oh, okay, it's this kind of movie. And I think that the characters of Claire and gray, they kind of turn on a dime too, because you realize that, okay, there's this couple, and they're in love, and they got stuff going on, and then they turn into something else. Was it always the intention to make, like, you know, one of these, you know, turns into a completely different movie. I mean, obviously the script is there, but the tone also changes.
Mary Beth McAndrews:Yeah, we wanted to, we so as as a person who has studied rape revenge movies, but also as a person who has been sexually assaulted, I really wanted to like this movie. The goal was to not have it be as dour as a lot of other rape revenge movies, I think. And that's not bad. I think dour is not a bad thing. But I think a lot of the time with movies like Violation, Rose Plays Julie, a lot of these more recent women directed rape revenge films, they're very serious for very good reason. And I think there is obviously a very important place for those films. I think what was great about Bystanders was we could play with tone a little bit more, because it's a little bit more in, like the Revenge Coralie Fargeat era, of like a little bit more on the fantasy side, again, less kind of like super fantasy, but we were edging a little bit towards that end. And so having the tonal change, I think, makes this film feel different than like the usual, like meditate and we have a lot about like meditation on revenge and like trying to heal, but also, at the same time, makes it feel a little bit different and a little bit more kind of there's more joy, which sounds funny and like weird to say, but there is a little bit more Joy to be had in some of this, these parts and and also, like, kind of, and having Claire and GRAY Like, be the way they are, I think, also puts that weird question in your head. Of like, they're technically doing bad things, but they're doing bad things to bad people. So there's like a, it's like a, it helps trigger that question in your head of, like, oh, like, it's weird, like, a kind of an interesting moral dilemma, like, against what you're usually expecting. Again, I won't spoil too much about them, but yeah, there's definitely, like, that tonal balance there that I wanted to make this feel a little different than the usual, like contemporary rape revenge movie, without it falling into exploitation or without it becoming cheesy, because the last thing I want this movie to be is cheesy,
Jonathan Correia:yeah. And the the total shift is fantastic, because even their introduction to the other characters felt this very like, where is this going? Kind of uncomfortable. And then you mix that with Gray and Clare very dry humor, which I really appreciate. I once, once I was like, Oh, this is what's happening. Now it was the dry humor was hitting, but like, for a moment there it was just like, I don't know what's happening this. It was very uncomfortable, and I enjoyed that a lot. I like it. When movies big, we go, like, I can't really tell what, what they're going oh, here we go. There's the payoff, all right. But it's
Mary Beth McAndrews:the best the shift. Like, when we were shooting that, that scene where, like, the big shift happens, I just had like, a big smile on my face. Go from Oh, they seem very like, serious and scared, to like, oh, the dynamics have shifted so hard and like that is that was such a fun scene to shoot, because Garrett and Jamie could really, like, reveal some I could really like, like a reveal, but like, and in a really interesting way, and then kind of let people know, oh, this is going to go very differently than what I was expecting. So, yeah,
James Jay Edwards:what? What did it for me on that was when, um, when Gray was not at all phased by four guys and, and I think Claire said something like, he'll be fine. He's a lot meaner than he looks. He likes a fight. Yeah, yeah, he likes to fight. I'm like, I'm like, Okay, this, this guy's either a badass or there's something else going on here. And it actually turned out to be both. But yeah,
Jacob Davidson:yeah. And I also really like the dynamic between Claire and gray, with the with the frat killer guys, because the, because the the frat killer guy. Guys, well, like every scene they're in, they're just exuded in toxic masculinity, and they're using slurs and and name calling and all that, and they even and they call gray a soy boy, and they mock his masculinity, and he flip and he flips it around on them. So I thought that was an interesting way of contrasting them.
Mary Beth McAndrews:Yeah, and like that language, just so Jamie wrote a lot of that, like, wrote a lot of language into the script, but I all We also played with it a little bit too, like, outside of the script, about using language that we hear, like all of us had heard. So like everyone, almost everyone on on set was in their 20s. All of our actors were young, and a lot of the almost every single person in our film, aside from a couple, this is like, one of their first, if not their first feature. So there was a lot of, like, talking to them about you, it's okay to say this and, like, it's okay, like, just like, comfort. It was, it's a hard place for a guy, a young guy, to go as an actor. And so there was a lot of discussion about that, and also, but wanting that language, well, you know, it's harsh. It's stuff that I've been called. It's stuff like I hear from guys. It's and it sounds like very rough, and it is, but that's because, unfortunately, that's the way a lot of gross guys have talked to me and friends in the past. So it's more realistic than I think some people want to admit when it comes to that language. But I also am happy because, like, my mom saw it, and she was like, No one talks like that. I'm like, you don't know. And so it's been interesting to hear the responses to that language and feeling similarly to me in terms of like, oh yeah, like, this is unfortunately familiar rhetoric. It is not shock. It is shocking, but not like unrealistic to some people. So and you guys really
Jonathan Correia:play with catharsis a lot with it, in talking with about some of the characters, like Claire and gray, but also, but also Abby, you know? And the the dynamic between them three is, is, is very interesting, because for good portion of the film, you're seeing a bit of joy happening with some of this catharsis that gray and Claire, but when it comes to Abby, it's, there's, there's a real protection that's happening there, of like, well, you don't want to go there and it and you're absolutely right. It's, it's the language, it's rough to hear. But it's not, you look at a forum, it's a lot of what's been being said there,
Mary Beth McAndrews:and they don't let I dated a guy in a frat, in a frat, and talked like that when I was around. So like,
Jonathan Correia:imagine what he says outside, yeah, I don't
Mary Beth McAndrews:even want to think about it. You know what I mean? Like, I was thinking about this and, like, this is the way my, like, my ex, he was a terrible person. Spoke with his guy friends all the time about women, like, it's, it's like, it is what it is. It's fucked. But,
Jacob Davidson:and, yeah, no, actually, weirdly enough, today I read an article in the Financial Times about it was, like, anonymous interviews with business people about, like, has, has business gone Maga, and it's, and they did interviews with, like, anonymous makers, like, oh boy, I get to say all these slurs now, and I won't get canceled. So, yeah, no, it's, it's spot on, sadly. Well,
James Jay Edwards:it's something also that the actors, they kind of, was there any hesitation with the with the male, you know, frat boy type actors? Because the thing is, if you play that role right, people won't be able to separate the actor from the character, and they end up hating like, for example, you know the actor Harold Perino or para new, however you say his name, he was in lost, and he was in this great show called wedding band, where he was in a wedding band, but, um, I cannot look at him the same after Sons of Anarchy, because he was such a bastard in Sons of Anarchy that whenever I see his,
Mary Beth McAndrews:no, he was in Sons of Anarchy, I Love him in From, have you watched from? Oh,
Jacob Davidson:no, yeah, I've been watching From. That was really good. And so have you? Did you
James Jay Edwards:watch Sons of Anarchy? I watched
Mary Beth McAndrews:some of it, but not a lot of it. So I didn't, I didn't get but, like, I didn't realize that he was in it, and was like, a bastard, oh, he
James Jay Edwards:is a terrible care. I mean, like, I mean, he did such a great job at playing this horrible person that whenever I see him now, I'm like, I just can't separate. And I don't know that this applied, but I mean, it's something that I think actors have to be careful with, you know, you don't want to play it too well, because then people start thinking, you know, like the guy who played Cody people, or the other, the other fellow who is actually kind of the ring leader, if they play that too well, people are, they can end up pigeonholing themselves, you know?
Jonathan Correia:I mean, that was
Mary Beth McAndrews:me. That was like, never really a concern. I think because they all were starting out and I think they. Were all really excited to get roles that weren't like background characters or like something. I think because this was a challenge for a lot of them, I think they were really excited. And I think one of the big things that was really important to me on the set was making sure everyone felt safe to like as much as I could. Because, you know, the first day, I had everyone that was on set gather around and be like, Look, I am a sexual assault survivor, and this means a lot to me, and so I want everyone here to feel as safe as possible. Like, I want you to be able to come to me or our producer, Jeff Seaman, who was incredible, like, if you have something you're uncomfortable with, if you are feeling any kind of way about anything, like, tell us that it will never be a problem. Like, this is a very intense film. We are asking you to do some very intense things. We are asking you to say some very intense things. So we want to make sure everyone feels okay with that, and if you don't feel okay with it, we can. We need to talk it through. Because this is, this is your this is like, this is our movie together. And I don't want anyone to feel like they were forced to do something they didn't want to do. And I think setting that tone was really helpful, because I really wanted to let let the boys know, like, yes, we're putting the women and the female characters through a lot. We're also putting the actors through a lot the male actors, and so there was a lot of trying to, like, make sure everyone felt taken care of, not just the women, which was like a big curve ball for me as a director. I hadn't thought about that really at first. My my producer, was like, we need to make sure the boys. I'm like, Oh my God, how the hell. Like, why didn't I think about this is in pre production, like when we were before everyone got on set. And I'm so glad he pointed that out. I'm sure I would have come to it eventually, but like, it was helpful to have him say that, because it's really easy for people to be like, they're terrible, and I'm like, No, their characters are terrible. These are very, very sweet, kind human beings that, like would hang out when they didn't even have to be on set with us. And like would have, like, hang out during like, we'd have we had one day where, like, you can come over if you want, like, to where we're staying, and, like, have dinner, and everyone came over and hung out to like, two in the morning. Like, we were all very close because it was such a tiny crew. But the cabin where we filmed everything, I lived there for three weeks with Jamie and our producers, like, that was our home on top of our filming location. So, like, everyone still came over. Like, even though we filmed in that fucking cabin for two weeks, they still wanted to come over and hang out. And so I think it was the vibe we curated on set that made everyone feel comfortable into getting into these characters. And like, they were also excited. A lot of them were excited to die on camera. Had, like, this experience to, like, have bloody deaths on camera. And like, honestly, I got it so, like, they were excited to have these moments to play villains, and also have these, like, spectacular deaths. Because there's not, there's a lot of deaths, but there's a small cast, so like, every death is kind of like a set piece, so it was exciting for everyone to be a part of it. Did I answer your question?
Jonathan Correia:It's always interesting how for it actors can be when it comes to deaths and stuff. I made a short years ago where we had had a drowning scene, and I was in it as well. And so I'm like, co directing, and we're drowning. And, like, there was a point where I was like, All right, stop. So are you okay? Are you okay? She's like, Yeah, it's called acting. I'm having blast
Mary Beth McAndrews:happy, yeah, yeah. We have a similar sequence where we were like, stop. And he's like, Why did you stop? And I'm like, I What? So, like, I'm not trying to actually kill him in here. And like, we had, like, you know, the guy does his own stunts a lot of the times I can go longer. I'm, like, we don't have enough people here to, like, safely make sure that so, like, we're not, I'm so sorry. But like, I can't listen to you. Like, I I can't be responsible for anything that happens. Like, I don't want you to get hurt. We
Jonathan Correia:got it. You did. Great.
Mary Beth McAndrews:We'll make it look longer in the editing. It'll be fine, like, it's fine. And another
James Jay Edwards:thing that I noticed, and you kind of touched on it, is the actual sexual assault scenes it was done. The phrase I want to use is tastefully, even though it's not tasteful, yeah, but it's, it's not like, I Spit on Your Grave where it's one of those things where you're like, I'll stop already. No, already. You know it basically because these, these girls get roofied and you show up from their point of view, we're like, okay, we're fading out, and then we're fading back in. And then exposition tells you what happened was that, I mean, I think you answered the question with your Fuck no, on the high spin of your game, was that a conscious decision to to give, basically, to do it through exposition and not actually showing it?
Mary Beth McAndrews:Yeah, so I, I do believe like that. There is a like there is a way to show rape on screen and in film, I do not I do not believe that it should be avoided. I know that there are a lot of people who who say that we shouldn't be showing these kinds of things and television or in film, I disagree with that. I think that's ignoring the reality that a lot of people face. But I also think that it needs to be used the right way. I think a lot of the time scenes of rape and sexual assault are used as some kind of, like, character development thing in a way that is like, Oh, look, she's been tarnished, and she's strong regardless, and like that makes me want to fucking throw up. And I also think that it's like such a spectacle of like, look at this horror, horrifically violent thing happening to this woman you love and who seems pure. And I just think it's so exploitative. And I think it's ex it's playing with the audience emotions in a way that I think is incredibly manipulative. And so there are some rape revenge movies like Revenge, where you see it happen, but it's done in a very particular way that it's not it's not prolonged. But for this film, we didn't want, like, Jamie hadn't really written it in there, and I did not want to show it at all. I think there's the whole, the whole, basically, like the the approach was no violence towards women, only violence towards men. We are flipping the script of what you expect from horror, this is not going to be a movie where you see a woman's body in distress and destruction the whole time. It's actually going to be the male body that is in distress and destruction and running through the woods and trying to escape the whole time. So the whole idea was to flip that expectation while also avoiding these exploitative tropes that are so common in this genre, and using sound design and using that Gaussian, blurry kind of stuff to put us in Abby's shoes, that is just as horrific. I think the sound design and what we show is just as horrific, without having to focus on her pain and her struggling and her losing, and it's and her losing that bodily autonomy. We do that enough in the next sequence when they're tied up in the backyard, so I think we do enough to kind of get that message across without needing to, without showing explicitly what they do. It's
James Jay Edwards:actually more horrific, because the audience, what the audience imagines is going to be worse than what you could show anyway. So instead of being exploitational, it's more it's more creative, almost. And, yeah, it's almost more horrific to not to do it how you did it, yeah. And
Mary Beth McAndrews:that was a close set that was like a really, even though that was brandys first day on set, sorry, Brandy.
James Jay Edwards:And we had a first day, I
Mary Beth McAndrews:know. And if we talked to her, think we talked about it like, are you okay with this? And she was okay with it, but we, you know, it was a closed set. We only had me in the room with our cinematographer and with brandy, and we just tried to get that done as quickly, but as well as as good as possible, but as quickly so we didn't have to, like, linger in that head space. And yeah, that was, that was a that was a hard one to shoot, but it was brandy was amazing in terms of her willingness, and also our cinematographer Chance Madison was amazing in terms of understanding exactly how we wanted to portray this. And it was, it was a really difficult, but like, great process with with great people,
Jonathan Correia:sets the tone for the catharsis later, right? Yeah, yeah, oh yes,
James Jay Edwards:yes, absolutely. Um, okay, well, uh, what else do you do? You have anything coming up that you want to plug before we go? So
Mary Beth McAndrews:I have a podcast called Scarred for Life, where my co host and I interview a guest about the movie that terrified them as a kid. So if you are interested in that, I have a book coming out. I don't know when yet, but it's on the movie Paranormal Activity. It's a monograph about Paranormal Activity and why it is one of the best movies of the horror history. So that is coming out soon, and, yeah, that's what I can talk about. But I'm all over social media, and Dread Central is awesome if you ever want to follow us to see what we're doing. So that
James Jay Edwards:was actually my next question, Where can people find you on the socials to to follow to see what you have coming up next, and find out about this book and all this other stuff that you have coming up. Yeah.
Mary Beth McAndrews:So every social media platform seems to be a dumpster fire right now, but I am, because I don't sure where to go at this point, like everyone is terrible. So, uh, I am. I am kind of on X still, and blue sky @MBMCAndrews, and then I'm on Instagram for now, I guess @MB.McAndrews, so you can find me there talking about this movie ad nauseum, for for the foreseeable future.
Jonathan Correia:Oh, yeah. And has anyone talked about Ghost on scarred for life yet? Yes.
Mary Beth McAndrews:Oh, my God,
Jonathan Correia:that was my. Whenever someone's like, what's the scary you're a horror fan, What's the scariest movie you've ever seen? I'm like, ghosts crazy, like, yeah, when you're sexy
Mary Beth McAndrews:pottery scene, you're like, there's more to it than that.
Jonathan Correia:When you're a child with ADHD at a Catholic school being told you're going to hell all the time, yo. And then you see shadows dragging people into Hell, yeah?
Mary Beth McAndrews:It does, oh, God, that Catholic school will really do a number on you, huh? Yeah,
Jonathan Correia:Sister Mary, she number.
Mary Beth McAndrews:Did you have nuns? Did you go to did you have a nun?
Jonathan Correia:We had nuns, nuns.
Jacob Davidson:I thought nun of that business.
Jonathan Correia:A
James Jay Edwards:I think my childhood scarring movie, and it wasn't even the movie was Magic, and it wasn't the movie, it was the commercial. Yeah, the TV
Mary Beth McAndrews:concept of magic,
James Jay Edwards:the commercials, yeah, the commercials. Yeah,
Jonathan Correia:that dad,
Jacob Davidson:yeah, that I've seen that, and that would definitely scar child for me, mine would probably be the Scooby Doo project, because, you know, the height of Blair Witch fever, and I was too young to actually see the Blair Witch Project, so I saw the Scooby Doo parody, The Blair Witch Project, which was still pretty scary, because it's about the Scooby Doo getting lost in the woods and getting chased down. It's okay. Do
Mary Beth McAndrews:you want to hear something fun? I thought, okay, one. Love that two. Casper Solomon, I think who did the Adult Swim? Yule log, he did the fucking Scooby Doo project. So when I interviewed him for the adult you luck, I was like, Hey, fuck the Yule Log. Tell me about the Scooby Doo I haven't had someone ask me about that in forever. And I was like, Well, I'm here to talk about it because I don't care about anything else. And he was like, fuck yeah. So
James Jay Edwards:for the listeners, we who can't see this, we've been staring at Mary Beth's Blair Witch tattoo this entire interview. So it doesn't surprise us that the Scooby Doo project is one of her favorites.
Mary Beth McAndrews:Hell yeah. I'm in Maryland. I live 40 minutes from Burkittsville, like, where I live now, I live close to Burkitt Ville, so that's so cool. I've gone on, right? You
James Jay Edwards:were saying Paranormal Activity is the best movie ever made. Well, I don't think paranormal activity would be a thing if it wasn't for the Blair Witch Project.
Mary Beth McAndrews:Oh, no, I don't, don't you worry? Like, there's a lot of me writing about that. Like, the thing is, Blair Witch Project has so many books and stuff written on it already about, like, why it's so important, and the paranormal activity was the one that actually brought, like, we wouldn't have paranormal activity without Blair Witch, but then paranormal activity and Cloverfield, you're getting me on a fucking like, rant here, all of my research for months, but we're gonna Have to have you back on to
James Jay Edwards:talk about
Jonathan Correia:absolutely I
James Jay Edwards:see, I don't think there will ever be another Blair Witch Project, because at the time, the the internet was in its infancy, and you you can't fool people like that anymore, especially because found footage movies are a dime a dozen, and I'm a sucker for them, but 95% of them are horrible, but you have to sift through the bad to find the paranormal activities, to find the Mungo lakes, you know, to find the good ones. Lake, Mungo, Lake Mungo. I always mess that up. You
Mary Beth McAndrews:me well, and I think, well, that's the thing with the found footage. The found footage, boom about arrow was massive, but, and I think that people started not liking found footage because there was so much of it, but now I think we're in a new era found footage, not saying there's not a lot of bad stuff out there, but there's been like, I mean, again, I'm a found footage freak. I go to the Unnamed Footage Festival, which is San Francisco's found footage festival, every year. It's like, the coolest thing ever. And I just think it's such a great technique for people to experiment. And some of the coolest stuff I've ever seen is found footage. And some of the worst things I've ever seen are found footage, you know, like, it's a it's a beautiful spectrum,
James Jay Edwards:the beautiful if you can actually be creative with it, which I think is what paranormal activity did then, yeah, then, like you said, it's real, it's real good. But the thing is, it's so cheap, and that's why there's so much of it,
Mary Beth McAndrews:and that always bumps me out. Because, like, I really want to make a fun footage movie next. Like, I have ideas, I really want to make a fun footage movie, but then a lot of the times, and this is not hate, but like, directors will say, Oh, I just made found footage because it was cheap, and I was like, and like, I get it. I get it. I don't disparage anyone for that, but I just at the same time, I'm like, But don't you guys like it a little bit? Isn't it kind of cool to get to play with format? And they're like, it sucks. And I was like, shit, well,
James Jay Edwards:fine. I think you're right, though. I think that there's a new resurgences in town footage. I mean that. I think COVID kind of brought out like movies like host, which I loved, the way that, the way that Hosts did it, I and I think that people are finding more creative ways to do it, but so technology marches on. Yep. Well, Mary Beth, thank you very much for joining us this morning, everybody. But on the day that this post, Bystanders will be available on VOD the next day, on the 21st of January. If you listen to this late, then you'll be able to go right from this podcast to Bystanders. And everybody watch Bystanders and take the advice I give about every movie, don't watch a trailer. Go right in blind, because you're gonna just have a blast with it. And Mary Beth, thank you. We hope that we were talking before we hit record. We hope that the VOD goes well enough for the other things that you have planned to come to fruition, and that's gonna be awesome.
Mary Beth McAndrews:Fingers crossed
James Jay Edwards:yeah and yeah, come back on when you have your paranormal activity book out, because we, we almost got off on a tangent, and we'll talk about, I would
Mary Beth McAndrews:love to honestly and be like, Hey, you guys want to have me just like sit on your podcast and talk on a soapbox for An hour?
James Jay Edwards:Yes, absolutely. Those are the best interviews. So So yeah, everybody see Bystanders. And as for us, you can find us on all of the socials at Eye On Horror, all the socials except one as Eye On Horror. Or you can come to eye horror com, which is the site we all call home. Our theme song is by Restless Spirits. Go check them out. And our artwork is by Chris Fisher, so go check him out. And everybody check out Bystanders, and we will see you in a couple of weeks. So for me, James JAy Edwards,
Jacob Davidson:I'm Jacob Davison.
Jonathan Correia:I'm Jonathan Correia,
Mary Beth McAndrews:and I am Mary Beth McAndrews,
James Jay Edwards:keep your Eye On Horror.
