Toby Wilkins Interview!

Toby Wilkins, director of the acclaimed horror movie Splinter and The Grudge 3, has kindly taken the time to answer some questions put to him by Wayfarer about his work and his influences...

What scares you?

In movies, imminent bodily harm scares me most. I thought "The Descent" and "28 Days Later" were both terrifying films and approached the scares in a similar way even though the horror itself was coming from a totally different place. I've never really found psychological horror that scary, engrossing and entertaining maybe, but not scary.

What are your 3 Favourite Movies?

That's a tough one, I have a really broad list of favourites, and it changes a lot. In the horror genre it's usually things like "Alien", "28 Days Later" and maybe the original "Dawn of the Dead". Outside the genre I'll go with "Blade Runner", "The Game", and "Bound" though that's an even harder list to pick from.

Do you have a favourite Horror Director?

All my favourite directors tend to be those who step in and out of genres from movie to movie. I will see anything and everything Danny Boyle makes for instance, but like all my favourites; David Fincher, Ridley Scott, Darren Aronofsky, Boyle defies genre categorization.

Do you have a favourite Horror Novel Writer?

I was a big fan of Harry Harrison when I was young and still found the time to read, but I hardly ever read novels at all any more, and when I do it's still mostly hard sci-fi. The last few books I read were by Neal Stephenson.

Do you have a specific Favourite Horror Scene, in a movie?

Off the top of my head I would say the scene where the baby alien burst out of John Hurt in "Alien".

Splinter is a "siege" story. What's your favourite type of horror story?

In addition to the siege sub-genre, which I obviously love, I tend to be drawn to survival horror, and post-apocalyptic scenarios. I think that's why "28 Days Later" worked so well for me, it reminded me of "The Day of the Triffids" which I hear is finally being remade.

There's a generous amount of extras on the Splinter DVD. Did you enjoy the process of putting these together?

I did indeed. We had a behind the scenes guy visit set for just a few days during the shoot, but we ended up exclusively using footage that I had shot myself with a little camera I carried with me throughout production. I use a digital camera a lot on set these days, almost instead of storyboards, and as reference during prep. But I also found myself shooting little interviews with the crew, and recording the construction progress, so it was nice to put that footage to good use. The commentary tracks were fun too, to get together a year later and talk about the movie we had all worked so hard on was great.

I thoroughly enjoyed the 8 minute short film Kidney Thieves. Do you think this could this be expanded as a full length feature, if there was an interest in doing so?

Thank you, unlike with features I rarely hear from people who have seen my shorts, so it's really nice to hear that. The writer and his partner have actually been developing "Kidney Thieves" as TV pilot script. After the short played so many festivals, and ended up winning a few awards, we all felt the story and the characters have a lot of potential, even more than a feature would allow us to explore.

Given your background in visual effects, has there ever been a time when a budget hasn't been enough to fully realise a VFX shot that you've thought of?

Yes. Every time, which is why on low budget films I think it's best to avoid VFX whenever possible. Sometimes it seems like the only question with visual effects is, which will run out first, time, or money. I think this is true, even if you're making "Lord of the Rings".

In my view and in the view of many horror fans, Splinter brings a sense of fun back to horror films, that seemed sadly lacking - the "rollercoaster ride" of thrills as seen in The Evil Dead (a popular comparison). Is this the way you would like to see modern horror continue?

I think there is room in the genre for everything, some stories lend themselves well to a fun interpretation, like "Lost Boys", "Gremlins", "American Werewolf in London" or even "Starship Troopers" but others would fall apart if not taken seriously like "Alien" or "The Ring". But I do feel like there has been an uneven balance in recent years, and would welcome more fun horror on the big screen. I think Sam Raimi's "Drag Me To Hell" looks set to usher in the return of that kind of film.

Will you consider doing a pure comedy film if the right script came along or would you prefer to shoot a horror that blends comedy with a dark sense of humour?

I am definitely open to comedy if it's the right script. Probably half my short films could be considered comedy. I have never really focussed on any one genre, but the stories I tend to be interested in seem to be darker fair, and just like horror, comedy is home to a wide variety of styles.

Have you a new project that you can tell us about? Will your collaboration with Ghost House continue with genre pictures?

There's a lot going on, but nothing I can announce right now. And yes I would love to work with Ghost House more in the future, they have been very supportive of me over the years and they have assembled a really passionate team of collaborators.

Splinter has had a very successful release. Is there any pressure to come up with a Splinter 2? I think it's got the potential for one or two more sequels given the unique nature of the creature and how it can evolve...

I agree there's a lot of potential for this creature, and it would be great to have the chance to explore it on a larger scale. People seem keen on the idea of a sequel, or a prequel, but it's really too soon to know.

Many thanks to Toby for taking the time and answering our questions. Both The Grudge 3 and Splinter are available to rent or purchase, now. If you would like to read more from the man himself, check out his own blogsite, by clicking the link below.

New! Comments