Blood Shine is a disturbing folk horror which takes the genre to new dangerous places so we just had to talk to the people behind it, Emily Bennett and Justin Brooks.
NYX: Where did the idea of Blood Shine come from?
Emily - Initially, it came from me saying that I really wanted to play a character of unshakable faith. The story started there, and we were also interested in making a film with a larger world than our debut feature Alone With You.
Justin - We were interested in celebrating rural New York, which seemed like a perfect backdrop for a folk horror film - A genre that both Emily and I have a great love for.
NYX: What is your writing process? Does one person pace the floor while the other types?
Emily - Yes. At first. Justin has to pace to get his ideas out, and I have to have fingers on keys to catch all the ideas we toss back and forth. Then, once we do a brain dump on the page together, we trade the script back and forth and it organically develops from there.
Justin - The outline is the portion we spend most of our time together on, and we make sure we have an extremely detailed and well polished idea that can allow us to go our separate ways and start splitting up the script scene by scene. At that point, it becomes a very clear 50/50 throughout the writing of the script.
NYX: Similar question for your directing, how do you decide who directs which scenes?
Justin - The most important point of our directing comes in pre-production stages and the overall planning of the project. By the very nature of having Emily on screen, we knew that all of the hard choices had to be made up front together so that we had a good road map to follow once on set.
Emily - Pre-production, when one of the directors is a lead in a film, is essential. Justin and I had exhaustive conversations about every single detail of the film - From shotlisting to fabric choices in the wardrobe, from the kinds of prisms to hang on set to the way we wanted to work with each actor. When I was in character, I stayed there as much as I could to be a good scene partner, but Justin and I would talk away from set if we needed to adjust anything.
NYX: What’s it like directing yourself?
Emily - I know I’m going to show up on time and say the lines. That’s a good start. But all joking aside, directing myself comes in the preparation as well. I did deep character work with Clara that allowed Justin to step in constantly and say “great - now thing about THIS” and we’d go again and I’d find something new. It was really a shared effort when we were on set. Preparation is key so we could both play with her character during the shoot.
Justin - Emily is never alone on that set, that’s why it is so helpful to have a co-director on set so that we can work together as actor and director in some instances.
NYX: This is your second feature. What lessons did you learn from your first movie which helped prepare you for Blood Shine?
Emily - I’ll tell you one thing we DIDN’T learn which is “don’t shoot in your home.” We did that the first time. And we did that this time. Having said that, shooting in our home gave us enormous time to prep the space and really tailor the film to the world we had to work with. But next time, I won’t be directing in my home I can guarantee that.
Justin - No matter how many horror stories you hear going into your first feature, you’re never fully prepared for just how difficult making a film is. Going into the second feature, you’re very aware of how unbelievably impossible this endeavor is about to be. That doesn’t make anything easier, it just makes you more prepared for the difficulties ahead.
NYX: David Call has some pretty intense scenes; how did he prepare for such a role?
Justin - We went to David because we’re both huge fans of his work, and we knew that he would do the work and do the preparation needed for a role like this. You never want to tell an actor how to prepare for their role. That’s a very personal thing for each performer. But it was really fun getting to know the language of each actor on set.
Emily - It was a pretty organic process of us talking to David, getting to know him and understanding the way he works as an actor. You never want to direct an actor in a way that doesn’t work with their approach. David also had a real life reference he used for the character, and specifically cut his hair/chose his wardrobe/etc. based on this image he had. Otherwise, his preparation is a mystery - But all actors’ preparations ultimately are a little mysterious.
NYX: The effects are so effective, were they all done on set?
Emily - The blood and gore FX were all done practically, which was a huge goal for us with this film. We strongly believe in the craft of practical FX, and Brian Spears was our north star and our gore guru on set. The physical pain and pleasure we explore in this film had to happen with real appliances and blood, otherwise it wouldn’t emotionally land the story we needed to tell.
Justin - Practical FX were of the utmost importance to us on set. I personally came from special FX before directing and I love every opportunity to celebrate that art on screen. Brian is an amazing artist and someone that I’ve enjoyed watching for many years.
NYX: Was it all shot on location and if so, what issues did that create?
Justin - Yes, it was entirely shot on location. Beyond the issues of having to live on an active film set for months, there were no other glaring issues. Having to step around a bunch of gear while you try to make your coffee in the morning is a pain in the ass, but it’s pretty hard to be late for work.
Emily - Because Justin is also a DP, we usually have gear everywhere in the house. But with multiple departments working out of our home, the walls close in pretty quick. Having said that, it became an odd blessing to live and work in the space creatively. For me, it allowed Clara to always exist in that home. She never had to leave her world. And it also allowed me to have conversations with department heads while I was getting ready for scenes. It made things faster quite often, which is vital in indie film.
NYX: How did the legend that is Larry Fessenden become involved?
Emily - We asked him and he said yes. Larry is a friend and someone we’ve both admired for years. And it was fun to say, “Larry, the horror world worships you already. Why don’t you play a character where we keep worshiping you?” He said yes after that.
Justin - We’re lucky that Larry has been such a huge supporter of independent film. We knew from the early stage that he had to be our leader. There was never anybody else.
NYX: There’s also a cool cameo from Toby Poser too.
Justin - Toby always brings such a wonderful calm to set. As a storyteller herself, she always creates such full and wonderful characters and we were honored to have her.
Emily - Toby has been a friend for years, and I only wish the role were bigger because her craft is so wonderful to watch. I’m sure we will collaborate more in the future. She’s a joy on any set she’s a part of.
NYX: This is a folk horror at its roots. Are you fans of the genre?
Emily - I trained as an actor in London (RADA) and have always been a massive admirer of subversive, twisted British folk horror films. I have a deep love for the films of Ben Wheatley, classics like The Wicker Man and the films Kier-La Janisse covered in her documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched, so yes I’m definitely a fan of the genre.
Justin - I’ve always loved folk horror. Specifically for its ability to bring horror into the daylight. Folk horror has this wonderful ability to make the most brightly lit, beautiful locations become prisons for their protagonists. That’s something we really wanted to explore in our upstate environment.
NYX: Do you believe in urban legends/folk stories?
Justin - I don’t know how much I believe but I certainly do love folk tales. There is always a truth buried deep within those stories and its fun trying to dig those truths out and dissect the tales themselves. Old folklore has always been a great well for horror and I love seeing all the new ideas that come from these tales year after year.
Emily - I grew up telling these kinds of stories in slumber parties, and it was always fun to see which story made everyone the most terrified. Stories with history and lore to them always feel a bit more dangerous. I’m not sure if I believe every one of them but if you tell enough urban legends, one might just end up being real.
NYX: You’re both multi-talented creatives. Is there one job you prefer over all others?
Justin - There’s nothing I love more than directing actors and seeing that direction come to life in performance, but I don’t think I will ever be able to set my camera down. I love operating a camera and dancing with my actors through a scene, and every time I look through my viewfinder it feels like I’m the very first audience member to the film we’re making and that never stops being magical to me.
Emily - I love all aspects of filmmaking, but I honestly prefer directing over everything. I’ll never stop being an actor, but I do plan to focus my efforts in my next films and not join the cast myself. I look forward to acting in others’ projects (because god I love working with different artists, especially in genre cinema!). I very much look forward to taking the director’s chair on my next films and I can’t wait for what’s to come.
NYX: Will you be nervous when the movie has its world premiere at FrightFest 2025?
Emily - Terrified. But unbelievably excited.
Justin - Yes, this is incredibly scary letting people see something that you’ve put your heart and soul into for years. I always want to give people a wonderful experience as I have enjoyed horror my whole life.
NYX: So what are you working on at the moment?
Justin - As a filmmaker, there’s always a basket of projects ready to go at any given time. While Emily and I love the work we’ve created together, separately we are very different filmmakers and we both have stories we want to tell. Because of that, I’ll be focusing on my solo projects moving forward. I also still absolutely love my work as a DP and would love to continue supporting other filmmakers in that role in the future. While I can’t give details yet, I do have a very exciting project coming to TV in the fall. So keep your eyes peeled!
Emily - We’ve created some twisted films together, and we’ve both grown from that experience. But as Justin said, we’re very different filmmakers and we’re both looking forward to supporting each other as we undertake our next films. I have a few feature films lined up with some wonderful producers. Though I can’t disclose anything about these films, we’re moving quickly towards production and I can’t wait to share more details soon. As a writer and director with SpectreVision, I have a great manager to support my projects and it’s just a matter of “when” not “if” the next feature happens. Stay tuned…
NYX: Emily Bennett and Justin Brooks, thank you very much.
