‘Abruptio’ Writer and Director Evan Marlowe Discusses His New Puppet

After a number of years in development, the bizarre new puppet horror film Abruptio is now finally being screened at various prestigious film festivals. As you can see from the trailer and stills, Abruptio features life-sized puppets interacting with live-action environments, and the result is unusual, to say the least. Especially since no other film has used puppets in such a way. Writer and director Evan Marlowe reached out to discuss Abruptio with us, and we naturally jumped at the opportunity to ask him questions about his unquestionably bold and unique project. You can read the full interview below.

Abruptio focuses on Les Hackel (voiced by James Marsters), an unemployed and downtrodden man whose life takes a bizarre turn when he learns that a bomb has been implanted in his neck, and that it will be detonated unless he obeys a series of increasingly unhinged demands at the behest of a mysterious organization. The film also features the voices of Hana Mae Lee, Patrick Cavanaugh, Christopher McDonald, Freddy Krueger actor Robert Englund, Oscar-winner Jordan Peele, and the late horror legend Sid Haig, who sadly died after recording his dialogue. We awarded the film a four-star review, calling it “a welcome breath of fresh air in an age of endless sequels, remakes, and reboots.” And since there are so few puppet horror films being released these days, Abruptio really is a movie you cannot afford to miss.

Dread Central: First and foremost, why did you decide to make a movie using human-sized puppets?

Evan Marlowe: There’s a bigger question inside that one. From the standpoint of an indie filmmaker like myself, that would be, “If you had the chance, would you like to make something that’s never been done before?” I think that’s a no-brainer. Some of us just want to shoot conventional movies, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It puts food on the table. But a lot of us have this urge to see how far we can bend the medium before it breaks. Making a horror movie populated entirely with lifelike puppets scratches that itch for me.

From a more practical standpoint, doing something other than straight live-action allowed me to cast actors I admire, without the nagging problem of time passing between shoots. The motivation here was financing. The budget primarily came out of our own pockets. That meant we shot a little, saved up for a year or two, then shot a little more. You can’t expect to work with actors like that, especially known ones. But if you capture their vocal performances, you can do whatever you need to do down the road, whenever that time comes.

There are also things you can get away with using puppets that would be considered objectionable by audiences. If someone gets offended by a scene, you can just come back with, “Chill out. They’re just puppets.” Of course, if people have forgotten they’re watching puppets and not real people, to the point they’re having a visceral reaction to what’s on the screen, then my job is done.

DC: Can you talk about the design process of the puppets? I understand you wanted them to look somewhat realistic.

EM: My wife’s cousin Janine provided sketches for many of these people. For others, I would hunt the web for references. Then I’d send this all to our fabricator Jeff Farley, and he’d bring his own style to them.

As far as realism, the problem with making these people highly realistic is why not just use real actors? I aimed for about 80% realistic and 20% puppetry. For example, Jeff would often add skin texture, but I had him smooth the skin out mainly around the nose and eyes, to undermine the authenticity. I also delved into what would be inside these people. Would they be made of bones or just PVC pipes? Would we see their seams? Are there lifelike arteries or industrial tubing? In the end, I wanted to integrate artificial parts that would occasionally remind the viewer that these were puppets, that we’re in a different world.

DC: And was it a challenge to film on location using puppets?

EM: When I was developing the movie, I asked my wife Kerry, who is the film’s producer, “Should I keep the story tame because we’re limited by puppets, or should I just ignore that fact?” She felt I should write the script like any other. That is, pretend we’re shooting actors. Write whatever the story demanded. Cross each bridge as we get there.

While that was ultimately great advice because the movie works, it was also terrible advice.

It meant I had to continually reinvent the wheel. Nothing in the real world is designed to be inhabited by a life-sized puppet and its puppeteer. The well beneath a car’s steering wheel is not big enough to fit a large adult.

Fortunately, our performer Danny Montooth was able to contort into all kinds of awkward positions and hold still until we got what we needed. Even when he told me it was impossible to get the shot, we got the shot. He’s a very limber dude with incredible stamina, and he delivered outstanding, nuanced performances time and time again. It’s superhuman what he brought to the table.

Very few of the locations we rented allowed us to get things bloody, which was a problem, because this is a very bloody movie. I prefer to do what I can in camera, but when walls and floors have to stay pristine, you have no choice but to CGI in the mess later.

I won’t even go into detail about the abandoned amusement park. That was an absolute nightmare, from rats to flash flooding to fire ants. We’re lucky we got out of it alive, let alone with anything usable.

Dread Central: Abruptio features an A-list voice cast. Can you talk about how the actors came onboard and what it was like working with them? Jordan Peele also became an Oscar-winner while Abruptio was in production, which must have been a huge bonus for you? And Sid Haig also sadly passed away during production, making this his last film.

EM: When Kerry and I first sat down and discussed the role of Les, our protagonist, lots of names came to mind, but we kept circling back to James Marsters. Kerry’s an actor and shares his voice agent, so approaching him was the easy part. But he read the script and was thoroughly repulsed by it—and understandably, right? Eventually, though, the concept of putting puppets in a horror film proved too intriguing, and he came on board.

Our female lead was voiced by Hana Mae Lee. If you’ve met her, you’ve been infected by her positive energy. As the only character in this swamp of lunacy with any sort of moral compass, she does a perfect job in keeping things grounded. She’s been hugely enthusiastic about our film.

Chris McDonald is a legend. I couldn’t think of the Chief being played by anyone else. He brings such gravitas, always colored by this sly wink, which in the context of torture is fairly frightening.

The role of Mr. Salk was written with Robert Englund in mind. He loved the script and was a go right away. Now, the thing with Mr. Englund is when you give him a line, he can come at it 24 different ways, one after another. It’s something to behold, but from an editing standpoint, it’s cruel. You’re sifting through all these takes, each one bringing a different subtext, all of them fantastic, and you struggle to pick the very best one. It’s what we call an embarrassment of riches.

Jordan Peele, most people don’t know, was a puppetry major in college. He liked the idea of a feature starring lifelike puppets. Fortunately for us, Get Out was on the eve of being released, and a funny thing happened after that. When I look back at the footage of me directing him in the audio booth, I have to think, “Who the hell do you think you are directing Jordan Peele?” But he was very receptive to directions, very creative. I’m incredibly happy for him that he won an Oscar and is considered one of the brightest stars of horror cinema. Whether that’s a plus for my own creepy little puppet movie is debatable.

Sid Haig was such an incredibly authentic, humble and warm guy. Everyone loved him. We should all be so lucky as to be thought of like that. His work here as Sal, a stand-up comic who’s always joking but also always simmering with violent rage, is astounding.

To make a great film, you have to surround yourself with talent, but it also helps to get lucky. I feel like we had both with Abruptio.

DC: And can you discuss the plot and the inspiration behind it? Was there any particular reason you wanted the story to focus on a down-on-his-luck man?

EM: Abruptio has layers of meaning, but on its surface, it’s about a world being taken over by some faceless organization that’s surgically implanting explosives into people so that they’ll follow commands. Les gets caught up in this and has to do what he’s told or else.

I’d hesitate to call him an everyman. He’s a specific kind of dude, who I believe we see a lot of in America. They lack a strong father figure because of divorce, emotional distance or whatever, and instead, rely on a mom who may have a few screws loose. The result is someone who is confused about what it means to be an adult, about being masculine. And so they drift, and self-destruct, and cling to anything that resembles affection.

DC: Were there any particular themes you wanted to explore?

EM: I tend to avoid discussing these sorts of things. I have my opinions about what’s going on, but what matters is how each viewer connects with the story.

DC: Could you also discuss the hand-drawn animated sequences which the characters occasionally watched on TV throughout Abruptio?

EM: There are a few levels of existence represented here. We the audience are organic people, and we’re watching puppets. Likewise, the puppets would see something on the screen that’s a level below. A cartoon made the most sense to me. We had a group called Yellow Mouse Studios in the UK work on these. The campy B movie they made for the beginning is just so cool.

DC: And could you discuss the soundtrack?

EM: The music is comprised mostly of tunes from artists I found on the web, and a score written by Savage & Spies, who are maybe most famous for their work on The Human Centipede. Since they’re in Europe, I would correspond via email and Skype. As with nearly everything I do, I explain what my impression is and let the artists do their job, then make tweaks. They are brilliant composers.

I was a songwriter, and I admit I did slip a couple of my own tunes into the soundtrack. The tune “Mr Lion,” which the little girl sings, was improvised by Kerry. We recorded it in one go and I slapped it into the film.

DC: What do you hope viewers will take away from Abruptio?

EM: I expect one viewing may not be enough. With your first run through, you have to get accustomed to being in this weird world. On second viewing, you’ll know what to expect, and so you can start working out the motifs and meanings that run through the film. When you have seven or eight years to work on a feature, you end up putting a lot of stuff in there. Again, I’ll leave the interpretation to the viewer.

DC: Abruptio has been in production for a while now, so it must be rewarding to finally be reaping the rewards of your work?

EM: It is and it isn’t. When you obsess over something, you never want it to end. When it does, you’re left with a void as you wait for the next project to take off. As grueling as it is to make a feature, especially with virtually no crew, the set is a playground, and you’re sad to leave it. I can’t wait to get back some day. But yes, reading the glowing reviews and seeing it take off on the festival circuit has been hugely rewarding for me. I just hope we haven’t broken any brains in the process.

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