Interview with "Knock on the Door" director Eliros "Likes big productions if you can really control it"

Eli Ross

When Eli Ross made "No Bones" in 2002, the situation of thriller/horror films was very different from what it is now: otaku culture was just emerging, and although occasionally films such as "The Silence of the Lambs," "Seven Deadly Sins, or the American Version of Midnight Bells" won word of mouth, horror films were generally marginalized and considered to be the favorite of lovers of bloody violence and freaks.

Today, thirteen years later, the world is different, not only because Rose has become a celebrity in the circle of horror films, but also because this film genre has successfully penetrated into mainstream culture, occupying a large number of theater schedules and important time slots of major television networks, and becoming another TV series backbone in addition to comedy and drama. And that explains why Ross has been a glutton on both movie and television screens — his Netflix", "Hemlock Bush", is so popular that his new film "Green Hell" is about to hit American theaters.

Apparently, Ross has been fairly low-key in Hollywood over the past few years, at least as a director. But that doesn't mean he's not busy: After writing and directing 2007's "Human Skin Inn 2," he starred in "Shameless Bastards" by good buddy Quentin Tarantino, produced The Last Exorcism and The Aftermath, and co-wrote the script for Tekken with the famous hip-hop artist Rza.

He then produced the horror TV series Hemlock Grove and directed the first episode himself. In this show, he grasped the wonderful inspiration, not only to scare horror fans out with the most innovative and spooky monsters in history, but also to create a rich and complex mythological system that will eventually expand into a three-season story.

After the success of starting his career with The Human Skin Inn, Rose gained a reputation that allowed him to dominate his own work, even some of the work of others. As a producer, he helped nurture a group of young filmmakers, helping them use the right financial support and creative freedom to achieve the desired results. Without his support, The Last Exorcism, The Aftermath, and Communion might never have been made.

Trailer for Green Hell

And when he returns to his directorial position, he will choose subjects that have the potential to change the style of modern horror movies: the cannibal theme in "Green Hell" has not been touched for decades. At the same time, he is constantly innovating and developing elements that have become synonymous with his work, including hurtful social consciousness, deep humor, deceptive unnecessary killings, and sharp witty aphorisms at the end.

Recently, Ross was interviewed by Time.com about the second season of Hemlock Bush and his upcoming new film, Green Hell. In addition, he talked about the various things he learned as a storyteller and filmmaker on the jump between television and film, and reviewed the development of his career.

Finally, Ross gives us some hints about future plans, including Knocking on the Door, starring Keanu Reeves, and he expresses his opinion on the twists and turns of Hollywood filmmakers who refuse to be classified — at least he's one of them.

■ Eli Ross on the creation of "Hemlock Bush"

If a drama is not good enough, it doesn't make sense how much content it has

Time.com: When you made your breakthrough in the mid-2000s, it seems that there were a lot of horror movie creators in the same period. Now that the team is bigger, do you think it brings more competition, makes it harder to create, or creates more opportunities?

Stills from the first & second seasons of Hemlock Bush

Eli Ross: I don't think there's more pressure now than it used to be. I don't think anyone can put more pressure on myself than I do because I have high standards for myself. I think when there's a great horror movie coming out, it's a good thing for everyone. "No Bones Remain" helped Lionsgate Pictures buy Chainsaw Horror, the success of Chainsaw Horror helped Lionsgate release Human Skin Inn, and then "Human Skin Inn" helped other films such as "Dark Invasion".

When horror films perform well, such as "Human Eradication Project", which is a box office hit, more horror films can be given the opportunity to be produced. But in fact, there's so much content in the industry right now, which puts a lot of pressure on creators, and what we're going to do is something great, something different. I don't think a mediocre drama can be broadcast for seven years. I think if a show isn't good enough, it's going to die, and it doesn't make sense how much content it has. When Silicon Valley came out, you stopped and was busy watching it, because there had never been a drama like this before. The fourth season of Louis ck's Louis became as amazing as Woody Allen's film. If you watched the season 4 finale of Game of Thrones, your jaw must have fallen to the ground.

In the second season of Hemlock Bush we were really lucky to have chic (the nickname of Charles H. Eglee, the screenwriter of the second season of Hemlock Bush). I mean, this guy did Black Angel under James Cameron, he's worked with a lot of great creators, he's a powerful creative force, and he has nothing to do with the first season, just as a fan. He hadn't read the original. "I love the show, but from here I'm going to take over the story — it's something I want to see as a fan," he said. "It was a great place to start. Because any wild, crazy idea we came up with could come up with, he knew how to inject them into the characters and the story.

TIME:DF: What did you learn in season one that made you want to continue using it in season two?

Eli Ross: What we learned from the first season is that we're working on thirteen episodes to work with a book. We're really adapting a book, that's right, but when we look at the whole show as a whole, we find that there are a few episodes that feel like they're being pulled out to fit the whole story so that the finale can arrive in episode thirteen. So the first thing we did while preparing for the second season was to cut it into ten episodes.

We felt that if we made ten episodes, each episode would be very exciting, with more events, stories and twists, and we could focus on creating bloody moments, horror moments and deformed moments, and really do the best for these few scenes with iconic characteristics. We don't have to explain to people what this is, what that is, they can understand for themselves. We have a great group of independent filmmakers, and the way we work is more like making a movie that's thirteen hours or ten hours long.

Eli Rose had a close personal relationship with singer Marilyn Manson

Now we have Spencer Sather on our team, and his work is Heather and I Love Sarah Jane, which is a short film with a whimsical idea. We also have Floria Segis Mondy, who shot Marilyn Manson and wrote and directed The Fugitive. Vincenzo Natali, I love his Alien Kills, Zero, and Man-Beast Hybrids, and he joined us. They all love Hemlock Bush, so they come to work on this project and leave their mark, and they bring more cinematic feeling.

We'll see what works and what doesn't; in the first season, we spent thirteen episodes figuring out where Shelley's character went and how visual effects were working on her. We've seen the response and worked in the right direction. At the same time, we also realized that there was a voice from the original book at work, there was my voice, there was the voice of the production director, and there was the voice of the chief screenwriter. So we decided that there would be only one voice in the second season, and that was chic, the head of the group. Whatever I had in mind, I had to go through chic first, and whatever the other crew members thought, I had to go through chic first. So there is only one voice left, and he is the only voice in Hemlock Bush. It has nothing to do with Chic Eglee himself, but he has to get past the first season.

I thought the first season was a bit tricky because that was my first time running a TV series project. There's always a lot of inspiration coming out, but for the second season, in order for it to be better, we know that everything has to be dominated by one person. And we got a great, experienced guy who loves the show, so we wanted to improve on all levels.

■ Eli Ross talks about working with others

Without me, these films would probably not have been made

Time.com: From making your own film to working as a producer for other filmmakers, what is the difference between satisfying your desire to create? Is this change a natural evolution or a deliberate choice?

Eli Ross: It's all natural change. I don't look for projects to make, it's just friends or other people who give them to me. For example, "Iron Fist" was once chatted with Rza when I was on a plane with Rza, and I thought it was funny and did it. The Aftermath is because nico and I (nicolás lópez) both like each other's work and decided to write something together. Why not? It will be interesting. And "Holy Communion," which I love about Ti (Ti West) films, and he says he has cool movie ideas, let's do it together. I said, "I can get you an investment, I can protect you from any interference, and shoot exactly what you want." The cost will be lower, but no one will bother you. ”

Eli Ross has worked as a producer for The Aftermath, Iron Fist, and Communion

It's funny, and I really want to see these films myself. And I think these films might not have been made without me. In the case of Tekken, Rza conceived for five years, wrote a screenplay, and we sat down and rewrote a version together, and then made it into a real movie. I think without me, Ti could have found investment in Communion, but maybe not as much as we got the budget, or the investors would have intervened more in the filming. Because the goal of these films is not to make a lot of money, but to be more interesting. That's a good thing, that is, when you make a profitable film, you can make something strange. If these films are on fire, that's fine; if they're not on fire, then you're helping them earn enough under the limits of the scale of their investments, and no one has suffered a loss.

But I do want to see these films made. I mean, it may just be a weird film, but it's interesting to watch it come into being and existing in this universe. Now the children love it, they even make a sequel to it themselves, although it has nothing to do with me, but in fact it is perpetuating their own life, it is a kind of existence. Communion is something one might like. So is The Aftermath. I like to write, or co-write with others, but I don't write a kung fu film by myself, and I don't write a film about earthquakes by myself. But writing parts of their work with Rza and Nicolás, or co-writing with Ti, has taught me more as a director and made me a better filmmaker.

"The premise of liking big productions is that I can really control it."

Time.com: You're very good at helping other filmmakers make films, and you're also very good at making your own films with limited investment. But a few years ago, when you talked about Endangered Species, it sounded like a big-budget film. How do you feel about starting to direct big productions?

Eli Ross: I love big-budget movies. I'm currently working on a screenplay with David O. Russell. He was busy, I was busy, and in the next few weeks we had to find time to sit down and get it done. I like to work in a particular area, a specific budget level, and the best results with that level of budget, and I also like to explore new areas.

I love making big-budget films, but only if I can really control it because I know exactly what I like. There are now five films that I have full control and the final editing rights. I know what it's like to have someone pop up and try to impose some inappropriate thoughts. When you're working with a producer, it's certainly a good thing if he has an idea and that makes you think from another angle, but I also know that if someone is arbitrary or interferes out of fear, it drives me crazy, and I don't want to face that.

TIME: So in Knock on the Door, can viewers see some of your new ideas? Something you've never seen before?

Eli Ross: Knock on the Door is very different. I wanted to make it a thriller, a psychological movie. It's not bloody, there's very little blood in the film, and what I want more is twisting and going crazy. A lot of people tell me they can't watch my movies because they're so bloody. So I wanted to make a film that these people could also watch and would love, and my fans would exclaim, "We've never seen this side of Eli!" ”

"Knock on the Door" trailer

Woody Allen's reaction when he made "End of the Game" was, "Huh? But they all said after watching it: "Oh my God, why doesn't he make more films like this?" "So I also wanted to make a different kind of movie than I'd ever made. "Green Hell" is also very violent and bloody, and you need to pause when you watch it. I thought, where are we going from here? Let's go in a different direction.

My experience with Keanu Reeves and Lorenza izzo (who starred in Green Hell and The Aftermath) was great about Knocking on the Door. Now that "Hemlock Grove" has also been a success, as well as "Hannibal", "Blood Clan", "American Horror Story" and "The Walking Dead", it feels like television and horror movies have ushered in a new golden age. These good, high-quality horror films have not lost any tension, horror, or gore because they are television productions. And these things have long kept the horror genre and the corresponding directors and creators away from television, and now, in this regard, television has finally caught up with movies.

■ Eli Ross talks about herself

Wanted to play with David Lynch and didn't draw boundaries for myself

TIME: What are the chances of the projects you've been working on? For example, "Endangered Species" and "Thanksgiving".

Eli Ross: I find that I always talk too much. I have ten projects to write about right now, but I can only focus on one at a time. Write the script for Thanksgiving. Wrote the screenplay for The Hive. Write the script and shoot it, and then see what I'm like. It's a bit like the girl you're dating, at some point you're going to decide whether to establish your relationship or just let it go and move on.

TIME: I don't know if you're going to do self-analysis, but do you think this uncertainty is typical of your job?

Eli Ross: I don't know. I tried not to think about it. Look at David Lynch, he's a real artist. He can do whatever he wants. He makes furniture, he meditates, he shoots movies, he paints, he plays music. I want to play with people like him and learn from them. They have no limits, they don't draw boundaries for themselves. They never say, "Because I'm such a person, I should do these things." ”

As an actor, Eli Rose's most impressive character may be the American soldier who loves to cut the scalp of the German army in "Shameless Bastard"

I've been studying classical piano for the past four years and I don't know why I love it. It speaks to the other side of me, when I sat at the piano, I really wanted to play mozart, Bach and Beethoven, and now I can play. I am very loyal to myself. Now I can express it in the language of a composer, whereas before I couldn't. I love it. It's something I've always had no time to do but I've always been interested in. I don't know where this interest is coming from or where it's going, but there's another area of my brain that's going to be very good because I want to do it when I'm ninety years old. I wanted to sit down and play the piano because then I might be too old to make a movie, and I had to have something to do.

There is also writing non-fiction and fictional fiction. Do you know? Jason Brom came up with a short collection of horror stories, and he invited me to write one, and I wrote it, and it was a lot of fun. Writing novels always makes me enjoyable. So that's what I want to do with my time. I don't think about it too much, I just want to do interesting projects, and the fans are very supportive of me, I listen to the Beatles reinvent themselves in every album, try to change their own music, it's crazy, only they can do that. I can empathize with artists like this, and I want to constantly challenge myself to make results that I like and want to see.

"No feeling for superhero characters and worldviews"

TIME: Do you see this as a new phase in your career?

Eli Ross: No, but I see it as an ongoing threat. I like to challenge myself and go where my interests go. I don't follow a pattern, like what a typical director should do. I've had a lot of opportunities, a lot of blockbusters and superhero movies coming to me, but I'm not interested because I don't have feelings for that kind of character and worldview. Maybe at some point in the future I'll want to shoot, but at the moment I don't want to do that.

Eli Ross and Quentin Tarantino

I love the opportunity to play the bear jew (in Shameless Bastards). I want to try, to oppress myself, to innovate myself. I like to make people think they're guessing what I'm going to do next, only to do things very differently than they predicted. But I only do what I like. Now that I've been making films for a decade and establishing my reputation, the next stage is to challenge myself creatively, perhaps innovating again in some way that people didn't expect. But it's not for the sake of change.

As you get older, think back to your taste in music. The band you liked in fifth grade was definitely different from the band you liked in seventh grade. You listened differently in seventh grade than you did in ninth grade. I listened differently in my freshman year than I did when I was a sophomore. The same is true of filmmaking. You're still the one on your basic personality, and you'll always love what you loved as a child, but your interests will change as your life experience grows. I think the key for me is that I have to always do what I love. Some may succeed and some may not, but I'm going to say the best thing I can do is be honest with myself and proud of what I do.