Eric Blue, director of Beacon Point, was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions for me about his new film that will give you even more reason to avoid the deep woods and the potential dangers they hold. Continue on to find out why you should be following Beacon Point.
Lets start this off simple for everyone just tuning in: Who are you and what is Beacon Point?
My name is Blue, and I’m the writer/director of Beacon Point. My production company is called BlueLantern FIlms and we are Atlanta, Georgia based film makers. Beacon Point is a feature length horror/thriller about a group of hikers who get lost while hiking the Appalachian Trail and stumble across a disturbing secret that threatens their survival. It’s a scary movie filled with twists and turns. It’s a fun ride.
How long have you and your team been working on this project?
We’ve been working on this movie for a little over a year. It’s amazing how fast the time goes by. Things are going extremely well and it’s been an incredible journey. I can honestly say, Beacon Point is the best movie I’ve ever made. I can’t wait for the world to see it!
There are plenty of entries in the “people go into the woods and shit goes bad” genre. What does Beacon Point bring to the table to grab the horror audience’s attention?
That’s a great question. We thought a lot about how to make our story unique. One of the cool things about Beacon Point is that it breaks a lot of the clichés that many horror movies seem to embrace. When Traci Carroll and I wrote the story, we wanted to stray from the same tired story elements that seem to pop up so often. For example, our protagonist, or hero, is a woman. Alien was one of the first horror movies to do this, and even today, you don’t see female heroes that much in horror movies. Mostly in horror, women play the damsel in distress and the men typically are the heroes. We also really focused on building depth to our characters and an engaging story. Horror movies are notorious for shallow or cardboard characters. We really wanted the audience to care about the people in the story.
Why a horror movie? Are you a fan or does Beacon Point just fit into the genre well?
I like well made, engaging movies. I like movies that leave a mark, and make you think about them later. Alienwas the first horror movie I can remember seeing as a kid, and it scared the shit out of me. I’ve always wanted to do a horror movie, and I got inspired and wrote Beacon Point. I really wanted to shoot a movie that would grab the audience, scare them, and be a fantastic journey. Horror seemed perfect. And yes, horror is a great genre for the Indie film maker. There is a huge audience, they can be really entertaining, and you can effectively produce a quality movie on a smaller budget than say, an action movie. All the pieces fit perfectly. I’m excited about how well it has all turned out.
I noticed you have a comic strip, Beacon Point Chronicles, to go along with the movie. Why a comic and how long do you intend for it to go on?
The reason we did a comic was I wanted to add a new dimension and back story that the movie didn’t have time to go into. What better way than through a comic strip. The Beacon Point Chronicles aren’t stories or plots directly from the movie. They are stories that compliment or extend the themes of Beacon Point. The artist is Joshua Chinsky and I find his work amazing. He’s great to work with. We are planning more episodes of The Beacon Point Chronicles. We just finished a successful Kickstarter campaign where one of the prizes was to be in an upcoming episode of The Beacon Point Chronicle. We had several people get in on this so expect some new episodes soon.
You mention on the Kickstarter page that the movie uses American Indian legends in its story. Can you elaborate on this (without ruining any surprises of course)?
I live in Atlanta, Georgia. We aren’t very far from The Great Smoky Mountains and a large Cherokee Indian reservation. I think it’s a fascinating culture, rich in tradition, stories and legends. I haven’t seen very many horror movies that tap into these legends as a plot point and it seemed like a perfect back drop for a movie. It was a lot of fun to research. The legend touches on some of the beliefs and traditions of the Cherokee as well as how they were driven from their lands. I can’t say much more than that without giving away some key plot points.
As one can likely tell from our name, we’re fan of intoxicated movie viewing. Any drink recommendations for when Beacon Point hits our screens?
Wow, that’s a great question. I’ve got a 3 part answer. If you like beer, I recommend a Sweetwater IPA since the hops really makes the deep woods horror pop. If you like wine, I’d go with a Pinot Noir, it highlights the psychological freakiness of the movie. And for you liquor folks, you gotta go with moonshine. After all, it does take place in The Great Smoky Mountains.
Any parting words of wisdom (related to spooky forests or otherwise) for our readers before I let you get back to work on Beacon Point?
Thank you for this opportunity. I’ve been really blown away by the positive response we’ve received from our trailer and the upcoming movie release. Watch our Facebook at: www.facebook.com/beaconpointmovie to stay up to date with what we’re doing. I am really excited about this movie and promise it will be a fun and entertaining ride.