How to go
What: Henrique Couto’s “Scarewaves”
Where: Englewood Cinema, 320 W. National Road, Englewood
When: 10 p.m. Friday
Cost: $10
More info: 937-836-0805
Artist info:
Henrique Couto was running on four hours sleep after returning home from promoting his work at Montreal Comiccon. However, the industrious Dayton-based filmmaker of low-budget fare like horror film “Bleeding Through” and holiday comedy “Bulldog for Christmas” was energized and ready to talk.
Couto sat down recently at Ghostlight Coffee to discuss his new horror anthology, “Scarewaves.” The film, which stars John Hambrick, Erin R. Ryan, Geoff Burkman, Joni Durian and Haley Jay Madison, premieres at Englewood Cinema on Friday.
Anthology love letter
“I made ‘Babysitter Massacre’ as my love letter to slasher movies. ‘Haunted House on Sorority Row’ was my love letter to ghost stories. ‘Scarewaves’ is my love letter to anthologies like ‘Tales From the Crypt.’ I always loved that concept that no character is good. Nobody is nice. Everyone is seedy and bad, but what will happen to them? That was the big thing.”
Keeping it seedy
“The concept of ‘Scarewaves’ has been around a while, but it took about two years to get to it. I contacted three screenwriters I’ve been working with, John Oak Dalton, who wrote ‘Haunted House,’ and Ira Gansler and Jeremy Blitz, who both wrote scripts for me we haven’t produced yet. I told them to think film noir and ‘Tales From the Crypt,’ which I was obsessed with as a kid. I gave them the concepts, and they wrote their scripts. They were all excellent and vastly different, which is what I wanted.”
The corporate push
“Like ‘Haunted House,’ the video on demand distribution for ‘Scarewaves’ is through a giant entertainment conglomerate called eOne Entertainment. It used to be Koch, which made CDs and movies, so it’ll get a nice, wide berth, which I’m really excited about.”
Feeding a ravenous crew
“I put ‘Scarewaves’ together with the same crew that did ‘Haunted House’ and (the upcoming) ‘Awkward Thanksgiving’ and everybody was still hungry to do more. I brought them the movie with like two weeks’ notice but they were ravenous and ready to go. This sense of urgency really helps make the movies happen because you have to. Nobody else is going to pull the cart.”
Hometown talent pool
“After shooting three movies in one year, which is the most I’ve ever done, I can legitimately say I couldn’t do it if I wasn’t in Dayton. I really believe that more than ever now because the support system has become completely integrated. The crew is expanding and so are the cast options. I wouldn’t even know how to shoot a movie somewhere else now. Where would I find all those great people? I know where they are here. That has been an incredible feeling.”
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