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the conjuring

Scary Good Writing: 1on1 with Gary Dauberman (ANNABELLE COMES HOME)

June 25, 2019 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

Written and directed by Gary Dauberman, Annabelle Comes Home sees the return of the demonic doll as paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren lock her in their home’s mysterious artifacts room. However, after Annabelle awakens the room’s evil spirits, their home quickly turns into a house of unholy horrors for their young daughter, her babysitter and their friends. Serving as writer and director for the film, Dauberman recalls that his journey with Annabelle began with an opportunity to screen an early edit of The Conjuring.

“I was working at New Line on some other stuff and they told me about this movie [called The Conjuring] that they were making with James Wan, who I was a fan of,” he begins. “They asked if I wanted to see very early cut of the movie… and I immediately jumped at the chance because I was a fan of James’ other movies. It’s not often you watch a movie and [know that] my kids were going to watch it 20 years from now. It worked on every level for me… James was so brilliant with how he approached the material and as filmmaking, they didn’t really change that much from the early cuts to what is now out there. So, when that movie came out, it was a great success and people really were talking about this doll that was [mentioned] in the first 10 minutes of the movie. That’s when New Line called me [and asked] if I wanted to write the Annabellemovie. I jumped at that chance, wrote that movie and then from there, we just kind of rolled into the next and the next.” 

Having been involved in the creation of multiple entries into the Conjuring universe in recent years, Dauberman is hardly a stranger to the genre. Even so, he claims that his passion for horror stems from his interest in exploring the nature of fear itself.

“I grew up outside of Philadelphia. When you’re surrounded by history, it makes you feel like there’s a ghost in every other house,” says Dauberman. “I had a really nice childhood, so maybe I was given a safe space to sort of explore the darker stuff. It wasn’t like I was coming from a dark place and looking for darker things. I’ve just always been fascinated by things that are sort of unexplained phenomenon, you know?… I think fear is a healthy thing. I think it helps us understand who we are. I think it teaches us who we are, [and] what we’re afraid of. I think it helps with our survival instincts. I think it’s a healthy thing. I don’t think a person’s weird or abnormal because they like being scared. I think we all like being scared in some degree, but I also think it just helps us grow as people too.” 

Furthermore, Dauberman also argues that horror remains popular because it is one of the key genres that benefits most from being experienced together in a theatre, as opposed to watching it alone on our personal devices.

“One of the reasons that I think horror works in the movies in the theater is that we have so few communal experiences nowadays,” he believes. “I think going to the theater with a bunch of people crammed together in an audience, all experiencing the same types of fears or emotions is something that’s lacking nowadays. One of the few places we get at is in the theater because we’re watching TV on our phones or on our iPads or whatever. It’s a singular experience [and]we’re not sharing that experience with anybody… You don’t even get the shared experience of, ‘Oh my God, did you see that show last week? I can’t wait to see what happens next week.’ Everybody’s on different or the different part of the conversation. But I think horror is one of those things that people go to the theater for and they get to share in this communal experience [together]. I think that’s one of the reasons why it works so well.”

Having written each of the three Annabelle films, Dauberman finally climbs into the director’s chair for Annabelle Comes Home. For him, the decision to make the move behind the camera was made because he believed that he was finally ready to do so.

“It just felt like a natural progression of where I’ve been,” Dauberman believes. “I’ve worked with such generous and great filmmakers that have all allowed me to be a part of the process from start to finish so I got to learn a lot. I got to see what works and what doesn’t, pretty up close and personal. So, it’s all been such a great education that just felt like that natural progression of me. I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity either because, really, I’m making movies with a bunch of my friends. [These are] people that I have developed relationships with over the years. So, we were all on the same page and we all had the same goal in mind. They all knew me and my personality and I knew theirs. So, it was a really kind of safe environment for for me to take that step. It felt like an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. 

In terms of the latest entry into the Annabelle franchise, Dauberman believes that it differs from the previous films by allowing the audience to view the world of lead characters Ed and Lorraine Warren through the eyes of their daughter, Judy Warren. In doing so, the film also explores what it must be like to live in a house filled with haunted artifacts.

“First and foremost, we get to explore Judy Warren a bit who we’ve met in the Conjuring movies, but haven’t yet really gotten too deep behind her character,” he explains. “I often think about what it was like to grow up in a house with Ed and Lorraine Warren with what they did for a living and they’re room was that was filled with all these haunted artifacts. That was one of those things that I really want to explore in this movie. Structurally, we’ve never had a movie that took place over the course of one night in this universe and I wanted to explore that. I want to explore the artifact room and see what kind of unique scares certain artifacts could provide for us in this movie. It was kind of fun to just play around with that stuff and I think that stuff makes it feel a part of the universe but also helps set it apart and make it its own little movie too… I don’t think you need to understand too much backstory to enjoy this one.

Of course, with this weekend’s release of Child’s Play and yes, Toy Story 4 (which contains some classic horror elements), Annabelle becomes the latest film focusing its terror on children’s playthings. With this in mind, Dauberman believes that toys provide an excellent opportunity for terror because of the security that they represent.

“I think what it is about toys is that those things aren’t supposed to bring fear and are bring you joy, love and a sense of security,” he points out. “So, I think when you subvert that, it makes it even scarier because this thing is not inherently supposed to bring you fear. I think that’s part of the reason why it works so well in the horror genre. You’re completely turning something on its head. It’s like a haunted house has worked so well because it’s supposed to be a safe space and give you security. When evil is coming with inside the home, it’s terrifying because the thing that’s supposed to provide you all that security is suddenly now a thing of evil.” 

In addition to his experience working in The Conjuring universe, Dauberman is also credited with writing the most recent adaptation of Stephen King’s IT and it’s forth-coming sequel. Asked if he finds it a challenge to work with the iconic horror legend, he muses that the real challenge is giving King’s masterworks the treatment they deserve.

According to Dauberman, “The challenge is not to screw it up. [Laughs] There’s a reason these things are around as long as they are and that’s a biggest source of anxiety. How can I not screw this up? Salem’s Lothad the same life that ITdid where it was existed only as a television mini-series for so long and it hadn’t had the cinematic treatment. So that’s what we’re doing with Salem’s Lot as we try to give it the cinematic treatment that it deserves. Fortunately, you’re working off such a great source material. That makes it a little bit of a little bit easier when you’re writing it.” 

Another project that Dauberman was involved in was the WB’s recent adaptation of Swamp Thing for its streaming service. Written by Dauberman and received with critical acclaim, the series was recently unceremoniously cancelled with little explanation. While he is disappointed with the decision to end the series, Dauberman remains proud of their achievement.

“It was a really great experience working on that show,” he contends. “We’re so, so happy that the critics and the fans are loving it the way that we love it because one of the things [we] wanted to do was [to be] really true to the spirit of the book. I think to show managed to achieve that. I think the people who worked… did an amazing job because that is not an easy feat. [As for the show’s cancellation,] I wish I had some insight to provide on that, because it would help make me sleep better at night. [Laughs] They call it show business, right? I think we really got the ‘show’ part right. The business side of it, I think maybe is where it feels a little like that might have a large reason to do with why what happened happened. It’s frustrating for us creatively because we thought we were really firing on all gears but I hope, at some point, we get to explore more stories in the swamp. It was great fun spending time there.” 

Annabelle Comes Home comes to life in theatres on June 26th, 2019.

For full audio of our interview with Gary Dauberman, click here.

Filed Under: Film, Interviews, Podcast Tagged With: Annabelle, Annabelle Comes Home, Child's Play, Gary Dauberman, Mackenna Grace, Patrick Wilson, the conjuring, Toy Story 4, Vera Farmiga

Ghosts and the Darkness: 1on1 with Raymond Cruz (THE CURSE OF LA LARONA)

April 18, 2019 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

Set in 1970s Los Angeles, The Curse of La Larona tells the story of the legendary titular ghost as she stalks the night — and the children. Despite the ominous warning of a troubled mother, a social worker and her children find themselves drawn into a terrifying supernatural world. Fighting for survival, their only hope stems from a disheartened curandero (Raymond Cruz) who practices mysticism to fight the dark forces of evil. Although the film is another piece of the ever-expanding universe of The Conjuring, Cruz argues that the film is ultimately based in reality.

Star Raymond Cruz, at the premiere of THE CURSE OF LA LARONA

“It’s been hundreds of years that [this story] has been passed down from generation to generation, but it’s more than just a tale,” he warns. “There’s been sightings of La Larona throughout Latin culture in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, California, Mexico and other Latin countries. There are people that have actually heard and seen her. She’s a modern-day Boogie Man, [and] she’s actually out there. When you do a film about a horror subject, there has to be an odd sense of reality to it. [There needs to be] the other side that exists and she does exist for people in the Latin community. She’s very real.”

With so much history behind it, Cruz argues that the power of the story is tied significantly into Latin culture and the stories of his youth.

“It’s deeply embedded in the Latin culture,” he explains. “You grow up hearing about it when you were a child. It’s always been a warning [from] your grandparents or your parents that you have to be careful going out at night or if you hear a woman crying, you have to run because that’s La Larona. La Larona isn’t out there trying to scare you. She will kill you.”

In Curse, Cruz plays Rafael, a disillusioned priest who is called to help battle the evil La Larona. Says Cruz, his ability to battle the dark spiritual forces allows him to help those that are overwhelmed by them.

“Rafael is a former priest,” he states. “He left the church because he thought that the church moved too slow in responding to this. He goes out on his own, becomes a curandero and has to use his mix of spirituality—his background is Christianity—and the spirituality of the church. He uses that combined with his magic that he learned about combating negative entities. He feels a void where people who are suffering from the supernatural occurrences where they need help and then, he steps up and helps them. He provides a way for them to survive.” 

In order to prepare for the role, Cruz took the spiritual history of his character very seriously. By referencing actual curanderos, he sought to understand the very real supernatural battles that were taking place within the film.

According to Cruz, “I have a friend who studied with curanderos in Mexico so I used her as a reference. About a month before [we began filming], I started doing my work and started trying to figure out the spirituality of the character. A curandero is basically a shaman. It’s not just saying prayers—although, it is steeped in Catholicism and Christianity—because you can only use light to battle darkness. You can only use good to battle evil. You have to understand their approach, how they work and what their methods are. So, it was a lot of it was trying to understand where his head is at at any moment or what magic he’s using and how he’s using it.”

Though steeped in mythology, Cruz also recognizes the potential to call on actual demonic forces in creating a film like this. Taking no chances with real spiritual entities, he recalls that the production also invited real spiritual practitioners onset to prepare beforehand.

“They brought in some real curanderos,” Cruz recalls. “You have to understand that, where there’s light, there’s dark. If you’re calling on these negative entities, they may appear. You don’t want any of them attaching themselves to you.” 

With that in mind, Cruz hopes that audiences not only get the thrills and chills of the film, but that they also develop a deeper understanding of Latin cultural mythology in the process.

“What I hope the audience learns is a lot about Latin culture and history. This is a legend that is very real to us. It’s not based in myth. It’s actually based in people’s experiences throughout history with this entity. There have been sightings of her throughout the southwest and also New Mexico and California. There have been really horrible things that have happened. People have seen her, people have heard her.”

“That’s what makes this different from other horror films. You have a movie like Jawswhere people have had experiences with great white sharks or where there have been shark attacks. This is pretty much the same thing. There’s been La Larona attacks. People have tried to dismiss it as a ghost movie or ‘it’s just a story’, but it’s very real. And the Latin community there are stories about people who have had supernatural occurrences with her.” 

The Curse of La Laronascares its way into theatres on April 19th, 2019.

For full audio of our interview with Raymond Cruz, click here.

Filed Under: Film, Interviews, Reviews Tagged With: horror, Latin culture, Raymond Cruz, the conjuring, the curse of la larona

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