WARNING: The following contains minor spoilers for Bloody Hell, now available in select theaters, drive-ins and On Demand.
What if you traveled to a foreign country only to be kidnapped from the airport by a family with nefarious intentions? That's the scenario imagined in Bloody Hell, a stylish horror-comedy that originated in the mind of screenwriter Robert Benjamin. His take on the story is clever and innovative, leading to a movie that goes in unexpected directions that will have viewers covering their eyes even as they're laughing hysterically.
In an interview with CBR, Benjamin discussed where he came up with the idea for Bloody Hell, how the film naturally evolved from horror to horror-comedy and whether there's potential for a sequel.
CBR: How did you come up with this bonkers idea for Bloody Hell?
Robert Benjamin: Yeah, I mean, pretty interesting. I was traveling and there was a family of foreigners sitting around me, and they were talking in their native language -- I think they were Eastern European or something -- and one of the women would look at me and smile, chat, chat, chat, look at me and smile, chat, chat, chat. And I was thinking, "What are they talking about?" because that's a little freaky. They were probably just being nice, but I -- paranoid person, I am -- I was like, "Okay, what would I do hypothetically if I woke up chained to a water pipe in a basement?" So I went to the gift shop, I bought a notepad and I started jotting down everything I think I would do in that situation, and I think I wrote the entire outline sitting at my gate.
The movie's horror, but it's actually very, very funny.
Thanks.
How did you balance those two things?
So I didn't set out to write a comedy at all, I set out to write a really scary movie. That's what I wanted to do. But it was when I was jotting down these ideas, I found myself arguing with myself, like, what would you do? "'Oh, you would untie the rope with your teeth and then check the bags for weapons.' 'No, you wouldn't. You would be crying and waiting to die.' 'No, no, it's fight or flight, man, you got to get out of there.'" So I was like, "This is really interesting. What if I just broke that train of thought into two characters?" And when I did that, it really opened up the opportunity for a lot of humor, obviously, because every time the Conscience weighs in, it's something snarky and funny. And that just kind of came naturally because arguing with myself is like that. [Laughs] So it actually became a humorous, dark thriller instead of a horror.
The conversations between the two parts of the main character are very dynamic, but they both have good points and bad points. They're both sort of smart in different ways depending on what's going on. How did you go about writing those conversations?
Well, the good thing was I look at [main character] Rex and [his] Conscience both kind of as me if I were a lot more cool and a lot more capable. Also, if my macho fantasy came to life, how would I react? So honestly, I didn't spend a whole lot of time really finessing the dialogue. It just kind of was a natural conversation that I would have [with myself]. I think 95% of that dialogue remains from the first version of the script because it just flowed.
And I'm glad you said sometimes they’re right, sometimes they’re wrong because it was a natural instinctual reaction to a lot of situations. So I didn't go back and think, "Oh, well, that's not right. I got to make that better. No, that's what he would genuinely feel in that situation." So it just seemed to work.
Why was the family that kidnaps Rex Finnish, and why did it seem like they were specifically targeting Americans?
Well, the Finland thing just came for two reasons. One, because the family that I mentioned earlier, they were probably from somewhere like that. And then the H-E-L in Helsinki did me a lot of favors so I settled on Finland. And then there's a little, tiny hint in the movie when they're at the dinner table during a flashback when the uncle mentions their underachiever of a brother. And [the mother] says, "No country is worth visiting family." So apparently, they have a family member who lives in America, which could lead to something else, who knows? But I think it was just kind of a thing that they happened upon. I think there was plenty of Finns that also get […] tormented by this family. But I think, when in Rome, they take advantage of their surroundings.
You started your career as an editor. What made you want to leap into writing?
I think there's a lot of writing in editing and vice versa. I've always loved to write and create stories. In my seventh grade English class I remember writing fantastical stories. So when you're an editor, you also are kind of rewriting a story there anyway. And actually, they both help each other, they're very in sync with each other. Being an editor, especially a movie trailer editor, has really helped me to become a better writer because I have to figure out ways to make sense of something. And I just apply that to my writing now, and I think it was a big help. But I've always wanted to write, this was just my path and it's led to some interesting things.
And you also edited Bloody Hell, so you were responsible for steering the beginning and the end of the film.
Yeah. Absolutely. A lot of filmmakers or producers don't want that because they want a fresh take, but I think [the Bloody Hell producers] wanted to see the vision of the script carried out the way it was written. So that's kind of what happened.
Now the other major character in the film, Alia, is very sweet, but she also seems like she might have some issues, especially at the end of the film. What was your process of showing and hiding certain things for her character? And was there a goal in terms of setting up a sequel?
As far as her character throughout the movie, she's obviously [Rex's] only aid. There needs to be some sort of someone that he can rely on, and hopefully utilize, and maybe, help with the current situation, so I needed someone that he can rely on, so she had to be as sweet as possible. And we really wanted the audience to root for them as people. If she just came off as this crazy person, I think it would have just been another family member out to get him. And then at the end, you find out a little bit more. And I would say, if there's a demand for it, if this does well enough, I absolutely know where I want to go with those characters. So I would love to write a second part if that's something people want.
Directed by Alister Grierson and written by Robert Benjamin, Bloody Hell stars Ben O'Toole, Meg Fraser, Matthew Sunderland, Caroline Craig, Travis Jeffery, Jack Finster, David Hill and Joshua Brennan. It is currently available in select theaters, drive-ins and On Demand, and will premiere on DVD and Blu-ray Jan. 19.