The Horror Revolution: First off, what’s your favorite horror movie? What movie scared you the most?
Nicolas Wendl: It is so hard to single out a horror movie because I feel my list of favorites all have elements that are unique to each one which is what makes me like them. If I had to pick one in recent years it would have to be It Follows. I love how the film feels very grounded and relies on the unseen to scare its audience. Jaws is another horror film that is up there on the list for me. As for which movie scared me the most, I remember seeing The Sixth Sense when I was 9 years old and that really scared me, I couldn’t sleep for nights!
THR: Stupid Games was such a fun movie, a delightful supernatural horror that really was quite creepy at times. What inspired the film?
NW: Thank you so much for saying this, that means a lot. My co-director Dani Abraham and our writer and co-producer Tanner Adams and I are all fans of the 90s vibe and style, and so we really wanted to pull from the atmosphere of the likes of The Craft, Charmed, Buffy, Practical Magic and Jumanji. We grew up on these films and TV Shows and really wanted to make a film that would embody elements of things we liked. We wanted our film to feel creepy yet also grounded, which is why we have the extended dinner scene to get to know the characters and feel like we’re easing into the evening, much like our characters are. More recent inspirations were also A24’s Bodies Bodies Bodies for how it handled its single location storyline, and of course It Follows. All in all we just wanted to make a film that we’d enjoy watching and that in turn we hope others would enjoy watching too!
THR: I loved the suspense elements of the film and thought they worked particularly well in such an insular environment of a small apartment. How difficult was it to pull off a film in (basically) one location, or was it easier because of the way the plot for the film was set up?
NW: We had a very small budget and timeline to come up with the story, shoot, and deliver the film, which means we didn’t have too many options to pull from. Our producer Dani Abraham kindly volunteered her apartment and before we knew it we were developing the story around her apartment layout and what we had available within that space. So in a way it made it easy because we tailored the script to her apartment, but the challenge became how do we keep the movie interesting visually in one single location. That’s where the idea of the power outage came in, to give the film a whole different look and feel. Playing with shadows and keeping the camera moving throughout scenes is what I knew would keep the movie flowing. I love building atmosphere, and my goal with Stupid Games was to make the audience feel like they were there at the board game table with our players, risking their own lives with every roll of the dice.
THR: It feels like such a dumb thing to have to praise, but one thing I really
appreciated about Stupid Games was that the majority of the film took place in the dark and you managed to make everything very easy to see for the audience. So many directors feel like they have to make everything impossible to see, but I appreciated that you treated your audience with respect and realized that you don’t have to make it dark for people to know it’s supposed to be dark. Was this a conscious choice, or did it just work with the type of film you were trying to make?
NW: Thank you for saying that! Yes, because we took a 90s movie style approach to the aesthetic of the film I knew that we would have to treat the darker moments the way it looked and felt in the 90s. I didn’t want us to lose details in the shadows. I wanted the film to have this scary atmosphere to draw you in and so by showing you just enough, I knew it would then make room for your imagination to fill in the rest. Our DP Christian Klein really nailed the look and feel of the film. It was our first time working together, but his instinct on how to light a scene and convey my vision felt very second nature. It’s like we have been on set together for years. We had built a mood board to nail down the visual style we wanted for Stupid Games and from there we crafted our little movie. Ultimately it was because of the type of film we were making that it came naturally to us, but also, the 80s/90s film look is a visual aesthetic I gravitate towards
instinctively.
THR: There were some fantastic jumpscares in the film. What does it take to create a really good jumpscare, and what do you think the balance is between making a “generally” scary movie and throwing the jumpscares in to get a response from the audience?
NW: I knew we needed a good balance of jump scares and tension building. If all you have are jumpscares and no atmosphere then your audience isn’t tuned into the world of your story and your characters. I feel like you need to really set the mood for the story and draw your audience in. Make them feel uneasy, yet safe, and then you gotta play with their expectations. Nowadays I feel like audiences are so trained to listen for musical cues that it ruins the jumpscare, so I knew we had to build our jumpscares around genuine situational moments where you wouldn’t expect it to hit you, the same way our characters wouldn’t expect it either. I believe that a film with creepy and unsettling atmosphere gets under your skin more and lingers with you for longer than a quick jumpscare. But knowing when to use them here and there to really amp up the atmosphere and tension you’ve built is pure delight. Another fun technique is to build towards what audiences may expect will be a jumpscare, then there isn’t one, so they let their guard down, and then you catch them off guard with a jumpscare. We have a
good one like that in the third Act of Stupid Games.
THR: What inspired you to want to be a director? Were there any films or artists that made you know this is what you wanted to do?
NW: I’ve always enjoyed telling stories. From a very young age my first actors were action figures and dolls. It always fascinated me how you can convey any story or emotion you want though the lens of a camera and then share it with your friends, family and the world. I always say being on set is like one big playdate that you get to capture on camera and then you get to watch it over and over again and be reminded of the good time you had creating with others. My passion for directing started when I was 11 years old. Early films that really made me want to pursue this journey of filmmaking were Jaws, Back to the Future, Twister, Jumanji, Psycho, Ghostbusters. I definitely always had a soft spot for the more thrilling and creepy films. Directors I look up to and whose work I admire are Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, Chris Columbus, Christopher Nolan, just to name a few.
THR: Is horror your preferred genre to work within, or are there others that appeal to you as a director?
NW: Horror is definitely my preferred genre, it’s the first genre I gravitated towards as a kid. I do however also love a good psychological thriller, as well as dramas. Horror will always have a special place in my heart as a filmmaker. It’s so fun to be on a horror set and create the mood and atmosphere and see your vision come to life.
THR: I noticed from your IMDb page that you’ve also directed a lot of music videos, a fairly common trait among great directors. How much did shooting music videos help you become a better director, and what parts of that process translate to making a narrative feature?
NW: Thank you, yes I’ve directed quite a few music videos. I see them as a fun exercise in experimenting with different visual styles and moods. They enable me to try out various techniques and aesthetics while staying true to the artist’s brand and what they want for their song. Music Videos have definitely helped me become a better director because you have to tell a visual story in 3 to 4 minutes and make it interesting to watch. The pace of a music video set is always very fast, so it’s a great way to train you
to make decisions quickly and come prepared and know what you want. I’ve learned a lot about time management on music video sets and how to best utilize the time we have for a setup or a scene. All this came in super handy when it came time to direct Stupid Games where we only had 6 days to shoot an 86 page script. It was insane, but knowing what I wanted and how I wanted the film to look, feel and flow, helped us get it all done in record time.
THR: If you could work with anyone in the industry, alive or dead, who would it be and why?
NW: Oh boy this is tough, there are so many artists both dead and alive that I would love to work with! For alive, I’d say Ryan Murphy would be one of them. I’d love for him to produce one of my projects. His approach to aesthetic and storytelling is always so raw and I feel like our styles could mesh very well. In terms of actors, again alive still I’d be honored to work with the likes of Angela Bassett, Zendaya, and Jake Gyllenhaal. It’s
so hard to name just a few, but like these actors have such a stunning range of characters and emotions across their body of work that it would be an honor to get to direct them.
As for whom I’d love to work with who is no longer with us, I’d love to collaborate with Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder and get to create alongside them and their creative genius. As for actors, Judy Garland and Montgomery Clift, and Robin Williams. Again the list is so tough to put together cause there are so many!
THR: What’s next for you? Are there any upcoming projects that you’re excited to talk about?
NW: Dani, Tanner and I are currently developing two other feature films which we are very excited about. We hope to share more details about those very soon. Tanner and I have also been developing a TV Show which is a prequel to an existing show from the 90s. So yes, we have a few irons is the fire. We also have a sequel idea for Stupid Games, so we shall see how that comes to fruition…
THR: Finally, if you could make one thing illegal that is not already, what would it be and why?
NW: Wow that is a big question to answer haha. If I could make one thing illegal in the film world I guess, hmmm, how about shooting beyond 12 hours on a single day. People both in front of and behind the camera can only do a proper and safe job when they get a fair amount of rest too. How about setting more strict set rules to not go beyond 12 hour days, or better yet adopt the European model of 8 hour set days!
