Nathan Shepka
Welcome to the days of the jaded streaming viewer, who spends more time flicking through the reems of content on the likes of Amazon Prime than actually watching.
You have but a mere split second or two of a potential viewer’s time (if that) as they glance at your movie’s thumbnail on streaming before passing it by.
Admittedly I operate at this speed as well when browsing for something to watch but in my case it’s mostly because I’m a walking IMDB and know of most movies already!
What tends to grab my attention is the synopsis for a film, if I make it that far. Something that makes me go ‘oh that’s a good idea for a movie’ is always a good start.
The Master of Suspense
Enter Alfred Hitchcock, a man dead and buried long before streaming. In fact, his final movie came out in April 1976, just months shy of the invention of the VHS tape.
Hitchcock films were always logline gold. Just check out some of these from IMDB:
‘A former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.’ – Vertigo
‘A bored photographer recovering from a broken leg passes the time by watching his neighbours and begins to suspect one of them of murder.’ – Rear Window
‘A psychopath tries to forcibly persuade a tennis star to agree to his theory that two strangers can get away with murder by submitting to his plan to kill the other’s most-hated person.’ – Strangers on a Train
Admittedly none of those do the movies themselves justice. Strangers on a Train has a particularly genius set-up in the opening ten minutes of the film.
Re-creating the Hitchcock hook
This is the vibe we tried to recreate with our new suspense thriller ‘Death Among the Pines,’ which is heavily inspired by Hitchcock, at least as far as the plot goes.
Fresh off our gothic horror movie ‘The Baby in the Basket,’ released just earlier this year, I mentioned a plot idea that I’d formulated years ago to writer Tom Jolliffe.
‘During a rainstorm, Angela shelters a stranded stranger at her remote cottage. When police arrive hunting an escaped criminal, she realises the connection – but the situation may not be what it seems.’
Mature adult thrillers still seem all the rage at the minute, whether that’s the likes of the upcoming The Housemaid, 2024’s Speak No Evil or even Saltburn, it seemed like a good time to try a claustrophobic, mostly one location suspense movie aimed at those who don’t want a ‘switch your brain off’ kinda flick.
The domestic thriller sub-genre has somewhat weathered the storm somewhat since the glory days of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992), Sleeping With the Enemy (1991), Misery (1990), and Malice (1993) and the late 80’s; Fatal Attraction (1987) etc.
Confined to a cottage
Death Among the Pines is, for the most part, contained within the four walls of a cottage set in the rainswept Scottish countryside, in what we are claiming to be the late 1980’s.
Similar to the likes of Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder (not that I’d dare compare us directly with something boasting an 8.2/10 on IMDB, at the time of writing,) the movie is for the most part a three-hander that constantly turns the tables.
We wanted to make something short, sharp and that would take a path that hopefully nobody was expecting. To me, in a suspense thriller you either need constant developments (Shutter Island) or one fatal twist that shifts the dynamic of the whole movie (Gone Girl). I suppose we went for a bit of both in the end.
Swapping mayhem for mystery
Wrapping up earlier this year and releasing late last month on Amazon Prime US, we swapped our usual exploding cars and novelty deaths for something more sinister, dialogue driven and reliant on performance.
As a fan of Hitchcock, I’d always wanted to do something with a plot that would make me click that remote, if I was the intended audience. We’ll see what happens. Early reviews would suggest we have gotten something right!
Add in some modern sensibilities like a strange but hopefully impactful sex scene, an interesting and slightly warped slant on feminism and some punchy fights and hopefully we have a recipe for a delicious suspense thriller. Either that or Hitchcock is turning in his grave. You’ll have to judge for yourself.
No second-screen viewers
We didn’t make this one for ‘second screen viewers’ though, who glance up from their iPhone every time they hear a loud noise from the TV. We made it for lovers of pointing their finger at the screen when they think they’ve figured out whodunnit.
From a script penned by Tom Jolliffe (Cinderella’s Revenge), Death Among the Pines stars Nicolette McKeown (Mercy Falls), Nathan Shepka (Dead Before They Wake), Stephen Kerr (The Defender) and Olly Bassi (Dick Dynamite 1944).
Available to rent or buy on Amazon US now with more platforms to be announced soon.
