As someone who has been discussing and recommending films on my two podcasts (Fangoria‘s Colors of the Dark and the New Beverly Cinema’s Pure Cinema Podcast) for the last decade, I shouldn’t have been surprised that when I made my own movie, The Dead Thing (now on Shudder!) many folks would ask what some of my influences for it were.
When you’re actually in production on an indie film, you have no time to watch movies or even reflect too much on such things, so I decided to dig into what films were on my mind at various stages — from the writing process to post-production — and what specific impact they may have made.
Hopefully this can act as a double-edged list: If you’ve seen the film and are interested in some of the influences on it, this is for you. Or you’re simply looking for a list of eclectic or under-discussed films, I hope this leads you to some discoveries.
1. Habit, directed by Larry Fessenden (1995)
A true north star for the inception of our project. By focusing on character and emotion over FX and scares, Larry made one of the great down-and-dirty Indie horror films and was a major inspiration in our writing process.
2. Remember my Name, directed by Alan Rudolph (1978)
An under-the-radar gem from Robert Altman protege Alan Rudolph, this film has so much uneasy tension: Geraldine Chaplin stalks Anthony Perkins and we have no idea why.
I remembered the way Chaplin gazed in this film so much that it was the only film I had my lead actress, Blu Hunt, watch before we shot The Dead Thing.
3. Ugetsu, directed by Kenji Mizoguchi (1953)
A 16th century Japanese civil war film is an unlikely influence, but the searing obsessive love at the heart of this film has haunted me for years and was on my mind as we charted our own supernatural take on a love story that burns so hot it completely consumes you.
What a relief to know that toxic relationships have been around long before dating apps.
4. Looking for Mr Goodbar, directed by Richard Brooks (1977)
Controversial in its day and then long unavailable (due to music rights) until this year, this dark exploration of the New York dating scene in the 70’s was a no-brainer reference for our film.
I used pictures of Diane Keaton cruising neon-soaked bars for The Dead Thing look book, and the sad, doomed way the film unfolds has never left me.
Also Read: 11 Movies of the 1940s That Are Still a Pleasure to Watch
5. The Strange Vice of Ms. Wardh, directed by Sergio Martino (1971)
One of my favorite Italian Giallo films due to its twisted love story: a wealthy woman still fantasizes about her violent ex-lover in sequences shot so beautifully you almost forget how horrific they are.
This merger of attraction and repulsion in the love scenes was a real spark for our erotic scenes.
6. Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession, directed by Nicolas Roeg (1980)
Roeg has long been one of my favorite filmmakers, and his constant experimenting with what a film’s form can be has been a constant inspiration.
His dislocating and often jarring treatment of how we feel time in the edit of his movies was a real influence on the fragmented way that our lead character feels time. We wanted it to feel hard to know if the story takes place over days or months.
It’s also one of the most depraved and toxic love-gone-bad films ever made.
7. Repulsion, directed by Roman Polanski (1965)
No other filmmaker’s approach as to where to place the camera and how to frame a shot has had more impact than the early films of Polanski (especially his apartment trilogy of this, Rosemary’s Baby and The Tenant).
He found angles that make you almost uncomfortable to reflect the psychological state of Catherine Deneuve’s character.
8. Red Road, directed by Andrea Arnold (2006)
A mesmerizing and emotionally complex revenge film where a CCTV operator sees a man from her past on a monitor, which unlocks a need for closure no matter the cost.
The opening of this film and its methodical, rhythmic repetition stayed with me and made its way into how we approached setting up our lead character’s repetitive world.
9. Morvern Callar, directed by Lynne Ramsay (2002)
The most exciting visual filmmaker sill making movies. I rewatched this film right before shooting to remind myself there are no rules: Coverage is great when you have time, but making choices can be bold, lyrical and abstract.
I love how the images and scenes are like pieces of a puzzle that will only come together to be felt by the end.
10. Retribution, directed by Kyoshi Kurosawa (2006)
While the shadow of Cure and Pulse (especially Internet themes) certainly loom over my film, it was a lesser-known Kurosawa film that I watched right before filming that made an impression on how singularly he films loneliness and isolation.
The wide, slow shots and slowly accumulating dread reminded me of the core of our film, so it was like discovering a kindred spirit. The films also have a similarly grounded approach to the supernatural.
11. Demonlover, directed by Olivier Assayas (2002)
If I’m honest, there was probably more DNA of Assayas’ similarly themed supernatural film Personal Shopper in our film, but when faced with trying to make a corporate office feel cinematic, I remembered the world of his Demonlover and it’s sickly white-and-blue fluorescents.
The film feels a bit forgotten but seems more relevant now than at the time of its release in its portrayal of competing web media companies and corporate espionage.
12. Marnie, directed by Alfred Hitchcock (1964)
Vertigo may be my favorite movie of all time, and I see many places where it influenced me subconsciously, but it was Hitchcock’s much-less-discussed psycho-sexual film Marnie that was on my mind most during production.
The way he incorporates his lead’s direct POV with the camera to place us directly in her experience was something I tried to emulate, and and I was reminded of one of his quotes — “Film your murders like love scenes, and film your love scenes like murders” — which helped shape the tone of our love scenes as slow, sensual deaths.
13. Klute, directed by Alan J Pakula (1971)
While we were editing our film, there was a screening of Klute on 35mm, and my editor and I found it to be a revelation. I had seen the film on VHS but because it was shot by Gordon “The Prince of Darkness” Willis, much was probably lost on that format.
The slow unfolding mystery and romance in an encroaching darkness felt so in line with what we were working on. But the real influence came as a result of us temp scoring much of the film with Michael Small’s creepy score.
Temp music is always dangerous, as it can be hard to break free of, but it served as a great springboard for our composers, Krassner & Vining, to find their own signature.
14. Lost Highway, directed by David Lynch (1997)
No modern film has captivated me more than when I first saw Lost Highway — it made me realize there is great power in not knowing where things are headed and why.
Lynch has such masterful control and trust in these instincts that you can surrender and go on that ride into the dark with him. This was a major influence in just letting the vibe of the film lead the way.
R.I.P the greatest.
15. Twenty Nine Palms, directed by Bruno Dumont (2003)
A brutal critique on modern relationships with one of the most shocking endings. It has stayed with me for 20 years. Dumont’s film creates its own slow-burning rhythm and either bores you or mesmerizes you in the process.
The finale of our film takes place in Twenty Nine Palms, so of course we tried to use the same motel and pool as this film, but the owner had not forgotten about the bad vibes from this film shot 20 years earlier. A feel-bad all-timer film.
16. Night Tide, directed by Curtis Harrington (1961)
A real low-budget indie gem that was recently restored by Nicolas Winding Refn, this was one of the best examples of an impossible, doomed love story with a supernatural twist.
It feels like an adult fairytale, with a sailor on shore leave who falls for a woman who may or may not be a siren from the sea. But the neorealist, grounded approach to the filmmaking style keeps you invested and believing in the journey.
17. Shock, directed by Mario Bava (1977)
While our story has more in common with Mario Bava’s twisted romance The Whip and the Body, it was his final film that inspired some of the experimentation in our dark love scenes.
In his film a woman is tormented by the ghost of her former husband, and while the film can feel a bit scuzzy at times, it has one of the most remarkable sex scenes, where the sensual and surreal collide. It makes for an electric sequence by a true master of horror.
18. The Boogeyman, directed by Ulli Lommel (1980)
Speaking of scuzzy. Not all influence comes from classic cinema. I love high and low cinema equally, and Ulli Lommel certainly has had a foot in both from his work with Fassbinder as an actor to his own low-budget genre films.
When thinking about our use of mirrors and horror, I was reminded of how I felt watching his rather depraved film. I felt I needed a shower after seeing it, as it takes a great ghost-story premise and then pushes it into a deeply upsetting direction.
That said, the work with mirrors is outstanding and it still feels like a sleeper for horror fans.
19. Days of Being Wild, directed by Wong Kar-Wi (1990)
Another all-time favorite filmmakers, and one of his lesser-discussed films. The mood of all of his films is burned into my heart, and I find his work to be the most deeply romantic (and heartbreaking) of any modern filmmaker.
The color palette, especially the green light he uses and the blocking of the characters, really helped me in designing my look book and lighting designs to give my cinematographer, Ioana Vasille. The visuals you pull as references are so critical in creating a visual shorthand, so choose wisely.
20. Possession, directed by Andrzej Zulawski (1981)
Anyone who may have followed me talking about movies over the last decade will know my deep love and drum-banging for Zulawski’s primal scream of a movie, and would call BS if I omitted it from a list of influences.
The truth is, it was bigger influence on the next film I hope to make, but its shadow still loomed over the feeling of The Dead Thing. In my defense, I purposely told our lead actress to not watch this film before filming so she wouldn’t be influenced by Isabelle Adjani’s wild performance — as The Dead Thing required a more internal and subtle approach.
I have heard that the film is being remade, which seems crazy to me, as its so deeply personal, I feel everyone should make their own Possession, not remake something so singular.
Liked This List of Influences on The Dead Thing, Directed by Elric Kane?
Here is our interview with Elric Kane about the making of the film.
Main image: Blu Hunt in The Dead Thing, written and directed by Elric Kane.