But dont call it a horror film.
However, with his insight comes the terrible taint ofmild spoilers so, just do tread carefully.
What was it like working with him?
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Shamefully, I havent seen it.
And I havent seen other films.
People say, You havent seenThe Wicker Man!?
So I cant speak forGhost Watch.
Stephen has got such an intuitive understanding about horror, about the scares, that element of it.
And he wrote the initial backbone of the film that endured throughout all my writing process.
Stephen has seen it all come and go.
I havent seen that either!
So having him on board as our resident person-whos-actually-seen-this-stuff was helpful.
Its weird, references are a funny one.
I cant say specifically Ive made this like another film.
And the sequences like the dolls house, why I wrote that, I dont know.
But theres something freaky about dolls, and theres something freaky about dolls houses and I couldnt codify it.
Its important not to be too academic about it.
The dolls house sequences are quite chilling.
How did you come up with that idea?
I work quite late, and there wasnt any music playing, it was very quiet.
And I didnt know the sequence before I wrote it.
Oh, my god!
And that is very, very weird.
When youre writing an emotional scene, you find it emotional.
And its always a good sign when youre frightened to be in your office on your own.
Where do you think we are with British horror at the moment?
Is there a revival going on?
In a sense, I hope nothing ever causes revivals, because it means one trend becomes another trend.
Id much rather see the waters always stirred up and never settling.
Thats not going to kill the genre, but theyve seen a lot of it.
The Two guys caught in a room, ones got an axe, what are you going to do?
sort of horror which I really, really dont like.
And I know I dont profess to be an expert in the supernatural genre or the horror genre.
I genuinely dont like that sort of stuff.
But the reactions been refreshing.
I think the mystery of the ghost story helps.
Thats whats important, and Ive been shouting this from the rooftops.
And I think one of the problems with theHostelend of it, is there is less to discuss.
Then I think you really are into giving people an experience of going out, that cinema can offer.
A collective experience, in a way that television and your home cinema cant quite give.
So is this a horror film?
How have the producers marketed this?
Thats a good question, really.
You know, funnily enough, I was never told before where they wanted to place it.
And as such, I never really analysed what it was going to be.
When youre directing youre just trying to give the person at home the experience you had as a kid.
For me, it was the Classic Cinema in Hoylake in Merseyside.
And youre just trying to give that.
I dont want people to call it a horror film.
Its beyond my power to stop them I keep seeing people writing Nick Murphys horror film no!
I cant stop them.
No, I would much rather keep the horror word out of it.
It does put people off.
It puts me off, honestly.
I mean, lets be clear.The Blair Witch Projectis a horror film, and thats a brilliant film.
That scared the pants off me.
So it probably has negative connotations to a lot of people.
And Im much more pleased to keep it in a much more popular description.
Was it important that you have a strong, female protagonist?
We wanted Florence to be what women would turn into ten years after our story.
And thats why we very overtly dress her in trouser suits and this sort of thing.
Rebecca was completely on board with all of that.
Youve got a bow and arrow.
That doesnt quite make you a strong woman.
And its not, ultimately, of any male character.
And all the male characters of the film are the most fucked up in the whole film.
They all carry injuries from which they havent yet recovered or dont recover.
Hes impotent in that regard.
So Florence rescues Florence.
And with the best will in the world to Megan Fox, but she couldnt have played this part.
And Im not having a pop at Megan Megan knows exactly what she is and what she isnt.
Theyre not threatened by Rebecca.
This is a story where you need everybody on board.
Shes bright, but shes not a pain-in-the-arse head girl.
Its a tough balance, and Rebeccas charm and wit carry that nicely.
The period aspect of the film is very interesting, in that its not just window dressing.
If youre going to make any film…
If you dont, I think youre jiggered, really.
Not for the sake of the dinner party guests, but for the sake of you.
The look of the sickness in the greenery of Britain at that time, the loss in peoples faces.
Everything feeds into that central, one idea.
It was imperative that it couldnt be Gothic.
I didnt want Gothic.
I didnt want lightning, I banned all that.
And when we were finding locations, I was being sent houses that looked absolutely terrifying to look at.
If you look at the outside of our school, its not terrifying.
At the end of it, you look at it, and think, Thats a terrifying building.
And thats not to say you dont engage with tradition.
If you think of a shot fabric, like taffeta, its got two threads in it.
And its a case of how you wed those together.
But if you take one of them out completely, and only have novelty, thats not a genre.
If you leave only your traditions, thats boring and no one will forgive you for it.
Mr Murphy, thank you for your time!
you might follow Michael on Twitterhere, or read his bloghere.
