Action adventure The Dead Lands is in UK cinemas this weekend.

Whats more, James Cameron is officially a fan.

Was that important to you?

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Yeah.

I mean, I didnt write it Glenn Standring takes the credit for that.

But at the same time, it had a lot in common with different stories around the world.

Yes, because it could just as easily have been a samurai or western, couldnt it?

Yeah, and I love the fact that New Zealand sits between those two the west and the east.

I got some of that from the cinematography, actually.

It had a really lovely dreamlike quality to it.

Thats almost 10 years ago now I supppose.

Also, Leons a great fan of Kurosawa himself, so he was very much influenced by his work.

Your film feels really pared back in a good way, of course.

We were going for a lean and mean, muscular approach that suited the world of the story.

But at the same time I wanted it to look dusty and bloody and sweaty.

Our whole approach was really based around that.

What was the most difficult sequence to shoot, from a technical standpoint?

From a technical standpoint, the big fight in the middle of the movie was easily the most challenging.

We knew it was going to be a tricky one, partly because its outside.

So there was a lot of changing of lighting and different cameras, blood resets.

The actors and stunt guys needed to learn all their moves.

That was easily the most tricky.

It was a very, very challenging project just because of the language.

So that aspect was probably the most challenging of all.

The warriors all fight with these incredibly dangerous-looking paddle-like weapons patu.

Was giving those weapons a real-feeling impact achieved partly through the editing?

Did you shoot the film digitally?

That was at a time when digital wasnt universally accepted, so we were quite early adopters.

I loved working with it.

He watched it build up like a jigsaw each day.

Did that kind of technical breakthrough help you makeThe Dead Lands?

Theres nobody in the world doing action like Gareth at the moment hes a very inspiring guy.

But certainly, the digital technology is really fantastic for the kind of work we were doing.

So what was it like to screen the film for James Cameron?

And talking about getting advice from filmmakers he is the most generous dude Ive met, I think.

He was really, really great.

He wrote two massive, essay-length emails back to me with various pieces of advice.

So to have the backing of the guy who madeThe TerminatorandTerminator 2means heaps.

Its great that he was so general.

He has quite a formidable reputation on set, doesnt he?

[Laughs] Yes!

I didnt want to say it, but yeah.

I was very grateful.

It was a massive learning curve for me, working with Vincent.

I was 23 or 24 years old, very naive, a playwright.

I remember the day he rang me, completely out of the blue.

I answered the phone and he goes, Toa, Vincent Ward here.

But that wasnt the case.

It was very challenging, but very rewarding.

I learnt a lot from him.

And he had his ownAlienadventures, as well.

Thats one of the great lost sci-fi films, hisAlien 3concept.

So your next film is called6 Days.

But6 Days great cast: Mark Strong, Abbie Cornish, Jamie Bell.

So Im really humbled and astonished, really, to be working with a cast like that.

The storys about the Iranian embassy seige in London in 1980.

What attracted you to that story?

Thats a good question.

Really, its kind of a turning point in British history.

The struggle between yin and yang is something that interests me.

Im excited to explore that story.

I havent seen it.

Is it any good?

No, not really.

If you buy a couple of beers its amusing, put it that way.

Its definitely a story worthy of a fresh approach.

Toa Fraser, thank you very much!

The Dead Landsis out now in selected UK cinemas.

Its well worth seeing on a big screen.