When we talk about the “fish-out-of-water” genre you typically tend to recall all kinds of classic comedies from Billy Wilder’s ‘Some Like it Hot’ through to Richard Linklater’s ‘School of Rock’ but it’s a concept that’s far from limited to that genre alone. One film that tackles the fish-out-of-water premise more literally than most is newcomer Bradon R. Duemmler’s directorial debut, ‘What Lies Below.’
Starring Ema Horvath, Trey Tucker and Mena Suvari, the film combines a coming-of-age drama with eco-horror terror to tell the story of Liberty (Horvath), a socially awkward teenager who gets back after two months at camp to a blindsided introduction of her Mother’s fiancé, John Smith (Tucker). As charming and intelligent as he appears, Liberty can’t help but suspect that this is a picture of a man too perfect to be human.
With the film releasing today on both demand and digital, SCREAM sat down with director, Bradon R. Duemmler who revealed the sheer depths he went to to perfect the psychological aspect of his narrative and how much more complicated it was to shoot a sci-fi shocker with lampreys than he could ever have imagined…
Words: Howard Gorman
