Victor Zarcoff’s 13 Cameras marked the beginning of the Cameras franchise in 2016. Neville Archambault stars as a terrifyingly violent landlord with a voyeuristic obsession with his tenants (Brianne Moncrief, PJ McCabe). The sequel, 14 Cameras, was released in 2018 and involves Archambault’s “Slumlord” villain, hidden cameras, and an unsuspecting family. Although Neville Archambault sadly passed away in 2022, the franchise has continued with 15 Cameras.
Sky (Angela Wong Carbone) and the aptly named Cam (Will Madden) move into a new home. They get a great deal on the property, as it was once the hunting grounds of the Slumlord, who is now presumed dead. When Cam discovers the twisted man’s secret room and hidden cameras still in place, voyeuristic obsession takes over once again.
15 Cameras, directed by Danny Madden and written by 13 Cameras co-star PJ McCabe, will be available on demand on October 13th. We spoke with Madden about the franchise continuing, practical effects, and more. Stay tuned for our review, coming next week.
Horror Geek Life: How did you get involved with the Cameras franchise?
Danny Madden: Well, Victor (Zarcoff, 13 Cameras director) is a friend of a friend, and he had seen some previous work that I’d done, and he’s a persuasive guy. PJ McCabe, who was the lead actor in 13 Cameras, wrote the screenplay for this one. So it all came together; it just made sense. I was ready to try something like this and work with my brother again. I jumped right in.
Horror Geek Life: You do other things than directing, like animation and sound. Is there a preference for what you’d like to focus on going forward?
Danny Madden: It’s always been directing. It is not something that you get paid for very often, especially when you’re doing projects from the heart. Over the years, as I directed short films, I started animating because I wanted to tell animated stories as well. You accumulate a lot of different skills when you’re like, “Oh, I guess I’m going to edit this or sound design that.”
To me, all of that stuff falls under the umbrella of directing, like the way I approach it. In times of needing grocery money, your friends are making things, and they ask, “Hey, can you animate this? Can you sound design this?” But to me, it all just fuels the directing addiction.
Horror Geek Life: So, this is the first Cameras film since Neville (Archambault, 13 Cameras star) passed away last year, and I know the film was dedicated to him.
Danny Madden: He was all geared up to do it. And then he passed like a month and a half before we started filming.
Horror Geek Life: I wasn’t sure if production had started when he passed, but I knew it was close. Was there a lot of pressure continuing this franchise without the main star while also honoring what he helped build? He really was the face of the franchise.
Danny Madden: We were already structuring the movie more around Cam and Sky’s relationship, so we knew they would be the main part of the movie. But if I think if the Slumlord character were as significant and present as in the first two, then we wouldn’t have been able to do it. But having him be this guy who swoops in at a certain moment, we felt like we could do it in a respectful way to recast.
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I was very nervous about recasting. Neville brought such a unique thing to it. He definitely had the look, but he also had it in his voice and things. I think that’s a big part of why people were responding to the first and second one. So, I was nervous about that. There’s also the question too whether people can swing with this guy, James Babson, who plays the Slumlord. And I think he did a great job filling the glasses and holding the hammer. That’s something I hope works for fans and is actually creepy enough for new viewers as well.
Horror Geek Life: He filled the role pretty well! How did James get cast?
Danny Madden: It was really neat. He was the one role that came in through our casting director. The others were friends or friends of friends. It’s fun when an actor gets creative in their self-tape. He had actually put a camera, like a hidden camera, in places and then moved around. His audition tape felt like hidden camera footage, and he really just embodied a lot of the physicality of what Neville was doing. I was convinced. There were some shots in his audition that looked like shots from the previous films. I said he’s our guy.
And he’s super sweet. You meet him, and he’s very spunky and a funny dude. And so, I was like, all right, you’re going to be fun to work with.
Horror Geek Life: That’s great to hear how it came together. Are there any standout scenes that you shot?
Danny Madden: I think any chance you get to duct tape your younger brother (Will Madden, as Cam) in a computer chair, it’s a good time. In a movie that feels like this, there’s a lot of room for not being too naturalistic in how you’re shooting it and what your staging is. I had a lot of fun with that.
But then there’s also the performances, like when he’s (Cam) trying to be suave and comes off as a creep. Will just has so much fun with that kind of quirky thing. He’s so not like that in real life. He’s a confident, funny person.
But to give an actor the opportunity to crash and burn is always a very rich experience on set because the crew locks in, and everyone looks at him and is like, what is this guy doing? And it gives the women who play the tenants so much to play off. We have so many versions of them just kind of looking at each other and being like, what the fuck is going on? So those are all really fun moments.
Horror Geek Life: As a woman, watching some of his actions and interactions was way too relatable. Sadly, we all know this guy.
Danny Madden: Here’s the thing about working with Will, who I think is a high-caliber actor. He came in pre-production and said, “I figured it out. I cracked it. I know how to play this guy.” He said he’s a man in the modern world, and he’s always trying to make his wife happy. And then the sister-in-law is there. He’s outnumbered, and he’s always like trying to be a feminist, an ally, whatever. And then he said he discovers this basement, and that’s where all the festering masculinity, all of the creepy urges, can come out in full color.
It’s like this cockroach version of him. And then he’s trying to button up and be a decent man in the modern world. I thought that he played that juxtaposition so well.
Horror Geek Life: I have to ask about the special effects because I didn’t expect it to go as hard as it did, especially with the eyeball! Can you take us behind the scenes?
Danny Madden: That’s in the script PJ wrote. He goes big in the screenwriting, and he’s like, maybe you can do this. Maybe you can’t. The description was something like she sticks the drill in his eye, and the retina detaches and spins in its socket. And I just laughed reading that, and I was like, I guess we got to figure that out.
For that big moment, our production designer, Rowan Landaiche, came down from Canada. She’s 23 years old. It’s her first production design credit in a feature, and she has unbelievable talent and tenacity. She read the script and was like, “Can I do this?” So she did all the work.
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She made a Styrofoam eye with the drill bit that could attach to the head. If you frame it up right, you could have someone shaking it and then spray blood into it. It’s a fun time, especially when you can do things practical, and the crew can watch as it’s happening. It’s a really special feeling on set, and I like that electricity.
Horror Geek Life: That is what I love about indie horror – creativity on a shoestring budget with magical results. Before we wrap, do you want to mention anything else to our readers about the release?
Danny Madden: The way things get released today, it’s on VOD. I really feel like it was made in the tradition of eating popcorn and watching with friends. I hope that people get together and watch this movie. I’m really hoping that people will have little watch parties with it and stuff since it’s not going to be theatrical. That’s my hopes and wishes for this movie.
Also, I just want to reiterate that it’s a standalone. You can come at this one first if you want and then see the others.
