Deliver Us is a religious horror film directed by Lee Roy Kunz and Cru Ennis. Kunz co-wrote the script and plays a priest who finds himself a major player in a story that explores the oldest themes known to man: good versus evil and brother versus brother. Maria Vera Ratti co-stars as a nun pregnant with twin boys via immaculate conception. She will give birth to the Messiah and the Antichrist, who will one day battle.
Kunz and Ennis spoke with us about the film now available on VOD.
Horror Geek Life: As a fan of religious-themed horror, I thought Deliver Us is a unique twist for the subgenre. What inspired you to write this story?
Lee Roy Kunz: It actually came from my father. I was visiting home, and we were in a brewery together, and he pitched me the idea about a nun who’s pregnant with twin boys. One’s the Antichrist, and the other is the Messiah. I just thought it was the perfect way to explore in a Joseph Campbell sort of way or connect a lot of different world myths that always have feuding brothers. And we got to writing the script.
Horror Geek Life: With its extensive lore, the story seemed to be a massive undertaking. Was it challenging to include all you wanted to?
Cru Ennis: Yeah, I think that we had grand aspirations with a very limited budget, which was also freeing in a way in order to make the most out of every incident, every scene. We would have different parts of the story that we would focus on for production value with the horror element in order to ground this movie with authenticity. The idea of exploring these biblical themes and doing it in this way, we thought, would help us connect to people.
And, yeah, as far as the undertaking, I think that’s just part of it. You go in knowing that this is going to be hard, and it’s going to take a long time, and you’ve got to stay focused and keep your head down. You just do it.
Horror Geek Life: The cinematography and locations do an excellent job concealing a limited budget. Deliver Us is a stunning film. Can you tell me a bit about where you shot?
Lee Roy Kunz: We filmed in Estonia. Me, Cru, and Isaac (Bauman, cinematographer) went out about two months early. Something that’s so important to us is to find the right location to make it work, then combine locations, and then try to get the best schedule for us so that they’re close so that we can spend all that time executing it.
Horror Geek Life: I would also like to ask about Maria Vera Ratti, who was terrific in this. There were so many emotionally demanding scenes. How did she get involved with the film?
Lee Roy Kunz: Through an audition. And then we Zoomed with her, and she was the perfect essence of the character.
Cru Ennis: There’s a warmth, like a purity, to her that you don’t see very often. She’s just good. Who could carry the weight of being chosen to do this? Who could be that person? And when she came on, Lee knew before I did. He was like, this is it. He was right.
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Horror Geek Life: As a viewer, I’d have to agree. There was intense chemistry between Lee Roy and Maria’s characters.
Cru Ennis: I’m sure Lee Roy has something to say, but they worked really hard. We were there two months early. Maria flew out two weeks after us, and then they rehearsed almost every day. I wouldn’t say this to Lee Roy directly, but he’s really dedicated to the craft of acting and approaches it like the stage. So they rehearsed every scene. And then I would only come in once a week just to be entertained more than anything. There wasn’t anything to do there.
I wish we could have documented that part of the process for other filmmakers because that opens up on set. You get there, it’s like, this is what we need. And then after that, it’s like, let’s explore. We have extra time. And then Lee Roy and Maria Vera did their thing. That was the most relaxing time in the movie whenever they had scenes together because it’s like, oh, this part is covered.
Lee Roy Kunz: It helped with the budget. Because so often now, a lot of actors almost want to make their rehearsal time be when you’re supposed to be shooting it. Then the crew has to wait around for you to do it rather than doing all that work beforehand, showing up. And it’s almost like working with film again because then it really has stakes of, like, okay, we’re going to do this only a few times.
Horror Geek Life: There were a few scenes that I would imagine were tricky to film. The main poster’s image of the frigid water immediately comes to mind. But what challenges did you have while filming?
Cru Ennis: I would say there are two stories there. The first thing would be the wolves. The wolves were incredibly intimidating for me. Lee Roy seemed just fine with these giants. They’re not dogs. And when you’re around them, you don’t necessarily feel safe. It’s kind of like being around a big cat or something. When you go to the zoo, it’s like, that thing would eat me.
But they have Zoltan, the Wolf Man, that’s his name. I didn’t make that up. He was the leader of their pack and their trainer. I didn’t know how this was going to work. I was like, this is impossible. But they were so on point. And then Lee Roy jumped right in there without any fear. I wouldn’t have been able to do that personally. I just wouldn’t have been able to act in that situation. I wouldn’t want to ever experience that again.
But it ended up being one of my favorite scenes in the movie. It’s just him doing his thing, the wolves coming together. And then Lee Roy could tell you all about the ice cross.
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Lee Roy Kunz: I want to do it again, Cru. We’re working with polar bears on the next one. (laughs) But yeah, the ice cross, it’s actually how, in the Russian Eastern Orthodox Church, a lot of people get baptized. They’ll cut into the ice like that and go out and do that. And so we actually cut 18 inches into the ice, and we went into the water and shot it that way. And that was tough.
Cru Ennis: It was negative 16 degrees. He’s being modest. He had to do training for the first two months we were there for cold exposure. His whole family called me to get me to convince him not to do it. And I was like, he’s doing it. There’s no way around it. End of the shoot, because I was like, well, if he dies, at least my career will continue. (laughs) So, the Estonians, that’s part of their culture. And what he did, they thought was super extreme, is he went all the way under. That’s crazy. But it was called for in the scene. And he did it. That’s one of the things people talk about the most.
Horror Geek Life: For good reason! I’m glad you’re okay after that experience, and we aren’t discussing another cursed film. (laughs) I know Deliver Us has kept you both busy, but do you have any other projects on the horizon?
Lee Roy Kunz: Cru and I have been working on a film together for the last 14 years. We shot it over 12 years. It takes place in 16 different countries, from Russia to Israel to Cuba. It mostly takes place in Cuba. We’re finally finishing that, and it’ll be done by the end of this year. So, hopefully, we’ll be doing this again, but in the Russian crime thriller genre.
