Do Not Disturb, a new horror film written and directed by John Ainslie (The Sublet), will be released in theaters on November 17th and VOD on November 21st via Dark Star Pictures. We spoke with the director about his passion for horror and his new movie, inspired by the concept of a “honeymoon couple developing cannibal sex fetish.”
The film stars Kimberly Laferriere and Rogan Christopher as a troubled couple on their honeymoon in Florida. Things are tense from the get-go but get worse when they’re introduced to a drug that lowers their inhibitions and intensifies carnal urges. It leads them down a dark path from which they cannot return.
Horror Geek Life: John, before we get into Do Not Disturb, what draws you to the horror genre?
John Ainslie: Even as a child, I always preferred movies that had led toward violence and blood. I don’t know why. When I grew up, just outside of Detroit, Michigan, we had this channel called Channel 50. On Saturdays or Sundays, it had afternoon horror films and did a double or triple feature. These were films that I don’t even know the names of anymore. But I remember watching, and that must have rubbed off on me in some way. Because it seems to be everything I write now. I do have two films that aren’t, but they’re still weird. They’re action-based.
Horror films are, in a lot of ways, the most fun. Horror as a genre seems to be the most free. Dramas have to be dramatic, and comedies have to be funny. But horror can be anything. They can be funny, they can be dramatic, they can be gory, they can be silly, they can be nonsensical, they can be sci-fi, they can go anywhere. I think that’s what makes it, for me, the most interesting genre to work in because there are no limits. It’s very accepting.
Genre film fans tend to have a large knowledge of film history, not just genre history, but film history, and they have a greater understanding of that. It’s also a genre open to new concepts and ideas quicker than other genres, like LGBTQ stuff. Even in the ‘70s, genre films were moving in that direction and talking about it, whereas I don’t think most mainstream films were. It’s fun to be free.
Horror Geek Life: You are absolutely right. One thing I love about indie horror is seeing filmmakers get creative with limited means. You do this well with good cinematography and locations. Is it tricky executing what you want with a tighter budget?
John Ainslie: Yeah, we did not have much money on this one, but I had a good team. My cinematographer is great to work with. My wife produced it. And then the two cast, all the cast but, in particular, my two leads, were very open to trying things and receptive to doing anything.
It’s a give-and-take because I see a lot of big-budget films that lose sort of that magic. But at the same time, I want that money. I want the fee, and I want the music rights. People say you can do everything you want. You don’t have to compromise. But, no, you compromise. You find ways, and we were really lucky. We found these lenses that were cheap and affordable. They weren’t the lenses we wanted. But we loved them.
RELATED: ‘It Follows’ Sequel Announced, Original Director and Star to Return
I don’t think about Tarantino movies with no music budget. The music matters. Those kinds of things matter. Movie stars matter to sell it. They don’t necessarily matter to make a great film. But there are limitations, and you can work with them, or you can work against them. I try not to work against them because you always lose that battle because money is finite. And eventually, you fail.
But I’ve been really fortunate, I think, throughout my career to be unsuccessful in a lot of ways because it’s forced me to work as a cameraman, it’s forced me to work as a grip, it’s forced me to PA, it’s forced me to record sound. I’ve got an amateur-level understanding of a lot of things on set, which then allows me to sort of plan the day or plan the shoot in a way that is economical in both time and money.
Horror Geek Life: I find that many indie filmmakers are jack of all trades. With that, I know you handled the music for Do Not Disturb. Is that something you enjoy, or was it more out of necessity?
John Ainslie: I love music. When I grew up, my dream was to be a rock and roll star, and filmmaker was second. And the rock and roll star thing never panned out. I have a skill level on playing guitar that limited everything. So, it’s been a big part of my life.
Jeff Morrow, who composed the score on The Sublet and two or three of my other shorts, was booked, and I had a deadline. So I couldn’t work with Jeff. While looking for another composer, I talked to a friend who actually did a song, and he was like, “Why don’t you try Garage Band? It’s got like a basic synth.” I started composing. I think part of the reason it works is because I never thought anyone would hear it. I went very big and tried a lot of things, and they just kind of worked.
RELATED: Exclusive: Dennis Paoli, Screenwriter of ‘Re-Animator,’ Talks H.P. Lovecraft and ‘Suitable Flesh’
When I started working with a composer, it wasn’t working at all. It just wasn’t jiving with the movie in an organic way. I went back to my score, got Logic, and made it technically better. I loved it. I loved scoring. It was one of my favorite things.
It was unique in the sense that a lot of scores are used to push the plot or push attention. I wanted the score to be representative of Chloe’s state of mind, her psychosis, so that the audience will organically feel the way she’s feeling because they’re hearing the same sounds that she is hearing.
Horror Geek Life: Is there anything you had in the script that didn’t make it into the film that you wanted to include?
John Ainslie: There was a part when they’re eating — not to give a spoiler here, it’s in the trailer — Wayne (Christian McKenna) and I had a scene where I wanted her to pull his tongue out. He would eat the tongue like Lady and the Tramp with the spaghetti. That was the one that I really wanted to do. I just couldn’t afford it.
Horror Geek Life: It’s obvious with that answer that Do Not Disturb goes to some dark, lusty places. How did the story come about?
John Ainslie: I was in a class and doodling. I wrote, “honeymoon couple develops cannibal sex fetish,” and that sort of just stuck with me. It sat on my mind for a few months, and then I wrote the first draft of Do Not Disturb. It was probably a lot darker, a lot longer, and a lot bigger in budget. There was a lot of indulgent stuff.
As I worked on it, I started thinking about the connection between being in a bad relationship and how that sense that you’re being eaten alive emotionally is very similar to being eaten alive physically. And so I combined them both. If you look at a movie like Blue Valentine, they’re not too dissimilar. It’s just I’ve added cannibalism. Representation of the damage we do to each other. It played out from there.
RELATED: Exclusive: Lance Henriksen Discusses ‘On Fire’ and His Thoughts on Retiring
While working with my wife (Rechna Varma), she gave me great notes. She’s also a writer and just directed her first feature. And so, really, that relationship angle was stronger than anything else. I know that eventually, the blood and that kind of stuff is going to just inherently be in my work. I tried to treat it more of a drama, or as dramatic as I could get, and build that relationship as the spine of the story. Hopefully, that makes all the absurd stuff that happens more believable.
Horror Geek Life: Before we wrap, you mentioned you have some other projects in the works. Can you talk about those?
John Ainslie: I have a couple of actions that I’m trying to make. I think they’ll be a while, just based on the budget and the reality of the industry.
I’ve got a short film called She Came Knocking. I’ve got a feature version of that I’m trying to cast right now. I’m working with a producer, and I’m hoping that’s my next thing. However, I’ve got other things on the Do Not Disturb budget level. I also have five or six scripts that are ready to go if the lottery would just come my way.
