French filmmaker Franck Khalfoun discusses modernisation and Elijah Wood

This coming Friday March 15 marks the release of Maniac, a shocking horror flick starring Elijah Wood, as we get inside the head of a serial killer. In what is a remake of the 1980 cult favourite, we were fortunate to speak to the man bringing this tale back to the big screen, as we caught up with director Franck Khalfoun.

The French-born filmmaker discusses the pressure of revisiting such a celebrated horror movie, although admitting to the fun had in modernising such a tale. He also speaks of his delight at working with Elijah Wood, as well as telling us of his inclination to make movies about psychopaths following on from his debut feature film P2…

The original Maniac has a cult following, did you therefore feel a pressure entering into this project? 

A huge pressure and you know I’ve made other genre movies and I didn’t want to mess with the material, or mess with the classic, but I knew it would have to be something special and something that stands on its own and I didn’t want to do a remake for the sake of using a brand and actually come up with something clever and to come up with a decent film. I was also very aware that cinephiles and certainly those in this genre, are the biggest cinema lovers in the movies and even though they were being harsh at the beginning, I knew they appreciate movies more than regular audiences if you will, and if I did make something that stands on its own they wouldn’t just hate it for the sake of hating it, but they would appreciate it because they love movies. 

Was it fun modernising the story? Because the original is of its time somewhat.

Oh yeah absolutely. I think audiences are so much more sophisticated, so today for a scary movie to work you have to… You know, there’s tons of them out there and it’s because audiences are very sophisticated and they want to have complicated characters and they want to believe in the characters and they want to believe in the situations, so it was a challenge. I knew that people would be anticipating the film and that I had to bring something that was interesting. 

You must have been thrilled to get Elijah Wood on board?

Oh I was, I mean, he is a terrific actor and it was great to turn him into this horrific, scary character. But the fact that he still brings a boyish charm to the film and to the character only adds to the empathy that we feel for the character and so it was a great deal of fun and it was exciting in a multitude of ways. 

Was his casting important to ensure the funding was in place and for the film to now be getting the platform it’s getting?

It wasn’t. We had the funding prior and so we were looking to just bring something extra to the movie, but, you know, the money was there. 

Was Elijah on set much? Because he isn’t actually in many of his scenes as it’s shot from the first person.

It’s funny because obviously having a major movie star costs a lot of money and we thought, hey, this way we could actually afford him as we’re not going to see him all the time so we don’t need him all the time. But his character was lived through the performances of the people opposite and so he felt that it was important that he be there every day, and he was gracious enough to come every day and deliver the lines that create the kind of emotion he wanted in the scene and it really helped. No-one can deliver lines like he can so it was important for his character that he be there ever day and he was really gracious. He’s a wonderful actor, and a filmmaker, more than an actor.

It must be wonderful for yourself as director to have that kind passion for the project coming from the actors?

Oh absolutely, and Elijah especially. Anything that is a new approach is interesting to him as he’s done a lot of movies, so when something comes up that is a little ambitious he is very excited about it, so it was real fun to work with someone of that calibre and quality of acting, it’s great. You know you’re not just going to get someone doing their lines, you’re going to get ideas, you’re going to get creativity.

So tell us about the decision to shoot the entire film from Frank’s point of view.

When I was approached to make the movie I told them that it was important that we do something different, I did not want to do a remake of the movie that has been ripped off by every horror movie. Not only has every horror movie in some way copied Maniac, but now we’re remaking Maniac, so it’s kind of a scary notion personally, as career wise to be thrown in to this knowing very well how the film would be scrutinised. I had to do something completely different so I sat down and racked my brains and realised that one of the most scary moments in films, going back all the way to the very first Peeping Tom, is first person stalking shots, we see the victim and the person will be behind the tree or behind a car and they will be stalking somebody, and it’s terrifying because we’re in the brain of the killer. So we started researching movies that work on a first person premise and realised none of them were made in the horror genre.  It’s effective as the audience are prepared. They have first person shooter games and found footage movies and everybody has their iPhones so we’re in a time when the audience is ready to receive an entire film like this, which I don’t think would have been possible 15 years ago. 

Of course in the editing suite this film is all brought together to great success, but when shooting it’s a quite unique style with individual pieces to camera and stuff. Was it hard to tell how it would all turn out?

Very difficult, I mean there was no way of knowing until we cut it, no matter how good the shots we were coming up with. I think that’s the case for a lot of movies, not just ones shot in this way. A lot of movies you shoot and you think you have good scenes here and there and you’re hoping the emotion is all there, but you can only really tell that when you piece it together. 

It’s a very visceral piece as well, you can almost hear every cut of the blade, how important is the sound design to this movie?

Incredibly important, I mean all the elements become important because everything contributes mentally to the film in bringing something more to the experience of each shot, it’s not like the older techniques and older elements in a movie that alerts the audience because you are restricted in the manner in which it’s shot, so everything from sound design to the music, everything needs to really be on point. 

It is a quite shocking piece of cinema and in the screening I was in you could feel people squirming in their seats. Is that the response that you’re hoping to achieve?

Absolutely. Unlike most horror films, like you said, you’re on the side of the victim and anticipating where the killer is going to crop up, but we have that, so all I had was the character really, so the only way to create fear was in the character. So for me the movie is not one that jumps at you, but one that creeps up on you and makes you feel so uncomfortable that it becomes horrific rather than just a movie that uses gimmicks and tricks to jump out at you and scare you. It’s different. 

Finally, the film does follow relatively similar themes to that of your first feature P2 – that of a disturbed man pursuing vulnerable women. I was just wondering what it is about this particular theme that attracts you to tackle it on film?

[Laughs]

I had to make sure I worded that one okay…

I dunno. It might be too personal for me to answer [laughs]. Um, I like people in peril. I like movies  where someone is in danger and has to find a way out of it. Overcoming an adversary are the movies that appeal to me the most, in P2 she has to save her own life and it’s an adventure set in a very restricted place, and in this one it’s not only about being trapped and running for your life, it’s about him as well, running from his own past, so the theme is really freeing yourself and living a full life.

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MANIAC OPENS FRIDAY MARCH 15