Luke Albright discusses Mountaineering and Renny Harlin

With The Dyatlov Pass Incident out to own on Blu-ray and DVD today, we had the great pleasure in speaking to one of the stars Luke Albright, who plays the seemingly levelheaded adventurer JP Hauser Jr.

Speaking to us directly over the phone from across the Atlantic, Albright discusses his own thoughts on the real life incident that inspired this film, where nine people were mysteriously found dead when climbing a mountain in 1959. He also speaks about working with director Renny Harlin again, and talks about his next project, Monumental.

Your character JP is an avid traveller – have you ever been travelling before? Or mountaineering?

My man, yes. I grew up in Colorado so used to do a lot of mountaineering, we’d even do week lone expeditions in the summer with just a pack on your back and that’s it. A lot of fun.

I was about to ask how you handled the freezing cold conditions on location but I guess you’re used to it?

Yeah, but not that cold. Where we were, above the Arctic circle, it was real cold. Luckily they took really good care of us, and they tried not to keep us out in it too much in between takes. It wasn’t that bad actually.

So how close to the real ‘Dyatlov Pass Incident’ did you guys actually shoot?

Well it wasn’t at the Mountain of the Dead, thank goodness! I was really worried about that actually, if we were going to be shooting in the actual place, but I don’t think the government will let people go there any more.

Hypothetically speaking, had they shot the film at the ‘Mountain of the Dead’  – would you still have signed up to the project?

I probably would have signed up still, but I would have been really nervous to be honest with you. If you go online and read about what actually happened to those hikers, that’s no joke man, that’s some pretty messed up stuff. I would have signed on, but been pretty freaked out, for sure.

Does it help to get into the head of the character when you’ve got a real location such as this?

I think with any film when you get into a costume or to the actual locations, especially with something like this where desolation is a huge part of the scares, I think it does worlds of wonder for the character.

Had you heard of the Dyatlov Pass Incident before?

Nope. When I first started talking to them about doing the movie, obviously I jumped online and did a lot of research, but that was it. I was really, really excited once I started researching what happened because I’m a huge conspiracy guy, so it was pretty entertaining.

So what do you think happened?

My man, I have people asking me this… There are a lot of different theories out there, and the sad thing is, unless the Russian government releases what they know, I don’t think we’ll ever know what happened. I think the government are involved, for sure, but there is something supernatural at work there, but I just don’t know what it is.

The film is really eerie, but when you watch it back are you able to get scared? Or were you too involved for that to be the case?

Both. There are times when there are some really creepy stuff going on, but because I know about the pranks we were playing on each other between takes and during the shoot, so there are times when I’m just laughing. But there are also points where I can remove myself and find it creepy.

The film is set up in the found footage style, how is that to shoot compared to your more conventional style of filmmaking, does it pose any new challenges for you?

To be honest, as an actor, not really. Especially on this, because it’s supposedly a documentary, so these people had really nice cameras. Even the shots we shoot with a ‘cell phone’ or ‘handy cam’ we’re still using a really nice camera so it still feels like just a regular movie set, it’s really in post when they bring in the effects to make it look like a different kind of camera.

The director Renny Harlin has made some memorable movies across his career… how important was it to have his experience on board?

I’ve worked with Renny a few times now and I think it’s crucial on a film like this, especially in a foreign country and when you’re having to get a crew together that is not necessarily used to working on something like this. He is a laser when he’s on set, I’ve never seen anybody more focused and the crew and the cast really take after that. I mean, if you’re messing around in locations like that something bad is gonna happen and he expects the best from everyone every time and he is a great leader on set, so it’s really important to have him.

The film is of course showing at FrightFest over here, but this isn’t your typical horror movie, is that something that attracted you to the project?

Exactly. I’m not a big fan of like horror/slasher flicks, I like really, really scary movies that are suspenseful. There was one I saw called The Woman in Black and I thought that was amazingly done, and that was PG-13, there was no gore in that, but the way they did the scares was so masterful, I am a big fan of that. With this script, most of it is sleight hand stuff which keeps you on the edge of your seat, and I like that more than something gory.

We can see you in Monumental soon – can you tell us a bit about that?

Absolutely my friend. That’s a screenplay I wrote with one of my good friends, and it’s a road trip movie. Basically it’s two guys and one of their mothers have just passed and she was always obsessed with all the monuments in the United States but never got to go and see them, so we take her ashes and spread them at each of the monuments across the US. We finished that about a month ago and we’re already in post. I’m really excited about that film, it’s going to be a really, really good one and we’re trying to get it into Sundance right now.

I noticed you directed a short movie… Have you any ideas of getting back into the directors chair anytime soon, perhaps for a feature length film?

Absolutely my man. My favourite part about that is just working with the actors. I’m not the most technological person as a director, but I find if I surround myself with a really strong crew, I just enjoy that aspect of it.

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THE DYATLOV PASS INCIDENT IS OUT NOW ON BLU-RAY AND DVD