Peter Webber, James Paxton and Franz Drameh Discuss Retro Horror, AI Nightmares and “Nasty Fun” In DRAGN
When audiences hear the words "AI thriller", they might expect a sombre meditation on the dangers of artificial intelligence and the future of humanity.
According to director Peter Webber, DRAGN is something very different.
Synopsis: When American everyman Tom Wilson joins a corporate team-building retreat in rural Serbia, he expects awkward icebreakers and long hikes. Instead, he and his co-workers become prey for DRAGN – an experimental AI military drone whose test has gone catastrophically wrong.
Trapped deep in the forest and cut off from communication, Tom must keep his fractured team alive while facing a terrifying reality: the machine isn't malfunctioning – it's learning.
Drawing inspiration from 1980s sci-fi and horror, vintage video games and contemporary anxieties around AI and surveillance, DRAGN explores what happens when technology learns from humanity – and cruelty becomes its first lesson.
The new sci-fi horror film follows American office worker Tom Wilson, played by James Paxton, who joins a corporate retreat in rural Serbia only to find himself and his colleagues hunted by an experimental military AI drone that has learned far more than its creators ever intended.
Inspired by contemporary anxieties surrounding artificial intelligence, surveillance and autonomous warfare, DRAGN combines modern fears with the DNA of the gloriously over-the-top creature features that dominated video store shelves throughout the 1980s.
Speaking to The Fan Carpet, Webber explained that while the conflict in Ukraine and the increasing role of military drones initially sparked his interest in the subject matter, the film was never intended to be a lecture on technology or the future of AI.
Instead, he simply wanted audiences to have fun. "It was all about taking these guys and putting them in the worst situation possible and making them suffer for the audience's entertainment."
For Webber, DRAGN was an opportunity to recreate the experience of discovering outrageous VHS horror movies with friends during his youth.
He recalled spending evenings as a teenager browsing video stores for the most lurid cover art imaginable before settling down with friends to enjoy monsters, bloodshed and chaos without taking any of it too seriously. The result is a film that proudly wears its influences on its sleeve and embraces its identity as a fast, dirty and unapologetically entertaining genre picture.
James Paxton, meanwhile, was attracted by both the film's throwback sensibilities and its contemporary themes.
Having never worked extensively in the science-fiction genre before, the actor described DRAGN as something that felt simultaneously rooted in classic creature features while also tapping into modern anxieties surrounding technology and artificial intelligence. He also relished the opportunity to reunite with long-time friend Franz Drameh on screen.
Drameh, whose genre credentials stretch back to cult favourite Attack the Block, joined the production only days before filming began but immediately connected with both the material and the creative team.
A self-confessed horror fan with a fascination for technology and AI, the actor described the experience as one where "the stars aligned".
Despite the film's technological subject matter, one of DRAGN's greatest strengths may actually be its old-school filmmaking techniques.
Rather than relying exclusively on digital effects, the production utilised practical creature effects wherever possible, allowing the cast to react to something tangible on set rather than an empty green screen.
Paxton described the titular DRAGN not as a visual effect, but as a genuine scene partner. "The DRAGN was a scene partner."
Webber revealed that several physical versions of the creature were built for production, including animatronic and stunt variants, helping to give the film the tactile feel of the practical-effects classics that inspired it.
For Drameh, who previously battled practical creatures in Attack the Block, the approach made all the difference. "Acting is reacting and when you actually have something tangible and physical to react to, it grounds you in a little bit more of the reality of the situation."
Ultimately though, the cast and filmmakers return to one word repeatedly when discussing DRAGN:
Fun.
Not prestige cinema.
Not awards season bait.
Not a lecture.
Just fun.
As Drameh put it, films should entertain, provoke emotion and give audiences an escape from the stresses of everyday life. If a project can do that, he is always interested in being involved.
Webber perhaps summed up the spirit of DRAGN best of all. "Not good clean fun. Really nasty, very disgusting fun."
Watch the full interview here:
DRAGN is available now to rent and buy on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube Movies, and Rakuten TV
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