Take a drive down DARK DESERT HIGHWAY; exclusive first pics

By Samuel Zimmerman

Indie filmmaker Jason Cuadrado, whose short film MONSTROUS NATURE is currently winning accolades in the festival circuit and whose feature TALES FROM THE DEAD hits DVD from Seminal Films March 9, recently got in touch with the scoop and a few early photos (seen after the jump) from his latest movie, DARK DESERT HIGHWAY. A stylistic throwback, HIGHWAY is a gloomy thriller about a group of friends traveling cross-country who become targets of a faceless, psychotic sniper.

“DARK DESERT HIGHWAY is inspired by the ‘savage cinema’ films of the ‘70s in story and in tone,” the writer/director tells Fango. “One of the temptations of modern horror is to give a reason and motive for everything. For this film, the motivation is simply wrong place, wrong time. It’s the idea that you never know who you’ll come across in your travels, and you don’t have to do anything wrong to find yourself on the sharp end of a chainsaw or, in this case, the crosshairs of a madman. It’s the randomness that makes it so terrifying, but also more relatable. It’s true, bunches of kids are always going out and getting into trouble. It’s a staple of horror filmmaking. It’s my hope that HIGHWAY circumvents some of the clichés that gets those kids there by offering characters and a story that feel like real horror happening to real people.”

Cuadrado knows the plot will seem familiar, and insists this is pushing him to keep the rest of the film original. “It’s a pretty classic setup,” he admits, “so the challenge comes from ramping up the stakes and giving the audience something that feels fresh. If you watch a lot of horror, and I certainly do, it gets easier to write things that you yourself have never seen. The fun comes from scaring yourself, basically!”

Produced by Esperanza Productions and Camillia Sanes, HIGHWAY will lens in California and New Mexico. “When you’ve got a film where the main character is a harsh desert environment,” Cuadrado notes, you really want to make the most of it. I’ve been speaking to my DP, A.J. Raitano, about giving the arid landscape a sweeping, epic look so you can really feel the isolation, like the opening of THE SHINING. We’ve got some amazing actors lined up [Michael Welch from ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE and the TWILIGHT movies is currently attached] to take us into the desert and show us how to survive a psychotic, faceless sniper, and will be working very hard to deliver strong performances. Films like this are mainly about the characters. If you’re just waiting for them to die, there’s no suspense. If you’re afraid for them, rooting for them, praying for them, you’re on the edge of your seat, wondering what’ll happen next. We’ve got incredible actors who will pull you into that dark, bullet-ridden trailer with them.”

You can find out more about Cuadrado and his work at the filmmaker’s official website. We’ll bring you more on DARK DESERT HIGHWAY as its production nears.