By Michael Helms
On the outskirts of Auckland, New Zealand’s most populous
city, there’s a compound formed by several old buildings that tyro filmmaker
Dale Stewart has used as the centerpiece of COMPOUND, a new low-budget shocker
revolving around the misfortunes of seven travelers. Stewart, who is currently
knee-deep in postproduction and provided the exclusive photos seen after the
jump, tells Fango, “COMPOUND is a horror film, but doesn’t start out like one.
COMPOUND was lensed last year at Kingseat Hospital,
Papakura, now more commonly known as Spookers Haunted Attraction Scream Park, a
place unique to New Zealand (its website likes to point out that Australia
doesn’t even have anything even remotely comparable). The main building used
for filming formerly housed the nurses who tended to patients in the adjacent
mental hospital. Like many such places, it’s said to be a hotbed of paranormal
activity, specifically haunted by a nurse who committed suicide within its
walls. While he was a film student visiting Spookers—which wasn’t that long
ago—Stewart realized that this was the place to make his feature debut, and vowed
to return to shoot there.
He also soon found that the place was even scarier when it
was closed, recalling that while scouting the location in early January 2009 in
very hot weather, one of the corridors was unnaturally cold. “A crew member
asked where the air conditioning was,” Stewart says. “That’s when it was
explained that this was actually the space where the nurse had died, and there
was no air conditioning. There’s also another corridor shut off from the public
that remains in darkness because they cannot replace the light bulb.
Apparently, it always blows a fuse when a new one is installed, and this is
despite being rewired several times.” Stewart adds that after shooting COMPOUND
there, and despite all the explanations they were given for the location’s
haunted aspects, he now believes all the stories are true.
In COMPOUND, Spookers actually plays itself, as the group
who have lost their way are convinced by the staff to come in and take a look
around. They find themselves locked in a room, eventually emerging to discover
that behind the scenes, people actually live at Spookers, including a doctor, a
dentist, a butcher—and an alien creature. “Basically, they play on everyone’s
normal fears,” notes Stewart, who asserts that “I wanted to make a smart horror
film. I didn’t want just one bad guy chasing seven attractive girls around with
lots of nudity. I just wanted to tell a good story where horror was only one
element.”
Despite a lack of budget for special FX, however, Stewart
promises that the mayhem is plentiful and effective. “There’s quite a few
bodies. We’ve got a zombie eating someone alive. We’ve got a person who’s held
in the house for quite some time and tortured. Two of the main seven are forced
to watch as a third dies by having their legs cut off. These two are next in
line, and try to get out before their own legs are severed.” It’s no surprise
when Stewart describes himself as a huge horror fan, specifically of the ’70s
and ’80s brand, and says, “I didn’t want to make a film that was the flavor of
the month, but something that might stand the test of time.” He recommends it
to other genre enthusiasts for “being a smart horror film that avoids clichés
despite the familiar scenario.”
As of now, Stewart is herding COMPOUND toward a March
completion date. Check out the movie’s trailer below.
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