We had the honour of speaking to super friendly British director Johannes Roberts about his new major horror picture Primate (read our review here) with a deep dive into the shooting of the film, inspirations and the decision-making process along with exploring if the rumours are true – should you never work with animals…?
PRIMATE – A BRITISH HORROR FILM
THE JOURNALIX: Hello from Manchester! Where are you at the moment?
JOHANNES ROBERTS: I am in Woodland Hills in LA.
THE J: And I understand the film was mostly shot in London, despite the Hawaii setting. Is that right?
JOHANNES ROBERTS: Yes, it was all shot in Elstree Studios.
THE J: Was that always the plan or have you been done out of a free holiday?
JOHANNES ROBERTS: We looked at lots of ways and then the main team behind the movie did A Quiet Place: Day One and they had created New York… Simon Bowles (Production Designer) had done this amazing job and I was like “Oh wow, this was all shot here?!” He showed me all the sets and in the end it seemed like a really smart way to achieve this. [We] needed so much control with the pool and the cliff. We were never going to find a location that fit that.
The actual outside of the house, is a house just out of Elstree! We put some palm trees by it and also there are outdoor shots, but that’s London as well.
THE J: No way!
JOHANNES ROBERTS: Yeah, that’s London as well. So, when [they] pull up to the house. Then there’s a couple of shots with the car driving, that’s Madeira.
THE J: Gosh, that’s fascinating. So can we claim this as a British film, with yourself and the majority of the cast?
JOHANNES ROBERTS: Yeah, I think it would qualify as a British film.
THE J: I feel like it is. We’re going to claim it!
JOHANNES ROBERTS: Yeah, it’s a Paramount Studio movie, so there’s that side of it. But I think it actually is, as you would call it, a British film.
CREATURE FEATURES
THE J: Did you have a good experience of shooting in England, then?
JOHANNES ROBERTS: Yeah, England is too cold for me, so I don’t live there but I do like shooting there. We shot both 47 Meters Down movies there. So I’ve done a lot in the UK and the crews are just on it. Professional. The craftsmanship is excellent. And you get tea all the time! To be honest, the cliches of being English… You come to like tea, fish and chips, pickled onion Monster Munch. All these things I miss like you have no idea!
THE J: I think Monster Munch: The Movie has got your name all over it! There could be a Gremlins factor to it? Talking of 80s scary films and effects… You made the choice of not going CGI heavy with Ben. What were your inspirations for that?
JOHANNES ROBERTS: Yeah, the reason was really just connection. You needed the family to love Ben. And you needed the family, or all the people in the movie, to fear Ben. It just felt like CGI was not the way to go. It felt like you needed some something practical, tactile that the actors could work with. We found this guy [Miguel Torres Umba] who had never done anything like this. He was a theatre actor. And he just brought such a personality.
You’d push a scene more and more. And make him more and more demented! It just became so much fun in the edit when we were putting it together. You could really bring that personality, that kind of Freddy Krueger.
THE J: That’s the fun, we just don’t know what Ben is capable of!
JOHANNES ROBERTS: Well neither did I most days!
I grew up with Aliens, The Thing, you know all that kind of stuff.
THE J: And these all still hold up so well today.
THE ART OF SHOCK VALUE
THE J: There are some really shocking scenes in there! Is there a shock value you’re trying to push for?
JOHANNES ROBERTS: I wanted it to be like a real rollercoaster 90 minutes! A white knuckle ride and every time you’re thinking, “These characters are being stupid. I’d do this…”
THE J: The pool scenes create such a brilliant dynamic! And to be fair, the characters think quite quick on their feet there.
JOHANNES ROBERTS: Yeah, it’s the trick, always with a movie like this, if you can get it right, is to put your characters in peril with the monster. But in the same space. That was just so much fun for me. I could have the two of them literally inches apart. They can’t hurt each other but they need to try and work [it] out.
THE J: There’s such a vulnerability with the shot from beneath them in there. They’re so exposed! And it’s not long after, in terms of being up close, I got a “Here’s Johnny!” vibe.
JOHANNES ROBERTS: I was having fun with it. I was doing the scenes and I was like “I’m doing all the things that are ingrained in me. Halloween, The Shining… All those movies. And it’s fresh because it’s a chimp. It’s not a slasher or it’s not a psychopath. It’s a chimp! Yeah, just had super fun with that.
VIDEO GAMES
THE J: With your history in video games, can you see Ben as a playable character in the future?
JOHANNES ROBERTS: Oh yeah, that would be great, wouldn’t it?
THE J: Should we make it happen? You heard it here first!
JOHANNES ROBERTS: Yeah I play Roblox all the time with my daughter, right? Maybe we should have a Ben Roblox game.
THE J: I like the idea of it. Are you playing anything else at the moment?
JOHANNES ROBERTS: Do you know I have not played my PlayStation for a while? I think the last thing I got that I was playing was the new Sniper Elite. And I did buy the new Alan Wake, but I just couldn’t get into it. I just need to give myself time. So, most of the time I play 99 Nights in the Forest. Which is a Roblox kids horror game.
THE J: We’ll take that recommendation!
SOUNDTRACK
THE J: We love the synth soundtrack, more of that 80s vibe!
JOHANNES ROBERTS: For the pool sequence, I wanted Sunglasses at Night (by Corey Hart), but no one was having that. I love my 80s music. Like, genuinely love it. I mean the score (by Adrian Johnston) is very Carpenter 80s. Very Christine.
But also there’s a synth band called Miami Nights 1984 that was big influence on this.
THE FUTURE
THE J: Do you have any plans for a sequel?
JOHANNES ROBERTS: I couldn’t possibly say (smiles).
THE J: We’ll take that as a yes! What’s next on your calendar?
JOHANNES ROBERTS: I’m finishing off 47 Meters Down Part 3. Well, I didn’t direct it, but I’m heavily involved, so we’re just doing the post on that and then I have just written the fourth part which I think will go this year. But yeah, I’m not sure what is going to be next for me as a director.
THE J: That’s exciting. Do you anticipate you’ll always stay in that genre?
JOHANNES ROBERTS: I love horror. Maybe a thriller. I think what I have is just a kid-like awe of scaring people. And that is my passion. I think that comes across on screen.
THE J: We couldn’t agree more.
Primate is out now, in theatres nationwide.
