Rest Stop: Director John Shiban
By: Elaine Lamkin

One should expect something VERY interesting when a movie comes out directed by anyone who had anything to do with the classic TV series “The X Files”. John Shiban is one of those people – he was story editor on the infamous episode, “Home”, as well as a producer on what many consider the BEST episode, “Bad Blood”, the Stephen King-penned “Chinga”, the wonderful “The Post-Modern Prometheus” and “Kill Switch”, written by sci-fi cyberpunk icon, William Gibson. Shiban is also an executive producer and writer on the popular series, “Supernatural”, which is currently starting its second season on The CW television network. So, it was only a matter of time before he would write and direct his own horror film. And boy, has he!

“Rest Stop”, which hits stores Tuesday, October 17th in both an R-rated as well as an Unrated version (and there will be a “Special Edition” available only at Best Buy), is a seemingly simple story of two young people taking a wrong turn and ending up at the rest stop from hell. When the boyfriend disappears and his girlfriend is left to defend herself against a mysterious, psychotic and unseen pickup truck driver, that’s when the “fun” begins. And all the while, she keeps running into strange people who seem to come out of nowhere but who, in fact, give her the strength she didn’t seem to have in her at the film’s beginning.

Bloody-Disgusting spoke with director Shiban about this first entry in the DV world of Raw Feed, a division of Warner Home Video, which Shiban started along with two other friends, Tony “24” Krantz and Daniel “The Blair Witch Project” Myrick.

BD: Hello John. I must say I really enjoyed “Rest Stop” – no screamy females running around helplessly. What was your inspiration for the film?

JS: Thank you for your kind words. Well, aside from the obvious comparisons to the classic “Duel”, when I went on a road trip to Yosemite not too long ago, I had some “experiences” with some pretty creepy rest stops. That got me thinking about how scary the most commonplace things can be – something I learned on “The X Files”. Spielberg’s “Duel”, for example, is so simple, a small idea with so many twists. I wanted to do something along those lines.

BD: Your protagonist, Nicole Carrow, is a great character! A strong female in a horror movie. What was behind the creation of her character?

JS: I think Nicole is a lot like Laurie Strode in “Halloween” – she starts off sort of “weak”, not someone you imagine could hold her own in any kind of stressful situation and then she finds this inner strength and just becomes so strong and resourceful.

BD: You put Jaimie Alexander, who plays Nicole, through the ringer physically in this film. How did you find her?

JS: It’s a funny story. I never actually saw Jaimie during the casting process and we already had another actress cast in the role but the deal with her fell through literally two days before shooting was scheduled to start. Someone remembered Jaimie and we called her in – immediately we knew we had our “Nicole”. Jaimie is so believable, audiences really feel for her and what she’s going through.

BD: I have to ask about the bizarro Winnebago family – what is with them?

JS: (laughs) They are something, aren’t they? When I was writing the script for “Rest Stop”, I had pictures around me of yellow pickups - my brother-in-law had one very similar to the one in the film and I always thought it was so iconic. I also had a picture I had found on a website, I think it was Flicker.com, of a family in the 1970s celebrating Thanksgiving at a rest stop. I just thought it was too weird.

BD: There are quite a lot of subtle religious references in “Rest Stop”: the Winnebago family, being religious “fanatics”, all of the references to “private demons”, the soundtrack with the creepy version of “Amazing Grace” almost always playing. Was that intentional?

JS: It was. I wanted the film to be scary but to say something as well. It’s about intolerance – people trying to impose their beliefs on others. That whole “you’ll get what you deserve” refrain – who is to say what someone does or doesn’t deserve?

The use of “Amazing Grace” was also my little homage to one of my favorite films, “The Night of the Hunter”. Robert Mitchum always singing “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms”. THAT is creepy to me.

Also, The Driver’s license plate could be interpreted in an “religious” way. KZL 303 – the letters “KZL” are letters in the names of Biblical angels BUT the letters could also be interpreted in other ways.

BD: For some reason, although the letters are out of order, thought the “KZL” stood for “kills”. What about the numbers “303”?

JS: That is another perfectly valid interpretation. The numbers…I just thought there was something sinister about them. That’s all.

BD: Without spoiling anything, who IS The Driver?

JS: The Driver is a different thing to the various people he comes into contact with. To Tracy, he’s “not human”, to Deacon the cop, he’s a “sick predator”, to the Winnebago family, he’s an angel and Nicole wonders if he’s her private demon. Open to interpretation…

BD: Where did you shoot “Rest Stop”, what was your shooting schedule and what sore of budget did you have to work with?

JS: The exterior shots of the rest stop and the ranger station were shot in Placerita Canyon, about 20 miles north of LA. That was a real abandoned rest stop so there was no problem blowing it up. The interior of the rest stop was an amazing and so realistically disgusting set designed by Phil Dagort, another “X Files” veteran.

We shot for 15 days back in April of this year and had one extra day to shoot the extras. As for the budget, I’ll just say it was a union shoot and done for under $500,000.

BD: The SFX makeup was pretty gruesome – who was responsible for that?

JS: Jamie Kelman did the SFX and brought SO much enthusiasm to the set every day. I also have to give props to our explosives expert, Dennis Deon – he not only blew up that rest stop but blew up the truck as well. And we only had 3 of those trucks total! And I have to mention that no CGI was used in the making on this film (laughs).

BD: The look and the sound of “Rest Stop” are pretty memorable. What were you going for with both of those elements?

JS: Mark Vargo was my DP and he gave “Rest Stop” a great look – realistic yet with that 70s grainy, gritty feel. Almost as though you’re really involved in what Nicole is going through.

Bear McCreary did the score – he is absolutely amazing! He was a protégé of the late composer Elmer Bernstein. I love the Southern Gothic genre but since our budget prevented actually shooting in the South, I wanted the score to have that “feel” to it. So you have the creepy banjo that is The Driver’s theme… There should be a soundtrack release – I’ll keep you posted.

BD: I was disappointed there was no director’s commentary on the DVD. Was that due to the time crunch you were working under?

JS: Exactly. But there will be a featurette on the Special Edition available at Best Buy where I talk about the gore effects.

BD: What about a possible sequel to “Rest Stop”?

JS: I would love to do one…(laughs) “Rest Stop 2: Scotty’s Revenge”. You never know…

BD: What’s up next for you?

JS: Well, Raw Feed just completed the second film, “Sublime”, with Tom Cavanagh. It should be out in early 2007. The story is about a man who goes to the hospital for a routine procedure but then things go very wrong and suddenly he’s in the hospital from hell. Why are the patients suddenly dying all around him? Is a male nurse killing them? Tony (Krantz) is directing that one.

BD: What are some of your favorite horror movies?

JS: Definitely “Halloween”, “Rosemary’s Baby”, “The Exorcist”, “Dawn of the Dead” and “28 Days Later”.

BD: What is one thing no one knows about John Shiban that you think they should?

JS: Hoo boy…well…I have a 5 ½ year old son and every time we watch “The Iron Giant”, I just cry like a baby (laughs). Can’t help it…

October 2006