Paul Andrew Williams nifty little horror/comedy THE COTTAGE packs in some serious cringe inducing gore gags between it’s standard sad sack laughs and it also sketches out a reasonably sympathetic relationship for it’s two bickering brother kidnappers aptly portrayed by the grossly underused Reece Shearsmith (League of Gentlemen) and Andy Serkis. Director Williams was kind enough to share what it was like to work with these two extraordinary talents as well as get an original horror film made these days.

BD: Have you been surprised by the reception of the film?

PAW: It’s been quite polar. My first film was not like this one at all and people haven’t had an easy time getting their heads around the fact that I wanted to do something different. Going from LONDON OVER BRIGHTON to THE COTTAGE has been quite shocking for them. But the hardcore horror crazies have all loved it.

BD: Why the leap?

PAW: Personally I like to see lots of different kind of films. I’m not a one genre kind of guy. And it’s not the genre anyway is it? It’s the story, it’s how well the film is made. You’d never see a famous chef who only makes one meal.

BD: THE COTTAGE is a bit different for a horror film in the way it treats the relationship of the two brothers Peter and David.

PAW: You know, I’ve got a brother. There’s something so deep about sibling relationships. No matter what gets said there’s still a bond that can never be broken. It gave me so much play when I was writing. And I had Reece and Andy to work with as well. It meant we could do anything in the context of a relationship like that and it would be real. My brother and I can say anything to each other but if we said it to someone else we’d get our lights punched out.

BD: How did Andy and Reece work that out?

PAW: Usually I like to get the cast together and rehearse a lot but we didn’t have that kind of time here because of the actors schedules. We talked together about their back story and what not. But as soon as we did that and they got together they nailed the relationship during the first rehearsal anyway. They understood exactly what that relationship was about.

BD: The chemistry between them is so thick.

PAW: They’re both such good actors. Incidentally they have very different approaches. Reece has a lot of emotional depth but he’s a very technical actor. He takes notes quickly and he can do the same take over and over again. Andy is, like me, is more emotional and tries different things, he’s more organic. Both approaches were fine. I think they work really well together.

BD: The Cottage isn’t the only horror piece you’ve done. You also have a script that’s being directed by Tom Shankland called The Day. Is the horror genre a place to stay for you?

PAW: I don’t know. I tend to want to wander more or at least I want to. When you’ve done something you’ve done it. I probably won’t feel the need to go back for awhile. But like I said it’s about story not genre anyway. If the script is there, and the story is there then why not? The script you’re referring to is actually Toms. I had written one with a different title and wasn’t able to follow up on it because by then The Cottage was off and running. So the people behind Tom showed me his work and I thought it was terrific and told him to do what he wanted with it. I haven’t read Tom’s take on it actually but I’m sure he’s made it his own. I’ll see it like everyone else when it comes out.

BD: Horror comedy is becoming almost the default position these days. What influenced you into that sort of hybrid?

PAW: When I was young my friends and I spent all our time trying to hire out the films we were to young to see. The thing about the slasher/ stalker genre is we all understand the clichés now don’t we. I wanted to make a film that exploited all that but for sake of the audience. I wanted the audience to be in on the joke if that makes sense.

I guess at the end of the day I’m not a big fan of the type of horror film that is out to disturb you, at least that’s not the kind of film that I want to make. I like the idea of something that’s fun, Scooby Do at eighteen say. But I’ve seen more than my share of films that were just unpleasant and badly made on top of that. It’s weird. There are so many fans that only care about body count and how characters die. And of course the studios just want their money back and they know those fans are out there. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think all horror fans are easily pleased. But there is an age range, or type of fan hear that seems to show up at my Q and A’s who only seem interested in the blood. It’s no wonder we see so many films with 6 reasonably attractive people on a poster, who almost all die courtesy of whatever is laying around the house. At the end is the killer and the survivor girl and the audience who doesn’t really care who’s left.

BD: Yeah it’s strange isn’t it? I grew up watching Friday The 13th and Happy Birthday to Me but they weren’t really mean films. They seemed liked tricks. Whereas there’s a meanness to a lot of what’s out there these days. Maybe people more interested in the body count than the story just don’t know what to do when they run across a really good horror film like Session 9 for instance?

PAW: I’ll be honest with you. Aside from odd decapitation or two I’ve stayed completely away from horror films after seeing Session 9. It was the fucking scariest thing I’ve seen in ages. Brad Anderson has a genius for making those kinds of movies. I mean it’s funny isn’t it? Any of the kinds of movies we’re talking about can be good or bad. I don’t happen to like being truly terrified. I’d rather have someone put me on the ghost train you know. Boo! And that’s it.

BD: I don’t want people to get the idea that The Cottage isn’t violent. I mean the gore effects in this movies are pretty outrageous.

PAW: They make you feel what you’re supposed to feel, what I want you to feel. That’s one reason we didn’t use any CGI. Even though the time schedule put a lot of pressure on us we opted for in camera effects because we knew that we needed them. Half the movie is people reacting to some horrible physical trauma they’ve gone through. The audience needs to feel that. This is definitely a movie that’s going to make you go “Ow!” I think it leaves you laughing at yourself as much as at the movie because of course you’re ultimately reacting to things that didn’t really happen.

BD: Have you been offered any remakes?

PAW: Not really although I know of a couple I could probably get right now if I wanted them. That’s what’s so sad. It’s so hard to get anything original made anymore. A remake? I’m trying to choose between two original projects right now one of which is horror. I’m not sure yet which way I’ll go. The whole remake thing is about satisfying the money people and the people who want what they want right now. It’s the right now generation. We just want to see something, anything, and it creates this downward spiral.

BD: That’s Peter and David’s story isn’t? They are willing to do anything and cut any corner to get there!

PAW: Right, right!! That sort of makes the film the wonderfully silly thing it is. Sony would keep asking me “Hmmm, could we do such and such, or not do that thing/” And my response was always, “Well, Id rather burn it.” Why make a movie like every other movie out there? You know right now someone is remaking Clash of the Titans. The only thing that really makes that movie work is Harryhausens magic. How on earth anybody thinks to bother to try and replace that with CGI or whatever else is beyond me. It’s plain and simple lazy filmmaking.