Interview With Director Of ‘The Last Victim,’ Naveen Chathapuram

I love a movie with a strong female character at its core, especially when it’s a survival story and she’s kicking ass. That’s what I loved most about The Last Victim. Oh, and the dog, Waldo. Naveen Chathapuram’s directorial debut is a neo-western thriller about a woman (Ali Larter) fighting to survive while being chased by a violent gang of criminals in the southwestern wilderness. To celebrate the release of the film, I chatted with Naveen via Zoom, and we talked about what inspired the film, why he wanted to be a filmmaker, what’s up next, and more!

PopHorror: Hi Naveen! I loved The Last Victim. I wanted to say thank you for not killing the dog. I was rooting for him through the whole thing.

Naveen Chathapuram: Thanks for that compliment, Tiffany. It has been a really long journey making this film, so to hear that is just music. I’m really grateful.

PopHorror: Of course. I appreciate anything that has a strong female lead character on top of it being a survival story. I really enjoyed it. I wanted to know what inspired the story?

Naveen Chathapuram: We were inspired by movies like Deliverance and Breakdown, originally. We wrote the original script around 2003 or so, and at the time, we wanted to do a genre that’s in the southwest type of setting that’s gritty and things like that. So the original version of the script was a survival thriller along the same lines as Breakdown and Deliverance. When we took it up again in 2017 with my now writer, Ashley James Louis, we realized we were fans of what the Coen brothers had done with No Country for Old Men and what Taylor Sheridan had done with Hell or High Water, so we wanted to bring a little bit of that aspect. Another thing is, we loved Susan’s character in the sense that, a lot of times when they make these survival thrillers, especially a female lead, they hit it over the head. Ali [Larter] said, “This role could have been written for a man.” And what we wanted to do was write more of a human story than just like a female trying to survive. It’s a human who’s put into this circumstance, and she finds the strength within her. Because it’s all of us. You get pushed to a limit, and at what point do you strike back? That was part of one of the themes that we were trying to explore.

PopHorror: With this being shot mostly out in the wilderness, how did you prepare for shooting?

Naveen Chathapuram: A lot of what we thought was preparation to shoot in the outdoors, and a lot of it we were just thrown into it and had to figure out how to survive. We originally planned to shoot it in the summer and worse case, late summer or early fall. But because of certain things, our film got pushed a couple of times. It went into the plunge of the winter, so we were shooting this in subzero temperatures. There were days when it was -8 degrees. That itself—working on the terrain, scaling the cliffs, and getting the equipment up there—was a challenge. But most of the time, you were just thinking about where your nearest heat source was. So, to answer your question, from that standpoint, a lot of preparation didn’t work, and we had to just figure out how to survive it. But on the other hand, as far as filming and stuff, because we had a limited amount of time to shoot this and get it done, we put in a lot of work and prep to make sure we were ready when we got to set, so that we got what we needed for the editing table, so to speak.

PopHorror: So it became your own survival story when making your survival movie.

Naveen Chathapuram: Absolutely. A lot of the crew members felt that, and the actors, too. And the thing is, as you know, you need absolute focus during a performance, and I was surprised at how Ali was able to rise up her physicality, her ability to reach in and stay focused as a professional. Two things could happen in these scenarios: either you give in to the cold and you give up your performance, or you take in the circumstances and you enhance your performance and the grit. And it shows on screen. Ali and Ralph [Ineson], who had to spend the most time in the cold, both did that.

PopHorror: They were both amazing. Was there anything that you were adamant about keeping in the film no matter what?

Naveen Chathapuram: Absolutely. There are a lot of things, like the first scene. Without giving too much away, the first scene takes place in a restaurant and is about 15 minutes long. It’s a bold choice, especially for a first time director. There’s no music in the film from the moment it starts until about 12 minutes in. So those were all choices we made. We wanted to bring those deliberate decisions and protect as much as possible. During the edit table, there are a couple of lighter moments in the film, and in a thriller, you’re tempted to take those things out. I love films like the Coen brothers movies where in the darkest moments in Blood Simple, or even Kubrick, there could be some funny thing that happens. I wanted to. The original script had it, and I wanted to bring that to screen. So those are things that I protected during the process.

PopHorror: I think it was a good choice keeping the beginning as it is, because you hooked me with that. It is very effective. 

Naveen Chathapuram: Thank you!

PopHorror: What made you want to be a filmmaker?

Naveen Chathapuram: I think I have to give credit to both my mom and dad. My mom is a great storyteller, and growing up, I remember my cousins and uncles, they say that once my mom has told a story, the movie’s not as good. She tells the story better. And my dad, he’s a huge fan of westerns and Hollywood films. When I was five years old… Before that, when I was probably three, he took me to The Absent-Minded Professor and movies like that. But when I was five, I remember him taking me to First Blood, and for a long time, I remember that it scarred me. Then he took me to movies like The Dirty Dozen and Where Eagles Dare, and all those things. I think he opened up my imagination in that manner, and then later on, I became a huge fan of films. And I’m a huge fan of films to this day. Slowly, at some point in time, I had a curiosity like, there are people who actually make these? What do they do? And that curiosity led me to want to be a filmmaker.

PopHorror: I love that! What is up next for you?

Naveen Chathapuram: I’m really excited about two scripts right now. One is by a gentleman named Cooper Layne. It’s a dark revenge thriller that takes place in Louisiana. But it’s different. This, to me, is a little bit of a western, and that one is a little bit more of a noir, but it does give a nod to films like High Plains Drifter and Cool Hand Luke. The second one is written by the same writer as The Last Victim, Ashely James Louis. It’s a film called Born Again, and it’s completely different. It’s more of an intimate character-based dramatic thriller. When I read the script, I was blown away, so I’m really looking forward to diving into that soon.

PopHorror: I will have to keep my eyes open for that to come out, because I really enjoyed this one. I just have one last question for you today. What is your favorite scary movie?

Naveen Chathapuram: My favorite scary movie… I have to say three. The Exorcist, The Omen, and The Shining.

Thank you so much, Naveen, for taking the time to speak with us. You can check out The Last Victim on digital now!