PopHorror Let's Get Scared
The new flick, Spare Parts by Andrew Thomas Hunt (Sweet Karma 2012), is fucking insane.
Here’s the synopsis:
While travelling on their first American tour, Ms. 45, an all-girl punk band, is drugged and kidnapped. They awaken to find their limbs removed and replaced with crude weaponry and are forced to fight as Gladiators for a sadistic town.
Uh, what?!? Count me in!
I recently chatted with Andrew, and we discussed his initial thoughts on the script, what he loves about horror, and what’s up next.
PopHorror: Hey, Andrew! How are you?
Andrew Thomas Hunt: Good, Tiffany. How are you?
PopHorror: I’m good. Thank you. So I watched Spare Parts over the weekend, and it was so much fun. I loved every minute of it.
Andrew Thomas Hunt: Thank you! I love hearing that.
PopHorror: It’s balls to the wall from the very beginning, and I like something that grabs my attention like that, so I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Andrew Thomas Hunt: Thank you.
PopHorror: Of course! What was it that intrigued you about the film and made you want to be a part of the project?
Andrew Thomas Hunt: So, I did my first film about 12 years ago, a film called Sweet Karma, and out of that grew Raven Banner. My partners and I—who made Sweet Karma—would then end up creating a film and distribution company that specializes in genre film. I’ve spent the better part of the last decade helping other filmmakers make their genre films and get them out there into the world. When it came time for me to do my next film, I wanted to create something that was really a genre mash up of everything. I was pitched this idea six years ago during TIFF, and as soon as I heard it, I loved the idea. I attached myself to it as the director with the caveat that I could work with the writers on tweaking some of the elements to fit my sensibilities. And yeah, so that’s how this came into being, but like any film, it took a while for it to finally come to fruition.
PopHorror: What was your first reaction after seeing the synopsis of the film?
Andrew Thomas Hunt: I loved it, you know? They were originally rock climbers who got kidnapped and drugged and woke up to have their arms removed. But just from brainstorming with my partners, the idea of changing them into a rock band came up. I immediately loved that idea because, of course, it brought a punk rock aesthetic to the film, and I knew that the music would be a big, driving component to the fight sequences. And so to have a musical element to it at the beginning, you can start with a bar fight and show that these are girls who could handle themselves, but also this idea that they are also in a very male dominated world. In these arena battles, people aren’t taking them seriously. And then I hate to say that even in today’s rock and punk music world, you still don’t see a lot of all girl rock bands or all girl punk bands. They’re seen simply as a novelty, you know? You’ve got a lot of great pop artists like Beyoncé and Lady Gaga and Madonna and whatnot, but they’re all in the world of pop, and they’re successful. But you don’t see a lot of female rock bands or punk bands. So, I’d like to bring that into the film thematically.
PopHorror: I agree with you, and I like that you guys made that change, because I think that that made them more badass. I really like that.
Andrew Thomas Hunt: They were four girls who could handle themselves.
PopHorror: So, what is it that draws you to the horror genre?
Andrew Thomas Hunt: I don’t know. What is it that draws any of us to the horror genre? It’s great escapism, right? I consider myself a very grounded, happy go lucky person. I haven’t had any trauma or bad events in my life, thankfully. But there’s something about horror films, about being able to explore one’s darker side, the forbidden tendencies that maybe we have, that we can think of. Maybe not speak of and certainly not act upon. Horror allows you to do so in a safe way and walk away from it at the end smiling and laughing about it, right?
PopHorror: Absolutely!
Andrew Thomas Hunt: Horror allows us to tap into our secret psychopath.
PopHorror: Exactly. I 100% agree with you. I find it to be a great escape as well, and that no matter how bad I’m feeling. I can watch a horror movie and be like, “Well, at least I’m not that person. They have it a lot worse.”
Andrew Thomas Hunt: Right! Very true.
PopHorror: If you could collaborate with anyone, living or dead, who would have be?
Andrew Thomas Hunt: Oh, shit. I don’t know. Admittedly, I’m a huge David Cronenberg fan. David Cronenberg is the reason why I became a filmmaker, because he, too, was based in Toronto, and obviously, I loved his films growing up. Videodrome, The Fly, Dead Ringers, The Dead Zone… So, to see that this guy was making these great films and was making them here in Toronto—not just making them here in Toronto, but films like The Fly and Videodrome were actually set in Toronto—and so it made me aware that this was a possibility to make films in Toronto. So early on, I realized that I could never be David Cronenberg Version Two. He is his own thing, and no one could ever be like him. So, it is difficult as a filmmaker to try to figure out exactly who you are, what your voice is going to be, and what films you’re going to make… but yeah. I also love Edgar Wright, and I would love to do a collaboration with Edgar Wright. It would be so much fun, because that guy is just so damn creative.
PopHorror: Those are phenomenal answers. No one has said David Cronenberg yet, and he’s one of my top three directors, so I really appreciate that. What’s next for you, Andrew? Is there anything that you’re currently working on?
Andrew Thomas Hunt: Yeah, actually I directed my third film over a year ago now called The Fight Machine, and I was very thankful that we were able to wrap it up. We literally wrapped it up a week before the pandemic hit before we went into quarantine.
PopHorror: Oh, good!
Andrew Thomas Hunt: I’m just in post-production on The Fight Machine right now.
PopHorror: I’m excited to hear about that! I’ll keep an eye out for it. And I just have one last question for you. What is your favorite scary movie?
Andrew Thomas Hunt: Oh, my God! Favorite… I would have to say… Here’s the thing. I don’t call them scary movies, because they don’t actually scare me. I’m pretty desensitized in that way. Rosemary’s Baby is a favorite. Videodrome is a favorite, and a film that we actually released here in Canada, The Autopsy of Jane Doe.
Thank you so much, Andrew, for taking the time to speak with us. Be sure to catch Spare Parts on VOD, Digital, DVD, Amazon Streaming, and Blu-ray now!
