PopHorror Let's Get Scared
After spending their respective childhoods being mesmerized by “creature features” like John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London, it makes sense that, in adulthood, Alexander Farrell and Greer Ellison would be inspired to create their own monster flick, one that puts a unique spin on the genre.
The Beast Within, co-written by the duo, with Farrell also directing, follows 10-year-old Willow (Caoilinn Springall: The Midnight Sky 2020), who is beginning to question her family’s isolated life on a fortified compound deep in the English wilds. She’s also growing more inquisitive about the secretive nature of her mother, Imogen (Ashleigh Cummings: The Goldfinch 2019), and father, Noah (Kit Harington: Game of Thrones TV series). One night, Willow follows her parents on one of their mysterious late-night treks to the heart of the ancient forest. But upon witnessing her father undergo a terrible transformation, she too becomes ensnared by the dark ancestral secret they’ve tried desperately to conceal. All the while, her grandfather, Waylon (James Cosmo: Game of Thrones TV series), attempts to shield Willow from the dangers of her own family.
PopHorror had the pleasure of speaking with Farrell, Ellison and Springall about all-things The Beast Within, including the strategic balance between fictional and real-world terrors, Springall’s off-screen bond with her on-screen mother, the Night’s Watch reunion of Harington and Cosmo, and more.
PopHorror: Alexander and Greer, you guys co-wrote the film. How and when did the idea for it come to mind?
Alexander Farrell: About three years ago?
Greer Ellison: Yeah, about three years ago.
Alexander Farrell: Yeah, we always knew we wanted to make a monster film. We’re both huge fans of creature features, all the way back to [John] Landis. And we wanted to make a film which captures something slightly more than the audience may be expecting, and to redefine what one would expect as well going into a creature feature. It’s striking that fine balance between the horrors, the real horrors, of a family and family life, and then the horrors of a mythical beast.
PopHorror: Caoilinn, what about this movie made you want to be part of it?
Caoilinn Springall: When I read the script, it’s something very different than I’ve done before, a werewolf film. I’ve never really done that and that intrigued me to do that. And when I read the script, I just knew I really wanted to do this, and I told my mum that I really wanted to do this, and I’m so glad.
Alexander Farrell: We’re so glad you did it.
PopHorror: Yes, you’re great in it! Alex and Greer, was it hard to cast this film, or did you find your lead characters pretty quickly?
Alexander Farrell: Instantly. I knew the moment I was sat in Caoilinn’s living room eating a Terry’s Chocolate Orange, I knew that she was the one. And then I became really aggressive with the producers about making sure we make sure she is the one.
Greer Ellison: And Kit and Ashleigh and James. It really was, when we were writing it all, the cast, just one of those lucky times where everyone just ended up being sort of how we imagined them to be. It was really awesome in that respect.
Caoilinn Springall: I remember when I found out that Ashleigh was cast, because she did Citadel with me, it’s another thing I did with her, and she knew about the project, but I never knew she was part of it. You called me, Alex, and Ashleigh got added to the call, and she said she was part of it, and I was shocked because right before that, like a few weeks ago, we were in Atlanta saying we weren’t gonna see each other for a few years maybe.
Alexander Farrell: Ashleigh played Caoilinn’s mom on Citadel and then played her mom in The Beast Within. So there was already fortunately that incredible synergy between the two of them, which is incredibly evident on screen, as you know.
PopHorror: Caoilinn, I love the scene when Willow and her mom are driving on that really beautiful road. It’s the first time you guys have some sense of normalcy. They’re laughing, she buys you the dress. Was that all natural since you already knew Ashleigh beforehand?
Caoilinn Springall: Yeah, I have a lot of fun doing anything with Ash. So when we were doing this, I was really excited because when driving down the mountain, it’s very different from her life up in the mountains. So I was excited to film that scene with the dress, and I think our connection was really good.
Alexander Farrell: You guys are best friends in real life pretty much, aren’t you?
Caoilinn Springall: Yeah, we are.
PopHorror: There was a bit of a Game of Thrones reunion here, the men of the Night’s Watch, which is so fun. What was that dynamic like between Kit and James, and being able to work together again?
Alexander Farrell: It was wonderful. James was especially excited when he got to punch Kit in the script. They have a fantastic relationship; they really do. And James is just a force to be reckoned with. He’s just magnetic.
Greer Ellison: It’s just something about James’ face; you just want him to give you a hug.
PopHorror: I love the dynamic between James’ character and his granddaughter. I feel like he’s the only sensible adult. He just wants to keep Willow alive. Caoilinn, what was it like working with him?
Caoilinn Springall: I always used to talk to him, so I felt comfortable around him. He was just really nice and kind to me.
PopHorror: Caoilinn, your character goes through so much throughout the film, between the secretive nature of her parents to her breathing troubles. Was it hard to get into that darker mindset? Did you have to do anything “light” after to get into a happier headspace?
Caoilinn Springall: When I read the script, I knew if it was a crying scene, I would think of how she feels in that situation. And then when I’m having an asthma attack, I would either jump on the spot or I would run for 30 seconds straight. After those scenes, I had my little bunny. I would just hug her. When I met Alex, he was like, “Why don’t you bring an element of you into Willow?” with one of my teddies I had since I was a kid, which matched perfectly with my night dress.
PopHorror: Alex and Greer, you mentioned earlier, and it’s really true, this isn’t your typical werewolf thriller. There’s such a deeper element to it, real-world themes. Can you speak to that more in-depth?
Greer Ellison: The real world element of the story was just as important to us as the fantastical werewolf monster element. And for us, it was just finding a way to bring those two together with a synergy and create the story with both those elements always in mind. And framing everything from Willow/Caoilinn’s point of view in the movie allowed us to create this fairytale landscape and kind of dig into that. So yeah, it was super important for us to do that.
PopHorror: Was this filmed on location? The scenery was beautiful, especially that one road they drove on.
Alexander Farrell: Yeah, it was all shot in rural Yorkshire in the UK. We scouted many locations for what felt like an eternity, and stumbled upon this coincidentally, and it was a big boarded up mansion. The rooms were totally empty. It was practically falling apart. We brought in a big production design team. We just turned it into what you see it as.
Greer Ellison: It was super important with the location like that because in the script, everything’s kind of behind closed doors. There’s a lot of horror that just comes from where this family lives. And it was really important that you could feel the shadows in the house, and Alex made it with the production designers, working to just give it this kind of almost damp feeling in there, all these different textures and the walls and everything really bringing that house as a character to life.
PopHorror: There’s a lot of build up to what Kit’s character actually looks like fully transformed. It’s not something that you give away super early on. Can you talk about the decision to hold that until the end? And also what went into creating that final monster look?
Alexander Farrell: So the look itself was based on Willow’s point of view. What would this beast look like in the eyes of a 10-year-old? How do we keep it mythical? How do we keep it fairytale? How do we not disappoint the werewolf fans out there? We had a great designer from KM Effects, who did the Aquaman suit and Venom, and going through the process with him and figuring out what it would look like was a real pleasure. It was so much fun.
Greer Ellison: And then you asked about not revealing it. I think there’s two stages to it in the story. The first one is actually not revealing Kit as a character in his human form for quite a while, and the mystery around, who is this man? What is it they’re scared of? And then revealing him as the character. Then the next phase, the mystery is, what is he like as the monster?
Alexander Farrell: And also, there’s been countless times in films where I’m like, “Oh no, you’re giving it away too early!” We didn’t want to do that. We wanted to hold it back long enough for people to be ready when they see it and hopefully, that’s the place.
PopHorror: Sure, if you do it too early, it’s like, where do you go from there? Caoilinn, what was it like creating that kind of tense father/daughter relationship? On the one hand, it’s questionable if he’s actually a good dad. But then at another point, they’re getting along really well.
Caoilinn Springall: I met Kit a few weeks before filming, and we ran through what the scene would be like, one scene where I come back with my dress and how that would play out. And also off-camera, we would just chat a lot. I remember talking a lot about Harry Potter with him, and he would give me Harry Potter quizzes. But we were very, very close and yeah, I did feel that father/daughter bond.
PopHorror: I always like to ask, since we’re PopHorror.com, and Alex, you mentioned earlier that you’re a fan of creature features, do you have a favorite horror movie or franchise? Maybe one that really inspired this movie?
Alexander Farrell: Well, I could tell you a funny story about the first horror film I ever saw, which was [John] Carpenter’s 1978 Halloween. I watched it accidentally because my brother, sister and I found it on top of a shelf, and we thought, “Oh, this would be a ‘mum’s memories as a child from Halloween in 1978.'” She was upstairs working. We plugged it in and, well, things got very real, very quickly. But I’m a fan of all those early horror films. Friday the 13th was a big one for me growing up, Halloween, Chucky, Candyman, Landis’ classic werewolf film, Nosferatu. I love everything horror. Sam Raimi, I love all of Sam Raimi’s films.
Greer Ellison: It’s difficult to pick. I think we both kind of grew up on these horror films. I always loved as a kid A Nightmare on Elm Street, the original It, The Shining. But then right through to more modern things, like we love The Witch and Hereditary. We’re just big horror fans.
Caoilinn Springall: I’m a bit young for the hardcore ones, like Chucky and The Shining and whatnot. But I like The Nightmare Before Christmas. I know that’s not much horror, but still. I watched when I was younger the Pennywise trailer, and I got very freaked out from that. But my sister, she’s a big horror person, like from the age of 3, she’s been watching Coraline. I want to watch Scream, but I don’t know if I’m allowed to watch Scream.
Alexander Farrell: Not long Caoilinn, not long!
PopHorror: For people who go to see The Beast Within, is there one main thing that you hope they walk out of the theaters thinking about or taking away from it?
Alexander Farrell: It’s definitely a film that needs to be experienced and not explained. So I would say, I hope it starts a conversation. I think there will be lots of different opinions and lots of fighting couples who will believe: “It’s a metaphor;” “It’s a monster film.” Yeah, it’s about a conversation.
PopHorror: It’s up for interpretation.
Alexander Farrell: Yeah, absolutely.
Thanks for speaking with us, Alexander, Greer and Caoilinn! The Beast Withinis playing in theaters now.
Photos courtesy of Well GO USA.
