PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Some people are just born to direct and this is definitely true for Derek Nguyen. He has great vision and knows how to deliver a phenomenal horror story that focuses on great characters, atmosphere, and fear. This is how I felt after watching his new film The Housemaid, which will be in select theaters and VOD tomorrow February 16!
Read our interview to find out how he got involved in the industry, learn more about The Housemaid, how he feels about Women in Horror Month, and more.
Derek Nguyen
PopHorror – It’s an honor to talk with you, Derek! How did you got involved in this industry?
Derek Nguyen – I’ve always wanted to make films and theater since I was a child. So I went to college and graduated with a dramatic writing degree. Then did as many film projects as possible. Eventually, I got to know more filmmakers, crew members, and artists until I eventually was able to make my own films.
PopHorror – That’s amazing. What was the first film you ever were involved with?
Derek Nguyen – I was an extra in short film my friend Kerry Weldon directed called Transit. My job was to sit on the subway as a passenger and ignore the actors while they were in a scene. The whole time I wanted to see what the director and crew were doing. My eyes were darting from one place to another, and they probably had to cut around my distracting glances at the camera crew!
PopHorror – Wow that’s great thinking – very hands on. How did it shape you as a director?
Derek Nguyen – I learned that I am not an actor. I’m definitely a behind-the-camera type of guy.
PopHorror – Haha, good to know. Your newest film The Housemaid is a horror film. Do you enjoy this genre?
Derek Nguyen – I am really into Gothic horror films. While making the film, I was really influenced by Guillermo del Toro and Hitchcock. Other than the classics like Bride of Frankenstein, I love films like The Others, Let the Right One In, The Orphanage, and The Witch.
PopHorror – All of those are amazing. Can you tell viewers a bit about your film?
Derek Nguyen – The Housemaid is a Gothic romance/horror film set in 1953 Vietnam during the French Indochinese War. Linh, an orphaned country girl comes to a dilapidated French rubber plantation to find work and shelter. She gets hired to be the housemaid, falls in love with the French landowner, and discovers the estate is haunted.
PopHorror – What inspired you to make it?
Derek Nguyen – The film is inspired by my grandmother, who was once a servant in a grand estate in Vietnam and ended up falling in love with the landowner. As a child, she used to love to tell me ghost stories. One of the things that stuck with me was that she believed that spirits lived in trees. Then I learned about the atrocities that the Vietnamese rubber plantation workers experienced under the French landowners and I thought about how haunted the plantations must be. If you visit the rubber plantations in Vietnam, you’ll notice that the soil is red. Many Vietnamese believe that the soil is red because of all the spilled blood of the Vietnamese workers.
PopHorror – Oh, wow. That’s chillingly beautiful. Speaking of which, The Housemaid is a truly creepy film from beginning to end. Is there a particular scene that you found more frightening than others?
Derek Nguyen – I actually love the scene where the cook Mrs. Ngo conjures up a spell to heal the injured landowner Sebastien Laurent, but inadvertently awakens the ghost of his dead wife Camille. The ghost emerges from the lake in where she committed suicide years ago and ends up wreaking havoc. It’s fun old-fashioned monster movie kind of stuff.
PopHorror – Same here! The best part for me is the twist at the end. Do you think fans will see it coming? I know I didn’t!
Derek Nguyen – I’m glad you liked it and didn’t see it coming! I’m always hesitant about discussing twists because I feel that when audiences know there is one, they’re expecting it, which might ruin it for them. But I hope fans enjoy it!
PopHorror – I know they will! This is a female-driven story and since it’s women in horror month, I must ask which women in the industry inspire you?
Derek Nguyen – Women have always been a driving force in my life. I was primarily raised by my mother in a house with only women (besides me of course). So female-driven stories have always been in my psyche. I also work at Gamechanger Films, a film fund that finances narrative features directed by women. I’d like to consider myself a hardcore feminist. Go Women in Horror Month!
PopHorror – That’s wonderful to hear! Do you have any upcoming projects you’d like to talk about?
Derek Nguyen – I am writing a new script that’s set in the US that I’d like to direct. Along with working at Gamechanger, I’m also a consultant for the Tribeca Film Institute. I’m producing a film called I’m Not Down by A. Sayeeda Moreno and working on the American remake of The Housemaid. I’m keeping myself busy.
