Beatroute Magazine BC Print Edition - September 2017

Peter Ricq, director of Dead Shack
HOGAN SHORT
Peter Ricq is a multifaceted artist
living in Vancouver who, according
to his level of output, never sleeps
or slows down. As one half of
the electronic duo Humans and
frontperson for the dark and
brooding new wave project Gang
Signs, his musical chops are very
frequently exercised. But in addition
to performing, Ricq is also about to
make his first directorial debut at
the Vancouver International Film
Festival for his live action horror
comedy feature, Dead Shack. He’s
been travelling around the world for
various premieres since June, but we
caught up with him for a quick chat
about his wild ride before Dead Shack
bludgeons its hometown audience
with one impaling swoop.
BeatRoute: Hi, how are you?
Peter Ricq: I’m good! Thanks!
BR: What are your feelings on
premiering your directorial debut at
VIFF this year?
PR: It’s nice, feels great. I’m really
happy to finally see it with the people
who have worked on the film. We
haven’t had the time or finance to do
a cast and crew screening so this will
be the first time everyone gets to see
the film. I can’t wait.
BR: Dead Shack has kids swearing and
killing (undead) adults, which has
never really been done, even though
it makes perfect sense. What gave
you and the rest of the writing team
— Phil Ivanusic and Davila LeBlanc
— the initial idea for this story?
PR: I wrote the outline to the film
after watching the Fright Night
Peter Ricq is presenting his directorial debut, Dead Shack, at VIFF this
month.
remake about 5 years ago. That film
just reminded me of how much I like
fun horrors starring a young cast like
Monster Squad, Goonies and Stand
by Me. I wanted to make a film of that
style for our generation. As a kid, I
always wanted the gore to be pushed
further and the swearing to be more
like how I expressed myself with my
friends at that age. It was just a natural
thing to do and go into that direction.
When I presented the film to Phil and
Dav, we had some arguments on some
story elements but never about the
tone or direction of the film. I think
we all felt like kids swearing and killing
people was 100 per cent going to be
part of the film.
BR: The original score was done by
your own band, Humans. How did
that creative process differ from what
you are musically accustomed to?
PR: I had a good idea from the start
and had a bunch references from films
I liked — ALIENS, The Thing, Tron
(Daft Punk), Assault on Precinct 13
(Carpenter), Fargo (TV show) and so
on. Wrote about 40 tracks in 10 days
then in January I would edit the film
with the editor in the morning then
go see Jason Corbett at Jacknife Sound
and re-record with him the samples
we thought could sound better, then
go back to the editing room at night.
I wanted real strings in the film and
asked Dougal Bain McLean if he was
interested in contributing to the score
and he agreed. I sent him 40 tracks
and he sent me multiple strings for
every track! He really helped in turning
this into what it became.
BR: How has the festival circuit
treated you and your movie?
PR: The response has been very
positive. We even won the Silver prize
for best Canadian film at this year’s
FANTASIA film festival in Montreal.
I just got back from London Fright
Fest and many people have come up
to me telling me it was one of their
favourite films at the fest. The day
after its UK premiere, which we had
900 people attend and watch it on an
IMAX screen (SOOOO BIIIG!), I woke
up to so many positive tweets about
how much the audience enjoyed Dead
Shack.
BR: Have there been more screams
or more laughs from the audience?
Are you trying to get both evenly?
PR: The movie has a few scares but it’s
more of a gore zombie film with a lot of
comedy. Think of films like Evil Dead 2
and Gremlins, more in that vein.
BR: What do you hope to hear
people say as they walk out of the
theatre after seeing Dead Shack?
PR: I want my art to entertain people.
That’s what I try to do with my music,
my illustrations and my films. I want
people to come out and say “I had a
great time, that was fun!”
BR: Has filmmaking always been
something that appealed to you?
Are there any other scripts in the
works?
PR: Yeah, that was always the goal. I
started doing comics because I knew
it would help me with my storytelling,
then moved from that to animated
films, then that to live action music
videos and then movies! So the goal
was always to be a filmmaker in the
end. I have several films in the script
stage; a vampire film that I’m writing
with a local Vancouverite, Zlatina
Pacheva. The film is somewhat like
Superbad meets Fright Night. I’m
working on turning my graphic novel,
Once Our Land, into an animated
feature film with Philippe Ivanusic.
Phil, Dav and I are working on another
live action film that is a marriage of
Dazed and Confuzed and The Thing.
BR: What is a film you saw lately
that really spoke to you as a
filmmaker and maybe even inspired
you in some way?
PR: I really enjoyed It Comes at Night; it’s
an amazing film. Anything A24 does is
simply brilliant. A24 also did one of the
best westerns I’ve ever seen called Slow
West starring Michael Fassbender, who
also produced the film. Super recently, I
thought the new Spiderman was highly
entertaining. I also loved the Fargo
television series and I adored Preacher
Season 2. I’m obviously really excited
about Stranger Things Season Two.
HUMANS is performing at Thrive AIDS
Walk Sept. 16 at the Malkin Bowl, Gang
Signs is performing at Westward Fest on
Sept 14 and Rifflandia (Victoria) Sept
15. Dead Shack will be screening as
part of VIFF. Visit www.viff.org for dates
and times.
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September 2017