INTERVIEW: ‘It Stains the Sands Red’ finds one zombie after one survivor
Minimalism meets the apocalypse in the new horror thriller It Stains the Sands Red, which will be released Friday, July 28 in theaters and on VOD. The zombie flick from Dark Sky Films stars All My Children’s Brittany Allen as a woman trying to outrun a lone zombie in the desert outside Las Vegas. The movie comes from the brains of co-writers Colin Minihan and Stuart Ortiz, with Minihan directing.
Allen plays Molly, a woman determined to survive the zombie onslaught that has wreaked havoc in Las Vegas. However, the slow-moving creature (Juan Riedinger of Narcos) that follows her into the desert is unrelenting in his strength and pace. The movie becomes a battle between Molly’s ability to withstand the elements and the zombie’s undying stamina.
“Well, I met Colin and Stew on Extraterrestrial, which was a film we shot in Vancouver four years ago,” Allen said in a recent phone interview. “I just put myself on tape for that film from L.A., and thankfully, it was found amongst all the tapes. And [I] was cast in it, which was the beginning of a new chapter in my life.”
Little did Allen know that her role in Extraterrestrial would lead to further collaboration with Minihan and Ortiz, and after Minihan moved to Los Angeles, he began working on It Stains the Sands Red with Ortiz.
“They were wanting to do something different but also on a pretty low budget given the resources,” Allen said. “They came up with this concept of one zombie in the desert, and initially, it was actually written for a man. So it’s one zombie pursuing a man throughout the desert, and that script stuck for a few months. … Through closer inspection, they kind of realized the script would work better as a woman, and in the year following Extraterrestrial, we had worked together in varying ways. And I guess Colin, in particular, had kind of seen the kind of roles that I was capable of playing just by helping me tape for certain auditions and stuff. … It was ultimately the kind of dream role that I have always wanted to play because I love Molly. I thought they wrote such a full, and tragic, and angry, and broken, and funny and just complete human being in Molly, so, yeah, then we all just set out to the desert to make it.”
Shooting in the desert for 21 days was difficult. They had one RV and a couple of cars, and each day they would drive 60-90 minutes outside Las Vegas and start filming. There were no luxuries like green rooms or trailers. This was independent filmmaking at its core.
“I enjoy that element of smaller films because there’s a real camaraderie that happens with the team, and everyone is in it together,” Allen said. “It can definitely be challenging at times, [especially] if you’ve got a big scene you’re prepping for, and the only space you have is to kind of wander off into the desert and try to find your center there. There is plenty of space left out here in the desert. I mean, one of the biggest challenges was that it was quite cold when we shot. We were expecting that, and most days it was uncomfortably cold unless you had a jacket on. And at night, even if you had a jacket on, people were freezing. It was quite a challenge in terms of that, and my wardrobe didn’t help at all.”
Allen has become a new fan of horror movies. Growing up, she loved to get scared and watched many fright flicks, but when she got into her 20s and started living on her own, that love for horror dissipated a bit. She said her imagination was too wild.
“I [would] carry or hold on to terrifying images I’ve seen in a film, and I won’t be able to sleep at night,” she said of her 20s. “So I kind of stopped watching horror movies for a bit, but then since working and becoming involved with Colin, I have a much deeper appreciation for it. And I find that I can handle it a lot more. My favorite kinds of horror movies are the ones where there is rich character development. I’m not a fan of boobs, and unnecessary nudity and just outright stupidity. … I don’t take well to those films, but I do love dark films that make you kind of enter into a part of the world and maybe a part of yourself that is frightening. And I like dark visuals that maybe show you something creative that you haven’t seen before. I tend to make a lot of dark visual artwork myself, so I really appreciate that when someone can channel that in themselves.”
When on a film set, Allen takes her job seriously and is always searching for that rich character development. “I want to be a part of projects where I feel like a lot of care has been put into them in the writing process, and it’s a passionate team behind it,” she said. “On set, I give it my all, no matter what the project and no matter what it’s for. So I want to be surrounded by other people who are treating it with that same level of respect and work ethic.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
It Stains the Sands Red, directed by Colin Minihan and starring Brittany Allen, will be released Friday, July 28 in theaters and on VOD. Click here for more information.
