I was lucky enough to run into super hot writer-director Paul Solet at this year’s Los Angeles Fangoria convention, who was there promoting his highly lauded first feature, Grace - which, as you’ve surely heard by now, has been the talk of the town ever since it made two men passed out at its Sundance premiere earlier this year.  We got to talking, but the more I heard, the more I wanted to know. So I tracked Paul down between festivals earlier this week and got a chance to get answers to some of my own burning questions about what many are calling this year’s most anticipated horror film.

Christa: Okay.  I’ve been hearing so much about this film, I don’t even know where to begin.

Paul: (Sinister smile.)

C: (Christa thinks, ‘Oh my God, this kid is really hot.’) Let’s just start from the beginning of this buzz bomb, your Sundance premiere.  I understand that two men passed out and you actually caught some of this on tape?

P:  Yeah, we had a documentary producer throughout Sundance. 

C: What was your reaction when it happened?  Were you psyched?

P: Once the ambulance came and we realized everyone was fine, I was actually a little concerned. You hear people passed out during a film, you think about something like Saw - I love those films, don’t get me wrong, but Grace is something quite different, and I was concerned that we would set up the wrong expectations for the film.  Of, course, it’s totally gratifying to a genre filmmaker to realize that a film is getting under people’s skin enough to actually make them pass out, but this movie isn’t just a gut punch, it’s a soul punch.  In the end, it actually proved to be a great jumping off point to discuss what the film really is, and it began a tremendous critical reception at Sundance.

C: So you’ve been tearing up the festival circuit ever since then?

P: Yeah, it’s been a hell of a ride, and the film has been so well received, I just haven’t stopped smiling for months.  Since Sundance we won the Jury Prize at Gerardmer in France, killed at Fright Fest, SXSW, AFI Dallas, Boston, Phoenix and San Francisco.  

C: How was it bringing the film to Boston, where you grew up?

P: (Suddenly talking in a thick Boston accent) Fahkin’ amazing.  Seriously, it was pretty magical to bring Grace home.  We screened at the Brattle Theater in Cambridge, which is a stone’s throw away from my parents house.  They’re still members of that theater.  I grew up watching movies there.  I can remember seeing Touch of Evil with my dad and then going to get ice cream up the street and geeking out over that first never ending shot.  It was pretty amazing, so many people from throughout my life showed up. Teachers from my high school, friends I hadn’t seen in years, there were kids from my kindergarten class there! They all gathered to watch this twisted movie.

C: Where to next?

P: Next stop is Seattle Film Festival, June 5th and 6th.  I’m psyched; I hear it’s a great one.

C: What directors inspired you most, particularly on Grace?

P: I’ve always looked to guys like Cronenberg and Polanski since I was a little kid, probably too little to be watching their movies.  But there are guys working today who I think are doing some amazing things.  Kiyoshi Kurosawa is phenomenal, that guy does sound design like no one else.  Michael Heneke too, just such courageous choices as a filmmaker. 

C: Someone told me you shot the film in less than 30 days?

P: We actually shot it in 17 days. 

C:  Jesus….  And you had a baby to deal with?

P: Yes.   

C: How’d that go?  How the hell did you work with a baby on that schedule?

P: We came really prepared.  I come from a background that emphasizes preparation and economy.  There’s really not time to waste on that kind of schedule.  As far as the baby goes, I made a decision from the beginning to let the baby dictate the drama, rather than trying to manipulate a performance out of her - to just trust that this baby was going to provide something much more real and organic than I ever could jumping around off camera.  There are certainly things you can do to elicit certain reactions - you can charm a baby with a boom pole, or get a smile by having mom off camera with a grin - but it was mostly a casting job. When you’re casting a baby, you’re also casting parents, and this couple was just a really well adjusted family, and they totally got that this film just some string of gimmicks and spectacle.  They really got behind the film.  And the baby herself was just wonderful.

C: Okay, so the question everyone is asking is, when can we see it and how?

P: Anchor Bay is actually just about to announce the theatrical release date.  They’ve gotten behind this film a hundred percent, we’re totally psyched.  We may even be able to hand pick some venues from the theaters that have been especially good to us on this festival run. 

C: Awesome!  And now the other question everyone wants to know, it’s Soll-it, NOT So-lay, right?  I mean, you aren’t French, are you?

P: Nope. 

C: Can I come over?

P: Yup.