When temperatures hit record highs during the New Year, a pregnant wife prepares for the birth of her child while her husband prepares for a more sinister agenda. Starring Erin Brown aka Misty Mundae, and Patty McCormack (The Sopranos), In The Wall is a 25 minute short film written and directed by up and coming filmmaker Mike Williamson. We sat down with Mike earlier this week to talk about the short and his upcoming projects.

How did you come up with the concept for In The Wall?

"The concept came from a few places. I?ve always been attracted to the idea of a corpse in the wall and when I write I like it to be about something not just for the sake of shock. The story sort of grew out of ideas I had about fear that any normal red blooded male has going into a relationship which is the fear of fatherhood and the fear of commitment and amp them up and externalize them in a way that no decent man would ever react to his spouse. That?s kind of what it?s about. If a man were to actually act on his fears and could be capable of doing those things he would see how he would be punished for those actions. I wanted to do something that worked on a couple levels and I was also interested in creating a piece that shifted drastically. It goes some place that visceral.?

Do you plan on turning In The Wall into a feature film?

"I never really thought of it that way. I thought that it kind of exists on its own in that format. The intention was to be a stepping off point for me to direct a feature film and have In The Wall serve as something people could look at to see that I can actually take a viewer on a complete journey through narrative. So many shorts are just a little skirt or just an idea and I?m not really interested in doing that if I?m making a short. I still want it to be just as rewarding as a feature film and not just be a chuckle and then they forget about it. I think the story serves its purpose in the 25 minutes but hopefully someone will see it and see that it is kind of a miniature feature length movie and I?ll get my feature going.?

We noticed that you have worked with Patty McCormick previously.

?Yes I worked with her on another short called The Silvergleam Whistle. I just love Patty she is a fantastic actress and so nice to hang out with. I?d love to keep using her in everything I do. She?s just a good soul to have on set really.?

How did you wind up getting hooked up with Patty McCormick for The Silvergleam Whistle and In the Wall and then Erin Brown (Misty Mundae) for In The Wall?

"Other show?s I had worked on really. I worked on some independent movie that Patty had starred in and I was just an assistant and I liked her and we connected and she agreed to do my first short and was more than happy to come back to do this. Erin Brown I worked as an editorial coordinator on the Masters Of Horror TV series and I got to know Lucky McKee because he directed an episode. When it came time to cast In The Wall I went through Lucky and told him I wanted Erin for the part and he hooked us up and she liked the script a lot. She lives in New Jersey but she flew out and did the short for us. She was excited to do it because it?s really different than anything she has ever done before. This to be completely honest, was the first film she?s ever been in where she didn?t take her top off and wasn?t portrayed as a sexual object. You watch her movies and I see a really delicate innocence to her and that?s what I wanted for Jonelle to show people she is very innocent and delicate. She gave it her all and said it was a cathartic role for her which was nice to hear.?

What did you face during the production process in terms of length of time, budget and locations?

?Well all the actors did this in good faith because they wanted to be a part of it. It took us five days to shoot it. It was a 30 page script. The film is shorter, just about 25 minutes. We shot in downtown Los Angeles in a place called Lacey Street Studios which is home to numerous low budget projects. If you start looking through low budget movies you?ll start seeing the rooms that we shot in. Some bigger budget movies shoot there too. The room we used was Christopher Walken?s apartment in Catch Me If You Can but it?s mainly known for low budget movies like the first Saw shot there. It?s a cool place and it has a lot of history. We were told that we got the location for the cheapest amount they had ever given it just because we begged long enough and they had an open slot so it really worked out for us.?

What was it like creating the physical and special effects for the film on such a low budget?

?We had two separate companies working on that. One was Dean and Star Jones has a company that handled the majority of the gore effects and physical effects. They just did the Day of the Dead remake for Steve Miner and I had met them through a few Tobe Hooper films they did like Toolbox Murders and Mortuary and I?m friends with Tobe and the screenwriters of the film Jace Anderson and Adam Gierasch and Adam actually hooked me up with Dean and they agreed to do the effects basically at a loss. They had to do a headcast of one of our characters because something horrible happens to her. Without giving too much away, there are some animatronics in the film that are handled by Creature Effects Inc. with Mark Rappaport and they were basically free. He had created this ?thing? that was in our movie so the animatronics he gave us were free because he had already created it and just never used it in another film. I found out that he had such a thing that I needed and he just wanted to see it used. So we got to used this great animatronics that took a few puppeteers to operate and he just wanted to see it come to life on film. We were happy to do that without having to pay for it.?

The idea of him harvesting his fears and anger and then having them ultimately become him was translated well in the film but in the literal sense of what actually happens in the ending sequence do you feel anything you did was questionable or offensive to some viewers?

?When Patty McCormick comes in at the end, she sort of alludes that it?s his fault and he had done all of that to himself and nothing else could have done it. It was done with the idea in mind that he did do all of this and is racked with guilt and externalizing these fears and does something that makes him commit violence to himself. But I also wanted it to play as a straight picture that what?s in the wall does come out and attack. Because of the heinous act that he commits in the beginning of the movie, he stops a natural process from happening and I figured it was destiny?s way of saying it wasn?t finished and revenge is deserved. It wouldn?t have happened if he didn?t initially commit the acts of violence. That?s why literarily it finds its way into him. I think you?re right in your assumption that it?s symbolic. I make movies for intelligent people so I?m not really bothered by someone who is going to be put off by a tone shift or a leap in logic in what is essentially a fantasy film because they don?t like the same kinds of movies that. I like movies like films from Brian DePalma that almost their sole purpose is destroying expectations and take the viewer places where they never planned on going. I know that people could see something like this and be offended but I?m not a fan of shock for shock sake but horror movies should be horrible. If it?s not horrible then it?s not doing its job because it?s supposed to make you uncomfortable. It should make you go a place where you wouldn?t necessarily want to go in real life. I know that it?s validated because I didn?t do it for shock sake.?

After working on a film, writing, directing, and being involved with a character that is so enraptured in fear, what is your own biggest fear?

?My biggest fear is loneliness. Loneliness in death or loneliness in life. But that?s probably it.?

Are you working on anything else that fans should expect?

"I have a feature script called Overpass which my producer partner and I are currently developing. It?s another horror film coincidentally it deals with marital issues. My wife will hopefully forgive me, but it?s another film that deal?s with marital issues in a very different way. It?s a very different film tonally than In The Wall. But it deals with the marital unions. But I?m excited about getting that going."

Anyone signed up to work on Overpass as of yet?

?It?s not in that stage yet. The only one I?m hoping will repeat performance for me is Clint Mansell who composed In The Wall and did the great soundtracks for Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain. This was his first score for a straight horror film but he?s a big fan of the scores of John Carpenter and knowing that you can go back to the Requiem for a Dream soundtrack and totally hear that influence. We already talked to him about doing a reprise for us and he seemed interested. I?d like to keep working with him he?s fantastic. Other than that we are still massaging the script before we go out and find actors for it.?

For more information about In The Wall and Screamfest LA visit the official Film Festival Website.