REVIEW & INTERVIEW: Home Sweet Home, and star, Alexandra Boylan

- By Bryan Stumpf

After seeing the recently released features It Follows and Spring, I believe we’re currently in a renaissance for independent horror. I felt a similar way ten years ago, after watching The Descent and The Devil’s Rejects. At that time, I predicted we’d be entering a renaissance of Isolation Horror. However, Hostel was also released in 2005, and Eli Roth’s epic made more money than The Descent and The Devil’s Rejects combined. So horror veered instead into the dark chapter of Torture Porn.

I found this disappointing, because I’ve always been a fan of Isolation Horror, a sub-genre that included classics like The Thing and The Shining. Heck, even my first film Annulment could be considered a mix of Romantic Comedy and Isolation Horror. Then, at last year’s Shriekfest, I discovered I wasn’t alone in my love for Isolation Horror. While interviewing filmmakers Barry Morgan and John K.D. Graham, John mentioned that out of his love for this sub-genre, he had just made an Isolation Horror film, starring his wife Alexandra Boylan, entitled Home Sweet Home.

Just recently, I bumped into John at the Los Angeles premiere of The House Across the Street, and he introduced me to Alexandra. I mentioned to Alexandra that I wanted to see Home Sweet Home ever since John described it at Shriekfest, and within days, Alexandra gave me her personal copy of Home Sweet Home to view at my leisure.

Home Sweet Home proved to be a near perfect entry in the Isolation Horror sub-genre. Gwen, played by Alexandra, returns to her deceased parent’s home in the middle of the Southwest US desert, after being evicted from her apartment in Albuquerque, only to find the house has been claimed by a couple of psychotic squatters. In an effective opening scene, the psychotic couple, played by Christopher Dempsey and Raquel Cantu, ransack a convenience store and take immense enjoyment in intimidating anyone who looks in their direction.

John K.D. Graham proves to be a virtuoso behind the camera. Rarely is the camera simply perched on a tripod as we follow Gwen’s descent into desperate self-defense against savages. John makes expert, impressive use of the house and the surrounding desert. When Gwen first arrives, the house seems spacious and open, yet when the home invaders take over, John and his cinematographer Richard Galli are able to bring the walls in closer, making the house seem claustrophobic and labyrinthine. And the desert beyond the walls appears always dark and foreboding. John and his cinematographer convince us that venturing into that expansive nothingness could possibly be worse than cooped up with crazies.

Perfectly complementing John’s camerawork is Alexandra’s performance. As Gwen battles for her life and her home, Alexandra is able to at times exhibit a heartbreaking fragility, while at other times, show Gwen’s deep well of steely resolve. Early on, Gwen reacts in very realistic, believable ways. And when Gwen picks up an ax for self-defense, we at first doubt she knows how to use it. But near the climax, one poor soul discovers not only is Gwen proficient at ax wielding, her aim is true.

With Home Sweet Home, John K.D. Graham and Alexandra Boylan prove to be a husband-wife filmmaker team to keep on your radar. And I mentioned all this to Alexandra when I returned her copy of Home Sweet Home. I had so many other questions, I asked if I could interview her for The Slaughtered Bird. Alexandra agreed.

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Alexandra! Thank you for taking the time for an interview for The Slaughtered Bird.

Thank you so much Bryan, for watching Home Sweet Home, and I am stoked to chat with you about my career thus far.

Could you talk a little about your beginnings? Were there any movies or experiences that convinced you to go into acting/filmmaking?

I started acting before I can even remember when I started acting. My father is a minister, and I remember doing plays and sketches in church at a really young age. When I landed a leading role in my 7th grade play, Bye Bye Birdie, I was hooked. I remember the second my foot hit the stage and I was enveloped into the land of make believe, I had found where I belonged.

I had really strict parents so I wasn’t allowed to watch many movies as a child. But I remember spending most of my childhood in the woods behind my house making up stories. Those woods were everything from the medieval times where I was the Queen of the land, to the Wild Wild West where I was fighting off the bad guys. I was and still am an avid reader, and I would take those stories and my imagination and bring them to life on my own private stage: my parents’ backyard.

With guidance from my older brother, I went on my first professional audition for a movie in Boston at the age of fourteen. Growing up in a small town in the suburbs of Massachusetts, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to audition in Boston. I have always loved writing and creating, and after many years of solely pursuing acting, I decided I wanted to be a part of the entire creative process. I began producing my own projects in 2008.

Who are your current inspirations for actors/writers/directors?

I have always admired Sandra Bullock, not just because of her insanely successful acting career but also because of her character and choices. Everyone who has worked with her says she is a joy to be around, and as a producer, she treats her cast and crew with incredible kindness. She is savvy and wise, starting her own production company and creating roles for herself. I admire and look up to her; she proves that you can be extremely successful and still stay grounded and compassionate. As our production company, MirrorTree Productions, grows, it is really important to me that we always treat everyone with respect and kindness, no matter what their job is on our set. I personally don’t like the hierarchy in the Hollywood system. Everyone is important — from the producers to the coffee runner.

Also, I’m in awe of everything Cate Blanchett does, she is perfection, and I have been in love with her work since I first saw her in The Talented Mr. Ripley. She is mesmerizing.

Your brother wrote the screenplay for Home Sweet Home, right? Would you say movies and filmmaking have always been important in your family?

Funny you should ask that, because growing up in a minister’s home, we were not allowed to watch very much TV. Yet out of four kids, three of us have gone on to work in the entertainment industry. My parents really did support and encourage our creative endeavors though, and I am grateful that they forced us to go outside and play, instead of allowing us to sit glued to the tube for hours. We were using our imaginations constantly, and discovering our passion for telling stories.

I remember the first film I saw in the movie theater was Back to The Future. I remember when the lights went down and the screen lit up, that I wanted to be a part of creating that special world. The movie ended and I don’t think I got up off my seat for awhile. I just sat there completely engrossed in what I had just experienced. I knew at that very young age it was something special, and I wanted to grow up and be a part of bringing that special magic to life. I think I even turned to my parents and said, “Yep, that’s what I’m gonna do when I grow up.”

My parents encouraged me, and my father drove me to all my auditions in Boston. He would sit for hours and wait for me while I was on set shooting a movie. My brother Andrew was a huge influence on me pursuing my acting career. I am the youngest of four kids, and am so grateful to have such supportive and inspiring siblings. We are all super close, and in fact, my sister Andrea is a co-writer and producer with my husband John and I on our most recent film, Catching Faith. I’m not sure my parents knew when we were all young that we would go on to work in the entertainment industry, but they drilled into us at a very young age that we could accomplish anything we wanted to in life. They encouraged us to go after our dreams and pursue our passion with vigorous effort, to live an extraordinary life.

Could you talk a little about the journey of bringing Home Sweet Home to the big screen?

John KD Graham, my husband, and the director of Home Sweet Home and I had previously collaborated on a couple of shorts. We created a web series called, Alter Ego, and were about 4 episodes in, when we became the target of an Internet bully. At the time, we were super frustrated, but it ended up being a blessing in disguise. We decided to abandon the project and move onto a feature film. We thought,“Well, isn’t a feature just a bunch of shorts put together anyway? Why not just do it?” We heard about Kickstarter and began a campaign to raise some money, and gather some friends to go out to the middle of nowhere and shoot a film. We had heard some news stories about how squatters were living in people’s attics, and while the home owners were at work the person would come down and eat their food and watch their TV. The person would come home from work and find all their belongings moved, and their fridge half empty. At first, people were convinced they had a ghost, but then discovered it was much worse. John and I thought this would be a great premise for a movie — it’s like home invasion in a reverse. What if you were to return home only to find someone else had moved in, and they didn’t want to leave?

My brother Andrew came onto the project to pen the script, and also conveniently plays my brother in the movie. After we raised some money on Kickstarter, we set a date, and about six of us headed out to the middle of nowhere in New Mexico to begin shooting.

The house and the New Mexico locale in Home Sweet Home play a substantial role in the movie. Could you talk why you chose those locations?

Honestly the location was the first thing we knew we had when going into making our first feature film. John’s parents own that house on 18 acres of land in Alamogordo, New Mexico. They agreed to let us come shoot a movie out there. So we actually wrote the whole story around the house and surrounding property. In fact, John and I drove out there on one occasion and made notes about everything the property had that could be useful in the movie, and sent the information back to my brother along with photos.

The house had a door on the second floor that went out to nothing, just a drop off, and one of the closets had a trap door that leads to a small crawl space. These were some fantastic set pieces that we utilized in the film. The house REALLY is in the middle of nowhere, and it was the perfect location for a creepy home invasion style film. We shot off guns late at night for 30 mins, and not a soul came to check on us. It is a seriously remote area. Plus most horror movies have people running through the woods, and we really loved the idea of someone being trapped in the desert, a wide-open space, with nowhere to hide.

Your husband John KD Graham - also interviewed for The Slaughtered Bird - directed you in Home Sweet Home. What was it like having your husband direct you in a movie?

John and I were married a month before beginning principle photography on Home Sweet Home. We kind of joke that making that movie was our honeymoon. John and I met on a film set, and I was immediately taken with his talent. He has such a vision, and I have great admiration for him. One of the greatest qualities John possesses as a director is, he casts good actors and then lets them do their thing. That is a sign of a fabulous director.

John and I create our projects together from the very, very beginning (from scratch), so once we make it to the filming part of the process we are on the exact same page. He also directed me in our most recent film, Catching Faith. We were both writers on the project, and had talked so much in the writing room about my character that once we shot my scenes it was a breeze. But when John does give me a note, I take it with seriousness, cause I trust him completely. He is my favorite director after all.

What are some ways people will be able to watch Home Sweet Home?

Home Sweet Home is available to rent or buy on iTunes, Amazon, Netflix, and Blockbuster. You can buy our DVD online at Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and even on the distribution company’s website, Image Entertainment. Probably the best way to purchase a DVD would be to go to the Watch Image web-site: http://www.watchimage.com/product/home-sweet-home/365c37e6-ae44-e211-b3d7-020045490004

What’s next for you?

John and I actually just arrived today in Wisconsin to write our next movie with my sister, a faith-based family Christmas movie. We plan to shoot in my hometown in Massachusetts this winter.

Our most recent feature film, Catching Faith, has sold (I can’t release the details yet) and should be released this fall. Catching Faith is about a woman who is extremely concerned with her appearances and trying to keep up the façade that she and her family live the perfect life. But when her son, the star player of the football team is caught drinking at a party, she is faced with the challenge of choosing integrity or popularity. The film stars Bill Engvall and Lorena Segura York.

John and I are also in development on two other films. A found footage movie my brother Andrew Boylan is currently writing, and a supernatural thriller about a girl who worksnight shifts in a haunted nursing home.

Thanks for the interview, Alexandra!

Thank you, Mr. Movie Malcontent!