Interview: Justin Price – Director (Dark Moon Rising)

Writer-Director Justin Price provides a refreshing outlook on the werewolf genre with his film “Dark Moon Rising.” Justin spoke with me in a Horrornews.net exclusive. “Dark Moon Rising” stars Eric Roberts, Mika Padilla and Jared Allman. “Dark Moon Rising” will hit digital and DVD August 4, 2015

Where did the idea for “Dark Moon Rising” come from?

We wanted to do something fun and I know that sounds a little weird but we wanted to do something where we always wanted to play superheroes as kids. We always vampires, werewolves and monsters.

The special effects were incredible, did you worry about making the wolves look realistic?

We really wanted to think about what would be effective in the universe that we were creating and since were dealing with more of a stylistic, live action anime type of feel for the overall tone of “Dark Moon Rising” we wanted give the audience a way to have something familiar. The teeth, the claws, the strength and the muscle that kind of really stands out.

What is your favorite werewolf transformation and your favorite werewolf movie?

I love “American Werewolf in Paris” transformation scene and of course “The Howling,” “Silver Bullet” and “The Wolfman.” “Underworld” and “Van Helsing” transformation scenes. I even like the “Twilight” version of the wolves. I’m big on fantasy and it was in a way to see a gentle take on the wolves.

Did you start working on the sequel?

Well, we will see what really resonates with the audiences and that will help the distributors.

What challenges did you face making this film?

The challenges we faced with “Dark Moon Rising,” I think most of the challenges lied within trying to introduce the audience to characters that have no history. So once we start designing wardrobe and settings it becomes more about how do we educate and entertain them and how do we inform them.

What was it like working with Eric Roberts and the cast?

Working with them was great. They had that fire and passion and no egos. Eric Roberts, he is an American treasure. He makes your movie better, he makes me better as a director. It was just a blessing to have them on set and to work with them.

As a writer and a director what advice would you give to present and future directors?
Well, I would say that there are a lot of outlets and a lot of information that we can gather and I think that it is important for people to not try to put together this information in a way that is telling you a story that you need to follow. It is important to put together the information to allow you the outlet to understand that you have the ability and the possibilities are endless.

What projects are you working on next?

I am glad you asked that. I am just so excited. I am enthused because we are working with a lot of people at the end come from the world where their told there is a certain way we are supposed to react. We just finished “Forsaken” which is coming out hopefully first quarter, January 2016. It’s about a priest who possesses his wife because she fell deathly ill and he turns his back on God in order to save her and he puts his family in turmoil because that was obviously not the way to go. Khu had directed a romantic comedy called “Dark Cupid.” It is about Cupid coming to earth and not believing in love and just destroying relationships.

Justin on Twitter https://twitter.com/jupiterrings and https://twitter.com/DarkMoonrising4

Justin on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/justinhollywood187

JUSTIN PRICE http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2691863/

Starring Academy Award Nominee Eric Roberts

Writer-director Justin Price’s howling new horror-thriller “Dark Moon Rising” will hit digital and DVD August 4, 2015 from Uncork’d Entertainment.