Interview: Director Aaron Carter (An Hour To Kill)

Exclusive Horrornews.net Interview

with Aaron Carter,

Director of AN HOUR TO KILL 

What was your inspiration for making AN HOUR TO KILL?

I’ve always loved the 80’s horror-anthology films; Creepshow, Tales From The Darkside, Cat’s Eye, Body Bags, etc. The short stories give a lot of variety to the viewer. However, I think several of them lack a really good wrap-around story. I consciously tried to make the wrap-around for this film interesting. The frame of AN HOUR TO KILL is basically two hit-men who have an hour before they have to wack someone. To help waste time, they tell each other bizarre horror tales. After each segment, we go back into the hit-man story.

Do you have a personal favorite scene? and why?

Yes, In HOG HUNTERS, when the four bowlers finally get to the old farm house. It goes from zero to sixty real quick and has a great cringy WTF moment. We filmed those scenes at my grandmother’s house and we were there from 9PM to 8AM. When the shoot was over, we decided to get breakfast at McDonalds. I played one of the humanoid hog women and I was still in full hog makeup, when we walked in. Needless to say, we caught everyone’s attention the second we stepped foot inside, especially an excited Japanese tourist who wanted to take a photo with the cast.

Did any part of the movie turn out differently than you envisioned it?

Yes, the entire ASSACRE segment. It was originally going to be shot more straight forward, like the other two shorts. However, after I befriended Brendan Mitchell (YouTube Personality WetMovie1) I decided to cast him and make that segment in the style of his weekly “Out-And-About” videos – which is more hand-held, shaky, documentary-like. ASSACRE turned out to be hilarious.

What was the biggest challenge while making AN HOUR TO KILL?

I was an unfortunate victim of theft. I borrowed a camera from someone, and after we shot the VALKYRIE’S BUNKER segment, I returned the camera and accidently left the Memory Card inside. When I called to retrieve the card, the guy claimed the footage was now his property since it was filmed on his camera. It took me months to track down this clown. Long story short, I finally got the footage back.

What has been the greatest reward from AN HOUR TO KILL?

I met so many people in the process of making this film; Brendan Mitchell, Gabriel Mercado, Luna Meow, Frankie Pozos, Brian Reagan, Arash Dibazar, Vince Kelvin, Joe Williamson, and my editor & co-producer Jacob Harlow – just to name a few. We have all become really close friends. I consider “friendship” the reward. Having another feature film under my belt is a nice feeling too.

What was your favorite horror movie as a child?

I like all the “slasher films”. Nightmare On Elm Street, Halloween, Friday The 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre. However, I gotta say Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead 2 is probably my top choice. I love that movie! Bruce Campbell is basically alone in a small cabin for a good part of that film and he keeps it entertaining throughout. That’s hard to do! Outside of horror, I still consider Back To The Future to be one of the best movies ever. Everything about that movie, from the directing, writing, acting, music, editing, locations, and special effects – it’s perfect. The sequels are amazing too.

If you could remake a movie, which one would it be?

Probably the 1985 sci-fi film, Explorers. I really like the first ¾ of that film. It’s all good up until they get onto the spaceship. That whole last act with the funny alien was really out of place. I heard Joe Dante was forced to the rush the project. I would love the opportunity to work with him, help re-write it, and remake it properly. With 80’s horror-fantasy kid driven shows coming out like, Stranger Things and It, I think Explorers would do better with modern audiences a second time around.

What comments would you want to hear from fans after watching AN HOUR TO KILL?

I would hope to hear that people enjoyed it. I tried to make a film that I would personally enjoy watching. There are a lot of different sub-genres going on in it. The main wraparound story is crime-noir, which hits on a Pulp Fiction vibe. Then we get into Valkyrie’s Bunker, which is an homage to all those Friday The 13th copycat slasher flicks that came out around 1981. Assacre is more of the gross-out, comedic one. Then we have Hog Hunters which has sleazy hicks thrown into A Texas Chainsaw Massacre situation with creepy hog monsters. I think AN HOUR TO KILL is one of those unique movies that’s either right up your alley, or not. No in-between.

What is something that we don’t know about Aaron K. Carter?

As much as I like cinema, I’m equally interested in music. I have a huge CD collection. And yes, I still buy CDs. I prefer physical media over downloads and streaming. One of my useless talents is, I can “name that tune” within 3 seconds of hearing a song on the radio.

What’s next for Aaron K. Carter?

Well, self-financing a project is a lot of work and can be hard financially. I had to make a lot of sacrifices to fund this film. But, making a movie is only the beginning. The next part is getting the word out. I’m going to be doing some promotion and networking for the next few months. After that, some much needed time to relax. Eventually, I’ll have a vivid, crazy dream that will inspired me for a new project. So definitely expect more from me.