Justin Benson And Aaron Moorhead Reveal The Movie Creatures That Influenced Spring

EDITOR'S NOTE: It's not often that filmmakers contact YOU and are willing to write an article FOR you, but Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead don't play by the same rules as most. Either that, or they're workaholic masochists who fill every waking moment of their day with project-related tasks pertaining to creation, implementation, and even promotional content. So why did I let them write a little thinkpiece about their favorite creature effects in cinema? Because I'm lazy, and it's another article that I don't have to write! Ha, just kidding. Well, OK, only half kidding. This article came about because I fell in love with their latest release, Spring, and I wanted to hear more about where their practical influences came from. I absolutely ADORE Spring, which I caught at last year's Fantastic Fest, where it earned one of my only five-star reviews of the year. Everyone has already exhausted comparisons from "Linklater meets H.P. Lovecraft" to "How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days meets Alien," but there's an odd sense of truth to each increasingly insane descriptor. Spring is full of raw emotion, powerful relationships, and gooey practical effects that challenge why anyone would rely completely on CGI. Horror fans, this is the date movie you've been waiting for. But everything starts out as an idea, and with that said, I wanted to give Benson and Moorhead the chance to explain where their horrific creation came from. From here I'm going to let the two filmmaking buddies take over and explain which movies terrified them, rattled their cores, and made them cry man tears - all thanks to proper effects. Take it away, Justin and Aaron! An American Werewolf In London "Our producer Dave made this facial expression, also writhing in pain, when we proposed a 6 day shoot for one transformation in Spring." Of course we watched this while figuring out the best way to move forward with Louise’s transformations in Spring. The still-undisputed champion of transformation sequences is a massive technical and artistic achievement that won make-up artist Rick Baker an Oscar. The 6 days required to shoot the sequence was mostly make-up and animatronic set-up/clean-up, with reportedly only 30 minutes of actual footage shot. Let's just say that proposing this production method in modern day indie filmmaking would result in our producer David Lawson murdering us in way less than 6 days. Editor's Note: David Lawson is not a werewolf as suggested above. I think. I've never met the guy. Alien "Creepy natural thing #1." The Xenomorph is the theoretical design backbone of our Louise. Utilizing nature-based creature design, should, in theory, deliver a greater creeped-the-fuck-out psychological gut punch to the audience. In the Xenomorph’s case, it is parasitic imagery. In Spring, you’ll have to watch to discover, but we promise it’s “natural.” Editor's Note: If Spring is "natural," then I think I've been dating the wrong girls. The Fly "Translated into other languages, the film's title reads La Mouche. Sounds like a cute kids movie, right? Wrong." Cronenberg’s The Fly is a harsh movie. Seriously, it’s frickin’ dark. It is also one of the greatest modern day examples of a monster who represents very real and scary aspects of being human. While some say Seth Brundle’s condition is a metaphor for the 80’s AIDS epidemic, Cronenberg has only gone on record stating that the intended representation is that of aging and disease in general. Our Louise in Spring has her own greater monster-as-representing-human implications, and thank you Master Cronenberg for the inspiration, even though we’ll remember watching The Fly as young children, being like, “Why am I so bummed out by this?” Editor's Note: Spring is not as dark as The Fly, but also features an unfortunate lack of Jeff Goldblum. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button "Old man Brad Pitt making fools cry." Oh man, we’ll admit it, we both cried during this one. Or maybe only Justin did. Either way, here’s a great example of “creature” design giving a whole other level of emotional impact (beyond the heeby jeebeez). The image of (SPOILER ALERT) someone aging backwards and dying in their lover’s arms as an infant is powerful, and a reminder that the start and end points of our lives are extraordinarily similar. On the film festival circuit we have seen a tear or two over the story of Evan and Louise in Spring. We like to think this would make the 4-year-old, shriveled-old-man Brad Pitt smile. Oh, and Aaron was the one who actually cried. Editor's Note: Don't worry bros, I did too. Lord of the Rings Trilogy "This is just one of the most visually arresting moments in a movie, ever." Here's a glowing example of practical effects working hand-in-hand with digital effects to create perfection. This was always our philosophy on effects before Spring, but we've now brought the method to a new personal level for ourselves. Editor's Note: After watching Resolution, I can confirm they have. Special Mentions: The Descent & The Ring (referring to the US version even though the original is amazing, as well) Perhaps no one in mainstream cinema in the last 15 years has scared audiences with glimpses of their creatures more than Neil Marshall and Gore Verbinski did in The Descent and The Ring (respectively). Though they do lose a bit of steam in their third act full reveal (ie. Samara climbing out of a TV, the Crawlers aren’t quite as creepy when fully lit), they remain the gold standard for creeping people the fuck out with teasing their monster. Early glimpses of our Louise strive for the same level of date-grabbing-tightness, more by being creeped out than through sparks of affection, but hopefully resulting in the same amount of post-movie sexy time. Editor's Note: You heard it here people, if you watch Spring, you will have sex. Case. Closed. Be sure to catch Spring when it opens March 20th on VOD and in theaters!