Interview with the director and the cast of the short-horror film “The Crossing”
Today we are talking with the director of the new short horror film “The Crossing” that recently came out on Crypt TV Kheireddine El-Helou and his cast Anna Kaskeeva, Sarah Navratil and Christof Ryjin Pearson.
- Congratulations on “The Crossing!” It is so good! It’s packed with action, it’s fast paced and it is so scary. You’ve done an amazing job! All of you! And it immediately became one of the 1% of films with the highest LIKE button average from their viewers on Crypt TV.
Kheireddine: Thanks for watching the film! I appreciate the kind words.
- Did you always like the horror genre?
Kheireddine: Yes, I love it! Give me a big bowl of popcorn and a great horror film, then I’m the happiest guy. But before I started watching horror films, it mostly started with Halloween — it’s my favorite holiday. Growing up, my mom would always help me and my younger brother, Emmanuel El-Helou (who also composed the music for The Crossing) create cool homemade costumes and we loved going to haunted houses. I also grew up watching a lot of ‘Tales from the Crypt’.
Sarah: I have to say I am becoming more of a fan with age and because I’ve done a few horror movies and shorts I see them from a different perspective. And sometimes it’s just kinda fun to sit down and be got by a good scare!
Ryjin: I AM a big fan of the horror Genre. I’ve watched a lot of horrors since I was a kid. (even when I wasn’t really allowed to).
Anna: I’m actually very easily getting scared. So watching a horror movie is hard for me. I can’t sleep for weeks. So making a horror is a way of helping me with my fears. Because I believe in all this paranormal stuff. I can’t understand it. And it’s so scary!
- What inspired this story?
Kheireddine: I was fascinated with the idea of a monster that could cross between the two worlds of the living and the dead, and for the monster to survive, it needed to feed on human souls. From there, I began to develop the ritual, the characters, the victims, and the story of a young girl looking for her missing mother.
- Were there any challenges about bringing this script to life?
Kheireddine: Definitely, it’s always hard to deliver a proper beginning and end within a short film. It’s even harder when you’re building the mythos of a monster, weaving in a revenge tale, and doing it all within eight minutes. It was also the first short film I’ve written where I challenged myself to give the audience a complete ending.
- A question for the actors: was it difficult to create your character?
Anna: I look like a little girl who anybody can hurt. But that is far from being the truth. I am feisty. I am a fighter. I have a lot in common with Victoria. If you think of doing me wrong, you will have another thing coming. And I love strong female characters. I think women should be like that. We all have our fights. And we need to learn to stand up for ourselves. If it’s not us… than who?
Sarah: I by nature am a pretty smiley, jovial person and I wanted this character to feel very different from that. Someone who had lost their soul and was just living in this endless cycle.
Ryjin: For me becoming the character wasn’t difficult, as I love creature work and I enjoy creepy things. The biggest challenge was in the design and fitting the monster costume.. Like, trying to make it possible to see out of the head while wearing.
- How was the experience of working with Kheireddine? In horror movie in general?
Ryjin: I love scaring people in real life, but being able to do it on camera and seeing many people get scared or creeped out is a villanous fun experience.
Sarah: Kheireddine has been lovely from the get go. He knew what he wanted for this piece and having a director with a clear vision is always so important. Horror movies are always so much fun because you always get to do something cool whether it’s fake blood, cool prosthetics or just really letting it rip with an awesome scream or scare. It’s never boring.
Ryjin: The most fascinating thing is how Incredibly kind he is! A mind with such amazing dark ideas, going from the kindest soul.. I think that’s another reason it was great to work with him, because my gentle mind and voice also have dark creative ideas.
Anna: For me it was my first horror ever. And it was SO MUCH FUN! But at the same time you have to go to the scary places in her head in order to get where your character is at the moment. And it is very important to have somebody who you feel safe around. Kheireddine, and Emmanuel, and their entire family were just so amazing! It was such a creative and professional environment. I also remember how I met Ryjin and Sarah, and I was like… shoot… these guys are GOOD. I need to up my game.
What would you give to get a gift of any kind? And what would you ask for?
Sarah: Hm, I think gifts should be giving freely so if you have to give up something, it’s not really a gift, it’s an exchange or deal. And with those I tend to be pretty cautious.
Ryjin: MAYBE, I would give my pretty curly hair for some amazing superpowers, like Deadpool’s regeneration, or powerful telekinesis.
Anna: Ooh, I think I would ask for invisibility. That way I could sneak to an airplane Hawaii at anytime or anywhere else in the world for that matter. Or even learn casting secrets and get my hands on the scripts before anyone else. What would I give? Can give my accent? I’m trying to get rid of it anyway.
- Are there any plans to make it into a feature film?
Kheireddine: Yes, I’m currently working with The Picture Company; Producers Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman. They’ve been huge champions of the project and we hope to one day deliver a one of a kind horror film. The feature dives deeper into the victims that are being fed to the monster. It’s a full-fledged horror roller coaster, but all the while, highlighting import social commentary themes. I’m excited to share this story with people.
