SLFS Interview – Benjamin Thomas: Writer and Director of THE TEMPTER

THE TEMPTER screens Monday, July 18th at 9:30pm at The Tivoli Theater as part of this year’s St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase. Ticket information can be found HERE

Writer/director Benjamin Thomas’ THE TEMPTER tells the story of a man who is offered all the kingdoms of the earth — all the fame and fortune he can dream of — but he must decide whether to make a bargain with a devil.

Benjamin Thomas took the time to answer questions about his film for We Are Movie Geeks in advance of it’s screening at the St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase.

We Are Movie Geeks: What was your filmmaking experience before THE TEMPTER?

Benjamin Thomas: Ozark Films had made several shorts, many of them utter disasters, but we learned from all of our mistakes. After a couple years of making shorts (some of them quite good) we decided it was time to tackle a feature length film.

WAMG: How did you become interested in films? Did you grow up a movie fan?

BT: I’m a huge fan of stories of any kind: films, graphic novels, books, songs, anything that tells a story. I didn’t set out to be a film maker, I set out to be a story teller. Now that I have learned how to make films I think it will be hard to stop, it’s addictive.

WAMG: How did you come up with the story for THE TEMPTER?

BT: I walked into a house in South St Louis and the story just hit me, all the details, how it would flow, how it would look. I had the script done in 3 weeks. A deal with the Devil, the Robert Jonson, Faust, Paganini story….

WAMG: What were some of the St. Louis locations you used for THE TEMPTER?

BT: We shot primarily at my house in Bevo Mill. We also did a bit of shooting around town, north of the arch, Old North City, Cherokee street. St Louis is an amazing place to film, so many great locations, the architecture and views are astounding.

WAMG: Why a horror film? Is horror your favorite genre?

BT: I had done a bit of research and knew that this would be the easiest genre to shoot. I didn’t want a blood and guts horror, but a more traditional thriller that keeps you guessing.

WAMG: Who are some of your favorite directors who specialize in horror (or directors in general)?

BT: Too many to list, but seeing El Mariachi by Robert Rodriguez showed that making a great movie does not take a lot of money. It takes a good script and dedicated crew. His example was a huge motivating factor in making this film.

WAMG: Was the film tightly scripted or was there some improv?

BT: Tons of improv. We shot on a hectic pace, as long as the actors followed the plot and we could edit it together it was fine with me. I told all of them, the script is an outline, play the character as you want. Use your words, not mine.

WAMG: Tell me about the character Baal – is he based on a legend or did you make him up?

BT: Baal is a demon from the Old Testament, Satan’s chief lieutenant during the Angels Rebellion and subsequent fall. His name shows up quite a bit in the Bible, mostly in association with Jezebel

WAMG: Eric Wolfgang Nelson is well-cast as Baal. How did you find him?

BT: Eric is great! I was asking other film makers who they thought could pull off this character and his name kept coming up. I hunted him down from social media and went over to his place to talk about the role, film making in general, my plans for the film. I was very lucky to get him to come on board.

WAMG: THE TEMPTER has several killings, but is not very bloody. Was that a decision you made early in the process? Were you “tempted” to make the film gorier?

BT: Blood is a mess. If you are going to do several takes you have to have a clean shot each time, that means duplicates of clothes, sheets, table clothes. I’d learned this the hard way on a previous short. So, in the film, it is actually explained why the killer is careful about spilling blood.

WAMG: What was the budget and the schedule for THE TEMPTER?

BT: We started filming in Jan 2015 and finished up in May. We shot every weekend with a day off here and there. Budget… I really don’t know. We shot with Michael Lohrums gear (Dir of Photography and absolute Genius with a camera) and I pulled some favors for locations. I wrote this around props I already had, locations I thought I could get, so our only real cost was for day to day shooting, food batteries, water, soda, beer, whiskey, batteries….

WAMG: Would you like to continue making horror films or do you want to branch out to other genres?

BT: I would be happy making anything that is interesting. I see so many films come along that seem to follow a boiler plate script, I love the ones that make you think, that push the audience to keep up.

WAMG: What different challenges did THE TEMPTER present creatively?

BT: WOW, too many to list. The main one is how to keep an audience watching a film that takes place mostly in one house. How to insinuate ghosts without any special effects. We really struggled with getting the sound as good as possible (HUGE THANKS TO TONY SCHMITT – best sound guy in the world)

WAMG: How has THE TEMPTER been received so far?

BT: Great, the rough cut won an award at the Depth of Field Film Festival. For months every Friday night I hosted a small viewing party of film buffs and film makers to get their feedback on the current edit. At first these were pretty brutal, but as I took all the suggestions and Brian Cooksey (editor of the Tempter) and I continued to work on it. We took it from 132 minutes to 97 minutes.

WAMG: What are your release plans for THE TEMPTER?

BT: Praying for an offer for distributorship at a film festival. Honestly am surprised I got this far in the process. So much can go wrong in post production that I never really prepared myself for this part.

WAMG: What’s your next project? Would you consider a sequel to THE TEMPTER?

BT: Towards the end of filming the Tempter I wrote the next script in the series. Brian Cooksey and I have started pre production on a story that starts in the Tempter. In the Tempters first scene, in the church, a homeless man is made an offer “kill a man and I will make you rich.” This film is about that homeless man who rises to the top of the mafia. There will be a few murders!