Those Who Call, written and directed by promising newcomer Anubys Lopez, starring Angie Sandoval, and Yetlanezi Rodriguez, fixes on two sisters that go on a road trip to Colorado. On their way there, their car breaks down in an abandoned old town. Soon they realize things aren’t what they seem, and they aren’t alone in the forest. They find themselves being hunted by a sadistic pagan cult and must do everything in their power to survive. The filmmaker tells us how he got his start, what he shot the good-looking independent film on, and his favourite horror films.
Congrats on the new film! What’s the title refer to? Or is that giving it all away?
Anubys Lopez: Thank you so much! Very excited for everyone to see it. Not at all! The title refers to a bible verse which says: “Woe unto those who call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness” (Isa. 5:20.) (The film has some religious undertones in a very creepy way), which refers to the way the characters are portrayed in the film. Some good people might not be as good, and some evil people might not be as evil. When it comes to morality, people and their actions aren’t “just black and white,” it’s more of a gray area.
And you’re cutting your teeth as a filmmaker here?
AL: Yes sir! It’s my debut as a director and writer. We’re finally able to show the world our hard work!
Where did the interest in being a ‘Fabelman’ (sorry, couldn’t help myself…) come from?
AL: I got the reference! Ha ha. Definitely from the desire of wanting to show the world a specific story. There are some stories only you are able to tell, if that’s you, then I definitely recommend taking the risk and going for it!
Schooling to be a filmmaker or Tarantino-style learn-on-the-job?
AL: I’m a firm believer in the sink or swim mentality. Learning doesn’t, or at least shouldn’t, Learning doesn’t, or at least shouldn’t, doesn’t stop once someone graduates, and schooling isn’t always necessary to achieve your dreams. When it comes to filmmaking, I believe you get the most out of it if you go out there and do it on your own, which is what I did with this project. Most of us were beginners, so this was definitely film school for a lot of us. And we learned so, so much!
What do you shoot on?
AL: This specific film was shot on the Canon 5D mark IV. It’s what we had available at the time, in 2020. We used a two camera setup for it; although, now we have had a bit of an upgrade and shoot our films on the Red Komodo.
And was the movie shot in your back of the woods?
AL: We had a few locations in the film. We used a friend’s piece of land that he bought and hadn’t used yet. He was very accommodating and it helped us tremendously. The land was untouched at the time, so it was full of life. We also did some scenes in the Sam Houston National Forest, the biggest forest in the Houston area.
Tell us some of the horror flicks you admire.. and of course, ones about cults?
AL: Oh, man, where to even begin! A lot of good films come to mind, such as Dawn of the Dead, An American Werewolf in London, The Descent, The Blair Witch Project, the Paranormal Activity franchise, 28 Days Later, Lamb, The Witch, The Ritual, Smile, Hereditary, Us, Umma, X, and Pearl. Huge fan of the A24 films! In regards to cults, I really enjoyed The Heretics, Children Of The Corn, and Midsommar.
Midsommar, an influence? Maybe some Texas Chainsaw?
AL: Definitely both! I love Midsommar, it’s one of my favorite movies of all time! Ari Aster is a wonderful writer and director. The way the cult is portrayed in the film and the story gives me the creeps! Definitely an inspiration! The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is also a great film, and one that I keep on a loop. I just hope people who like those films also enjoy watching Those Who Call.
Let’s talk a little about lighting. It’s obviously super important to you. Can you discuss?
AL: Definitely, lighting and audio are two very very important things in a film. Without it, there’s no movie. Our DP Alex Mirabal had to do the gaffer’s job in this one. COVID really had us strapped, so we couldn’t have a big crew and a lot of us had to do more than one job. Alex did an incredible job with the lighting. We had to place lights all over the forest at some point because a lot of the scenes were at night, so it was very time consuming and tiresome. We had overhead lights to simulate the moon, lights at the end scene to simulate fire, lights to represent danger, etc. Definitely a very important role in a film, one that he did a wonderful job at executing.
People will discover this film over the holidays on streaming platforms, since they’ll be home. Have you discovered any good horror gems on streaming lately?
AL: I have! I’m always on the lookout for new horror films. I get ads for them all the time, and I enjoy watching them in theaters and streaming them. I recently watched Smile and I thought it was spectacular, and the story was perfectly executed. Pearl deserves to be mentioned, as well. Definitely worth watching if you haven’t.