STACK #167 Sept 2018

DVD & BD FEATURE

visit stack.com.au

that kind of sci-fi on a lower budget and make something in the spirit of The Terminator and RoboCop .” The scenes featuring Marshall- Green’s character being controlled by his cyber-puppet master, STEM (voiced by Simon Maiden), are shot in a dynamic and innovative style that viewers won’t have seen before. Whannell reveals the effect was achieved through a combination of different elements. “ A lot of the ‘special effects’ in those scenes are just the actors. Logan learned to move in a way that feels robotic and strange, so it was almost like he was a free special effect. “We added an element of locking the camera to him. We strapped a phone under his clothes so wherever he moved, the camera goes with him and keeps the phone as the center of gravity. It pushes the film off kilter and you feel a bit uneasy watching those scenes. It’s an interesting effect. If I’d known how much people were going to take to it, I may have used it a lot more, but we were going for a less is more approach.” Having made a career out of frightening audiences with the Saw and Insidious films, Whannell says he found it creatively invigorating to be working in a genre that wasn’t horror. “I love horror films but when you play the same trick night after night, you want to change up the routine a bit. I felt that doing something different probably allows me to be better with horror; I definitely want to make another horror film. Some directors thrive just doing one thing,

WORLD- BUILDING ON A BUDGET

Horror specialist LeighWhannell switches genres with the gritty sci-fi action-thriller Upgrade , bringing grimy future noir to the streets of Melbourne. Words Scott Hocking M elbourne-born movie buff and actor Leigh Whannell was the resident ‘film guy’ Purge ), shooting Down Under allowed Whannell to get the most from a low budget without overly compromising his vision. “When you see Upgrade , it

better streamlined and not as busy.” It’s this economy of budget that gives the film its gritty and urgent tone. Indeed, Upgrade resembles the kind of sci-fi action flicks that were a fixture of video store shelves during the 1980s – films like The Terminator , Time Cop and Dark Angel . “A lot of people have said that, and it’s good,” says Whannell. “I certainly wanted to hark back to the spirit of the ‘80s sci-fi films that I saw growing up – science fiction films made in a pre-CGI era and driven by practical effects. Not that I was nostalgic for practical effects, but because I felt I could achieve

on TV series Recovery during the ‘90s, before deciding to make his own movies. Relocating to LA with mate James Wan, the pair created the successful Saw and Insidious horror franchises, with Whannell making his directorial debut on Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015). After more than a decade in the US, he returned home in 2017 to direct the sci-fi action-thriller Upgrade , in which an intelligent computer implant takes control of its paralysed host (Logan Marshall- Green) and turns him into a lethal killing machine. “Once we decided to shoot the film in Australia, I insisted on shooting in my hometown of Melbourne,” says Whannell. “Melbourne has a great gothic, urban feel to it that blends both old and new. “Shooting these streets that I grew up on was a great feeling. To take a building I walked past growing up and putting it on film in a sci-fi context was really cool.” Co-produced by American genre stable Blumhouse ( Get Out, The

doesn’t feel like a small movie,” he says, attributing its expansive sense of sci-fi world-building to the hard work of the Australian production designers and crew. “The script did change a little,” he adds. “I wrote the really expensive ‘Christopher Nolan version’ at first, which wasn’t going to happen without a big star or compromising the ideas. And the more money you spend, the more chefs there are in the kitchen and the more micromanaging. I valued my creative freedom on this so much I was willing to strip it down a bit. “We still got the movie I wanted to make. We still have car chases and fights and action scenes, big sets… All the stuff I wanted in the film is still there. It was a game of numbers; instead of three car chases, I get one. And looking back, I think it’s a better movie with just one car chase. Big

but I’m the type of person who wants to switch things around.”

• Upgrade is out on Sept 12

DID YOU KNOW? Leigh Whannell is a fan of DVD and Blu-ray bonus features. “I’m one of those people who really wants to watch a behind-the-scenes documentary,” he tells STACK . “If I watch a movie and love it, I immediately want to see them shooting the movie. Some are better than others, of course. “Audio commentaries are a great film school. I wish they had been around when I was at film school, because you just learn so much from them. One again, there are bad

ones, where the person is simply narrating what’s happening on screen. Some people are really good at it – David Fincher is very enlightening. There are some directors that just take you inside the process of making the film, and you come out of it just raring to make something because you’re so inspired.”

Hollywood action movies throw everything at you. This particular film worked

20

SEPTEMBER 2018

jbhifi.com.au