SCOTT GOLDBERG TALKS THE FOREST HILLS

Interviewed by Culture Coast Talks editor Daniel John. Interview transcripts might have been edited for length and clarity.

It has been twenty years since your first work came out. Already then writing, producing, and directing. How did you first get set on a path to making films?

I’ve always loved movies ever since I was a child. I made a VHS horror film with some friends in 1999 called 'Dead End'. During my college years I attempted a feature length film called, 'Dead End Massacre'. Both of those projects were made with friends. After graduating college in 2005, I made a couple of short films. I have always been intent on trying to create movies and get into the business.

You do seem like a filmmaker who carries a lot of respect for those that came before you but also one eager to put your own mark on those things you love?

Filmmakers that have inspired me along the way are Steven Spielberg, Rob Reiner, Robert Zemeckis, and John Carpenter, as well as George A. Romero, Stanley Kubrick, James Cameron, and Paul Thomas Anderson. I’ve always loved a lot of their movies, and we’re either inspired through watching them as a fan or as an aspiring filmmaker.

‘The Forest Hills’ seem a love letter to two franchises especially, 'The Shining' and 'Halloween', with that it must've been quite something to be able to bring this ensemble together?

Those are two of my favorite movies. Those two and 'Day of the Dead'. I was very happy to work with Shelley and the talented female leads from 'Halloween III' and 'The Curse of Michael Myers', Stacey Nelkin and Marianne Hagan.

Before this Shelley Duvall had not acted on-screen in over twenty years. What did that entail practically speaking. What did it take to get her to come back to acting after all of these years of not doing so?

She is a natural. She still has the ability to act. And to play a role, unlike anything she ever played. It's really inspiring to see. I had a great time working with her. She had expressed many times how much she enjoyed acting again and it was surreal to be able to work with such an amazing woman and talent.

The film is based on a short by the same name that you made some years ago?

The short is a completely different story which was more about two Kentucky outcasts that were living alone in the woods. I always loved the title. So I kept the title. But not the story.

Are there more horror icons you would love to bring together for a film in the future?

I would absolutely love to work with Elizabeth Berridge from 'The Funhouse' and Dana Kimmel from 'Friday the 13th Part 3', Jamie Lee Curtis, Ashley Lawrence, Danielle Harris, Tom Atkins, Robert Englund, Lori Cardille again, I worked with her in 2011. The fact that I was able to personally choose who I wanted in 'The Forest Hills' based on them being in my favorite movies was really nice, and I would love to work with Edward Furlong again, he's a great talent.

Do you have any ideas for what is to come next?

I have a lot of ideas and a lot of concepts and screenplays that I would love to create visually through the filmmaking process. I feel that a lot of people have creative ideas that they unfortunately never get a chance to see come to fruition. So it was nice to see this particular one come to life.