KILLING THE GAME
Director Jonathan Liebesman is no longer a new comer with his third feature film, The Killing Room, which got selected to debut at Sundance this year. The Killing Room is a drama/suspense film about four people needing fast cash and signing up for what they thought was marketing research, but turns out to be a lethal and classified government program. The film boasts a talented cast of Timothy Hutton, Nick Cannon, Clea DeVall and Chloe Sevigny. Outside of Killing Room's Sundance selection, this film differs fro m his first two features, Darkness Falls (2003) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) because it's a drama not a horror film. Being that both his previous films were horror, Liebesman wanted to break out of the horror box with his third feature.
“Horror is a genre that is director-driven and is a great genre to cut your filmmaking chops, Liebesman says. “It was never my ambition to only direct horror films”. The South-African born director says he first discovered his desire to make films at 12 years old, when he used to imitate Michael Jackson videos with his buddies. “Gradually they [the imitations] became more and more ambitious. [It’s] probably not as cool as saying Star Wars inspired me, but that’s the truth!”
And it looks like audiences are in for an exhilarating ride with The Killing Room. The storyline builds an overwhelming wave of curiosity, and it seems as though the cast gave an impressive performance. “Watching these actors perform take-after-take was extremely engrossing. All the scenes between Chloe Sevigny and Peter Stormare had to be shot in 3 or 4 days, and they did a stellar job. I loved how each cast member went outside of their comfort zones and were prepared to be bad. It’s the only way to get unexpected moments.”
Liebesman may be viewed as a newer director, but after 3 feature films in a 5 year span, there is not an amateur bone in his body. He boldly keeps pushing ahead and churning out films. His next film, Battle: Los Angeles, is slated for a 2010 release and is already in pre-production. “It’s a melding of science-fiction and war, my two favorite genres!”
By Aarona Browning
