The Chamber world premiere - Exclusive interview with director Ben Parker

The deeply anticipated undersea horror thriller The Chamber has secured a prime birth for its world premiere – the main screen of this year’s prestigious Frighfest !!

A special ops team is attempting to salvage a secret from the bed of the Yellow Sea when a devastating explosion proves the catalyst for a tension-filled struggle for survival.

The movie stars the flourishing Johannes Bah Kuhnke(Force Majeure) and brandishes the inaugural film score from lead Manic James Dean Bradfield.

As his feature debut prepares to pound the pulses of the world’s most erudite horror audience with its stricken sub shenanigans, we talk to director/writer Ben Parker (pictured below) about the movies many influences, and what it means to play the horror festival equivalent of Glastonbury’s pyramid stage.

How does it feel to be selected ?

Pretty cool. I’ve been coming to Frightfest for 8 years now. I had the privilege to have my short film play in front of Kill List a few years ago. And now I’m blown away to have my first feature up there on the Frightfest big screen… and it be a world premiere also.

What were the greatest influences on the film ?

There are many influences on the film, maybe a few too many for me to name them all (which is surprising, as it takes place mostly in one location). I think I’d be remiss if I didn’t cite things like Das Boot and The Abyss as major influences. But I think the desperation of the characters in this inescapable situation is probably a subconscious nod to things like Lebanon or the original Poseidon Adventure. Even things like Aliens features in my approach to dealing with a military group of people escaping a situation. I think Cameron is in there a lot, especially when it came to lighting the film. The sub has some colour shifts throughout the film that are in keeping with a lot of what DOP Adrian Biddle did in Aliens.

Past experiences of Frightfest and expectations for this year ?

I’ve had a lot of great experiences at FF. One of the highlights was seeing The Orphanage and jumping out of my seat, but year-on-year, there has consistently been great films shown at FF. And the crowd there are one of the most loyal, welcoming bunch of horror fans I’ve ever been amongst. I just hope they like The Chamber as much as I’m going to enjoy showing it to them.

The best moment of making the movie ?

This is a tough one. It took me years to get a feature up off the ground and so, from start to finish, even on the worst days, where everything seemed to be going wrong… shooting this film was the best feeling in the world. I mean, I’m not great in small spaces (says the idiot who wrote the premise) but I love the water, so the days where the whole crew was fully submerged were a blast. Shooting out in the open sea was super fun. But maybe the best day was day 2 or 3 when you step back and think ‘Wow, this is all really happening’.

Who is attending the showing ?

Lots of the cast are attending the screenings but more importantly, my Frightfest crew are obviously going to be there. I can’t wait to watch the film with them and then watch all the other great films playing this year.

You can catch The Chamber on Friday 26th August at the VUE Cinema West 12 Shepherds Bush Green London W12 8PP.