Horror Favourites – Joshua Erkman

Directed by Joshua Erkman, A Desert is a sun-bleached neo-noir horror film starring David Yow, Kai Lennox, Sarah Lind, Zachary Ray Sherman and Ashley B. Smith. Premiering at Tribeca it has played at international genre film festivals including FrightFest and Sitges.

Taking place on a road trip across the American Southwest, A Desert sees a past his prime photographer heading out to recapture the magic and success of his previous work. Instead, he finds himself thrust into the dark and chaotic underbelly of America and unwittingly drags his wife and a shady private detective down into this nightmare world with him.

We reached out to Joshua who shared with us some of the horror movies that shaped his amazing movie:

“A Desert is a meta exploration of genre and convention and is very much influenced and in conversation with one of the all-time great horror movies and mentioning it here would ruin the movie. Here is a list though of genre movies that have left an impact on me as a filmmaker and were influential to A Desert.

Twentynine Palms (2003)

This savage movie will stay with you the rest of your life. Bruno Dumont pulls no punches in his American horror movie that illustrates why Twentynine Palms is place you should just drive through and never stop in. The final scenes of A Desert were actually shot at a drive-in movie theater in Twentynine Palms.

The Sadist (1963)

Inspired by Charles Starkweather’s 1950s killing spree this scrappy thriller features an absolutely wild performance by teen actor/musician/wearer of the craziest pompadour of all time, Arch Hall Jr. in the role of psycho killer Charlie Tibbs. A scene from The Sadist makes an appearance on the TVs at the motel in A Desert.

The Velvet Vampire (1971)

Stephanie Rothman is very much channeling Jean Rollin in this dreamy, sexy vampire trasher set in and around Joshua Tree, California. Oh, to be picked up by Diane in her bright yellow dune buggy.

The Hitch-hiker (1953)

Ida Lupino’s lean and mean noir is impeachable evidence of why picking up a hitch-hiker is a bad life choice, especially one so charismatically menacing as William Talman. The rocky desert locations are captured beautifully by noir master cinematographer Nicholas Musucara.

Sonny Boy (1989)

One of the most deranged “families” ever committed to film kidnap a baby and raise him as their own in this unhinged desert sicko riff on Frankenstein. David Carradine as “Pearl” is unlike anything you’ve ever seen from him.”

A Desert trailer