Horror Favourites – Jennifer E. Montgomery

Jennifer E. Montgomery is a filmmaker whose work blends emotional precision with an unflinching curiosity about the human psyche. After years working in high level script development for prominent production companies, producing projects globally, and directing shorts and music videos. This Tempting Madness marks her feature directorial debut and we grabbed her to chat about some of her favorite scary movies.

The story was born from her first-hand experience of tragedy, watching her best friend slip toward danger and being powerless to stop it. She has cited cinema greats Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick and modern classics Black Swan, Gone Girl, Arrival, Girl, Interrupted and Memento as inspirations for her new dark and twisted ‘stylish psychological thriller’ (Bloody Disgusting).

This mind-bending and complex film features a stellar cast including Whiplash’s Austin Stowell, Suraj Sharma, Zenobia Shroff, Amol Shah and follows Mia (Ashley) who suffers a near-fatal fall. Whew she awakens from a coma with serious brain damage and amnesia. Desperate to return to her perfect life with husband Jake (Stowell) and their young daughter Aurora, Mia’s world comes crashing down when she discovers her beloved Jake has been arrested for her attempted murder.

With all evidence pointing towards him, it appears to be an open-and-shut case, causing Mia to question everything she knows about the man she loves… But as she attempts to piece together her fragmented memories, she must ask herself is he truly capable of such a shocking crime or could there be more to that fateful night than meets the eye.

Below Jennifer E. Montgomery talks about the horror movies she loves the most:

“I’m a huge fan of psychological horror. Anything that gets inside the mind of the characters and makes you question what’s going on. Kubrick’s The Shining is the absolute gold standard. It’s endlessly inspiring to study the way he uses colour, lensing, and camera movement to lure us into a distorted sense of reality. As the audience watching it really feels like we are becoming unmoored from reality as Nicholson loses his grip.

I remember feeling so uncomfortable watching Aronofsky’s Black Swan. Throughout the entire film the body horror was so real and intimate I still cringe thinking about it; but what really stuck with was how those gruesome elements were not just there for shock, they function as a masterful visual device that reveals the interior state of Portman’s character.

Outside of psychological horror, I also can’t help but love two of the most iconic supernatural horror films of all time: The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby. Both films give me chills because of how effective they are at revealing the insidious ways evil forces are at play in the everyday world. The films are so grounded, when the supernatural elements are introduced, it feels so much more horrifying. They’re on everyone’s list for good reason.”

This Tempting Madness is on UK digital now from Plaion Pictures

This Tempting Madness trailer