Emily Booth, They’re Outside interview
THEY’RE OUTSIDE is a new horror film from The Haunted Cinema. It’s the story of a celebrity psychologist who has set himself the challenge of getting an intensely agoraphobic woman to freely walk outside of her home in just ten days. He laughs off her claims of ghosts haunting the woodlands outside, but soon comes to question his own mind when events take place that he struggles to explain…
Best described as ‘Blair Witch meets The Wicker Man’ British horror royalty, Emily Booth, plays the role of Penny in the film, and we’re delighted to interview her about it…
Hi Emily, thanks for taking part in this interview for Love Horror! Please tell us about how you got involved with They’re Outside?
Emily Booth: Pleasure is mine. The producer Anthony Airell and I are actually old school Hastings locals and we’ve met regularly at Frightfest in London and often praised Hastings for its amazing quirkiness, history, people, atmosphere and locations. We kept saying there should be a horror totally set in and about Hastings and its more pagan side – and then Anthony actually made it happen a couple of years later and wrote a script and asked me to be involved in it somehow so I think he kind of had me in mind for Penny, who is like an extended cameo character!
Please tell us a little about your character Penny.
Emily Booth: Well I do see her as a slightly skewed version of myself – although she is of course different her backstory nods to my own backstory! She is a Hastings girl who used to be a presenter on wierd late night TV in the 90’s (!) – but she kind of caned it a bit back then and is now somewhat happily living back in Hastings as a primary school teacher. She is fun, colourful, has a lot of nervous energy but is charming with it (thats the aim at least!) But she is also pretty lonely, she probably drinks and wears crazy hippy clothes to cover up her loneliness and that she didn’t quite get the life she wanted. She was also in love with the protagonist – Sarah and they had a relationship that didn’t quite work out so now she’s just her best friend. But she is quite new age and totally believes in all the supernatural aspects of what is happening.
What’s it like shooting a film set in your home town of Hastings?
Emily Booth: It’s a dream! I always think it’s literally the perfect place for a horror film. There’s so much charm and history and streets that look like they were designed by an art director! Its like Diagon Alley in the Old Town! But it has this dingy side too, this faded Victorian old seaside resort element which I’ve always loved but sadly that side of the town is becoming more gentrified. Its also super convenient! I made my own short film SELKIE a few years back purely as a love letter to my town thats how much I love it.
As an icon of the UK horror scene, what is it about the genre that you love so much?
Emily Booth: Its just in me! Since I was a child. I think it sparks the imagination like nothing else. The world of horror is vast – it’s integral to life and death and sex and curiosity. We are horror! I always found it to be the most intelligent of ‘genres’ for it has immense power to tap in to primal fears. It has the power to make you react on a physical level. It intrigues us – all the monsters of our mind -they have been there since time began.
What other projects have you been working on recently?
Emily Booth: Well a film I did a while back now has finally got its proper release so I’ve been doing quite a bit of press for that! Shed of The Dead which is a really fun zomedy I play a raunchy hairdresser who has a most unforgettable ‘sex’ scene with horror legend Michael Berryman. It also stars Bill Moseley and Kane Hodder so it was a great project and right now I’m just doing They’re Outside – we only just started filming. I’ve also been doing a few conventions and film festivals, I recently had a very personal ‘In Conversation with Emily Booth’ at Paracinema where Jake West interviewed me in front of a live audience for 90 minutes! Intense but alot of fun!
Good luck with They’re Outside. It sounds like a great concept that we can’t wait to see it!
Emily Booth: Me too! Thanks Love Horror!
You can see Emily Booth in They’re Outside, which will be hitting festivals from Autumn 2019. You can follow progress on the project at TheyreOutside.com, on Twitter and Facebook. Emily Booth is can also be found on Twitter.
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