Stevan Mena is the director of “Malevolence” and his latest “Bereavement”. Both films are part of a trilogy that Stevan is creating. I have known Stevan for many years personally and he is a really talented filmmaker. His films reach a different level in the horror genre that a lot of filmmakers usually overlook. Movie Mikes had a chance to chat with Stevan again, rehash and chat about working on his latest and my personal favorite film “Bereavement”. The film hits theaters on March 4th and should be checked out by all genre fans and it will surely become a cult classic.
Mike Gencarelli: Tell me about the process of making “Bereavement”?
Stevan Mena: We started shooting in 2008 and were really excited to get guys like Michael Biehn from “The Terminator”. I was thrilled he liked the script and decided to come on. Alexandra Daddario, who since I cast her has blown up in the scene. She just was in “Hall Pass” and “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief”. She is really taken off. It was a tough shoot going back to the original location. It is a very precarious place to make a movie. I wouldn’t say it is a dangerous location but I do not think it will be standing for much longer. We got out of there in the nick of time. I wanted the film to explore all the things I did not get to do with “Malevolence”. I had things I wanted to shoot and explain and got to expand on all that stuff with this film, which is great.
MG: When did “Malevolence”, was this film always planned for you?
SM: Yeah, actually the whole thing was a conscious decision. Shooting “Malevolence” first was 
premeditated because I wanted to make sure the killer was as mysterious as possible. If I did “Bereavement” first where it is all about his torture by Graham Sutter and how he becomes a serial killer, then you kind of diminish the scare factor because everyone knows who he is in. Where in “Malevolence”, the first time around he is a complete mystery and that is always more scary.
MG: Are both the films able to be watched in sequence?
SM: You certainly can watch “Bereavement” and then “Malevolence” right afterwards. In fact if you stick around after the credits in “Bereavement”, there is a scene from “Malevolence” that you never saw before and it is really cool.
MG: Did you find it hard to work with such dark subject matter?
SM: It definitely was rough. I knew it was going to be a really dark film to make. There definitely were times, especially with the hook scene it was grating on all of us to listen to the screams over and over. That is the price you pay if you want realism. So, I think reaction when a lot of people watch the film is it feels so authentic and that is what I was shooting for. But to get it like that it is a very laborious process to get everybody up to speed and get ready to do that…then to watch it unfold. It feels real, so you wouldn’t be a human being, or you would be a slightly demented human, if you didn’t get upset doing it.
MG: What would you say was the most difficult part for you working on the film?
SM: I would have to say getting out of the car everyday [laughs]. You do not sleep at all when you are shooting six to eight weeks. You get up at 4am…get to the set by 5am…you are prepping and 
blocking the shots for the next two hours…then you shooting for twelve hours…then you come back and you are watching dailies for three or four hours…and then you have to sit and plan your next day and your shot list. Maybe you will get one hour of sleep but there was points where I was going 72 hours with no sleep. You have to get the actors up and motivated to hit their marks and get their lines right and also keep the crew going. I think the hardest part is keeping the momentum going and your energy up.
MG: “Bereavement” had quite a larger budget than your first two films, did that make it easier for you?
SM: No, not really. Same problems…more money just equals more problems sometimes. The good things are you can get the equipment you want for your shots and you can get the actors you want. That is what makes it better. As far as the day-to-day grime, it is all the same stuff.
MG: The score in “Bereavement” is so haunting and well-done and even reminds me of classic 80’s horror scores like John Carpenter and Goblin, tell us about working on the score?
SM: Well, I actually hired a couple of different composers but I wasn’t getting what I was looking for. So I ended up jumping in and doing it myself. It is really just me by myself. The orchestra is me and my computer. I have learned how to write music and then program it into the computer to basically play what I want. Then part of it is actually me playing, since I play piano and I can do a lot with keyboards. I love the old Goblin and Carpenter scores myself, so of course that is a huge influence for me.
MG: Do you know what you will be working on next?
SM: I do…I actually have a lot of different projects coming up. I will be focusing on the third film in this trilogy to end Martin’s story. So all of that is on the burner. As a filmmaker it is always, “What have you done for me lately”…so hopefully this film will perform and people will continue to back me. Then I will be able to make movies as long as people come out and buy a ticket.
