Interview with the creators behind Shudder’s The Boy Behind the Door
By Carla Davis
The Boy Behind the Door is the newest Shudder Original to hit the horror streaming service, and it’s a tense, emotional experience.
It introduces us to Bobby and Kevin, two boys who are “friends ’til the end.” The first few minutes of the film set up the boys’ close friendship before the story gets very dark very quickly. A scant 7 minutes in, both boys are kidnapped, and Bobby is thrown into the trunk of a car, which ends up at a large secluded house in the middle of nowhere.
After a few panicky, tearful minutes, the boy manages to kick the trunk open and takes off running. But then he stops, realizing that Kevin is in that house somewhere, alone and scared. So he goes into the house and spends the rest of the movie trying to find and save his friend.
Lonnie Chavis and Ezra Dewey (The Djinn) portray Bobby and Kevin, and I can’t imagine any other kids doing a better job. I absolutely felt their fear, and Bobby’s brave determination. I also have to give the film props for handling the traumatic aspects of the subject matter in a very sensitive way. Let’s face it, there is really only one reason kids would be abducted, right? Yet, viewers are not subjected to any scenes that show Kevin being molested.
The two boys really carry this movie, but True Blood‘s Kristin Bauer van Straten gives a strong and intense performance as well. Micah Hauptman is sufficiently creepy and menacing as the kidnapper, credited as “The Creep.”
The Boy Behind the Door was written by David Charbonier and Justin Powell, who also wrote and directed The Djinn; another extremely good (and scary) film. That’s already impressive, but even more so since both of these film are Charbonier’s and Powell’s first outings.
I had the chance to chat with these two very talented guys, and the interview starts in the next paragraph. But, first, I just want to encourage my readers to watch The Djinn and The Boy Behind the Door. They will give you a double wallop of both creepy tension and emotion.
The Boy Behind the Door: Friends ’til the end
1428 Elm: I am really excited to talk to you guys, because I absolutely loved The Djinn and The Boy Behind the Door.
Justin: Oh, thank you.
David: Thank you so much!
1428 Elm: Tell me about how the two of you met, and how you ended up collaborating on both of these projects – which you wrote and directed, correct?
Justin: Yes, we did. We basically have known each other our whole lives, so the story of how we met is just, we literally met in kindergarten. But, in terms of getting these movies made and going, it just came out of us really wanting to pursue film our whole lives, and we’ve always had a strong love for horror and thrillers, it’s kind of what we bonded over. It was a little bit of a journey to get here, but we’re really happy that we have these two movies under our belt now.