Hey horror geeks and fellow horrorphiles, Prometheus back with some more necro-news for you! “ECHOES OF FEAR” is an independent horror film that’s currently making noise on the festival circuit!
Written by Brian Avenet-Bradley and directed by Brian and Laurence Avenet Bradley, the film stars Trista Robinson, as Alisa, and Hannah Race, as Steph!
I recently wrote about it, and how it’s one of the best-reviewed horror films this year! View full cast and crew here!
Well, add me to the list of people praising the film because I sat down to watch it the other night and was totally impressed. The film is creepy, haunting, and has a nice little twist in the story, albeit, not a totally unexpected one, but it works well as you’re watching.
The story is well written and intriguing, feeding you just enough information to keep you in the dark, but invested. The pacing is on point, and the cinematography helps in adding to the over all forboding atmosphere of the film.
“ECHOES OF FEAR” goes to some really dark places and the two leading women handle it wonderfully. The acting feels genuine, the fear is palpable and the chemistry between Trista Robinson and Hannah Race is apparent the entire time they are on screen together. They seem like childhood friends, not like two actors portraying childhood friends.
I had the chance to chat with Hannah about the film, her inspiration as an actress, and the myth that she can lick her own elbow! Is it true? You find out the answer and much more in our conversation below!
HR - HANNAH RACE
JS – JOSHUA SCAFIDI
JS: Hi Hannah, thanks for the phone call!
HR: Thanks for having me!
JS: No problem! I wanted to talk to you about “ECHOES OF FEAR!”
HR: Yes!
JS: It was written by Brian Avenet-Bradley?
HR: Yes, it was.
JS: It’s been getting rave reviews. I enjoyed it! What can you tell us about it with out giving too much away?
HR: Well, it’s about the lead character, Trista’s (Robinson) character Alisa, who’s grandfather passes away. She can’t afford to keep the house so she’s going to pack everything up and sell it but while she’s there in the first few days, she experiences odd things that don’t necessarily seem out of the ordinary too much, but they become increasingly odd. So, she calls her friend Steph, played by me, and I try to help her discover what is going on in this house because it’s getting increasingly strange. Is it a squatter, is it something else, is it something beyond what we can see with our eyes? They get to the bottom of it in the end. I can’t say anything else or I’ll give it away. (HR and JS laughing.)
JS: No, that was perfect! Now, most of your scenes are with Trista Robinson, as you mentioned. Did you two know each other prior? What was it like working together?
HR: No, I never met her before, and I know they already her in mind. They wanted her for Alisa because they worked with her on a previous project. They were casting for Steph though. I went in, once for the audition, and I read with Lo (Laurence Avenet-Bradley); which was great. Then when I was called back, they had Trista there. I was called back twice, and both times I got to act with Trista. I did feel a real chemistry with her as soon as we met each other, which is great. I think if both actors are really into it, and really want to give it that feeling, you can have that chemistry; you can click with each other. We were both giving it our all and they loved the chemistry and we are getting really good, positive comments on that. It’s great the audience is really seeing what we were trying to put out there.
JS: Now you play Steph, Alisa’s best friend, and the character believes in ghosts, etc. Do you believe in that stuff in real life or was that something you had to really act for?
HR: That’s something that I really related to Steph on, which made it even more fun to play her because I do believe in that stuff in my personal life. I have had a few strange occurrences that I… I just know that something was going on. It was neat to delve into that.
JS: Anything you’d care to elaborate on?
HR: Yes! I had an experience where I was face to face with some type of entity, a man. It’s when I was living with my parents as a teenager. I was spending the night in the guest room for some reason. We must have had company or something. My grandfather dealt in antiques and he got my mom these two twin beds from a ghost town in CA, called Cerro Gordo...
Hold on! Pause for frame of reference. This is the actual ghost-town of Cerro Gordo, CA! Creepy!
HR: (Continued) ...He got them at a brothel there and they were painted bright blue. He sanded them down and made them all nice and I was spending the night in one of them. I was fast asleep; it was the middle of the night and I just woke up really suddenly with that feeling that you get when somebody’s across the room and you can feel them looking at you. I woke up very abruptly and I looked over in the doorway I saw a male figure standing there. A really tall man. I assumed it must be my dad and I called out “Daddy?” and he didn’t respond. Then I noticed he was wearing a hat, a trench coat, and boots. He was only a silhouette, but I could tell what he was wearing, and I thought, maybe it’s a fire fighter. Maybe there’s an emergency or something and as soon as I thought that, I got this feeling of dread, just this horrible, horrible feeling from the thing. So, I sat up really fast and he started to dissipate into the moonlight coming in from behind him, from the bathroom and I just more and more moonlight and less of him until he was completely gone. I was stunned, I didn’t know what to do. I just sat there for probably two or three more hours and didn’t move at all.
JS: Wow…
HR: That’s my biggest experience. There have been other little things throughout the years but that one will always remain with me.
JS: That’s crazy! I’ve had a few odd things happen myself.
HR: I always believe when people tell me things. I’m like, yeah, I believe you!
JS: You never know, right? Now, there’s some pretty creepy stuff in the film. Are you a horror fan?
HR: I am. I’ve liked horror since I was really little. Since I was four or five years old. I remember stumbling across “A Nightmare on Elm St.” and my parents were kind of like, what are you watching? (HR and JS laughing.) But I didn’t want to turn it off, I really loved it.
JS: That’s funny, I begged my mother to watch “A Nightmare on Elm St.” when I was six. She finally gave in and let me watch it and I’ve been hooked ever since!
HR: Oh, there we go! We have that in common.
JS: Would you say “A Nightmare on Elm St” is your favorite?
HR: It’ll always hold a very special place in my heart. When I was a teenager I was really into the more blood, gory type of horror stuff. I didn’t have a lot of friends who would go and see that stuff with me, but a few of them would. These days I’m more into the magical and mystical stuff. More of the horror/thriller type or suspense. I like being left on my feet and that’s one of the reasons I really liked “ECHOES OF FEAR” because even knowing what’s going to happen, what’s going to play out ahead of time, I’m still on the edge of my seat the whole time.
JS: Who would you say was your main inspiration as an actress?
HR: My favorite actress was always Sandra Bullock.
JS: She’s awesome!
HR: Yeah! I grew up at a time when her career was booming and there’s something about her that made me feel comfortable and I love all the roles that she’s been in. She always knocks it out of the park.
JS: She’s a great actress. I didn’t know too much about you Hannah, so I looked a bit up and saw that you have a bachelor’s degree in psychology?
HR: Yeah!
JS: What brought you to acting?
HR: Well, I started acting when I was little. I was doing community theatre. I had only done stage, never film. Then I got into figure skating around that same time and I loved acting but there was something about figure skating. That was my passion when I was little. So, I followed that for seven years into my teens and then I had to end that career because of an injury. By that time, I was really into academics. I was in the thick of high school and I knew I was about to be going on to college. So, I studied psychology because I’ve always loved that subject, but then after college I thought, I need some type of creative outlet again. I grew up in theatre, doing ballet, skating. I was a cheerleader. All of that was athletic but it was also really performance-based and I needed that in my life again.
JS: I also found out that you can supposedly lick your own elbow, according to IMDb. (HR and JS laughing.)
HR: I can! I wish I could show you right now! They say it’s physically impossible, but I can do it!
JS: I tried. I can’t do it, so I kind of want to see proof if you want to tweet me. (JS and HR laughing)
HR: Okay! (Laughing.)
(Hannah did text me photographic proof. She wasn’t kidding!)
JS: What’s next for you, Hannah?
HR: I’m working on a short film right now, it’s actually a comedy. I haven’t done comedy before, and it’s so lighthearted. It’s really fun to do that. I’m not carrying anything too heavy home with me at the end of the day. You know? So, that’s been a lot of fun. It’s also kind of a girl-power movie, like ECHOES OF FEAR.
JS: I’ll keep an eye out for that, when ‘s it come out?
HR: I know they want to put it in festivals beginning next year probably because we’re still shooting right now.
JS: You did a great job. I watch a lot of indie films, and “ECHOES OF FEAR” was definitely one of the best ones I’ve seen this year, you all did a great job.
HR: That’s so great to hear especially with so few people on set. It was really a labor of love, at any given point there were like five of us there.
JS: Now, is it true it was the writer and director’s home.
HR: Yeah, that’s their residence! Including the crawl spaces that you see. When we’re under the house, that’s their house!
JS: That’s awesome! Well, I appreciate it. Thank you for taking the time, Hannah.
HR: Thank you so much, Joshua!
JS: Anytime!
Hannah was a riot and a pleasure to speak to! Be sure to keep an eye out for her upcoming projects and of course, “ECHOES OF FEAR!” I highly recommend giving it a watch! It comes out on VOD today! News on a Blu-ray release, packed with bonus features, will be coming soon!
That’s it for now, but as always comment below! Until next time, keep on geekin’ on, my friends!
Joshua “Prometheus” Scafidi
