We chat with director Matt Harlock about the weird and wonderful mind of illustrator/mischievous demon Krent Able and their upcoming project, Deep Clean.
Matt Harlock has been writing and directing through his production company Halflife Films for well over a decade now, gaining international recognition and acclaim with his 2011 documentary on the late, legendary, comedian Bill Hicks. He took the time to chat to us about his latest project, sci-fi horror Deep Clean, that he’s been working on with infamous comic artist Krent Able.
One of the first descriptions for Deep Clean on the Kickstarter page is “Imagine a horror film, but set in a world created by Mike Leigh or Ken Loach”. Will people be able to compare the experience of Deep Clean to anything else they’ve seen before?
It’s a really unique world that Krent has come up with, which I’ve helped develop. The idea of road crews, who seem to be doing nothing but are actually hiding in plain sight, is a wonderful concept that people really seem to love. The notion of a genre-crossing piece that mixes a naturalistic style with a horror is one that I feel is quite unique, but there are films that have something of that to them - peeling back reality to reveal a while new world, like Trollhunter, perhaps Attack The Block, and with a comedic aspect, Shaun Of The Dead…we are very keen on including practical effects, too.
How long after the previous hit collaboration between Matt and Krent (Inks, Cocks and Rock & Roll) did the idea for Deep Clean come about?
For the benefit of our readers, do you think you could explain the relationship between Steve Martin and Krent Able?
It’s great to see that you’ll be working with one of our former tutors, Dan Martin, on the FX. How did he become attached to the project?
You’ve already had a lot of really positive reactions to the project, what’s been the most exciting so far?
