Ahead of Raven’s Cabin world premier at Perth Monster Fest next week, director Loren Johnson tells Cinema Australia how he went about making his horror film.

Raven’s Cabin came about because my wife, Alice, and I, as well as a few other film-makers and actors, decided to be proactive and create an opportunity to work on a feature film because in Perth feature films are scarcely made. As the producers, Alice and I spent around six months reading scripts from around the world until we found one that inspired us and that we felt would be able to be produced for the micro-budget of approximately $50,000 which was privately raised.

For over 90% of the cast and crew this was the first feature film they had ever worked on. The production brought together emerging local talent to create a highly motivated and committed cast and crew. One such talent who turned up to the auditions was Luke Ledger, cousin of the late Heath Ledger. He was initially nervous his acting skills would be compared to his famous cousin’s, however, he proved himself to be a worthy actor in his own right, and as with so many of the other cast, I was excited to work with talented young actors who I could see had bright futures ahead of them.

As the director my vision was to make a film that had scary elements but was not simply based around fear; I wanted to create a film that had more depth and drama, that had levels. Inspired by the classic Australian film Picnic at Hanging Rock I endeavoured to create a similar atmosphere of mystery and suspense, perfectly suited to the Australian bush, and enhanced beautifully by the original score.

Making a feature film on such a low budget inevitably means constant compromises and problem solving. Issues arise regularly and you have to figure out a solution quickly to keep the film going. It’s so easy for small budget films to fall apart at the seams – during any stage – pre, production or post. You have to face each hurdle head on and stay strong.

To be honest it has been a very stressful and difficult journey, however I certainly value how much I’ve learnt along the way and how well the final product ended up considering. Most people only ever talk about how much they want to make a feature film, or they start one but are unable to finish it due to one of many possible hurdles, so I am proud to have finished the film and made it through the many challenges of producing a film with such a miniscule budget, as well as dealing with several personal tragedies at the same time. It certainly took blood, sweat and tears to get to this point.

Looking at the end product I’m sure some people will critique certain elements but I think of how well we did considering the limitations we were working with – a tiny budget, fairly inexperienced cast & crew, over-worked, endless technical difficulties and so on. It is certainly wonderful to now be going to the film’s premiere and I’m excited to watch it on a cinema screen for the first time.

As for the film’s future, we have recently had interest from distributors so we look forward to seeing where the film ends up.

Bound, gagged and blindfolded, several teens are grabbed in the middle of the night and taken to Redback, a youth behavior modification facility deep in the Australian bush. They’re completely cut off from the rest of the world; isolated and tested in the unforgiving camp. Rumors travel through the camp that a few years earlier a girl reportedly hanged herself. But that’s just a rumor. Only the dead girl and her murderer know the truth and the dead don’t talk… unless they find someone who can hear them.

See the trailer here.

Raven’s Cabin will have its world premier as part of Perth Monster Fest on Tuesday, 1st April at 7.45pm. You can buy tickets here.

Raven’s Cabin
Directed by: Loren Johnson
Starring: Luke Ledger, Andrea Burdett and Pia Prendiville