Simeon Halligan is one of the most exciting directors around and its always worth celebrating when he has a new movie ready for release. We chatted to Simeon before the world premiere of PAST LIFE at his very own Grimmfest 2025 festival.
STV: Did you know from a young age that you wanted to be a director?
SH: I knew I wanted to be involved with film, for sure. I was making little super 8 films at school and then 1977 was the year I got really obsessed, the release of STAR WARS and then my folks took me to see the re-release of 2001. I was a little obsessed with Sci-fi, until I saw ALIEN a few years later and then my passion for horror and thrillers also grew. I loved design and SFX and studied to be an art director. I went to the Royal College or Art and then I worked as a designer for film and TV for many years before eventually doing what I had always really wanted to do, I directed by first short film TRIPLE EXPOSURE a short B&W film Noir in 1998. And then my directing career finally started!
STV: Where did the idea for Past Life come from?
SH: It’s been in development for a number of years. It started out as a one sentence idea from the screenwriters Ray and Dean and we developed it from synopsis up to full screenplay. And then we polished and polished the screenplay until we got it really working! I really love serial killer investigations like SEVEN and also love psychological thrillers like THE MACHINIST or MEMENTO, so I guess the idea combined both genres.
STV: Did it take long for the script to get right?
SH: Yes TBH. There were elements that just didn’t quite work and logic issues that needed resolving. It’s been a long journey with the screenplay. There was a time when the hypnotist character was just a background character BUT eventually it became apparent that he needed to be the lead characters right hand man. Many changes over many years until it was good enough to attract our amazing cast.
STV: Was it written with a cast in mind?
SH: No. Not really. But we went through a long casting process in which the script was offered out to quite a number of well-known actors. We were trying to secure a cast who would help secure the finance for the film, BUT in the end, we reduced the budget just to try and get the film made. And by that time, we had a very solid script, so we found that incredibly talented and experienced actors like Jereny Piven and Aneurin Barnard, loved it and wanted to do, it despite the very limited fees we could offer them. I think we focused more on who would be right for the characters in the end, and I’m so glad we did!
STV: It all seems to have been shot on location, what challenges does that create for a production?
SH: Actually, because of limited time and money, we shot a huge amount of the film in and around the small film studio that GRIMMFEST FILMS is based at, in south Manchester, Vectar Studios. We built sets for a number of the interior rooms, we used pretty much every available room in the building and redressed them to make libraries, offices, hospitals and so on. We used the studio car park; we used the sound stage studio a TV studio. We did have to shoot some locations, for sure, BUT we tried to keep them no more than 5 mins drive from the studio so as to keep the production budget down and base ourselves in one place. I’m glad it looks like we shot on a lot of locations because they were actually pretty limited!
STV: How hard was it to film the killer’s POV shots?
SH: Tricky for sure. We did it a number of ways. Sometimes with a Ronin rig (The same camera rig they used for the continuous shots in ADOLECENCE), sometimes we used a Go pro attached to a stunt performers head. Also, our grip created a special helmet that we could attach a camera onto, and we used that sometimes as well. So, a number of tricky techniques were used.
STV: The sequences where Jason is hypnotised look amazingly claustrophobic with all those red doors, how did you go about creating that environment?
SH: We built a set of the ‘Mind Corridor’ in studio that was limited to about 4 doors on each side. We then used ‘green screen’ at both ends. We extended the corridor in post-production. We created a virtual corridor which could be added to the real corridor. It was certainly a challenge for our VFX boys Owen and Ross who have done an amazing job of making it work.
STV: How did Samu Csernak become involved for the score?
SH: Samu is Hungarian. One of our producers, Michael Laundon runs a post-production service in Hungary and he had used Samu on previous films and suggested him for the score on PAST LIFE. I think he has added a real level of scale to the film with his wonderful orchestrated score.
STV: You’ve been directing for some time, how has the film industry changed over the years?
SH: I dream that the industry could still be like it was in the 90s! An era when you could actually make solid revenues from the distribution of indie movies. When DVD sales and rentals could make a small film a huge success, even if it didn’t do a theatrical. Many people said that the internet would democratise the indie film game but it seems harder than ever, now, to get your little movie to be successful. Now Netflix, Apple and Amazon rule the roost, they have become the new moguls, replaced old Hollywood. And now we all want a piece of them, just like we were desperate to have a studio finance or pick up our movie in the past. It never gets any easier to raise money for indie film or to make them successful at the box office!
STV: Your movies are all very different, is this deliberate so you don’t get pigeonholed as a creative?
SH: Are they? Good. Not really, I think you grow as a film maker, change your tastes somewhat and maybe begin to focus on what you really want to do or say. I’ve always loved twisty turny psychological thrillers, my favourite genre, and I guess, I’m moving more toward that direction as I develop as a film maker.
STV: Will you be nervous when the movie has its world premiere at Grimmfest 2025?
SH: Probably! But we also have the added anxiety of running the rest of the festival as well, so its double pressure! Many of the cast and crew and friends and family are coming to the screening so, yes it’ll be a little intense, I guess!
STV: The festival has been going strong for 17 years, do you think the horror genre is more respected now than when you first started Grimmfest?
SH: It’s certainly become way more mainstream. There was a time when the Brits in particular thought of it as a ‘B’ genre. Like it wasn’t ‘Proper’ cinema or art. But the US studios have realised that it’s one of the few remaining genres that they can rely on to get bums on seats in cinemas. Even Marvel movies are struggling these days. But horror is a genre people love to experience together on the big screen. It generates great revenue on way smaller budgets than most other Hollywood output. So, the economics of horror have also made many people reassess the genre critically, I think. It commands way more respect than it did 17 years ago, that’s for sure!
STV: Do you believe in people having past lives/been here before sort of thing?
SH: I don’t know, to be honest. It’s a great premise to make stories around. Great fun to explore. Essentially, it’s a way of looking at reincarnation, I guess. It’s something I would love to believe in, but who knows. I talked to a number of people before making the film who had either experienced ‘PAST LIFE’ regression or had hypnotised others to experience past lives, and their stores were fascinating. They certainly believed in what they had experienced.
STV: So, what are you working on at the moment?
SH: We have a WHO DUNNIT based on a best-selling novel that we would like to get made. But as usual it will depend on the money becoming available. We are also developing A TV series, so plenty to keep us busy!! Oh, and we have just launched a new distribution arm of GRIMMFEST called GRIMMVISON, which will release genre movies across various platforms in various countries with a focus on the UK and US. Our new YouTube channel, GRIMMVISION is already up and running and offers free movies to watch at home! Check it out!
STV: Simeon Halligan, thank you very much.
