Slash on producing the gory new film The Breach, his favorite horror films of all time, and more

Bad Feeling Magazine: How did you get involved with The Breach?

Slash: Well, Rodrigo [Gudiño] — who is one of the producers, and he also sort of wrote the screenplay — he and I have been friends for years ever since the first movie that I produced [2013’s Nothing to Fear]. I did it through Anchor Bay, which was out of Toronto. And I was there for a screening of the movie in Toronto, and he and I met, and we’ve been friends ever since. And he’s turned me on to a couple of scripts over the years.

He came to me with this particular one, which he had adapted from a script by Nick Cutter. And they handed it to Rodrigo and said, “Do what you want with this to sort of get it to be really film-worthy.” And so, he did a lot of tweaking to it, and then showed it to me and said, “Would you be interested in getting on board? I’m really thinking about pursuing this and getting this made.” And so, I was really excited about the opportunity to work with Rodrigo, finally, and, and pursue this really unique, cool, horror slash science fiction… it’s a mixture of a lot of different things. So, we developed it from there.

Filming during the pandemic

I think a lot of viewers will be excited about the Lovecraftian elements in The Breach, which are notoriously hard to bring to the film — did you have a certain vision for how to kind of bring those elements to the film?

Well, I mean, all things considered, it was really part and parcel of it. But there was definitely a lot of visual ideas. The irony of the whole thing was that when it came time to get into the production, the pandemic hit. And so, Andrew, and Mike from Anchor Bay, they really got behind it, and we ended up finding a location to shoot the entire film, the whole production in one location, in the woods, in Ontario, outside of Toronto.

So, that really had a direct effect on the way the movie was done. Because everybody was really living on top of one another. I wasn’t there, I couldn’t leave the country. And I obviously couldn’t go into Canada. But it was really everybody working together in a real communal atmosphere to get this movie made, and to do it using whatever resources and so on. [Laughs] So, it really took on a life of its own that it might not have taken had the pandemic not happened. So, the vision was there, but it was crafted a little differently under the circumstances.

And did the pandemic give you more time to tweak the score? Did you have an idea from right off the bat on what you wanted to contribute?

The title sequence music was really inspired by the script. When they were sending me dailies, I was asking Rodrigo, “Tell me with each of these shots what is it that you’re looking for, you know?” And so, we discussed it, and I just played the stuff in my studio and start writing and then recording snippets of things and ideas and sending them back to Rodrigo. I think it was actually happening in normal production time. Everything was still done at a pace that a low-budget movie would have. It didn’t get stretched out, let’s put it that way.

From music to film

As a musician, was contributing to film scores something that was in the back of your mind? For years, you will play the Godfather theme live with Guns N’ Roses — was that something that you were always itching to get to?

I mean, to tell you the truth, I never had any aspirations to be a film composer or anything like that. But I actually have done a lot of different little things for movies. People probably wouldn’t even know. I did a couple of things for Quentin Tarantino. I did some stuff for the Fast and Furious franchise; I’ve done a bunch of other obscure things where I’ve written pieces of music. And then of course, I’ve had a lot of pre-recorded music in films.

For me, the ultimate entertainment experience is really when you get a good visual paired up with the right music that emotionally connects it. I don’t think there’s anything more orgasmic than a great scene with the right music. So, every time I’ve ever gotten the opportunity to contribute anything, I’ve always been very eager to do it. But I did write the score to the first film that I produced. So, when this came along — actually, with anything that I produce — one of the things that makes it really attractive, is being able to get involved with music in some capacity. So, I do have a thing for it.

Entering the world of producing

How did you get into producing? Was there one inciting incident?

There’s a very specific story. I’ve been a lifelong horror enthusiast, in the truest order, right? [Laughs] And one Halloween, I guess it was back in 2012, I was at this party, and I was introduced to this guy who is a movie producer. And we ended up having this three-hour-long conversation about horror. And at the end of the day — I think he contacted me the next day — and says, “You really should be a producer.”

And the thought had never occurred to me. So, he said, “I’m gonna send you some scripts, and you tell me which ones you like.” And he did that. And we ended up with a handful of what I considered to be really good scripts. And then we sort of broke it down into like, which one is it feasible that we could actually really make? Right this second, you know, the budget is right, and we don’t have to tweak the script too much.

Nothing Left to Fear

And so, we narrowed it down to this one script called Nothing Left to Fear. And we put it together and made the movie. So that’s how I got into it. It was one of those movies that was totally fraught with the worst possible obstacles. It was a real…[laughs] There was a real lesson in why not to be a filmmaker. But it really sort of whet my appetite to keep doing it.

Maybe it was best to get those obstacles out of the way right from the beginning.

Yeah, it’s a movie that it’s amazing that it was ever completed.

What were your thoughts on modern horror at the time? Were you excited about the genre? Or did you find it was in a bit of a slump?

You know, I didn’t even bring that up. That was why I got into it in the first place. When he first mentioned producing, the horror, the genre scene at the time was really dead. And there was nothing happening that was of any substance. And I thought, you know, I would love to do this, if for anything, just to be able to make movies that I would want to see or that I think are good. And that’s how I got into it. The horror climate over the years since then has ebbed and flowed. You know, it’s been really good there for a minute and went down again, but it’s been relatively healthy since then. But at the time, it was really bleak.

A24 and the modern horror scene

What were your thoughts on the A24 scene of horror films that were coming up then – – with were you excited about that? Did you feel like maybe it was lacking some of the aggression of the stuff that you came up with in the 70s and 80s?

Actually, I love the A 24 stuff, I thought that that movie house or whatever you call it — that production studio — was a real shot in the arm. For me, personally, my horror tastes are not necessarily what you call, you know, like torture porn or gore-focused movies. They’re all story-driven and character-driven. And the horror element is something that’s an added element to what’s already a drama. And I liked those movies because there was great storytelling, they were subtle, and they were classy, and really well put together. They’re one of my favorite brands to come along in a long time.

Balancing the tone of The Breach

What was it like trying to balance the tone of The Breach? There are some great comedic moments in the film, there’s a lot of drama, and then you really go for the throat.

For me, personally, it was really all on the final script, it was really sort of all there. I mean, you know, the character that Alex Lifeson played, obviously, there was a comedic element to that. But then there was also a sense of reality to that, because that conspiracy theorist actually was talking about something that was actually real, [laughs] you know, in relation to the story.

So, as crazy as he seemed, there was actually some truth to what he was saying, but it was delivered in such a [comedic] way. That really sort of gave it some kind of levity, so that you don’t take it so seriously. You know, some horror movies take themselves too seriously. So, I thought that when it was finished, it actually worked out really, really well. On paper, it didn’t seem as funny. But when we ended up doing it, it did have a certain comedic element to it. And I think it broke up the seriousness of it, of what was going on leading up to that, and then after it, so, there were a lot of different dynamics there.

What are some horror films you’ve seen recently that really excited you?

Let’s see. You know, we were talking about A24 movies, and I was thinking about Hereditary, that was one that I thought was fucking really well — actually, Hereditary, and Midsommar were great. I thought, Mandy, which is an acquired taste for a lot of people, [laughs] but I thought Mandy was great. The movie that turned me on to A24, since we were talking about them was The Witch, which I just love.

One of my favourite all-time movies, just kind of going off the top of my head was Let the Right One In. But as a kid coming up, I mean, I think the movie that had the biggest impact on me — the one thing is, movies don’t tend to scare me. I’m not easily scared in movies. But the one movie that did scare me when I was a kid was Night of the Living Dead. I mean, that still has a very ominous kind of personality to it even all these years later, as well as Texas Chainsaw. That was another one that I really loved that sort of irked me when I was younger [laughs].

Favourite horror movie

But I think my favorite all-time horror movie, you know, one that’s always stuck with me as a bar to reach was The Omen with Gregory Peck. And also, David Warner, who just passed away. But that movie was a feature horror movie, and I saw it when it came out. So, I must have been about 11 years old, I guess. And it was a feature drama, delivered in the same fashion as any big feature drama of the ‘70s. But it was a really well-told horror tale that was in its own kind of supernatural way tangible, like it was believable. It was just a combination of a lot of great things. And I still look back at that movie as being impeccably cast, impeccably directed, and just the overall story was just brilliant.

Guns N’ Roses and The Conspirators

What else is coming up on the music or film front? Anything you can let us in on?

Well, there’s definitely some film projects that are actually moving forward at a good pace. So, I’m excited about that because it’s very slow going, the film business [laughs]. So, I’m excited about that. And I’m on tour with Guns N’ Roses basically making up for all the stuff we had to cancel in 2020. We head out in September to South America and then to Asia and then New Zealand and Australia. So, that’s gonna go through the end of the year and then I’ll be touring with the Conspirators next year. And then also working on some other stuff. So, there’s a lot going on.

The Breach had its world premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival in July. Follow Raven banner on Facebook for further screening details.