Writer Director Ed Gass-Donnelly is busy for a guy. Having started in theatre he grew celluloid wings with numerous short films and music videos. Then he later had his feature debut, This Beautiful City, which enjoyed a premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2007. Nominee of four Canadian Academy Awards (Genie Awards) he went on to direct The Last Exorcism Part II, and is now about to release his latest psychological horror film, Lavender.

Co-written with Colin Frizzell, Gass-Donnelly directs Abbie Cornish as a photographer who suffers severe memory loss after an accident. Justin Long plays a psychiatrist who helps her recover lost memories.

Wit the release of the film around the corner we talked with this Canadian auteur about his latest creation and its particularly painterly style.

HorrorBuzz: As a filmmaker how did you find the pacing?

Ed Gass-Donnelly: To me it all comes down to the fundamentals, that I find the tension more interesting than the release. It’s that sense of dread and inevitability that you get. There is a formality to the way we shot it.  The movie we shot has a more classic look to it in the composition and the editing. That’s another thing. You have to find the right balance. You can easily go a certain way in one direction. It definitely helped to have a certain musicality to the pace. that helped us sort of know when to cut or when to hold a shot. 

HB: What influenced Lavender?

EGD: What got me interested in that genre was The Others. What I found so striking about that film was that it was a great character piece. It was this story that just happened to be scary. That is what I am much more interested in. It’s not like I thought, “Oh I want to make a scary movie.” I was much more interested in the concept of missing memories and the idea with the idea of whether or not she was haunted by the memories or haunted by the ghosts. That is what drives me to make a film.  On the one had there is that, but if you are making a scary movie you have to deliver. You have to define the beats that are going to be creepy or scary while remaining true to your story and the movie you want to make. You always questioning yourself through the process saying, “Oh am I pandering to the genre or is this something the audience needs to see at this moment?” There is always a constant deliberation.

HB: It’s funny you mention memory because my next question is about memory. What is it about Memory that compelled you to tell this particular story?

EGD: There were a few things. I mean to begin with I like the idea that our own memories and hidden memories, they drive our obsessions. Jane in the story is a photographer. She loves taking pictures of these houses. Of course we find out WHY she is taking pictures of this house, but she initially just thinks she like photography. That is what is fascinating to me. It’s very “chicken and the egg” there. I have had friends where I witnessed a moment where a friend of mine actually had a childhood memory come back. To actually watch her and physically see the discovery and the horror of that discovery come over her, I mean, it’s a real thing. 

When somebody is a kid and they deal with something so traumatic, I mean, what do you do? You put it in a box and save it for adulthood until you can process the actual effects of that. It’s amazing to me what the human body can do to save us and protect us.

HB: You were able to pull some genuine performances from children in this movie,. How did you do that.

EGD: Yeah it’s funny. I mean in one of my short films I did a few years ago that was based on a short play by a Canadian play. It was a super short play, basically a four page monologue that was included for work. The premise was that it was this little South African girl at her black nanny’s funeral. At first she mourns her but then it ultimately see that this young girl look at her nanny as property and family and it’s this rollercoaster of this little kid eventually ends up calling her what is the South African equivalent of  the N word and it’s this 12 year old little girl. At first, when directing I found it so much easier to direct people that were three times my age because you had this sort of shorthand. But I realized that, if you just speak to them like people like adults and just give them a little more time they were good. Kids are remarkable human beings. Yes, these kids were talented, no question. But you just give them time and be patient. The more credit you give them the more they will impress you.

HB: What were some of your favorite horror films?

EGD: I mean aside from The Others,  there’s The Shining. There is such a command and specificity to it. It’s so strange and simple. There are even a few nods to the Shining in Lavender. 

HB: Who was your DP and how much of a say did they have in the composition of the story you were telling.

EGD: Brenden Stacy was my Director of Photography and we are old friends, we went to University together and there is an immense shorthand between us. We’ve been working together for years. It was funny because when we were working on Lavender at one point we looked at each other and were like, “Should we be looking at visual references now or…?” We know each other so well that we really didn’t need to have big discussions about color and palette. We used to work that way, watching films together looking for things like that but, we’ve been working with together for so long that there’s just that shorthand. That’s why people in the industry like to work together so often because you can just rely on that history. You aren’t starting from scratch. I mean Brenden is amazing. He has a very painterly approach to light. I am more a composition guy. 

HB: Some of the shots that you got were particularly beautiful

EGD: One of the things that I think you have to do is frame things with confidence. you know? You need to trust the audience so that they will trust you. Because, if they are trusting the technical aspects of it they will  have faith that eventually the story will be paying off.

You can see Lavender when it premieres in theaters, VOD, and Digital HD on March 3rd.