‘History Of Evil’ Cast And Crew Unveil The Sinister Secrets Behind The Dystopian Horror Movie

If we have to believe writer/director Bo Mirhosseni’s vision of the future of America, the country is awaiting a very gloomy fate. In his debut feature film, History of Evil, he shows us what happens when a family of refugees and freedom fighters in 2045 has to find shelter from a fascist government because they’re part of the resistance. On top of that, Mirhosseni adds some horror elements, as the shelter is a haunted mansion with a dark, sinister past. History of Evil is a film that wants to tell many different tales, and we had a chat with Mirhosseni and the two leads, Paul Wesley and Jackie Cruz, to uncover some of the sinister secrets of the movie.

Geek Vibes Nation: Hi all, congratulations on the film. Bo [Mirhosseni, writer and director], you directed and wrote the script. Where did the story for this movie come from?

Bo Mirhosseni: The story was inspired by my parents’ story happening during the Iranian revolution in the late 70s. Both my parents were activists at that time, fighting against this brutal regime that wanted to force all kinds of stuff on the people, like religion and very specific ways of thinking and living. My parents, especially my mom, were activists and fighting against this regime. And they were very vocal and active in their participation. I heard all the stories growing up. I initially set out to write a story about a family drama during the Iranian revolution. But because I love horror films, I wanted to also bring some genre elements to it. And so it went for a contained family drama, but with some horror ingredients added to it.

GVN: It’s much more personal than you would think by looking at it.

BM: It’s very personal indeed. A lot of the scenes, like when the militia comes into the house, happened to my parents, but in Iran. They would have to hide certain resistance materials they had. A lot of the events were taken from their experience.

GVN: For the actors, what were your thoughts when reading the script?

Paul Wesley (The Vampires Diaries): I am just speaking from my character only. It was a story about a guy who has a huge arc. The way he starts in the movie is different from how he ends. It was about his weaknesses. He was someone who, perhaps in the beginning of the movie, you’re thinking he’s one way. Many people and many men repress their feelings, and then you see deep-seated cracks in the foundation. Ron was put in a position where his wife became more, for lack of a better word, powerful in the sense that she was this great sort of leader for the resistance. He was, in a way, the stay-at-home dad.

I think he just had that resentment deep down inside. This house that was haunted by the spirit of this very bad racist man slowly infiltrated his mind and brought out these weird sorts of demons that I think were repressed inside of him. So I don’t know. To me, it was like The Shining, in a way. This was like a real character sort of drama and a great arc for me. That’s how I approached it.

Jackie Cruz (Orange is the New Black): When I read the script, I immediately asked to speak with the director because I connected with it 100 percent because, number one, I was very excited to understand that this came from a true story. Bo’s mother very much inspired me. My mother is also a leader, and to me, playing someone like her, someone so powerful, in my first leading role was intense—especially seeing my character evolve from the beginning to the end of the film. And you don’t see scripts like that for women like me. So, I was very excited to be a part of it.

When I spoke to Bo, we talked for an hour or something, and I connected with him a lot. I wanted to give it a go. Playing a woman who’s powerful and who uses her voice for good and not caring about the consequences and who’s also being a mum and someone who doesn’t choose between one role or another is great. While her family is always number one in the end, she’s also fighting for a better world for her daughter. It was just a beautiful story but a very scary one. It was something that could happen in real life. It was close to my heart.

GVN: How was it to step into that creepy, old, haunted shelter?

PW:  First of all, a lot of times you get on set, for example, when you’re supposed to be shooting somewhere underground, it’s all fake. It’s like Styrofoam that they paint. This was certainly not that this was a haunted house. This house was so creepy. We did less set dressing than you would think. It was like just one of these places that you were like, what the fuck happened here? We did a little research, and some very dark things happened. We shot this in the south, New Orleans, and slavery was very real. Some really awful things happened in the house that are relevant to our story. It’s essentially what the house was in the film. It didn’t take a lot of imagination to be creeped out.

JC: There are videos of the house and the creepy things that happened there. The stories and the history of the house felt very real. In New Orleans, it all felt like life and death. In that house, you could sit on something, and it could fall on you, like almost half of it, right?

BM: Yeah, you’re just like “I’m going to take a break and sit on this” and then something would happen.

PW: I sat on a chair, and the whole thing collapsed

BM: I remember that.

JC: It was a dangerous set.

BM: The first time I walked into the house to do a director’s scout, there was a jar with this big snake. So I went to the bedroom, and there were like 100 dolls just sitting there staring at me. And I’m like, “What the fuck? This is awesome.”

JC: I don’t remember seeing the snakes. Did you take away the snakes?

BM: We had to take them away because there was so much crap in that house. We had to get a storage container. A lot of it didn’t fit into the production design style. It was cheesy and tacky. We had to take so much out of the house to make it shootable and clean it. The house was so dirty.

GVN: In the movie, Daria (Murphee Bloom) counts down on multiple occasions. She doesn’t count down by one or ten but by seven. Is there a reason why it’s that particular number?

BM: Oh, yeah. It’s a meditation trick. Counting down by ten is easy, so your brain doesn’t have to think as hard. However, when counting down by seven, your brain must think a little more. It brings you more into a focused state of mind. Counting down by seven from a hundred is easy, but it gets harder once you go down and down. It forces your brain to be very focused and zen and to be in one place.

GVN: A movie like this, where there’s a big place for sound, becomes much creepier when the sound is added. How do you figure out the perfect sounds for every scene?

BM: I always had a sense of what I wanted and what the score and the sound design needed to be like. The sound created the right environment, raised the stakes, and elevated everything. It made me feel more anxious because when you’re on set, it could be creepy and interesting, but it’s not the same as when you add the sound. With the score, you hear and feel the tension even more.

GVN: For the actors, how was it then for you to see the end film, with the score and sound added to it?

PW: I’m in New York right now, and I got to see the movie on the big screen yesterday for the first time, which is great because they have a professional sound system, obviously, and you’re seeing it in a large format. The score added to the tension because when you watch it without the surround sound, sometimes you have a rustle in the background, which changes your entire perception of the scene. It’s interesting.

I’ve directed before, and you see a rough cut, and you’re like, “God, what did I do wrong? I messed something up. It looks like shit.” Then you get the sound designer coming in as well as the colourist, and all of a sudden, you’re like, “Oh, my God, this is a completely different movie”. If you get a great composer, you get a really good musical score. These little things will make a film.

JC: I’m having the time of my life in Mexico, so I haven’t been able to see the movie on the big screen yet, but I’m looking forward to seeing it.

History of Evil will debut on Shudder from the 23rd of February.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk4JNYV7Y1U]