The most interesting horror remakes tend to be the ones based on cult films. 1970’s And Soon the Darkness is a little-seen thriller about a pair of nurses on a bike vacation in France terrorized by a murderer. First-time director Marcos Efron has updated that premise for his remake, making the girls (Amber Heard and Odette Yustman) American tourists on a bike holiday in Argentina. Karl Urban (Star Trek) co-stars as a fellow American in search of his missing sister.
Rue Morgue spoke to Efron about the differences between the original and his version, as well as future projects.

What is your background as a fan of horror films and thrillers?
I grew up simultaneously loving and being terrifically scared of The Shining. To this day I think it’s the scariest movie made. I enjoyed some of the gorier movies, but I wasn’t really scared of them because you knew the blood and guts were fake, but it was fun anyway. The old Creepshow series from the early ‘80s and Nightmare on Elm Street were favourites, too.

How would you describe the relationship your film has to the original? What things about the first version did you want to keep and which did you want to change?
The original worked really well for its time in 1970, and the atmospheric vibe and slow burn of the story were appealing to me. But I know also that today’s audiences need a bit more in terms of story and character. The main elements of the original I wanted to keep were that there were just two friends, that the location played a role, and that the Spanish (French in the original) remained without subtitles.

What purpose does it serve not to subtitle the Spanish speakers?
Not having subtitles puts the audience firmly in the shoes of the protagonist (unless of course you speak Spanish). But I figured it was a small percentage of people who could follow the Argentinean dialect and accent. So what you’re left with is being right there with Stephanie (Amber) as she’s struggling to get a grip on what’s going on.

There was some controversy when Hostel was released, that it would damage the tourism industry in Eastern Europe. Do you think Americans in general are wary of travelling to countries where English is not the first language and is that fear justified?
I don’t think this movie, or any fictional movie, really, could have a meaningful impact on tourism. In fact, I’m willing to bet Kazakhstan’s tourism skyrocketed after Borat! I know from my own personal experience traveling overseas that you just have to be a lot more careful and aware of where you are, especially when you leave the big cities.

The movie was filmed in Argentina. What were the particular challenges of working there?
The main challenge was shooting in the remote northwest province of Salta and being three hours by plane from Buenos Aires, where all the equipment and vendor support is. Luckily we had a fantastic and experienced Argentinean crew so overall it was pretty free of disaster.

What has been your most traumatic vacation experience?
I have been incredibly lucky, but one thing that comes to mind was a hellacious landing in Managua, Nicaragua, where I was convinced the wheels had sheared off the plane and we were going to skid off the runway. I’m sure that happening was not even a remote possibility but at the time it was pretty traumatic.

What do you have coming up film-wise?
I’m working on a sci-fi book that I’m adapting with hopes to direct in 2011, as well as developing a script with another writer. In the meantime I’ll be shooting some commercials to keep the creative juices alive.

And Soon the Darkness will be available on DVD and Blu-ray Dec. 28 through Anchor Bay Entertainment. Photos courtesy Anchor Bay Entertainment.