SARASOTA – Based in 1996 a group of girls having a slumber party skip the boy talk and challenge each other to tell the scariest story they know.
“So it’s structured something using the grammar the formal qualities of a horror film. I consider it a horror film but it’s a very abnormal horror film if you will,” said Graham Swon.
Swon wrote and directed “The World is Full of Secrets.” A horror film that relies on the suspense and climax of storytelling rather than monsters, and bloodshed typically used to frighten the audience.
“I really think that horror films are more about anticipation than some kind of explicit demonstration the actions.” said Swon. “So for me there’s actually been a big downshift in how frightening I find horror films because just to see a dead body or just have something pop out is not frightening in my opinion.”
Swon finds inspiration from the work of Val Lewton and uses the atmosphere around the characters to scare the audience and build the suspense.
“One of the big things that he did was not show the monster not show the violence, but instead show the things around it, show the shadows show the atmosphere,” said Swon.
Swon says the film pushes the audience to use their imagination and really think about what surrounding sounds they’re hearing.
“I was very inspired by this tradition both in literature of stories within stories. Of a story that’s structured that’s made out of the body of other stories and the act of telling a story.”
The films theme according to Swon is how as a society women are made the victims and not the savor in most horror films.
“I consider it to be a feminist horror film that’s interacting with the way women are treated and [in]doctrinated and kind of move as object’s for violence to take place upon in our society and have been overtime,” said Swon.
“The World is Full of Secrets” will be screening for a second time April 13th at 8:30 p.m. at the Regal Hollywood Theater in Downtown Sarasota.