Director Jennifer Lynch Talks ‘Chained’, ‘A Fall From Grace’ And ‘The Monster Next Door’

If you’re a fan of director Jennifer Lynch (Boxing Helena, Surveillance, Hisss), her new film Chained hits Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD today – October 2nd -from Anchor Bay Films.

I recently hopped on the phone with Lynch and we talked about the challenges of making an intense serial killer film, the process of casting Vincent D’Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket, Men In Black, “Law and Order: Criminal Intent”) and her upcoming projects. It turns out she’s taking a turn into lighter fare (after her very next film, A Fall From Grace) with the Monster Squad-esque The Monster Next Door.

In Chained, “Coming home from a routine trip to the movies, eight-year-old Tim (Bird) and his mother, Sarah (Ormond) are picked up by a psychopathic cab driver named Bob (D’Onofrio). It ends up being their last ride together. Bob murders the young boy’s mother and keeps Tim as his unwilling protégée, making him clean up the mess following each murder he commits. After a couple of aborted escape attempts, Bob chains Tim – now renamed Rabbit — allowing just enough length to move freely within the house. As the years pass, Bob starts instructing Rabbit, teaching him anatomy and human behavior. Now a teenager, Rabbit (Eamon Farren, X: Night of Vengeance) is slowly being pressed by Bob to start his own homicidal spree. Slowly but surely, he must soon choose whether to follow in Bob’s serial killer footsteps or make one final, desperate attempt to break free…”

The cast also includes Gina Phillips (Jeepers Creepers, “Ally McBeal”) Conor Leslie (“90210”), Evan Bird (“The Killing”), with Jake Weber (Dawn of the Dead, “Medium”) and Julia Ormand (My Week With Marilyn, “Mad Men,” The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). The Chained Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD also includes, as a bonus feature, the scene that prompted the MPAA give the film an NC-17 rating. Head inside for the interview!

It’s a very intense film in some respects. I know you worked with Damian O’Donnell on the script, but how did this whole thing come about?

Well actually the producers came to me with Damian’s original script, which was a great deal more violent and a slightly different story. It focussed on the graphic nature of a serial killer, it had detectives circling the killer and it was a little more “torture porn.” I went in to meet with them to ask why they had thought of me for this. And they told me they wanted my take.

And, for me, I’m very fascinated by the human monster and how the human monster is made. Why is the killer this way? What is his cycle of abuse? And what happens when an innocent child is thrust into that cycle? So we got rid of the detectives and anything that didn’t focus on that. I’m a lot more focussed on tension and unseen terror.

It definitely emphasis the nurture over nature angle.

Yes. I think some people are genetically predisposed but that a lot of it is nurture over nature. If you hurt any one of us enough and don’t give us the tools or support system to make better choices then we become what our damage is.

D’Onofrio is a big guy, but he’s got a wounded child-like quality to him. His eyes and his mannerisms are so open.

I just love that about him. The fact that that little boy still exists and the fact that he’s brave enough to show it, I just have so much respect for that. It’s exactly what the role required. That visibility of the wounded self within the protective armor.

Had you seen anyone before that? Or was he the first person that came to mind?

He was always my first choice. All sorts of names name up, but he’s one of the most under-respected actors in the business. If you have him, you win. God bless him for saying yes.

This film’s dealings with the MPAA haven’t been a secret. What’s your take on that situation now?

There’s a few schools of thought I have after having dealt with them. I was incredibly surprised with how nice they were, and letting my voice be heard through arbitration. They said, “we think you’ve made a great film. We just don’t think kids should see it.” And my argument was that parents should be able to bring their kids and start a dialogue about it.

If we had gotten a megastar, I don’t think we would have gotten an NC-17. There’s a certain comfort in an actor you recognize. But Vincent is so good at being a chameleon that it feels more authentic.

You’ve got A Fall From Grace coming up next, right?

Absolutely. We’re in the final stages of casting. I think we’re looking at a early spring start date in St. Louis.

And you’ve got The Monster Next Door which looks a little more broad and rompy than Chained.

Oh yeah. It’s a lot more broad and rompy, that’s a great way of putting it! It’s a really fun, absurdist, horror comedy. It’s got lots of humor, it’s sort of in line with Superbad meets Zombieland meets Attack The Block. It’s time to play! Vampires, werewolves and zombies! What could be bad?!

SOURCE: Bloody Disgusting

Teaser Trailer: Jennifer Lynch's "A Fall From Grace".

Executive Produced by WCSA Productions, Dennis Johnson Produced by David Michaels, Eric Wilkinson, Jory Weitz Written by Jennifer Lynch and Eric Wilkinson Directed by Jennifer Lynch Cast: Tim Roth, Vincent D'Onofrio, Willow Shields, Daryl Hannah, Cedric the Entertainer Music: Trent Reznor's Ghosts I-IV




Detective Michael Tabb knows the city of St. Louis inside and out. He has felt its true heart, as much as its dark underbelly: but he does not know who, in both the dark and light - is taking the lives of young girls.

Bob, (Vincent D'Onofrio) Lays Down the Rules in Chained.

Dread Central
4.9.12

A new clip has come our way for Jennifer Lynch's new movie, Chained (review), and if we were you we'd play close attention to the following video as it lays down the rules you need to survive. Dig it.

From the Press Release
Perhaps the most terrifying human relationship is the one between a serial killer and his target. But what if it starts that way and becomes something...more? From the visionary mind of director Jennifer Lynch (Boxing Helena, Surveillance, Hisss) comes the dark fable Chained, coming to Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD October 2nd from Anchor Bay Films. With a stellar cast including Vincent D’Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket, Men In Black, “Law and Order: Criminal Intent”), Gina Phillips (Jeepers Creepers, “Ally McBeal”), Conor Leslie (“90210”), and Evan Bird (“The Killing”) with Jake Weber (Dawn of the Dead, “Medium”) and Julia Ormand (My Week With Marilyn, “Mad Men,” The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Chained is an unforgettable ride into the darkness that can reside in the human heart – no matter what your age. The Chained Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD also includes, as a bonus feature, the scene that prompted the MPAA to give the film an NC-17 rating! SRP is $26.98 for the DVD, and $29.99 for the Blu-ray™ Combo Pack.

Coming home from a routine trip to the movies, eight-year-old Tim (Bird) and his mother, Sarah (Ormond), are picked up by a psychopathic cab driver named Bob (D’Onofrio). It ends up being their last ride together. Bob murders the young boy’s mother and keeps Tim as his unwilling protégé, making him clean up the mess following each murder he commits. After a couple of aborted escape attempts, Bob chains Tim - now renamed Rabbit - allowing just enough length to move freely within the house. As the years pass, Bob starts instructing Rabbit, teaching him anatomy and human behavior. Now a teenager, Rabbit (Eamon Farren, X: Night of Vengeance) is slowly being pressed by Bob to start his own homicidal spree. Slowly but surely, he must soon choose whether to follow in Bob’s serial killer footsteps or make one final, desperate attempt to break free...

Bonus features on Chained Blu-ray™ and DVD include feature-length audio commentary by writer/director Jennifer Lynch and actor Vincent D’Onofrio; the alternate unrated version of “Mary’s Murder;” and the original theatrical trailer.

Vincent D'Onofrio: From Murdering Psychopath to Dad

Fresh off the killing floors of Jennifer Lynch's "Chained" , Vincent D'Onofrio moves on to the role of "Dad" in Jennifer's new movie "A Fall From Grace". Producer/writer Eric Wilkinson tells The Reelblog that they are in the process of completing contracts with Vincent's reps and he will be playing the father of the title character, GRACE. Vincent is playing a distraught father dealing with the loss of his only son.

Teen megastar Chloe Grace Moretz is considering the role of Grace. Chloe is probably best known for her role in Diary of a Wimpy Kid and more recently Hugo.











Writer/Producer, Eric Wilkinson had a chill up his spine upon walking across the abandoned "Old Chain of Rocks Bridge" conducting video recording research for his Producing Partner David Michaels. Not knowing why he had such a haunting feeling, or fascination to the bridge he began doing research on it. He did not know until several days after recording footage of the location that it was where the infamous "Kerry Sisters Murder" occurred. In 1991 two young sisters were raped and murdered on the bridge, being thrown off it by their assailants into the Mississipi river below. A dark and violent incident that influenced Wilkinson's decision to create the screenplay based around, and on this location. The story however, would not be regarding that incident, but rather the haunting energy the location possessed. He went back again to photograph and video record this location for Writer/Director Jennifer Chambers Lynch. IDMB

Vincent D'Onofrio Joins Jennifer Lynch's "A Fall From Grace"

This just in from Jennifer Lynch’s upcoming thriller ‘A Fall From Grace’: Vincent D’Onofrio joins Tim Roth in ‘A Fall From Grace’ today and Cedric the Entertainer has been cast for the dramatic role of the Coroner.
Famed auteur Jennifer Lynch takes the helm for her fifth effort, both on the page and behind the camera with the modern thriller ‘A Fall from Grace’, starring Academy Award nominated actor Tim Roth. We have the just released teaser trailer for you, narrated by Bill Pullman.
The producers – including Jennifer Lynch and David Michaels, the director and author of ‘Chinatown’ and the TV series ‘Macabre Theatre’ – are angling to start production as early as this fall/winter on location in St. Louis, MO. Oscar-nominated actor Tim Roth will star in the movie’s lead role, alongside Vincent D’Onofrio and Cedric the Entertainer as has been announced today. The remainder of the cast is presently being assembled.

SOURCE: HorrorBug.com

TEASER TRAILER


A FALL FROM GRACE | a JENNIFER LYNCH film | Teaser Trailer | Narrated by Bill Pullman from David Michaels on Vimeo.

Video: Opening Scene of Jennifer Lynch's "Chained" with Vincent D'Onofrio

CHAINED stars Vincent D'Onofrio, Gina Phillips, Jake Webber, Eamon Farren and Julia Ormond. The story kicks off when:

Coming home from a routine trip to the movies, eight-year-old Tim (Bird) and his mother, Sarah (Ormond) are picked up by a psychopathic cab driver named Bob (D’Onofrio). It ends up being their last ride together. Bob murders the young boy’s mother and keeps Tim as his unwilling protégée, making him clean up the mess following each murder he commits. After a couple of aborted escape attempts, Bob chains Tim – now renamed Rabbit -- allowing just enough length to move freely within the house. As the years pass, Bob starts instructing Rabbit, teaching him anatomy and human behavior. Now a teenager, Rabbit (Eamon Farren, X: Night of Vengeance) is slowly being pressed by Bob to start his own homicidal spree. Slowly but surely, he must soon choose whether to follow in Bob’s serial killer footsteps or make one final, desperate attempt to break free...

Chained comes out on DVD on Oct.2. 2012

SOURCE: JoBlo.com

Fantasia 2012: Jennifer Lynch has ‘Chained’ the Serial Killer Monster

Written by Jennifer Lynch, based on a screenplay by Damian O’Donnell

Directed by Jennifer Lynch

USA 2012 Fantasia imdb

“I shall call you… Rabbit,” is the most chilling line of any film this year. Spoken slowly but deliberately with a slight lisp and a faint Germanic accent by Vincent D’Onofrio, the voice alone places Bob somewhere between Hans Beckert and Jeffrey Dahlmer. D’Onofrio’s performance as Bob is a virtuoso effort by one of our great (albeit under-utilized) actors, delicately inhabiting a brute, like a ballerina trapped in a gorilla’s body.

“When I said I cast Vincent D’Onofrio, I was told that he was too TV… What The Fuck?! Have you not seen Full Metal Jacket?”

-Jennifer Lynch

Bob is a taxi driver whose specially modified cab makes it easier for him to kidnap women, drive them back to his isolated rural home, rape them and kill them. One day, he picks up Sarah Fittler (Julia Ormond) and her ten year old son Tim (Evan Bird) at the movies where they have just seen a horror film. After killing Sarah, Bob changes Tim’s name to Rabbit, telling him, “I didn’t choose you, but I will make the most of it.”

“I wanted to talk about abuse. I wanted to start a dialogue. The main thing is we have to fucking stop hurting the kids!”

-Jennifer Lynch






Rabbit becomes Bob’s servant, “You will have one job. You do what I say. You clean up my house,” which begins with cleaning up the remains of his mother. In time, teenage Rabbit (Eamon Farren) becomes Bob’s reluctant student and it becomes clear that Bob intends for Rabbit to become his son and heir.

“I wanted to write an original horror story… I decided not to do something supernatural, which left serial killers. I had seen films where someone is chased by the killer, Halloween, and I had seen films where the police chase the killer, Se7en, Silence of the Lambs, but I had never seen a film where an ordinary person is parachuted into a serial killer’s life and can’t get away.”

-Damian O’Donnell

Part of the genius of Chained is the way that Jennifer Lynch uses the rhythms of a home and a life and a father-son relationship to lull us into a form of Stockholm Syndrome along with Rabbit, only to twist the knife and remind us that Bob is a monster. This also allows her to give D’Onofrio screen time to truly develop Bob, to give him depth and dimension.

“He’s tough to cut. You just want to look at him forever.”

-Chris Peterson (editor)








It would be easy to categorize Chained as a nature vs. nurture story, but the film ends up being much more complicated than that. Lynch reveals a story of generational abuse in tiny drips, each splash causing us to reevaluate Bob’s life, but Lynch (and D’Onofrio) never let Bob off the hook for his actions. His past is a reason, not an excuse.

“Parents lend children their experience and a vicarious memory; children endow their parents with a vicarious immortality.”

-George Santayana

Bob sees Rabbit sometimes as a son, but mostly as a replacement. A replacement for the kid brother that Bob tried to protect from his father’s wrathful abuse and ultimately a replacement for Bob himself.

The greatest (and stupidest) tribute this film has received is from the MPAA who slapped the film with an NC-17 rating, for scenes of violence less gory, but more emotionally unsettling, than you will see from any horror fantasy franchise like Saw, Halloween or Friday the 13th.

“It would be easy to hate them. I wanted to hate them, but everyone in the MPAA were really nice people. When we went for our appeal, we played the film and then we got to speak and the lady who gave us the NC-17 rating got to speak. We pointed to the Saw films as examples of films that got an R rating with scenes much gorier than our film. They told us that our film felt too real.”

-Jennifer Lynch

Giving Chained an NC-17 rating is another bone-headed decision in a year when the MPAA seems determined to Stupid, Stupid Rat Creatures itself into irrelevance. I don’t mean to suggest that Chained should be viewed in the same light as Bully, but there are worse films to watch with your 14 year old. And watching Chained would lead to a discussion about evil – real world evil – that would never happen from watching the cartoon carnage inflicted by Michael, Jason, Freddy or Jigsaw.

“If had made the movie more sexualized or funnier, I would have got away with the violence. I could have made the violence hyper-sexual. I have done that before, but it didn’t seem appropriate here. I could have made the movie funny, but I don’t think that abuse is fucking funny.”

-Jennifer Lynch

Maybe the best part of the film is the sound design from D’Onofrio’s voice to the pounding, percussive score that traps you in the nightmare. It is almost possible to believe that you could follow the film’s plot just by listening with your eyes closed and, in fact, in certain parts of the film that is exactly what you can must do.

“And you, you that call yourselves collectors. Until now, you have all sustained fantasies in which you are the maltreated heroes of your own stories. Comforting daydreams in which, ultimately, you are shown to be in the right. No more. For all of you that dream is over. I have taken it away.”

-Dream from Sandman#14 ‘Collectors‘ written by Neil Gaiman

The problem inherent in most serial killer literature, whether on the page or on the screen, is that we tend to make our monsters into heroes, which is why Hannibal Lecter is getting his own TV series instead of Clarice Starling or Will Graham.

Jennifer Lynch and Vincent D’Onofrio dive deep into the abuse that creates monstrosities and emerge with the portrait of a complicated human monster, who is not once allowed to be the hero. The MPAA may believe that Chained is too real to be seen, but that is exactly why you should see it.
soundonsight.org MICHAEL RYAN IN FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL

Video Interview: Jennifer Lynch Discuss's Her New Movie"Chained"

Fantasia Festival , Concordia Hall Theatre , Montreal, Quebec

Observations: Keep it in the family: the dark visions of Jennifer Lynch

The screenwriter and director, Jennifer Chambers Lynch, 44, daughter of Twin Peaks director David Lynch is not into “torture porn”. “There are plenty of filmmakers out there who will happily and effectively make 'torture porn'. I am not one of them,” she says.

Chained, her new psychological chiller, which has its UK premiere next month at Frightfest, has been described as the nastiest film since 1986's Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. It stars Vincent D'Onofrio as a deranged serial-killing cab driver, Bob, who kidnaps a mother (Julia Ormond) and her nine-year-old son (Eamon Farren). After getting rid of the mum, Bob grooms the chained-up son to become his protégé serial killer, in return for his freedom.

“The subject matter is upsetting, no doubt about it. It should be. It is a horrible thing, violence,” says Lynch. “When the project first came to me I was not 'turned on'.”

Instead, Lynch wanted to create a study of “how monsters are made”. “In my mind, real-life monsters are born of wounds: of sorrows. Of pains not spoken or healed. I wanted to promote a dialogue about child abuse. I did not want to excuse terrible acts, but to bring the human monster to light.”

What real-life events or films influenced her? “Everything I have ever seen or done influenced me,” she says. “Truly. The love I was given. The fears I had and still have. The questions I ask each day. All of them were part of my telling this story.”

As a child Lynch played a little girl in her father's film Eraserhead in 1977, then worked as a production assistant on his Blue Velvet in 1986. Aged 22, she wrote the bestseller The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, a spin-off novel from her father's TV series Twin Peaks, about a girl who is abused and murdered by Killer BOB (played by Frank Silva in the show). Her debut film Boxing Helena, released in 1993, about a doctor who amputates a woman's legs and arms, in the hope she will fall in love with him, was slated by critics.

Battling spinal injuries from a car accident, she attended Co-Dependent's Anonymous for relationship addiction and gave up drugs and alcohol. She didn't return to films for 15 years until 2008's Surveillance, which starred Ormond and Bill Pullman as FBI detectives investigating murders. Hisss followed in 2010, starring Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat as a snake who takes human form.

Chained is billed as a horror film, but it isn't one. “I didn't want to make a horror film in the traditional sense of the word. It is a film about horrific acts and pains. To me, it is a different thing.”

'Chained', Empire Cinema Leicester Square, London WC2 (www.empirecinemas.co.uk), 27 August, 3.15pm. (www.frightfest.co.uk)

SOURCE

Jennifer Lynch's "Chained" Comes to DVD and BluRay.

Well, let me the first to say I'm a little disappointed about the non-distribution of Vincent D'Onofrio's recent film "Chained".
All because of that nasty NC-17 rating.  What a bummer.
The film will be available Oct. 2nd on DVD and BluRay including the  scene  of "Mary's Murder" as a bonus feature.
Below is the Official Trailer  and Press Release.

Perhaps the most terrifying human relationship is the one between a serial killer and his target. But what if it starts that way, and becomes something...more? From the visionary mind of director Jennifer Lynch (Boxing Helena, Surveillance, Hisss) comes the dark fable Chained, coming to Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD October 2nd from Anchor Bay Films. With a stellar cast including Vincent D'Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket, Men In Black, "Law and Order: Criminal Intent"), Gina Phillips (Jeepers Creepers, "Ally McBeal") Conor Leslie ("90210"), Evan Bird ("The Killing"), with Jake Weber (Dawn of the Dead, "Medium") and Julia Ormand (My Week With Marilyn, "Mad Men," The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Chained is an unforgettable ride into the darkness that can reside in the human heart -- no matter what your age. The Chained Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD also includes, as a bonus feature, the scene that prompted the MPAA give the film an NC-17 rating!

Coming home from a routine trip to the movies, eight-year-old Tim (Bird) and his mother, Sarah (Ormond) are picked up by a psychopathic cab driver named Bob (D'Onofrio). It ends up being their last ride together. Bob murders the young boy's mother and keeps Tim as his unwilling protégée, making him clean up the mess following each murder he commits. After a couple of aborted escape attempts, Bob chains Tim -- now renamed Rabbit -- allowing just enough length to move freely within the house. As the years pass, Bob starts instructing Rabbit, teaching him anatomy and human behavior. Now a teenager, Rabbit (Eamon Farren, X: Night of Vengeance) is slowly being pressed by Bob to start his own homicidal spree. Slowly but surely, he must soon choose whether to follow in Bob's serial killer footsteps or make one final, desperate attempt to break free...

NEW PHOTOS: "Chained" with Vincent D'Onofrio

PHOTOS by Allan Findel


[Fantasia '12] Get ‘Chained’ To Four Million Images From NC-17 Thriller!
Another genre flick screening at the forthcoming 16th annual Fantasia International Film Festival (July 19-August 7) is Jennifer Lynch’s (Hisss and Surveillance) NC-17 thriller Chained, which stars Vincent D’Onofrio, Julia Ormond, Jake Weber, Eamon Farren, Conor Leslie and Evan Bird.

Recently acquired by Ancor Bay, Bloody just scored even more stills, all 4 million (55 in reality) added below.

In the film, “Eight-year-old Tim and his mother Sarah are picked up by Bob, a deranged taxi cab driver on the hunt for his next victim. Tim witnesses his first murder, the murder of his mother, but it would not be his last. Bob keeps Tim as a reluctant protégé, forcing him to clean and bury the bodies of the young women he drags home. Now a teenager, Tim must make a life or death choice between following in Bob’s footsteps or breaking free from his captor.“

SOURCE Bloody Disgusting

Photos: "Chained" with Vincent D'Onofrio and Eamon Farren (directed by Jennifer Lynch)

Directed by Jennifer Lynch and starring incent Vincent D’Onofrio, Julia Ormond, Jake Weber, Eamon Farren, Conor Leslie and Evan Bird.
Eight-year-old Tim and his mother Sarah are picked up by Bob, a deranged taxi cab driver on the hunt for his next victim. Tim witnesses his first murder, the murder of his mother, but it would not be his last. Bob keeps Tim as a reluctant protégé, forcing him to clean and bury the bodies of the young women he drags home. Now a teenager, Tim must make a life or death choice between following in Bob’s footsteps or breaking free from his captor.

SOURCE

Fantasia Festival 2012 to Debut Jennifer Lynch's "Chained" with Vincent D'Onofrio

According to Fangoria.com, Jennifer Lynch's "Chained" will have it's world premiere at the 2012 Fantasia Festival.  Vincent D'Onofrio plays a serial killer who kidnaps a young boy for his own and tries to train him up to be a killer like himself.

TRAILER

Jennifer Lynch "Chained" Hits the Cutting Floor to Appease the MPAA's, NC-17 Rating.

CANNES Q&A: Jennifer Lynch
May 23, 2012
excepted

Jennifer: I want to investigate what scares me and worries me. It’s funny, with my last picture [“Chained”] I just got this NC-17 rating for violence. My feeling is, of course it’s a violent scene, but it’s not violent the way people are expecting it to be. It’s emotionally upsetting. And I think violence should be emotionally upsetting....This stuff is happening, and I don’t want to glorify it, but I do think it shouldn’t just be put to us in little sound bites on the evening news. It should be something we stand up and say 'no' to. And the best way to say 'no' to something is to have yourself familiar enough with it to define what you’re rejecting. And again, I hope that in each of the situations I’m telling there is as much redemption and hope as there is terror. Because I’m not interested in just the dark stuff. What I think is great is how the human spirit tends to champion those things. I don’t think violence comes from nowhere.

Have you made cuts or changes to “Chained” based on the MPAA’s NC-17 decision?

Yeah, we just went into the flame room, and we’re removing a lot of stuff in a particular scene. And we’ll see what the MPAA says. The flame room is where you go in to paint out blood or change things, it’s a CG room. I’m hoping that this satisfies them. I’m sad to see the scene go from its original intention. I hope I get to do a director’s cut and have all the things in there that I want in there. What’s weird is, I think horror fans are going to be shocked that I got an NC-17 for this film. I hope that they’re not disappointed in me, because I never ever thought we’d get an NC-17. I thought for sure we’d get an R based on what else is getting R’s. People shouldn’t see that film at 9:15 in the morning, and that’s when [the MPAA members] were watching it. So already I felt like, Geez, this isn’t a breakfast movie! Even I know that! [laughs]

You can read the full interview   HERE