A PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR – The Tone of the Film
Inspired by psychological horror films of the 1970’s and Second World War films from a bygone era, The Invasion is primarily a visceral, yet intelligent horror film. Infused with the style of Stalker, Paths of Glory and The Shining, the film can be watched in many ways - a compelling character-driven narrative, a reflection of the cyclical and often futile drama of war, an atmospheric and visually distinct cinematic journey, or simply a terrifying and harrowing horror film.
While set in the past, The Invasion will very much be steeped in present-day sensibilities. The unique premise and atmospheric locations will help to create a film that is both deeply unsettling and suspenseful. The violence and isolation of the environment seems almost to invite hallucination and madness, and will create a perfect atmosphere for the dread and tension to develop. The characters will bring a warmth and humanity to the film that the audience can really empathise with, making their plight even more terrifying.
All horror films inevitably contain violence, whether mental or physical, and The Invasion is a horror film. But it is not about violence. It is about the fear of violence and what this creates, both mentally and physically. The Invasion will use violence sparingly to drive the narrative forward and scare the hell out of the audience.
While primarily a psychological horror, there will be moments of wit and humour that punctuate the terror, but these will be created through the characters and the situation they find themselves in, rather than a broader comedic tone.
THE GHOSTS OF KUBRICK AND TARKOVSKY – An Aesthetic Style
The ghosts of Kubrick and Tarkovsky hang heavy over The Invasion. Men driven mad by their surroundings, fears and emotions recalls Paths of Glory and The Shining. Stalker and Solaris inspire the haunting and poetic landscapes, both physical and psychological, that the characters inhabit. It is man versus many enemies - his fears, his own mind, the Germans and the unknown. The three soldiers are protecting a nation against a threat of invasion, but what they actually come up against is far worse – the creeping dread of living in fear under a constant, unknown menace.
Fear is the primary force that drives The Invasion and this will inform the visual style. The claustrophobia of the pillbox counterpoints the vast emptiness of both the North Sea and the gorse-ridden flatlands of the Anglian coast. Steady, sweeping exterior vistas punctuated by intense and immediate interior sequences will focus the attention on the diminutive nature of man in the grand scheme of the war – their only relief being the small, close moments shared between men. As their minds unravel, the steadiness of style is replaced with an increasingly volatile camera technique – a visual style intimately connected to the predicament of the three soldiers.
FEAR IS THE ENEMY – A Contemporary importance
The Nazis are long gone but the fear of invasion by the other is still an unconscious anxiety in Britain, whether it’s a literal fear of a military threat or a more abstract feeling of a loss of ideology due to an influx of alternate thought and morality. Through the three unlucky soldiers the narrative will explore the idea of invasion as much more than a literal attack: fear as an assault on the mind through subconscious propaganda, and the past as an invasion of the present for those who cannot escape it. Our own fears and desires sometimes seem foreign to us, things planted in our minds by strangers and the film will explore this unsettling feeling and use it to terrify the audience.
The Home Guard have not been treated kindly in history. The ghost of “Dad’s Army” haunts the public perspective of the LDV. This is a disservice to those who served in the Home guard battalions. While it recognizes that they were woefully ill prepared and never had to engage in direct combat, it undermines the dedication, bravery and skill of those that volunteered. The Invasion attempts, in a small way, to redress this balance and present the Home guard as brave volunteers who faced the very real threat of invasion.