“Something” Director Stephen Portland says it Pays to be Resourceful

The new indie domestic horror flick “Something” presents a mysteriously disturbing premise rooted in seemingly unremarkable circumstances.

When asked during my recent interview how he arrived at this unusual dynamic, Writer/Director Stephen Portland candidly concedes it was a matter of creativity born of a shoestring budget.

“I wasn’t going to have the ability to do anything particularly spectacular. I wanted to tap into a fear that is extremely genuine. It’s real. It’s something that could happen to any of us.”

In terms of what horror means to him, Portland kinna kicks it old school.

“My perspective is, I guess you could say, it’s old fashioned. I don’t necessarily think that we need to have had this ‘arms race’ where everything needs to contain blood and terrifying creatures to be unsettling. I realized that the focus (of “Something”) needed to be on the atmosphere rather than where we could take the viewer (with additional resources).”

As regards Portland’s forthcoming project, he tells me,

“I want to do something that’s realistic and available.”

To me, this indicates an endeavor likely involving a few more bucks of backing behind it next time ’round.

It is “something” I’m looking forward to from a burgeoning and promising filmmaker.

You can read my review of “Something” on TMB here:

There’s “Something” there with this Odd Story