The upcoming 2024 horror film #AMFAD: All My Friends Are Dead promises gore that nearly hits the NC-17 mark while also doing plenty to please fans of the Saw franchise.
The story follows a group of young social media influencers on their way to a big music festival who get sidetracked into a spontaneous Airbnb. It does not take long for a mysterious killer to target them and start doling out their version of justice for the group's past sins.
The film is directed by Marcus Dunstan, who also co-wrote the first seven Saw films—an experience that informed how he tackled this new slasher.
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AMFAD Director Marcus Dunstan on Saw Influences and Big Scares
In an exclusive interview with The Direct's Russ Milheim, #AMFAD: All My Friends Are Dead director Marcus Dunstan spoke about the film's major influence from Saw and its intense gore.
When the Saw influences were brought up, Dunstan was quick to point out that Kevin Greutert (who previously directed Saw VI, Saw 3D, and Saw X) was the original director for #AMFAD:
"Well, not only that, Kevin Greutert was the original director of 'All My Friends Are Dead.' Kevin is a collaborator. He's like the Nicholas Meyer of the 'Saw' movies. He comes in and makes these amazing entries. And he's always been a steady hand throughout that. When 'Saw X' went into production, It left a vacancy for ['#AMFAD'] because it was still coming together. And I'm grateful to Kevin. He nominated me, my name went into a hat, and I auditioned. And that's how we ended up here."
Dunstan's love and experience working on those Saw films come across clear as day, from the frantic editing of intense moments to the portrayal of intricate death traps themselves.
With AMFAD, the director wanted to "[blend] the social media element" with what he "learned from the Saw language:"
"I thought blending the social media element with a few things I've learned from the 'Saw' language was fun, and I wanted to add something unique to that expectation. And our cast... were all adept in different tones. And so then that allowed us to be a little different while adhering to some of the expectations of a mechanized version of, hey, we have an idea of a compromise in your character, we're going to set it to a clock and see if you can be the best in yourself, or destroy."
Another key element of those Saw films is its iconic twists—which All My Friends Are Dead has in droves.
"The trick with a great twist," Dunstan explained, "Is actually having one that makes sense:"
"The trick with a great twist is actually having one that makes sense... Over history, you've seen a twist that feels like a twist for a twist's sake. But when one gets you, it does something other than shock. There might be something emotional that happens[or] something that feels karmic about it. There might be something that just feels in the dark; justice scales as an act of righteousness in a way. And there have been some all-time great twists where the breath goes out, and it was such an absolute honor to be part of this one moment."
For Dunstan, what made his time on #AMFAD so unique was that it "was a murder mystery," which also proved challenging to keep engaging audiences with "an ever-compressing attention span:"
"This was a murder mystery. And so I have been a part of the, we know who's doing it and how people are going to get its… It all started with a great script by Josh Sims and Jessica Sarah Flaum. And the acreage of a screenplay that is a murder mystery gives you more time with each character. The challenge of doing so is that the entertainment value in an ever-compressing attention span, in like, let's say, it is a TikTok, Instagram era, is almost like pound for pound."
"We will shock you with a level of horror that scrapes right io against NC-17 and area trespass into X," he teased. He added how "this is the first time" he had a movie require an "intimacy coordinator" or "a sequence of horror violence:"
"You gotta be entertaining, fascinating, or riveting in some way every step of the way. So we're promising an intersection of violence. But we want to surprise you with layers of humanity, layers of dark humor, layers of twisted wit. Then, when the violence happens, we will shock you with a level of horror that scrapes right up against NC-17 and dares trespass into X. This is the first time I have been part of a movie where a sequence of horror violence has required an intimacy coordinator."
With the movie's premise, Dunstan "was really intrigued" by what the project was, one that had "a twist [he'd] never seen before" and "had a heart" within "all that violence:"
"I was really intrigued and wanted to jump into this one because of the screenplay and its merits. There was a twist I'd never seen before. And I've been a part of some twists, concocting and depicting them, and I've been a collaborator on those. But this had something singular. And it had a heart. So in all that violence, I thought, okay, my role is to protect what Josh and Sims intend."
He described how seriously the entire cast, crew, and producers took protecting that vision, also reminiscing how their premiere at Tribeca "was such a wonderful moment:"
"The cast, the crew, the producers, and I will do our best to provide the resources and adapt this intent into the resources and time we have. And let's see if we can protect this part. And in doing so, the result when we premiered in Tribeca it was such a wonderful moment. It really felt like I was almost out of phase with myself in our corporeal forms because this cast who had arrived all on a set in Vancouver strangers and had left old friends regrouped now some years and changed later."
Dunstan explained how they had "the most audacious hope" that #AMFAD would "see a silver screen"—something that is far from guaranteed these days:
"And we had the most audacious hope that we would see a silver screen... We're in an era where you can do something great for a studio and then be like, ah, delete. Or a $135 million movie with an Oscar nominee, and they'll be like, 'No, no, no, that's going to your phone. This little tugboat with NC-17 gore, with the intimacy coordinator kill, with a heart that is a big surprise, with humor that it could hopefully make Lenny Bruce blush. We get this chance to unleash ourselves on a silver screen, and we turn it red with love."
For those who do sit down to watch #AMFAD: All My Friends Are Dead, Dunstan has one request, "Stay through the credits!:"
"I've got one thing to beg: if we are so fortunate to have you as a guest to [the movie], stay through the credits! Don't let the window shrink to the tiny window because we keep twisting and turning and dropping stuff right on you. And not just stuff. I'm talking twists and cool stuff, not just fodder for credits. There is significant material because we have more twists than a stick of licorice."
#AMFAD: ALL MY FRIENDS ARE DEAD will be released In Select Theaters, On Digital, and On Demand on August 2, 2024.
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