Interview: Ekimmu: The Dead Lust Director Andy Koontz

Ekimmu: The Dead Lust director Andy Koontz talks about the struggles of being an indie horror filmmaker

Independent horror flicks are a dime-a-dozen these days. A quick look at your Netflix listings will show proof of that. Yet sometimes, there are filmmakers that stand out and who are committed to the art form and compelled to be storytellers no matter the cost, struggle, or time sacrificed. We stumbled upon filmmaker Andy Koontz recently, an Oregon-based talent who defied the odds by writing, directing and producing an art-house horror gem called Ekimmu: The Dead Lust that is scheduled to have its world premiere this May.

We caught up with this fledgling filmmaker, who actually had to battle brain cancer while making the movie, to talk about his grueling adventure into the mouth of movie-making madness.

ComingSoon.net: Can you tell us how Ekimmu:The Dead Lust came to fruition?

Andy Koontz: After making a series of ultra-low budget shorts in 2001 and 2002, I wanted to make a feature. I wrote Ekimmu over several months in late 2002. I threw a cast together in 2003, mostly friends and local actors. In the summer of 2004 we began shooting in my childhood hometown of Colton Oregon. During post production in 2006 I was diagnosed with brain cancer. The project nearly ended there…

CS: Why did you want to make a metaphorical horror film?

Koontz: I watched many movies when I was writing it. I absorbed the films of Cronenberg, Lynch, Romero, Kubrick, Argento, and Fulci, but I’m thinking it was Mullholland Dr. and Somewhere in Time, and the first two Tomie films that resonated with me the most. They are all fairly surreal and supernatural. That’s fascinating to me. A metaphor inspires me to think more deeply and objectively. It certainly became one after I was diagnosed in 2006. It just became something very different to me after that.

CS: How did you manage to persevere through production?

Koontz: I’m not a quitter. If I start something I follow through! It wasn’t easy and there were certainly times when my wife had to hide the tapes from me! I wanted to just destroy it, delete everything and forget I made it. I hated this movie for a long time. I lost friends, family, dogs I loved with all my heart. This film became a real-life horror movie playing out in my mind for years and years, like it was teasing me; “You’ll never finish this…” I literally heard in my head. I had a wake up in 2015 when I met Andre Becker (Secret Santa, Underneath) and he helped me to see the places I could tighten it up. I decided I wasn’t going to let cancer take this from me. It’s been a true f**king mental nightmare completing this, but so worth every agonizing second. I mean I made a movie. Mostly by myself. When mostly everyone had given up and moved on; it was a choice, to be determined, and finish it…

CS: Can you explain the title?

Koontz: In 2002 when I thought this whole thing up, I had read about the origins of the vampire legend and came across the word Ekimmu, an ancient Babylonian legend. The word roughly translates to, “That which has been snatched away” – it’s said that the spirit of one who had been murdered would roam the Earth forever in a search for blood and vengeance, and attaching themselves to any living humans they came across. It was the idea that sparked the story and eventually helped shape the script. The Dead Lust came later. It’s the Hell-like place that Briar Creek exists in… the byproduct of my chemo and radiation experience… and of my recovery experience. It kept me busy, kept me creative, it nearly left me insane; it helped me get through a very dark time.

CS: Can you share some details about the screening?

Koontz: Yeah, with a fellow filmmaker and brain tumor survivor. Brian Padian’s, The Black Sea will be showing along with Ekimmu at The Clinton St. Theater in Portland, Oregon on May 6.  I’m really excited to finally meet Brian in person and celebrate our survivorship. We are also working on another showing of our films in the fall as well. Festivals are our next adventure. We haven’t shown this at any festivals yet, we are looking forward to submitting the film to as many festivals as we can.

CS: What’s next for you? What’s on your horizon?

Koontz: Writing. My wife and I are writing a book about going through brain cancer together, and of course I’m planning to make many more films! After all I’ve been through with this little movie… surviving brain cancer… I’m ready for a long break!  Soon enough I’ll get back to it!

For more on the film, check out the official Ekimmu website.