Luke Evans stars in No One Lives which concerns a ruthless criminal gang takes a young couple hostage and goes to ground in an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. When the captive girl is killed, the tables are unexpectedly turned. The gang finds itself outsmarted by an urbane and seasoned killer determined to ensure that no one lives.
Shock Till You Drop: In the wake of Midnight Meat Train, I’m sure you had your choice of films to take on as your second American feature – what made No One Lives stand out from the pack?
Ryuhei Kitamura: I wasn’t looking for another bloody movie after Midnight Meat Train, but when I read the script for No One Lives, I found it was so unstoppable, unpredictable, and simply irresistible
Shock: What made Luke Evans your guy to play the main killer?
Kitamura: He was PERFECT, simply THE BEST. He is not only a super cool looking guy but he also has Intelligence, madness, sexiness and charisma. No doubt that Luke was the person who gave life to DRIVERs character. I love him.
Shock: What was your favorite – or perhaps most challenging and fun to execute – gore gag of the film?
Kitamura: I don’t want to spoil the movie but there is this scene when DRIVER comes out from SOMEWHERE… That is the shot that fans scream, laugh and cheer at and it’s my favorite scene.
Shock: How would you compare your second American feature experience to your first one? Not just in terms of working with the crew, but your own creative growth as well?
Kitamura: I didn’t have any problem making Midnight Meat Train. It was pure fun. But making No One Lives was a pure nightmare. I don’t want to talk about what happened – but [it was] all kinds of bullshit and trouble attacked us. It was the worst experience in my career. But I had the best thing too… Luke Evans and a great director of photography, Daniel Pearl. Even though I thought this was a nightmare, I still felt very lucky and happy to work with an unbelievable actor like Luke, and the legendary Daniel Pearl – he was like my teacher for 30 years before we met.
Shock: What are your future plans? Do you have any films on the horizon?
Kitamura: I have tons of projects lined up. Now I’m working on my first Japanese movie in 7 years. I’ll shoot all over Asia this summer and after that I’ll be back in Hollywood to start my next American movie.
(Photo Credit: Munetoshi Mukai)
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