A Reality TV-Themed Horror Movie Looks at What Happens When 'Intervention' Goes Wrong
Seth Grossman at the ‘Inner Demons’ premiere at the 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival, June 13, 2014
Reality television has had an enormous impact on popular culture – it’s even changed the way movies are made. Seth Grossman, director of the new horror film Inner Demons (now available on VOD from IFC Midnight), thinks so. Like many young filmmakers, Grossman has spent much of his Hollywood career working in reality TV, which he likens to a 21st-century version of the Roger Corman film school. “I remember when I was at NYU, we had a chance to talk to Peter Bogdanovich about making movies with Roger Corman,” Grossman tells Yahoo Movies. “They were low budget, they were fast schedule, and going through that system really allowed [filmmakers] to make a lot of films within a short period of time. And I think working in reality TV gives you the same opportunity.”
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Grossman’s reality-show experience was particularly useful for Inner Demons, a horror movie that borrows the format of addiction docudramas like Intervention. The film plays out through the eyes of a reality-TV camera crew as they trail Carson, a young and beautiful drug addict (Lara Vosburgh). It quickly becomes clear that Carson’s demons are more than the metaphorical kind. By the time she gets to rehab, she is literally fighting for her life, and the television crew must decide whether to cross the line and intervene. In a sense, this plot point mirrors that struggle that Grossman experienced as a field producer on A&E’s now-cancelled series Intervention.
Grossman drew upon his experiences working on the now-canceled A&E series ‘Intervention’
“Beyond just creating a horror movie, I wanted to create something of a commentary on the tensions that you feel as a documentarian when you’re dealing with something as high-stakes as addiction, violence, family trauma,” he says. Grossman describes a “kind of transference” that occurs between a documentarian and a subject, where the filmmaker becomes a kind of stand-in therapist. “But doing this over and over again as a job, you get a little bit jaded,” he explains. “And you’re not qualified as a therapist. And your mission is to create entertaining television. So rather than helping people and caring about their well-being, your job is to turn a person’s personal suffering into 44 minutes of television entertainment.”
And while Grossman is quick to point out that producers of the long-running Intervention had “a lot of integrity,” he’s also seen the less ethical create situations for the camera. For example, he recalls working on a wedding series where producers would kick the bride’s bouquet under the bed and film the ensuing panic.
At the same time, the people on reality shows are experiencing genuine emotions, which is why Grossman thinks that reality TV might have actually made film audiences more discerning. “Bad performances stand out a lot more these days because we’re used to watching more documentary,” Grossman explains. “So you want to bring that level of reality to your actors when they perform.”
Lara Vosburgh is drawing praise for her performance as an addict battling demons of a different kind
Judging from the performances Grossman got out of his non-union actors — particularly Vosburgh, in her feature film debut — it’s a good approach. Vosburgh was featured as this month’s “on the verge” star in W magazine, and the director notes proudly that Inner Demons cracked the iTunes VOD Top Ten earlier this month.
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His next film project is also inspired by his reality TV days: Specifically, it’s a crime drama about a drug addict and an ex-cop who stumble upon a ring of fraudulent rehab facilities. “Health care is the biggest opportunity for people to make a quick buck by stealing doctors’ provider numbers and just racking up reimbursement for care that’s never provided,” says Grossman. “I’m still just scratching the surface of it with this script, but I’m looking into it. I’ve got a producer and we’re starting to put the movie together, hoping to shoot it in the next year or so.”
Inner Demons can be viewed on iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon Instant Video
Photos: Jonathan Leibson/WireImage, ©IFC Midnight
