Examiner Exclusive: Director Marcos Efron talks And Soon the Darkness

Marcos Efron, director of the new thriller "And Soon the Darkness," was not too intimidated by the prospect of helming what can essentially be categorized as a remake.

"If you are remaking 'Friday the 13th' or 'The Wizard of Oz' - something that is so iconic - you have got a tall order and it can be very scary," Efron says. "I think I was fortunate in being able to remake a movie that not too many people are familiar with."

In "And Soon the Darkness" Amber Heard stars as Stephanie, a young tourist whose best friend (Odette Yustman) goes missing in remote part of Argentina's countryside.

The movie, which had a limited theatrical run earlier this month and is now available on DVD, is a remake of a 1970 motion picture. However, in that version, the Argentinian setting was swapped out for rural France.

"I thought it was a really cool movie and I thought there was a way to remake it without having to rely on gratuitous gore or anything like that and just really embrace the atmospheric vibe of the original film," Efron explains.

The director admits that he had not seen the original version of the film until just after he became aware of the remake effort. He instantly recognized the project as something in which he wanted to be involved.

Efron watched the original film once more just before production began on his remake in order to remind himself of which elements should be retained and which should be changed up a little.

Among those elements Efron eventually decided to retain was the simplicity of the story - something he describes as two best friends - "strangers in a strange land."

"There were no aliens or supernatural elements," Efron says. "I love alien movies and supernatural stuff but I don't think it would have been needed in this movie."

Another thing Efron admired about the original was director Robert Fuest's decision not to subtitle the French dialogue.

"Unless you spoke French, you were just as clueless as the [lead female] character was," Efron explains. "I retained that in the remake by not subtitling any of the Spanish. I think it is an effective way of luring the audience into Stephanie's story."

"And Soon the Darkness" serves as Efron's feature-length directorial debut. He acknowledges that it was a daunting experience but adds that making a movie likely always is, whether it is your first time or your tenth.

"What made it even more challenging was shooting in a foreign country," Efron says. "But Argentina has really good crews so we were fortunate in that regard. When you are working on a feature film with a large cast and crew, you learn to work well with others."

And Efron says he learned a lot more than that, too, especially from Heard, who also serves as a producer on "And Soon the Darkness."

"As young as Amber is, she is one of the smartest people I have ever worked with," Efron notes. "She is incredibly well-read, she knows film, she knows characters and she knows what she wants."

Efron appears to know what he wants, as well. "And Soon the Darkness" is just the beginning of a potentially rich career for the filmmaker.

In addition to developing a time-traveling teen romance, Efron has also written the screenplay for and preparing to direct a movie franchise based on a trilogy of futuristic young adult novels. The filmmaker can not yet reveal the title of said trilogy but describes the project as "'Logan's Run' meets '1984.'"

“And Soon the Darkness” (R – 91 minutes) is now available on DVD at retail stores and rental outlets throughout the Valley. See also "Movie Review: And Soon the Darkness."

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