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In Conversation With Rebecca Culverhouse

For this edition of In Conversation With, we sat down with Rebecca Culverhouse, a filmmaker whose work pushes the boundaries of surreal horror. From childhood fascination with animation to creating an experimental short that premiered at BFI London Film Festival, Rebecca shares insights into her creative process, the challenges of getting indie films in front of audiences, and the importance of believing in your artistic vision. Read on to discover her journey, the inspirations behind PU EKAW TNOD, and what’s next for her in the world of filmmaking.

What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

From a young age I was obsessed with animation effects used in films, like the camera passing through a fence in Watership Down or the penguin shaking a bead of sweat from his forehead in Wallace & Gromit. But it wasn't until I was a teenager watching classics like The Matrix and Apocalypse Now that I got interested in directing and the language of film. By watching my favourite films over and over, I started to learn how choices in camera movement, music, colour, editing etc can drastically affect the film's mood and message.

Tell us about your recent film.

PU EKAW TNOD is an experimental horror short about a couple watching a horror movie who get sucked into a waking nightmare. It was inspired by the strange dreams I had while spending lockdown looking after a flat that I strongly suspect to be haunted. Doors refused to stay shut, and strange banging noises would occur while the neighbours were out. Soon after moving in I had to check the electricity meter, which (in true horror movie fashion) was located in the basement. The moment I made my way down the old wooden stairs I knew that this is the kind of place nightmares are made of, and it was the sort of location that would usually cost an arm and a leg to recreate in a studio set. At the same time I was having sleep paralysis demon dreams (reading House of Leaves late at night probably didn’t help) and always felt like they were somehow connected to the communal basement lurking far below.

I love surreal films that make you question your sense of reality, and knew the basement would make a perfect location for a film about being trapped in a looping nightmare. I wrote a short script capturing the doom-filled feeling of my dreams, but right after completing it I learned that the flat was going to be sold. Knowing we’d forever be haunted by the missed opportunity if we didn’t make the film, myself and badass producer Pamela Pifferi scrambled to get a cast and crew together before I had to move out. Luckily everything fell into place at the last minute, co-producer Sergio Falchi recommended the incredibly talented Dorothea Jones and Harold Addo to bring the characters to life, as well as up and coming Director of Photography Khaliq Arif, whose eye for beauty elevated the dark dingy space into something otherworldly. We used references like Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse and Dario Argento’s

Suspiria to set the uncanny valley atmosphere, and I worked with Moreish Idols’ Tom Kellett and mixing wizard Josh Chesterfield to create a distorted liminal sound design. I wanted the VFX to feel like something visceral yet just beyond comprehension, and experimented with a homemade AI stop motion effect to achieve this. The painstaking process delayed post production by months and felt like neverending deja vu, but once we started holding test screenings we knew that we’d made something genuinely grungy and creepy.

Where has this film been? Where have you seen audiences engage the most?

Much to my surprise our weird little film premiered at BFI London Film Festival, and went on to screen at BAFTA and Oscar qualifying festivals such as Slamdance, Oska Bright and Tampere. My favourite response was an audience member in Tampere loudly whispering "what the f*ck?!" when something appears on the stairs, unconsciously mirroring the lines muttered by Harold's character earlier in the film. The way the film's closed captions add an extra level of creepiness were also a big talking point at Slamdance Unstoppable, which champions accessibility in films for people with disabilities.

What was the biggest challenge in getting this film in front of an audience?

In festivals it was all about making sure your genre or themes fit with the other films selected, and this surreal type of dream horror isn't as easy to program as more defined horror genres. That also applies to online algorithms, and for me optimising views on social media is still a dark art I haven't figured out yet.

What’s one thing you’ve learned about getting your work out there?

When I was in the depths of animating the creature effects in my darkened room all summer (and turning into a Gollum-like creature myself in the process), I had to fight a lot of negative self-talk about how boring and cheap it seemed. I couldn't believe anyone would be interested in watching my film at all, never mind any festivals. But since finishing the film a lot of people have told me that the low-fi effects were their favourite part, and the style was something they'd never seen before. So believe in your vision and never give up!

What’s been your most rewarding experience as a filmmaker so far?

Being commissioned by Channel 4's Random Acts and seeing my previous short #eatpretty broadcast on National TV.

What do you think needs to change in the industry to make distribution easier for indie filmmakers?

I'm in early development for the feature adaptation of PU EKAW TNOD, as well as a film based off a short I made in Japan years ago. I'm also working on a series of artworks based on my experiences of life with synaesthesia. Regardless of how industries and trends change, people will always need art and stories in some shape and form.

Rebecca’s journey as a filmmaker is a testament to creativity, perseverance, and pushing the boundaries of storytelling. From haunted flats to festival premieres, her work challenges perceptions and invites audiences into eerie, dreamlike worlds. As she continues to develop new projects, it’s clear that her unique vision will keep making waves in the industry.

See PU EKAW TNOD here on YouTube.

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