As film and television productions labor to get off the ground following months of coronavirus shutdowns, one horror indie has quietly wrapped a nearly four-week shoot in Los Angeles.
Co-writers and directors Matt Leslie and Stephen Smith have completed “The Knocking,” a bloody tale of a serial monogamist that shot for 19 days amid intense coronavirus safety protocols.
Shiloh Fernandez (“Burn”), Doug Jones (“The Shape of Water”), Alexis Knapp (“Pitch Perfect” series) and Ser’Darius Blain (“Jumanji”) lead the cast. Leslie and Smith previously collaborated as writers on the gritty thriller “Summer of ’84,” which played in the Sundance Film Festival’s Midnight section. This is their first feature as co-directors.
“The Knocking” follows a young man who tells his new girlfriend that he loves her for the first time — then finds himself next in line for a nightmarish curse that’s claimed all those boyfriends who have come before him.
Shakira Barrera, Zelda Williams, Chris Backus and Christine Ko round out the supporting cast. Eric B. Fleischman and Maurice Fadida produced the film, with executive producers Mickey Gooch Jr. and Diane Gooch, Victor Shapiro, Sylvain Gehler, Raphael Swann and Jan McAdoo. UTA is repping domestic sales on the pic.
“We’re extremely grateful for both our crew behind the camera, as well as the talent and their teams who not only were trusting of our process, but were willing and able to perform gracefully on set every day during this pandemic” Fadida said.
“We’ve been huge fans of Leslie and Smith’s since ‘Summer of ’84’ premiered at Sundance ’18. Their vision for this tale of love and horror will certainly make the film a crowd favorite, whether you’re single or taken,” added Fleischman.
Leslie and Smith are repped by Rush Law Corp and APA. Fernandez is with Untitled, while Knapp is with management firm Roar. Blain is handled by Paradigm, Management 360 and Barry Littman. Jones, who famously portrayed the amphibian man in Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water,” is represented by Omnipop.