Q&A: Co-Writer / Director Hunter Adams on Working with Ted Levine & More for DIG TWO GRAVES

A grieving sister encounters strange, supernatural forces in the new thriller Dig Two Graves, and to commemorate its release in theaters and on iTunes, we caught up with co-writer / director Hunter Adams for our latest Q&A feature to discuss collaborating with actor Ted Levine, filming in a brutally cold winter, and much more.

Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us, Hunter! How and when did you first come up with the idea for Dig Two Graves?

Hunter Adams: I was interested in the idea of a dark fairy tale about a young person who has to wrestle with a morally ambiguous decision. The three moonshiners were modeled after the three witches in Macbeth. Like Shakespeare’s hags, I wanted to create mystery around the moonshiner’s intentions and powers. Are they supernatural or just manipulative? Do they have motivations or are they simply agents of chaos preying upon the vulnerability of a child?

Where did filming take place and what did those environments add aesthetically and atmospherically to your movie?

Hunter Adams: The film was shot in a region of southern Illinois called “Little Egypt.” Everything down there is Egyptian-themed, perhaps because it was once the breadbasket of the Midwest. Unlike the rest of Illinois, which is quite flat, Little Egypt feels Appalachian. It’s rocky and craggy and full of swamps and cliffs and caves. It was the ideal backdrop for a supernatural thriller. It gave the film a strong sense of mood and contributed to the mystical and melancholic tone. It also made the movie feel much grander than our budget warranted.

What was the shooting schedule like for Dig Two Graves?

Hunter Adams: We shot for four weeks in the dead of winter and then did a second unit shoot for a week during the summer. We shot during the polar vortex—it was one of the coldest winters on record. Most of the script took place at night in very rural locations with no electricity. It was brutal! In between takes, we would huddle around propane heaters. I don’t think I ever fully recovered feeling in my toes.

Dig Two Graves is set in the 1970s. Was it difficult to maintain the look and feel of that time period? Did it feel like you stepped back in time when you were making the movie?

Hunter Adams: The other advantage to shooting in Little Egypt, besides the wild and weird landscape, was that the region felt out of time. It was relatively easy to transform the locations into the 1970s because the towns really hadn’t changed much since the ’40s. We rented all the cars from locals and found a lot of the wardrobe from thrift stores in the area. I wasn’t around in the 1970s, but I’ve always been fascinated with the movies and music of that era. I definitely think setting the film in the 1970s helps sell the supernatural element. I’m not sure this story would work if it was set in present day with cell phones and social media and over-protective parents.

Do you have any favorite movies or books—horror or otherwise—that influenced you while making Dig Two Graves?

Hunter Adams: Obviously Stephen King was a big influence and horror in general from the ’70s, especially The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, but also early Coen Brothers, Ringu, Winter’s Bone, and the cinematography of Gordon Willis.

When you look back at your time on set, is there a particularly funny or memorable moment that stands out?

Hunter Adams: The very first day was pretty memorable. The first shot of the movie, our young actress Samantha Isler, who was playing “Jake,” was supposed to gut and skin a deer. While I was traveling to set that morning, I received a call from our local “fixer,” Tony Gerard, who informed me that the deer he had procured weeks earlier was still frozen and there was no way Samantha would be able to gut it.

As he’s telling me this, I see a deer leap out onto the highway up ahead. It was struck by a truck and instantly killed. I told my driver to pull over and we lifted the dead deer into the back seat and took it to set with us. Samantha gutted it the first shot of the movie. She was a trooper—the smell when she cut into it was harrowing. We ended up roasting the deer meat for dinner. It was surprisingly delicious.

In Dig Two Graves, you got to work with the great Ted Levine, who plays Sheriff Waterhouse. What was it like collaborating with Levine to bring that character to life?

Hunter Adams: He’s such a talented actor, it was thrilling to watch him transform into Sheriff Waterhouse. He’s definitely a method actor and obsessive about wardrobe and makeup. We spent a lot of time discussing the tactile qualities of the character; his cigar, his hat, his jacket. I think that was his entry into the character. He certainly elevated everyone’s performance that worked with him. I thought his chemistry with Samantha Isler was really magical. He found the perfect balance of being outwardly gruff and surly most of the time, but also capable of great tenderness toward his granddaughter.

With Dig Two Graves coming out in theaters and on VOD on March 24th, what projects do you have on deck that you can tease, and where can our readers find you online?

Hunter Adams: I’m developing a crime thriller called Bad Animal, which is set on a Native American reservation. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @thehunteradams