Exclusive: Will Klipstine Talks Directing, Producing, Writing & Starring in ‘The Harbinger’ [Interview]

The Harbinger, acquired by Screen Media, was released in theaters and On Demand on September 2nd.  

The movie follows Daniel and Theresa Snyder, played by Will Klipstine and Amanda MacDonald, as the couple attempts to escape their past. They decide to move their troubled daughter Rosalie, played by Madeleine McGraw, to a small Midwestern town after she begins to display dark and deadly behaviors. Daniel and Theresa soon realize that the evil they tried to leave behind is still with them. During their time in this town, locals in the area begin to die, and the Snyders seek the help of a Native American seer. In an attempt to rid of this evil connected to them, they discover a legend that may hold the key to saving their family or a path that would permanently damage the familial dynamic. 

The Harbinger is described as a paranormal Hitchcockian thriller that incorporates the genres of mystery and horror. The Knockturnal spoke with Klipstine about the film he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in, as well as his motivations for this project. He also talked about the cast and one of his favorite scenes from the film. 

The Knockturnal: Tell us about the film.  

Will Klipstine: Ultimately the film is about how far a parent would go for a child, and apparently the answer is they would literally face the devil lol. But that theme is baked into a slow burn mystery/supernatural/thriller…with lots of twists. 

The Knockturnal: Info about the film for the audience. 

Will Klipstine: We wanted to do something unique and original. 

Alfred Hitchcock said, “Mystery is when the spectator knows less than the characters in the movie.” And of course suspense is when the audience is in on it. We definitely wanted to start off as a mystery and slowly let the audience in throughout the course of the film. I’m completely aware that hardcore horror fans probably won’t have the patience for that, but we didn’t want to do a pure horror movie. We wanted to do a character and plot driven film, while creating a new mythology – The Harbinger. 

There’s another quote that I thought was attributed to Hitch (but can’t find on Google) that goes, “Horror is when you can’t look at the screen, and suspense is when you can’t take your eyes off it.” We wanted more of the latter in this film (once the film transitions from mystery to suspense). This is not to say we don’t have creepy, even a couple scary moments, and I completely understand what the marketing people are going for in the trailer, but we’re not hardcore horror at all. I would call us “gateway horror.” PG-13. We’re more mystery/suspense/thriller/intrigue/lore/supernatural type of horror as opposed to a slasher or a demon/possession movie. And of course because this is a new mythology, there is a lot of mystique and lore that I wish they had put in the trailer. 

When the composer (Chad Olivera) first read the script, he called it “paranormal Hitchcock.” I like that. 

The Knockturnal: What was it like working with the cast / casting? 

Will Klipstine: Cliches are sometimes cliches for a reason. You always hear that 90% of directing is casting. It’s a blanket statement, but I think there is an element of truth to that. You cast brilliant people so you can devote energy to putting other fires out on set. This is not to say you don’t give actors direction. But our cast is so brilliant, and I’ve said this in other interviews, you whisper in the actor’s ear, “We’ve got it, on the next take do whatever you want,” and oftentimes that is the take that ends up in the film. 

The casting was a dream. The townspeople in this film have to feel off, weird, sometimes over the top, etc., and they’re all perfect. Charles Hubbell, the guy who plays the devil, is a local Minnesota actor who beat out all the Los Angeles-based actors. Let me put that in perspective. We narrowed 30 L.A. actors down to 3 guys. All brilliant in their own right. One of them is the son of an Oscar winner. And he was amazing. He had a creepy offness about him. Another guy had the humor we liked. The third guy had an understated evil charm. Charles sent us an audition tape where he played it 11 different ways. 11! And he played all 11 of those in the movie. I told him, “Do all of it! You can do whatever you want. You’re the fucking devil!” 

Irene Bedard didn’t need to audition, because, well, uh…she’s IRENE BEDARD!!!  Enough said. 

Amanda MacDonald, who plays Theresa, the wife and mother, is so emotionally available as an actor. Her role is the most difficult to play in the movie because her character is strong, but stuck. I told her, “She’s a person of action who can take NO action. There is literally nothing she can do to get out of her situation.” How do you play emotional paralysis, dread, and despair and still be emotionally active for the camera? So difficult. When I saw what she did with the role, it was better than I imagined. 

Madeleine McGraw as the creepy daughter Rosalie – what else do I have to say? A little backstory. I was blessed to study at a great acting studio with Alice Carter and Cameron Thor from the Roy London acting tree. There was a great actor there named Martin George, who’s daughter Ivy George (from Big Little Lies) was supposed to play the daughter in this film. Scheduling conflicts popped up at the last minute, and we scrambled to find a replacement. Ivy’s parents Christa and Martin were selfless enough to suggest 3 other girls for the audition. One of them was Maddy. All of them were great, but Maddy can be an evil badass and a vulnerable kid you want to hug at the same time. And once on set, I never had to think about her twice. She was just like an adult. She and her mother, Jackie, were an absolute delight. 

Steve Monroe plays the neighbor guy. It came down to him and two other great actors. His performance is a combination of understated comic genius while at the same time being 100% committed emotionally. So nuanced. Genius. Pure and simple. 

Creepy Man, played by Bruce Bohne walked in, sat down, opened his mouth, and I said, “Stop. You got the part. What’s the next role we need?”

The Knockturnal: What was your favorite scene to film?

Will Klipstine: In the first cut, there was a scene where Daniel goes to his neighbor’s house on a rainy night, but finds her front door wide open. While looking through the front door to the back sliding door, he sees that open as well. We had a POV shot of him walking all the way around the house. It was a creepy, suspenseful, fun shot. He gets to the back slider, sees a reflection of something swinging in the window, turns around, we stay on his face, but don’t show what he sees as he approaches the camera. We follow him all the way, then cut to his back, steadily rise up to reveal a pair of feet and cut to a master of a dead body swinging from a tree above his head.  

The POV shot of that sequence was lost. I was devastated. It’s with the film gods now. We did put some of that scene in the movie, but that was the most fun for me to film because of the POV shot and the way I saw the whole thing being cut together in my head. It was the shot I saw before we ever wrote this. However, I will say there are about 20 other scenes that I could have written about here. 

The Knockturnal: What do you love about the horror genre?

Will Klipstine:  There are many sub-genres of horror. As a father and husband, I watch tame horror and “gateway horror.” I would definitely throw The Harbinger in that category. My wife would never watch the really scary horror stuff, but when I was young and single, I watched the REAL scary stuff. Every person is different, but for me the slashers didn’t scare me because it is a mortal person that can be killed. The paranormal stuff scared the shit out of me. It’s been an evolution of watching true SCARY in my 20s to now where I prefer the more creepy, character-driven stuff. Actually, I prefer character-driven in any genre I watch. If I was not around my wife or kids, it’s a double-edged sword because I would probably want to watch hardcore horror and hide under a blanket, but I’m too chicken to watch it alone lol. 

The Knockturnal: What are a few of your favorite horror films?

Will Klipstine:  The Exorcist is the scariest movie I’ve ever seen. The Shining, and I remember The Ring scared the hell out of me when that girl came out of the tv – I think I jumped back 5 feet. I have that image burned into my brain, for better or worse lol. The Conjuring is scary as all get out. James Wan is a master. One of the editors on our movie worked with Wan and he cut a particular sequence in our movie that has a little contribution from his experience with Wan. And I remember as a kid getting scared by movies like Poltergeist and the Amityville movies. I remember a George C. Scott movie called The Changeling that scared me. And of course The Sixth Sense and The Others. There’s a laundry list that I hold in such high esteem, it’s really another reason we wanted to establish our own voice and not do what’s already out there. 

The Knockturnal: Any upcoming projects? 

Will Klipstine:  We’ve got projects in the pipeline in different genres. The development phase of filmmaking is fluid, so not sure which one is next.