VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Director Andrew Cumming Explains The Message Of Prehistoric Horror Film ‘Out Of Darkness’

In a conversation with uInterview founder Erik Meers, Andrew Cumming, Director of the recently released movie Out of Darkness, reflected on where his inspiration for the prehistoric horror film originated.

“I was finishing film school and I was watching a documentary one night on the BBC here in the UK and the first episode was about early modern humans and I just thought what a cool time period that has been rarely shared in cinema…or it hasn’t been given the treatment I would like it to have, which is this lean, muscular, slightly violent approach,” he said.

He explained that William Golding’s follow-up book to the classic Lord of the Flies set in the same period, called The Inheritors, played a big role in his vision. Cumming recounted, “I finished that book and I thought, ‘Yes. One day I’m going to make this book.’ If I ever get to a certain level of influence and artistry.”

In conversation about the use of violence in the film, and the way the tension translates through the screen, Cumming explained that the films he admires most are the ones that take violence seriously. While the horror genre has a tendency to laugh at violence or make it very “tongue-in-cheek,” Cumming believes that such violence needs to be treated with the respect and discomfort it deserves.

Cumming said of the audience, “I hope that the film sticks with them somehow. I would like the film to leave the same stain on them that I felt when I put down The Inheritors. Hopefully, they feel they’ve seen something that finds a new way to talk about our inhumanity and the terrible things we can do to each other.”

He continued, “I hope audiences find it thrilling and scary in the right places, but I hope they take that message away with them also that if ever our fears are left unchecked, we can do really horrible things to each other.”

Out of Darkness takes place approximately 45,000 years ago and centers around a group of ancient humans in a state of desperation. When the group discovers an uncharted territory, they hope to establish a new home, unaware that an unspeakable terror lurks in the shadows. Forced to come face to face with an unimaginable menace, they confront danger unlike anything they could have ever fathomed.

Cumming, a filmmaker and television director who hails from Fife, Scotland, first gained recognition for his graduation film, Radiance, produced while he was at the National Film and Television School. The exceptional quality of the film earned it a nomination for the esteemed title of Best Film at the BAFTA Scotland New Talent Awards. Additionally, Cumming’s intense psychological drama Beneath received accolades at the Courant 3D festival in France, where it was honored with the distinguished title of Best Student Film. 

Out of Darkness is now in theaters nationwide.