While beautiful, Australia’s landscapes of dense bushland, boundless outback plains, sprawling desert and vast open waters also make a perfect backdrop for horror films. A team of Sydney and Canberra filmmakers have captured the eerie sense of the unknown of the Australian bush in their film, Puzzle Box, which recently premiered at the Popcorn Frights Film Festival in the US.

An addict, Kait is in dire need of a life change and heads to a secluded house surrounded by a sea of endless trees to self-rehabilitate. Joined by her sister Olivia who plans to document the process using a video camera, not long after their arrival the pair become captive in the house as it shifts and changes. Stalked and haunted, can the pair uncover secrets, unlock the mystery, and solve the puzzle box the house has become?

The found-footage psychological horror comes from the mind of Jack Dignan, writer, director, producer and editor of the film. The shooting took place in Canberra and Sydney in March across just eight days, and post-production continued until July, created with a small, self-raised budget. Lead actor Kaitlyn Boyé says that the horror genre doesn’t need a lot of money behind it to be effective.

“You just need a great idea,” she says. “Horror is one, when it is performance-driven, you can sort of get away without a lot of the other elements … That was the most important aspect of the film, was us being able to feel and showcase these emotions and bring the horror that way.”

A lover of horror, Ms Boyé has already featured in a number of scary productions, although Puzzle Box was her first with found-footage. She says what makes it special is the amount of control that was placed in the hands of the actors made it an incredible experience.

“You and another actor doing the dance, doing the back and forth, and the ‘oh, we’ve gone off book, that’s okay, let’s help each other find our way back, there’s a leech on you, that’s okay, it’s part of the scene now’. I just think the freedom and control that making found-footage allows actors is so rare. I loved it personally, obviously, there were a lot of scary moments, too,” says Ms Boyé.

The handheld camera style meant that during dark scenes with no lighting, the actor had to rely on the equipment in her hand to be her eyes. Running up and down a three-storey house in the dark, chased by the terrifying entity – The Screaming Woman.

“She’s terrifying. The woman who plays, she’s a yoga instructor, she’s able to kind of crawl up over couches and tables and chase you up the stairs,” says Ms Boyé.

Not knowing where another actor might pop up added intensity to the scene; Ms Boye says she thrives off the edginess that horror allows. Not being someone who is afraid of the ‘ugly’, the actor likes to give her all to each and every performance.

“I want to see what it feels like, just going to the deepest depths of emotion and the psyche, and challenging that or bringing those things up. I think that’s a big thing for me as an artist, that’s how I like to express, I don’t really sit much in the realm of aesthetic commercial artistry. I much prefer getting down and dirty, which I think horror allows.”

Playing her mother on set is Ms Boyé’s real-life mother, Janelle McMenamin. The pair have played mother and daughter before, not usually in a horror role. Ms McMenamin says she loves the challenge of horror but is usually too scared to watch them.

“I watch it through my fingers, usually sitting with Kaitlyn holding her hand watching it, especially when she’s in them. That’s been my introduction to horror, watching the films she’s done,” says Ms McMenamin.

As a mother, she always pictured her beautiful daughter, who had a passion for performance, being cast as a Disney princess and other delicate roles. She says she never expected her to be cast as an addict or traitor in terrifying situations.

“She gets it terrifying in parts, too. I actually get a legitimate reason to yell at Kaitlyn, I’ve never had one before because she’s always been such a good girl,” smiles Ms McMenamin.

The actors hope that other creatives will take inspiration from the film. Ms Boyé says horror, in particular, is a genre that is constantly being redefined; you can do it in a way that is true to you, even if that is with a low budget.

“It just proved how possible it is, if you have a good idea and you have a couple of friends that you’re creatively compatible with, you can just go out and make it, find a way, make it happen,” says Ms Boyé.

The trailer for Puzzle Box can be seen on Youtube; follow puzzleboxmovie on Instagram for updates.

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