Interview: Director F. Javier Gutierrez for RINGS

With the Blu-ray debut of the terrifying new chapter of the hit film RINGS, we had the chance to sit down and speak with director F. Javier Gutierrez at the historic El Cid supper club. Soft spoken and kind, Javier told us about what its like to be a fan of the movies and what inspired him to tackle the newest film in such a well-known franchise.

Nightmarish Conjurings: Hi Javier, thank you so much for sitting down with us today to talk about your newest film, RINGS, which just came out on Blu-ray! To start things off, were you a fan of the franchise prior to directing RINGS?

Javier Gutierrez: Yes, I was a very big fan of the Japanese one, RINGU, and then the American remake, THE RING, by Gore Verbinski. I loved the beautiful performances and I thought that everything was really great.

NC: What inspired you to want to take on the task of directing the third film in this franchise?

JG: It was a challenge. After 20 years, the movie could go in so many different directions. You are playing with a lot of expectations from the fans, so it was definitely a challenge. As a filmmaker you have to be brave and take the risks, it’s part of your job, and having the chance to be a part of these films, as a fan and as a filmmaker, was something I really enjoyed. I felt like it was going to be complicated, and I knew it was going to be tricky as a guest entering into an already established franchise, but I wanted to give it my best and try and give the best of me to the fans.

NC: Something that I noticed in your film, which is also heavily emphasized in the other films, was the art direction. Was this something that you did on purpose as a way to tie all the films together?

JG: Yes, that’s pretty much my ‘thing’ as a director. I was a production designer for short films and I loved to play with colors and textures. I wanted to bring my sensitivity for colors and visuals into the world of RINGS. If you watch my previous film, BEFORE I FALL, it’s more like an acting movie but it’s also a drama that becomes more like a horror/thriller, and it has some really powerful visuals. For RINGS I said to myself that I was going to do my job and care as much as I could for the production design of the movie: the colors, textures, the camera movements, so that it served the script.

NC: Last but not least, what sort of challenges did you face when filming?

JG: Coming from an industry in Europe, it’s always complicated to deal with something that’s different such as a studio or a franchise. We have all these crazy ideas that are out of the box that we filmmakers have in Europe and we need to really sell it here. Sometimes we had to curb back on those crazy ideas and remind ourselves that we can save it for a more indie type of film. This film is a tense horror/thriller that also has a lot of mystery so we had to make sure that we balanced both of those themes carefully.

RINGS is now available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD through Paramount Pictures.

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Shannon McGrew

Founder/Co-Owner at Nightmarish Conjurings

Shannon is the Founder of Nightmarish Conjurings and a lover of all things horror and haunt related. When she's not obsessively collecting all things "Trick 'R Treat" related, or trying to convince everyone that "Hereditary" is one of the greatest horror films ever made, you can find her designing interiors for commercial restaurants. An avid haunt fan, Shannon spends the entire year visiting haunts and immersive experiences throughout the Southern California area and hopes to one day design her own haunted attraction.

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