Toronto based Director Tricia Lee is turning out some of the best horror to emerge out of the Great White North. Her latest film “Silent Retreat” won Best Canadian Feature at Toronto After Dark and for good reason as it The film is intensely frightening. Taking the classic cabin in the woods trope and flipping it upside down, the film tracks Janey who in order to avoid jail time agrees to a secluded rehab facility. When she arrives she is given the rules – no communication with the outside world, no electronics, and interaction of any kind during your stay.

Breaking the rules will result in an encounter with the beings that lurk in the woods. “Silent Retreat” offers horror fans some truly pants wetting moments that leave you terrified of what lies lurking in the shadows. Director Tricia Lee sat down with Bloody-Disgusting for exclusive interview to talk about “Silent Retreat”, partnering up with Black Fawn Distribution on the film’s release, her thoughts on the new wave of Canadian horror directors, and why crowd funding a feature film is a monumental task. Bloody-Disgusting: Tell us a little bit about what sparked the concept behind “Silent Retreat” and how it came together…

Tricia Lee: I actually went on a silent meditation retreat myself. Before leaving, my writing partner Corey Brown said to me, it’s a great place to set a movie, think of a thriller concept while you’re there. And I told him, “Corey, I’m supposed to be clearing my mind”! When I returned, I told him about this girl that I carpooled with on the way up to the retreat, but when I tried to find her to bring her back home, her roommate told me she was sent home early. Now, at this retreat, there was no talking, no eye contact, no gestures, no nothing. So we don’t get to know the people we spent the last 10 days with. Corey and I thought this would be a great place to set a thriller horror film where girls disappeared and no one would ask any questions. So Corey went and wrote a script and I went out to find financing, and so it began.

BD: You play with a lot of psychological horror in the film, which really helps to make the grotesque aspects of the film have more of an impact with audiences. Was it your goal to try have your audience connect with Janey emotionally so they could really feel the sense of terror she feels the film?

TL: As a director, I always want the audience to connect with my main character. Janey is discovering the rules, the mystery and the danger of the camp, as the audience is and I think it is important for the audience to connect with her emotionally to get into the film. I think an audience only feels terror, fear, anticipation, suspense if they are connected to the characters and want them to survive.

BD: What are some of the benchmarks films for you as a director when working on “Silent Retreat”?

TL: I watched and studied The Descent and Let Me In. The directing in these two genre films, I think is genius and they are both masterpieces.

BD: The film has been getting rave reviews at film festivals like the Toronto After Dark Film Festival and well received by fans. What has your experience been like with critics and the reaction from fans been like so far?

TL: We were very excited and honoured to win Best Canadian Feature at Toronto After Dark. It is an award that means a lot because they are chosen by the fans and the pass holders who went to see almost every film at the festival. Silent Retreat has been getting some great reviews. The ones I enjoy reading the most are very thoughtful, smart and well-written by critics that really grasped and appreciated the themes that we wanted to address.

BD: Tell us a bit about how you came to hook up with Black Fawn Distribution and what they brought to the table for the release of the film?

TL: I first met the Black Fawn guys at the Blood In The Snow Festival where my other feature film “Clean Break” was screening. They had a booth there and we started chatting about their cool grassroots DVD distribution label. They specialize in genre and sell directly to the fans at all the conventions and expos, as well as through their website at www.blackfawndistribution.com. I loved their hands-on, filmmaker-friendly approach. So I held back DVD rights in Canada from my Canadian Distributor VVS, so that Black Fawn could do their magic with the film. Black Fawn released Silent Retreat on DVD in Canada at Fan Expo which was a great opening arena for the film. BD: There seems to be a new wave of Canadian horror directors making a name for them on the scene. What do think of the state of the horror genre in Canada and how have you seen in progress in recent years? What are some of the directors we should be on the lookout for?

TL: Being a part of the Canadian horror community has been a great experience so far! I think it’s great because it’s a very supportive community. While we are making films in similar genres that are competing for a spot in the marketplace, I feel like we are all very supportive of each other. We help promote each other’s films and show up to support one another at festivals, screenings and IndieGoGo campaigns. And as each of our films do well in the market, it paves the way for the rest of our films to perform as well. We all are working to brand Canadian horror films as something everyone needs to see. Some directors to watch out for are the Soska Sisters, Karen Lam, Ryan Andrews, Gavin Michael Booth, Navin Ramaswaran and Jovanka Vukovic. BD: What is your take on the idea of crowd-funding a feature film and would you ever consider taking that route for one of your projects?

TL: I actually did an IndieGoGo campaign for Silent Retreat. We raised $5000, which was great and helped our low budget film get to the finish line. However, it was 3 months of full time work and bugging everyone I’ve ever met since kindergarten! It was hard, to be honest and I’m so grateful to those who did contribute. It’s a lot easier when you have a fan base or a lot of followers on twitter, etc. And even then it’s hard to get a stranger to donate. I wouldn’t discount the importance of crowd funding, especially for awareness and audience building, but I’d prefer not to do it again (at least not all by myself next time round!)

BD: Tell us a little bit about your production company A Film Monkey Production and some of the projects you have coming up…

TL: A Film Monkey Production is my production company that I produce and direct my projects through. I’ve made a lot of short films as two features so far. I work very closely with my writer Corey Brown on all the projects. CLEAN BREAK was a thriller about three roommates who are living the bachelor lifestyle until one of them gets a girlfriend who will stop at nothing to get rid of any excess baggage. SILENT RETREAT was our next film. And we are currently packaging our next elevated genre, horror, creature feature ONE DROP , which is about a single mother who overdoses and wakes up in a medical facility to find that everyone is dead and she’s somehow nine months pregnant. After that is BUYING TIME, a sci-fi drama about a pill that will allow you to re-experience your past, five minutes at a time.

BD: For fans that haven’t seen “Silent Retreat” yet how would you sell it to them?

TL: A creature feature / psychological thriller. In this horror film, Janey is sent to a silent meditation retreat in the middle of the woods for rehabilitation, only to discover that the men who run it are brainwashing women to be quiet and submissive, and if she breaks the rules, she’ll discover what lurks beyond the trees … The only way to escape the silence … is to SCREAM.

Check us out on social media: www.Facebook.com/silentretreat @SilentRMovie www.silentretreatmovie.com www.filmmonkey.ca