Not only do we have the first official stills from Philippe Martinez’s The Steam Experiment, but we’ve got an exclusive chat with the ladies of the film, who talks about STEAM vs. SAW. In the film, Val Kilmer (pictured inside) plays a former university professor who overheats his hostages to prove that humans will devolve into chaos under the pressures of global warming. He tells a detective (Assante) that their location will be revealed if his hypothesis is printed as the local paper’s front-page headline.
James Pettis claims to have started a deadly experiment to prove his theories and regain his stature in the Global Warming community. Six unsuspecting people have been lured into a STEAM ROOM. This steam room is his laboratory and these people are his lab rats. He will prove to the world that simply by turning up the heat, humanity collapses – and people will die unless his theories are printed on the front page of the next issue of the Tampa Tribune… that’s the plot of THE STEAM EXPERIMENT, which stars Val Kilmer, Armand Assante, Eric Roberts, Megan Brown, Patrick Muldoon, Cordelia Reynolds and Eve Mauro (pictured).

Is it a green horror movie? A sexy thriller? The publicist keeps telling me it’s a lot like the SAW films – but why take his word for it? We got a chance to speak with the lead women of STEAM, who talk a bit more about the project…

“It is like SAW in the sense that people are put through a situation, which they thought they wanted to be in… then realize that they really didn’t want to be there,” Megan Brown tells SpookyDan via a phone interview. “They are put through a series of torturous events that really wear them down, but that’s where the comparisons [between STEAM and SAW] end.”

Brown also chatted a bit about the blood and violence, which isn’t as bad as in the SAW films.

“It really moves away from the pure gory violence that SAW has,” she continues, “in this we have a great deal of poetry and beauty and a painterly image to our film because of our director Philippe Martinez). It is violent, and horrible, yet extremely beautiful and comforting, like a scary nightmare or a surrealist dream.”

On the other hand, star Cordelia Reynolds tells us that the bio doesn’t really tell the whole story.

“The bio does not give the entire story, there is definitely a lot more to the story and the plot,” she teases. “It’s more of a play into Val Kilmer’s character’s mind. The way that it’s shot and acted is going to be believable, just writing it out doesn’t do it justice. As you are watching it you don’t really know if stuff is really happening. Is he lying? Is he crazy? As a viewer, you are drawn into the suspense of what is happening to these people.”

Beyond making the film believable, Reynolds addresses the “green” portion of the project.

“It’s an interesting premise as far as the whole global warming is concerned. Really its more about the characters being locked in this room and how they turn on each other.”

Star Eve Mauro takes it a step further comparing STEAM to a Hitchcock film. She explains how it’s more suspenseful than a SAW film and will f*ck with your mind.

“It’s kind of like a Hitchcock film mixed with SAW. This is more of an artistic type film… it’s very gruesome in a way. I cant really compare SAW to it, because it’s a thriller that sort of ties together, but it has a lot more elements that SAW doesn’t have. It’s a creepy mindf*ck film! Just imagine being locked into a steam room and not being able to breath and get out. It’s not just the steam, it’s where it goes the peoples minds.”

THE STEAM EXPERIMENT if currently shooting in Grand Rapids Michigan and is set to open in 2009.

First pics below!