Gerard Johnson Interview

• 5th Apr 2011

The Cruel Britannia Season kicks off on the Horror Channel this coming Friday with the brilliant Mum & Dad on the 8^th of April. The second film showing is the fantastic Tony: London Serial Killer by Gerard Johnson on the 15^th. Tony is a dark character study set on a poverty stricken housing estate in London. Director Gerard Johnson kindly took five minutes out of his schedule to chat with us about the genesis of Tony.

Tony is premièring on the Horror Channel in April. Are you a big horror fan and if so what films fuelled your passion?

I’m a big film fan, I wouldn’t say I like horror more than other genres, I do enjoy the best examples of horror; the Texas Chainsaw’s, Vanishing’s, Possession’s, Angst’s of this world.

The title of Tony made me think of John McNaughton’s Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. What part if any did Henry play in the development of Tony?

I saw Henry at The Scala cinema in Kings Cross in the late 80s and it made an immediate impact on me. It was unknown here at the time, wasn’t available on video yet and playing as a double bill with Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I enjoyed the characters being more down to earth and real at a time when characters like Jason and Freddie were getting increasingly ridiculous.

Once you had completed the script for Tony where their problems getting the film financed given the content?

We had already secured finance before I even wrote a word of the script; we got the finance on the strength of my previous shorts and a two-page outline. I don’t work in a conventional way anyway.

The film’s star Peter Ferdinando gives an epic performance especially given his screen time must be close to 100% of the actual film. Can you tell me how you cast him in the part?

Peter is my cousin, there’s a year between us so we’ve been close since we were young, we made a few shorts together before the film and one was the short Tony, which was a ten-minute version. We really went to town with the character for the feature.

I personally viewed the character of Tony with some sympathy especially given the horrendous people he has to interact with such as the Ricky Grover character, the drug addicts, the tanning shop owner and especially the Job Seekers advisor.

How did you view Tony when writing the script?

I wanted people to be sympathetic as given a different path in life maybe he wouldn’t have killed.  Small circumstances can change people’s lives and little moments have a way of shaping them. I think any big city is full of people like this. We don’t see it because we block it out most of the time by looking at our iPhone’s or listening to our iPods.

Tony is somewhat obsessed with 80s action films. Do you think they have affected him in a negative way or is it just a passion?

Well he finds it easier to relate to them. It’s a passion and a need to have some friends, even if they are on a screen. It’s funny how some reviews have pointed to that, I think it’s a little on the nose for that. These are the videos that Tony will pick up in the charity shops. He is obsessed with cheap thrills and he is too prudish for porn.

Is there a political aspect to the film, it seems very well timed as regards it portrait of inner city poverty?

There has been inner city poverty for a number of years but the reason we feel sympathy for Tony is because he is a victim, he probably didn’t have the best education and had a bad abusive upbringing. He isn’t given a chance and this will carry on throughout his life. If he were given a little job somewhere maybe he wouldn’t kill. I think many people slip through the net like this and a government couldn’t care, as it’s just a percentage on a chart in a number of offices up and down the country.

Did you always intend for your brother to do the soundtrack for the film?

Well I’ve always been a fan of Matt’s music and he has always wanted to move into soundtracks as well, so it was great to give him the opportunity to do his first full one.  I think it adds another level to it.

The film is playing as part of the Cruel Britannia series on the Horror Channel; of the four I would say that Tony is the least conventional horror film. How do you personally view Tony in terms of the horror genre?

Well I never once called it a horror film and still don’t. I can understand why people would call it horror as it’s about a serial killer but it’s not really horror is it? If I’d have wanted to make a horror film I would have made it a lot more violent and scary, there are many people out there that should see Tony but won’t because its labelled a horror and has a picture of Tony holding a hammer covered in blood on the front cover.

Can you give me your opinion on the state of British horror today?

I think it’s very healthy and doing well. I think there are a few British horror directors that are really taking the reigns and making impressive stuff.

What’s next for you? When can we expect another film and will it be in the horror genre?

I’m doing a thriller called Hyena, which I have written and we are shooting later this year. It’s a film about the police force in London. I am very excited about it.