Brittany Allen is such a chameleon, you’ve probably seen her in a dozen things by now and not even realised it’s the same actress. From Jigsaw to It Stains The Sands Red, Allen has consistently proven herself a performer worthy of our attention — more than a Final Girl, a Scream Queen, or any of the other monikers meant to denigrate female actresses working predominantly in horror.
Her latest project with partner (both in the working and romantic senses of the word) Colin Minahan, What Keeps You Alive, puts Allen front and centre as a woman celebrating her one year anniversary with her wife (played by Allen’s Jigsaw cast-mate Hannah Emily Anderson) out in the countryside, only for something terrible to happen.
Also See: What Keeps You Alive Is One Of The Best Horror Movies Of The Year
Saying anything further would give the game away, but this latest collaboration between Minahan and Allen (their third to date) is the strongest and most surprising yet. It stakes a claim for the duo as two of the most exciting voices working in the genre currently, with his clear and precise direction complementing her assured, utterly vanity-free central performance.
The Frightfest synopsis crucially doesn’t give too much away:
On the eve of their one-year wedding anniversary, Jules and Jackie become embroiled in a merciless fight for their lives when they find themselves pitted against the most unexpected of adversaries. As violence reigns down upon their idyllic forest getaway, the two women engage in a frenzied psychological and vicious battle that will test the very limits of their instinct to survive. Another suspenseful knife to the throat of 21st Century genre cinema from the deliciously warped mind of Colin Minihan, director of It Stains The Sands Red, get ready to gasp in total shock and abject terror.
Directed and written by Colin Minahan and starring Brittany Allen and Hannah Emily Anderson in the two crucial lead roles, with a score also by Allen, What Keeps You Alive is truly one of the most remarkable horror movies you’ll see this year.
Also See: Colin Minahan Talks What Keeps You Alive
Wicked Horror caught up with Allen at Frightfest 2018 to talk working with her partner, women in horror, her prolific career thus far, and lots more.
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Interview conducted by: Joey Keogh
Camera: Richard Waters
Editing: Richard Waters
