“Don’t Open The Door”: We saw the Unboxholics movie…

If you don’t know what it is Unboxholics, you probably haven’t spent enough time on Greek YouTube. This is the most popular group of content creators in Greece, with one million subscribers to their channel, which apart from the material they produce for their pages have also been tested in fiction. After experimenting with short films, as well as an interactive web series (“Puppet Theater”), Unboxholics are moving to the big screen with “Don’t Open The Door”. A film that combines horror with psychological thriller to tell the story of a researcher who, after escaping a dangerous attack, finds refuge in the house of a welcoming, but mysterious man who lives isolated on the mountain. For the rest, the reasons in the main factors Alexandros and Saki Karpas.

After the productions you have already done as Unboxholics, it seems obvious that sooner or later you would make the transition to feature films. However, what was it that inspired you to make a genre film and especially a film that stands between fantasy and psychological thrillers?
We think it’s a natural follow-up after our short films, to take a little more bold step into the next bigger step. Genre movies are something we love. And especially psychological thrillers are one of our favorite genres. There is no greater inspiration, then, for something than your own love for it.

I found it very interesting that given your familiarity with both cinematic language and video game aesthetics, you chose the style of Don’t Open the Door to follow a well-meaning minimalism. The feeling of claustrophobia, for example, is instrumental in creating the anxious atmosphere present in the film. Or that we know only a little, what is needed, about the characters. So, how did this austerity emerge as a cinematic proposal?
“Less is more” is a quote that represents most of our creations. Both in the image and in the writing, we believe that minimalism can leave room for the essence to shine. In our film, without abstracting the plot, we try to make the important information present itself. This choice is also a challenge for us, since if it “passes” on to the viewer, we know that it will take root deeper.

The production of a feature requires personal endurance, stubbornness and patience, especially in Greece. How did you really experience this? Bearing in mind that it is an additional process to your already multiple occupations as Unboxholics, which are characterized by their professionalism.
The truth is that we went into the process of producing a feature film with… ignorance of danger. It is indeed unimaginably difficult to carry out such a project, especially when the team behind it does not exceed six to seven people. To be completely honest, if we didn’t have the recognition of Unboxholics, we don’t think we would be doing this interview now. We will not analyze the reasons why in Greece it is difficult to implement such a project, but we experienced all this as if we were carrying out a normal madness.

Fotini Levoyannis has also been seen in “Breakfast”. In this sense, it seemed like an obvious choice for the specific role, the requirements in this case were of course particularly high. Did you approach the performances differently this time? Then, was there room to come up with new ideas on set?
First of all, Fotini is a charismatic actress, who we believe can cope with any role. Obviously we approached the role differently because it has different requirements in itself, but we had already developed a relationship of trust, so we followed the chemistry between us. At the mercy of that trust, then, both sides gave some of their own idiosyncrasies and left room to create with more freedom.

If you want, talk to me a little bit about the use of music. Especially in the first part it is particularly evocative, while it combines familiar characteristics of corresponding soundtracks of the genre while always maintaining its personal style.
The music is there in the film to underline and not to direct an emotion. We used both musical instruments and electronics, wanting this “marriage” to highlight the stark contrasts of the film. What is certain is that the pentagram we chose to dress the scenes of the film, carries elements from various films and video games that have marked our aesthetics.

Horror as a genre has been experiencing a resurgence in recent years. Do you follow the new releases and by extension, are there films of the genre that, more broadly, you have as favorites?
Obviously, we are fans of the genre and have been following its evolution closely for many years. Some of our favorite films of this genre are Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, and Ari Aster’s The Succession.

“Don’t Open the Door” comes to be added to a very small group of Greek films that belong at least to some extent to horror. I imagine you are well aware of this, however, I wonder what you yourselves have to do with Greek cinema as a whole?
We believe that in Greece we have both the passion and the ability to produce decent productions. There is plenty of material to “build” on. And apparently, too many Greek directors have given in the past and continue to give excellent examples which were most often made with small budgets and under adverse conditions. We, in turn, follow and support Greek cinema, knowing, now also from personal experience, that the only springboard for all this is the love for cinema and the need to create.

In closing, I will venture a comment. As Unboxholics you are a landmark in the Greek internet, thanks among other things to the way you communicate to the public both new media, technology, and the whole digital aspect. At the same time, your fictional productions count hundreds of thousands of views and have found recognition. Still, I find it genuinely romantic and hopeful that your new step looks like it belongs perfectly in the cinema, in the dark rooms. Which have already been filled by the unimaginable pre-sale. So my question is what does cinema mean to you?
Cinema is a canvas, on which ideas can come to life, make our imaginations come true and take souls on a journey through shadow and light. Now that we’ve started with our first film, we can’t imagine a better way to express ourselves.