Crawl or Die, Oklahoma Ward & Nicole Alonso interview

The UK premiere of Oklahoma Ward’s CRAWL OR DIE is to be screened on the Horror Channel in July. This alien-monster shocker takes claustrophobia to new heights in its futuristic depiction of a rescue mission through a maze of ever-shrinking tunnels. The undoubted star of this indie genre hit is Nicole Alonso who plays the unstoppable Tank, a mohawk-sporting warrior who’d give Arnie a run for his money.

Ahead of its UK screening, the Xtreme Entertainment Network spoke to the director and star, who just so happen to be real-life partners as well as running their own production company, Backyard Films….

First of all, how pleased are you that the film is to be screened on television for the first time in the UK?

N: Oh very pleased! We have gotten many UK fans asking us when and where they can see Crawl or Die, I’m thrilled to finally be able to give them an answer.

O: Since the release of Crawl or Die we are contacted every other day on social media by fans in the UK asking where they can see the movie, so I’m excited now the Horror Channel has made this announcement.

So how did the ‘aliens in a tunnel’ idea come about?

O: Two of some of my favourite movies scenes growing up were The Great Escape and the Aliens scene where Bishop goes into the small metal tunnel and starts crawling – that scene terrified me. The tunnel was so small I thought if Bishop runs into one of those aliens he’s got no room to fight. He’s dead. I was disappointed they cut away from that scene so quickly. So that was the spark that drove the idea of how I would use tunnels in the movie.

How did you raise the finance?

O: We saved up enough money over three years by giving up our car and buying a cheap broken down home – we remodelled that home and sold it for a small profit. Then we started building the Crawl or Die set. Day and night Nicole and I worked on building the set by hand, and it ended up taking us a year.

Nicole, how did you prepare for the role?

N: There was quite a bit that went into preparing to play my character, Tank. I was pretty intimidated to take on the role as I am nothing like her in real life. I’m quite shy and reserved, so I knew it was going to take a lot of work to make this believable on my end. I spent a lot of time in the gym – 6 days a week. I knew the role would be physically demanding and I wanted to be as prepared for that as possible.

Oklahoma gave me several movies to watch and study the characters in the films to get a good idea of how he saw Tank. Most notably Alien, Terminator 2, G.I. Jane and Domino. I found all these women, while tough as nails, to still be human and still be women. They had emotion and fears and struggles, but what made them tough was they kept going even when things seemed hopeless.

It was very important to Oklahoma and myself that Tank wasn’t just a one dimensional character. She’s not Rambo. She definitely struggles and isn’t prepared for the situation that she is thrown into, so we wanted all that to show. Her strength comes from the fact that she refuses to give up, no matter what. Once the set was built and I had the script, I slept in the tunnels. I lived in those tunnels and I studied the script backwards and forwards to really get into who Tank was and what she was going through.

Have you got any action movie heroines?

N: Most definitely Ellen Ripley and Sarah Conner. Those women changed how I saw women in film and to this day are still my favourite. If you want a more recent reference, I really loved Furiosa in the new Mad Max: Fury Road.

Are you pleased with how the film has been received?

N: Immensely pleased! Aside from filming the movie which is always my favourite part of the process, hearing feedback from all the fans has been brilliant. It’s blown my mind how much the fans and horror blogs have supported our film. People seem to love this character. As an actor, there is nothing more rewarding than knowing a character you brought to life is connecting with fans.

O: To make a movie, completely independent and with our own money, with no contacts in Hollywood and then to receive all these great reviews really is a dream come true! It’s been a five year journey with this movie on a budget that is below poverty level, and yet we got it done and out. Pleases me every single day. Was it tough? Hell yes it was tough, but the fans writing us from all over the world makes all the struggle worth every second.

The end credits tell us that Tank will return?

N: Yes she will – very, very soon! We are in the middle of some negotiations, so we can’t officially make an announcement yet, but we will have some news in the near future.

O: We are looking over offers from studios and producers currently, deciding if we want to go that route or do it all ourselves again. Too many chef’s in the kitchen makes us very cautious. Either way, filming will start winter 2015.

Great news. Looking forward to it! Thank you both for your time.