HoH: What got you interested in making movies?  Have you always had the bug?

DH: Well, this may date me, but ever since I saw Star Wars I wanted to make movies. I saved my money and bought a super 8 camera (yes, another dating) and my friends and I filmed a 3 minute movie called Star Bores. Ever since then I’ve been a film student and fan. I also grew up on watching creature features every weekend staring the cigar smoking Bob Wilkins. I looked forward all week to seeing the horror flick on that show, I even remember how much the commercial for Night of the Living Dead scared the s@$% out of me as a kid.

HoH: You studied under two significant people in cinema: Richard Fleischer (Tora Tora Tora!, Soylent Green) and Mark Rosman (House on Sorority Row, The Perfect Man).  What advice, if any, did they provide?

DH: Well, they were great inspiration. Richard Fleischer is such a legend in film and I was lucky to be in the only directing class he ever taught.  The most practical thing he taught me was how to do shot lists, and to visually use levels of depth, not only with background and foreground but with height. And just being near this great filmmaker and to hear his stories was a once in a life time thing.

Mark Rosman started in low buget horror and moved on to major Hollywood studio films. I was his assistant in another UCLA directing class, and he taught me the entire process of directing, or as much as was possible in the class. He also watched my shorts and gave criticism. Several times I visited his sets, the last one being A Cinderella Story starring Hillary Duff. Mark is so cool, and my wife Valya and I really enjoyed chatting with him and watching him work on a major film. He’s a great talent and a down to earth person that taught me that not everyone successful in Hollywood is a jerk.

HoH: This is your first feature.  Why on earth would you choose to adapt H. P. Lovecraft, arguably the hardest-to-adapt author out there?

DH: Well, as you say, it’s definitely not an easy thing – maybe I am crazy. The love of his stories and mythos really compelled me to give it a try. I think I have a unique idea that fans will like. Basically I wanted to make something different, but that genre and Lovecraft fans would like.

HoH: You wrote the screenplay and directed the film.  If I put a gun to your head, which of the two would you say you prefer?

DH: If I had to pick, I’d say directing because I like to work with people instead of being alone in a room typing, although I am in the mood for that sometimes also. The hard part of directing is to be able to work with the crew on the technical parts without neglecting the direction of the actors. That is why some directors are called “camera directors.” I’m lucky to be working with a great cinematographer, Michael Rosen, who is also helping me produce.

HoH: The movie's two main characters are Rebecca Marsh, a reporter, and her cameraman, Mike Connors.  What else should we know about them as people?

DH: Well, Rebecca  (Renee Sweet) is obsessed with her career and does not believe in anything that is not fact. She has no religion or spiritual beliefs and throughout the story she eventually learns her career means nothing in the scheme of things and she also learns that there exists things that are not explained by science. Mike (Tytus Bergstrom) is an ex military cameraman and has a very moody, dark personality. He had a reputation for doing anything for a shot, even if it put his life at risk. His darker side that he has been trying to repress grows stronger as he gains exposure to the mythos.

HoH: The film includes specific elements from The Haunter in the Dark.  Is the film directly inspired by that story?  Or do you plan on taking a more generalized approach to his mythos?

DH: Well it is an original story and very general to the mythos. It does take as the primary “deity” Nyarlethotep, the Haunter of the Dark. And the Trapezehedron also has a place. But it is not an adaption of any Lovecraft story. Like Lovecraft  himself requested of his friends, the mythos elements are being used while keeping original characters and story.

HoH: You're shooting some of the film is San Francisco.  Is there a strong film community there?  Or are you guerilla filmmakers?

DH: San Francisco is my home town  (I lived in L.A. for 9 years though) and it is such a photogenic city. It looks so good and can be creepy with the ocean and fog and other elements like old Victorian houses and such.

So far we haven’t had to be guerillas.  We’ve done everything by the book with permits and such. It actually came in handy because at one location near a cave in San Francisco we got there fighting sunset. We had to get these shots before we lost the sun and when we arrived,  another film crew was shooting at our location. We had to pull our permits and throw them out since they were shooting illegally.  I thought about doing it guerilla-style but decided against it since it would put the actors and crew always on guard, wondering if we would be stopped. It would take away from their concentration on working.

HoH: How effects-heavy do you plan on having the film?  Will we be seeing a lot of Lovecraft's imagination at work?  Do you plan on reigning in the visuals and pushing the dread?

DH: Since Lovecraft is so scary, there is no way we can meet that with effects. Even with millions of bucks you couldn’t. We will show just enough so the imagination can then take over and fill in the blanks. That is what is scary-what’s in your mind.

HoH: Consequently, how do you plan to set this film apart from other Lovecraft films, most of which are pretty dodgy?

DH: The unique thing is the idea. I am not taking a Lovecraft story but showing that Lovecraft got the truth from his dreams, that the mythos really exists in our real world.  I’ve done some occult research and found that there are occultists that actually believe this. I want to convince the viewer in this possibility- mixing reality with “fiction.”

HoH:  Are there any Lovecraft adaptations that influenced your work?  More generally, are there any specific horror films or horror directors that sparked some ideas?

DH: No Lovecraft adaptions influenced me. If anything it is his writings, and a few films like 84 Charlie Mopic, Special Bulletin, and old horror movies like Legend of Boggy Creek, The Haunting (original), and The Devil Rides Out (stupid title but cool Hammer movie).  Also, lots of unusual documentaries on the occult and magic.

Of the Lovecraft feature adaptions, my personal favorite is The Resurrected, probably because of the great performance by Chris Sarandon.

HoH: Let's fast-forward to the coming spring.  In Search of Lovecraft is a success, and you get that next opportunity to make a movie.  Would you stay with Lovecraft and horror?

DH: I would definetly stay with horror but probably with something other than Lovecraft.  I’d come back to him in a few years but in any case, he will always influence everything I do in horror. I love genre films, horror, sci-fi, fantasy. I’d like to keep open to other things like action, comedy, etc. but horror will always be my fav!

HoH: What's getting you excited in modern horror, in any medium?

DH: Well, I think Japan did a lot to bring back interest in the genre in the last few years. The Ring was pretty scary, but I actually liked the American version better than the Japanese one. But it was an original idea and that is what counts and really makes a story, not effects. Right now I am trying to find old obscure horror gems rather than looking at the local movie theatre for new ones.