As he demonstrates with his debut feature BENEATH THE DARK, writer-director Chad Feehan likes to mash things up.

“The film’s genesis was inspired by my love of two different genres – namely hotel or motel horror movies and the relationship dramas in vogue with independent filmmakers of my generation.”

“Looking at films like THE SHINING and IN THE BEDROOM, I became increasingly curious about how they were similar, how they were different, and where the lines between them might blur.”

Feehan’s mention of THE SHINING won’t be a surprise to lovers of older movies who will see BENEATH THE DARK: he sprinkled “three overt references” to the Kubrick classic throughout his film.

“BENEATH THE DARK,” Feehan explains, “examines the experience of losing love, of love that is lost and the ripple effect of sin. Two couples sit within the crux of the film and their dynamics evolve. One, Paul and Adrienne, are introduced as the ideal couple, full of love and promise. Then, as the mystery unfolds, their bond is pulled apart and teeters on the precipice of collapse. At the same time, the other couple, Frank and Sandy, is already in the midst of collapse. Their relationship disintegrated long ago and the story leads us to the final blow that forever ends their marriage.”

“The theme that ties all four together is embedded in an idea I’ve carried around for a while: that if you hurt or sin against someone, then that person carries the experience throughout their life – it affects the choices they make and the method in which they operate. Therefore, if that pain causes them to hurt someone else, then the originator of the pain bears responsibility for the aftermath. Your transgression against someone else doesn’t end with that one act; it carries on with the process of life. Sins beget sins.”

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Unlike most feature film productions, which scout and secure locations based on a completed screenplay, Feehan discovered the main location for BENEATH THE DARK while writing his script.

“Looking for inspiration, I Googled ‘Route 66 motel,’ clicked on this landmark and fell in love,” Feehan says. “Both the space-age facade and the desert surrounding it served the tone I was after and the story I wanted to tell.”

As alluring as it was, however, Roy’s would not prove to be an easy place to make a movie.

Located on historic Route 66 in Amboy, California, a speck of a town started by salt miners in the mid-1800s, Roy’s was opened in 1938 by the town’s owner, Roy Crowl and his wife Velma. In 1972, Amboy was essentially rendered irrelevant by the opening of Interstate 40; by the mid 80s Roy’s had become a popular location for shooting movies and commercials, but the town itself was dead. All of Amboy was bought in 2000 by the New York celebrity photographer Timothy White and his partner, Walt Wilson, but three years later they would unsuccessfully put it up for auction on eBay. In 2005, the town was bought by its current owner, Albert Okura, who also owns the Juan Pollo restaurant chain.

“When we secured enough financing to enter pre-production,” Feehan recalls, “we initially thought it would be impossible to shoot at my beloved Roy’s. It was totally run-down, with only concrete walls and floors. Located 50 miles from the nearest town, Roy’s had neither potable water nor electricity. But its allure was too strong to pass up.”

In the end, all of the interiors would be wholly original to BENEATH THE DARK, thanks to what Feehan calls “an incredibly-gifted art department. Thanks to their hard work, the location I was in love with became instrumental to the narrative.”

Feehan and production designer Manuel Pérez Peña had agreed that a typical approach to period motel décor had already been done “exceptionally well by much larger productions,” as Feehan puts it.

“We therefore decided to center our approach on two conflicting styles” – there’s that Feehanian mash-up again – “to which I have always gravitated: Western and Gothic. Immediately thereafter we honed in on color. Often times in motel movies, you see either pastels or reds, browns and yellows. Once again we went against type and selected blues, greens and blacks as our primary palette. With both color and style decided, Manuel went to work. He spent days in prop houses, thrift stores and wholesalers searching for the perfect furnishings, carpet, wallpaper, and lighting fixtures.”

Feehan, Peña, BENEATH THE DARK cinematographer Jason Blount and editor Michael Griffin all studied filmmaking at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles at the same time.

“Within the first week at AFI the importance of visual storytelling – the use of color, design, camera movement, lighting, etc – is pounded into you by the likes of Bruce Block and Gill Dennis,” Feehan points out. “Having that shared experience, Jason, Manuel and I knew that preparation would be everything.”

To that end Feehan and Blount watched films like THERE WILL BE BLOOD, looking for bold camera movement and lighting.

“We decided because we were shooting in one location that it would be imperative to keep everything as stimulating as possible,” Feehan says. “Jason’s photography is both gorgeous and eerie.”

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Like his protagonist, Feehan is a native of Texas with piercing blue eyes and a slightly dangerous countenance. He looks good in blue jeans.

Best known as a producer of the festival horror sensation ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE, Feehan has come to understand the rough and tumble business of filmmaking better than perhaps other first-time directors.

“About three years ago I had been frustrated by the fact that MANDY LANE and another project I developed, DEVIL’S SWING, had found varying levels of success only to flounder in the vice grip of Hollywood. I was determined to write a new film I could finance, produce and direct by wholly independent means.”

BENEATH THE DARK, with its overt design, moody lighting and working class sense of desolate spirituality, is that film.

Raised with what he calls “the absence of religion,” Feehan nonetheless grew up in Fort Worth with Christianity all around him.

“I was constantly curious about both the positive and negative impact of religion amongst my peers,” he recalls. “I grew up witnessing the strong appeal of faith, as well as the guilt and shame that often comes with it. In the end, I have grown to believe in God, but not as defined by any particular sect. It’s something I like to explore in my writing.”

Actor Josh Stewart is the one soul involved in the making of BENEATH THE DARK who most had to understand spiritual quandary, and Feehan knew that he did.

“As soon as the audience is introduced to Paul, he must immediately engage them: women have to want him, and men have to want to be him,” Feehan laughs. “Luckily, I had the advantage of knowing Josh Stewart personally for some time, had been exposed to a kind of sweetness he normally keeps well-hidden, something I knew would be essential to the character. This is because Paul unravels before landing in an arena of desperation, wherein it is revealed that he has done some really nasty things.”

Feehan met Jamie-Lynn Sigler during the casting phase of pre-production.

“She had read the script and had questions,” Feehan recalls. “As we sat down and started talking, the character of Adrienne immediately coalesced in my mind. Jamie had a very smart take on the material and identified with some of its fundamental elements. Furthermore, she brought more to the character than existed on the page – pieces of her own person. The resulting Adrienne is sweet, smart and giving, even a bit naive to the realities of her relationship. But she never becomes a wall-flower; she remains steadfast and strong in her own skin. She knows when to bend but never breaks and ultimately, chooses not to sacrifice her core. She remains the light to Paul’s eventual dark. I am incredibly pleased with her performance.”

With the character of Frank, it was important to Feehan that they find a physically imposing man who also projected a vulnerable core.

“I felt as if the character would become annoying and unsympathetic if he was both weak in appearance and emotionally,” Feehan says.

The director recalls rejecting an initial suggestion from casting director Deanna Brigidi, who thought Chris Browning was just right for what Feehan was after.

“She showed me this headshot. Initially I said, ‘No way. He is far too powerful and good-looking to have his heart ripped to pieces.’ Well, it was my mistake. Determined, Deanna showed me an audition tape Chris did for another film and I was blown away. In spite of his herculean appearance he had this incredible ability to appear fragile, scared and ultimately destroyed. Much like Jamie, Chris can extend an emotion beyond the page, and it’s simply devastating to see the character cling to every last shred of his dignity.”

Feehan wrote the role of Sandy for Angela Featherstone.

“She is incredibly gifted and fearless, which was paramount to the process because the character is very similar to Paul, but in reverse.

“Initially cold and cruel, Sandy must find her way into the hearts of the audience, a monumental task because she is placed in very compromising situations throughout the story. Having the ability to explore these arenas with a woman I know, trust and most importantly, call my dear friend, was a blessing. As a first time director, you never know how you are going to perform in those situations. Angie gave me her implicit trust and without it, we would have failed.

“So I count my blessings.”