With the recent successes of The Purge and Insidious, low budget horror films have quickly become Hollywood's go to route for the biggest bang for your buck. No other genre in Tinseltown has consistently been able to put out movies with sub $10 million budgets and regularly make back profits well into the $100 million range. Commercials and music video director Michael Ray hopes that trend will continue with his upcoming feature film "The Unwanted". The movie is about a college senior who is suffering from Post Abortion Syndrome, a real condition women who have had abortions actually go through. "I was researching abortion many years ago and found out about Post Abortion Syndrome" says Ray. "I learned that 35% of the women who go through it have perceived visitations from the aborted child. The minute I read that sentence, my skin started to crawl. I instantly thought to myself, that's a horror movie plot right there." Ray wrote the script himself and plans on directing the horror thriller, his second feature film, sometime this year once he settles on the right studio to back the picture. "We are in talks with the top 5 or 6 horror production companies in Hollywood. Just weighing my options on who gives us the best deal."
The film is more than just about abortion though. Ray also says the film is really about dealing with rejection. "Outside of our lead female, this really is in a way, an ensemble piece. The movie partially also is my homage to Beverly Hills 90210" says Ray. "It's a group of really good looking friends who have a lot of drama going on. Whose dating who. Who is secretly in love with who. Very dysfunctional. A lot of secrets. Backstabbing. Almost everyone in this clique of 8 friends feels romantically rejected by someone else in the group. And obviously this child that was aborted, who our main character is having these crazy visions of, feels rejected as well. How do you deal with the anger of that? What if you could get revenge?" Ray is ready for the controversy the film may bring. "I know abortion is a touchy subject with a lot of people, but at the end of the day, even though I know people will try to say this is a Pro Life film trying to make women feel bad about these very tough decisions, it's more so about the fact that you cannot force someone to love you or want you. This movie shows you both sides of the argument. It's not preaching. You get why the child is angry, but ultimately our main character isn't a bad person either."
Academy Award nominee Eric Roberts, most known for his villainous roles in Stallone's The Expendables and Chris Nolan's Batman sequel The Dark Knight, is attached to the film as well. "He's not playing anyone evil. He's the doctor helping our main character get through her issues. He plays a nice loving person, for once. It's something different for him. He's very excited about it" says Ray. As for the cast, Ray gushes over the actors he has assembled by simply saying "They are new. Unknowns. The world is going to fall in love with them. Everyone in the cast is extremely attractive and talented. That was the point. Abercrombie meets Sixth Sense, haha". Rays adds locations have been selected and production on the quarter million dollar horror thriller begins in Orlando, Florida and Los Angeles in March 2014. While he isn't worried about his inexperienced thespians, he is concerned about how the MPAA will react to his opening credits sequence. "I'm making a PG-13 movie but the opening titles is rated R. That may pose a problem, haha" Ray jokes. When asked what happens during the titles he only says, "It's a film about abortion and I want you to really see what they do to these babies. I want to fuck the audience up before the movie even starts".
"The Unwanted" is slated for a 2015 release.
