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We recently spoke with Adelaide Kane regarding her new film The Devil’s Hand which hits select theaters and VOD platforms today! Kane discusses the frightening nature of religious extremism, the film’s dark tone, why North Carolina is creepy, and how she absolutely cannot stand watching horror films.
Kane stars in The Devil’s Hand alongside Rufus Sewell (Dark City), Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter), and Alycia Debnam Carey (Into the Storm). The film is directed by Christian E. Christiansen (The Roommate) and written by Karl Mueller (Mr. Jones).
The Devil’s Hand centers around New Bethlehem, a religious community that sees six of its girls go missing. Each of the young women was born on the sixth day of the sixth month. The events leading up to and including their disappearance were predicted long ago by local legend. The town’s lore also suggests that last girl standing will be used for the devil’s bidding.
Wicked Horror: The film takes place in a small, very private community. Do you think that the sense of seclusion adds to the intensity of the film?
Adelaide Kane: Absolutely. Definitely. A large part of it is that you feel trapped and there’s nowhere to turn and no one to go to. No one can save you. It’s this really almost stagnant environment. It’s like there’s no one you can talk to and no one you can confide in.
WH: In addition to the supernatural aspects, a lot of what makes the film scary is that it provides a look at religious extremism.
AK: Religious extremism is a scary thing – extremism of any kind. Religious, political, or otherwise – it’s terrifying. Extremists are fanatics and are not to be reasoned with. They don’t believe that they are wrong. They believe that they are correct and justified in everything they do. It’s very, very scary. It’s terrifying.
WH: The film relies heavily on atmosphere. What kind of direction did Christian E. Christiansen give you for playing to the atmospheric qualities of the film?
AK: For the most part, he created this wonderful environment where you almost didn’t even have to think about it that hard. The sets and the costumes and everything were set up so we would feel like we were in that environment. He put it together so beautifully that he almost didn’t need to direct us in that regard. We just trusted that he had this amazing location and he had everything under control. I had never been to North Carolina before. It’s really creepy. There’s just tons of forest. You would think it would be really beautiful but there’s just this melancholy in the air. There’s this odd sense of foreboding out in this endless stretch of woods. It’s really something. It’s beautiful but I think you would go crazy if you were living there too long. I heard that there were meth labs hidden in the woods and things like that. It’s just terrifying. You couldn’t have picked a better location for us to be shooting at for something like this.
WH: Was the entire film shot on location in North Carolina?
AK: Yeah. We shot all of it in North Carolina.
WH: Looking at your resume, you’ve done a substantial amount of horror roles. Do you find that you’re attracted to the genre or do you think it’s more happenstance?
AK: I think it’s been partly coincidental and partly that I’m really good at crying (laughs). I find it really easy to just tap into emotional vulnerability. I find it really cathartic and it works really well for me. It’s so easy for me to just throw myself into hysterics. That’s my theory – that I’m a good crier.
WH: Are you a horror fan?
AK: Absolutely not. Horror films scare the crap out of me. I hate them so much. I watched a little bit of The Hills Have Eyes 2 when I was like 17 and I still have nightmares about it. I hate it. They scare the crap out of me. I like action films, comedies, or intellectual dramas. I don’t like horror films. I don’t like things that go bump in the night.
WH: It’s funny because you’ve seen the way that they are deconstructed and built from the ground up.
AK: My problem is that I get so invested. I have this problem with movies that are too funny or movies that are too sad. I get really sad afterwards. I get really, really scared after a horror film. With really funny comedies, I will laugh until I almost wet myself and I get so embarrassed for the characters. I get bright red and cannot watch. I get really invested in films.
WH: During the production of a lot of supernatural horror films, there have been reports of strange happenings on the set. Did anything unexplained or unsettling occur during production of The Devil’s Hand?
AK: I don’t know about that. One of the houses we were shooting in was for sale because the family that lived there had been plagued by break ins. Several of the locations were supposed to be haunted. I never saw anything like that but that area is really spooky when the sun goes down. It’s a really strange feeling of dread that comes over you. It’s too still. And there are animals jumping out of bushes and stuff. It’s a creepy, creepy, creepy part of the country. It’s gorgeous and it’s beautiful but there’s definitely something in the air. Nothing really unexplainable happened during filming, though. There were some pranks being played by the crew – moving things, trying to scare each other.
