'Sightseers' Stars Alice Lowe & Steve Oram Talk Murders, The State Of British Comedy Film, And Causing An Outrage

With TV closing its doors, it turned out to be Edgar Wright (who directed Lowe in "Hot Fuzz" and ended up as an executive producer on "Sightseers") who suggested taking it to the big screen "We put it online," Lowe continued, "and started sending it 'round, and I sent it to Edgar Wright, who's a friend of mine, and who I've worked with, expecting nothing. And he came back to me immediately, and went 'There's a film in this, go to [Wright's regular producer] Nira Park, get her to have a look.' And then we started developing it with [Park's company] Big Talk and Film4. They'd just started an initiative to try and develop comedy films with Film4, and I think we were the first people on their slate for that." Oram adds, "Edgar was great, because no one knew who we were, he gave us cred." 

With projects including "Shaun of the Dead" and "Attack The Block," Big Talk are at the forefront of a renaissance in British comedy film over the last few years, something that the duo think has been long overdue. "The irony is that we're really good at comedy in Britain," Lowe told us, "but for some reason we make very few comedy films. And when we do, they're either quite American in style, or very Richard Curtis. And I like Richard Curtis, but I think only Richard Curtis should write Richard Curtis films, and other people should try and find their own style. So there's this weird preconception of what British comedy films should be, and really it should spring from this fertile training ground we've got, which is live comedy and TV comedy. It should come from that and develop right through. I think the internet has been amazing for us, because it lets you leapfrog that process. Even TV, you can pick up bad habits, start thinking you have to include certain things, not really creatively expressing itself, so it's not as fresh. Whereas if you make a short film and put it on the internet, it can be as fresh as you like."

Indeed, given their past experiences on TV, it seems like the pair are happy with having found their way into the movies. "There weren't really many opportunities for us to do our original work on TV," Oram said, "despite us really trying and banging our heads against the door for ages. I had a pilot, Alice had a pilot..."

"I had about four!" Lowe interjected. "And they never go anywhere, because they were too odd. People go 'Oh, if it was only five years ago, when BBC3 were still doing interesting things'" Whereas, as Oram says, "Film seems much more democratic, if you've got the money, you can do it. And you can do a low budget film. Go out in a field, get a camera, film your mates doing stuff. It's so simple, the technology's so brilliant now. It's what Ben did with 'Down Terrace,' and it's so inspiring."

The film marks the first time that Wheatley directed a film he didn't write himself, and although it bears some stylistic hallmarks with his earlier films, Lowe says that some of them were already present before the director got involved. "We were meeting directors and saw 'Down Terrace,' and we were like 'Oh my god, the themes overlap so much.' " Even the more mystical side of the film, reflected in "Kill List," pre-dated Wheatley's involvement, according to Oram. "We already had the pagans, the stone circle stuff, 'cos we'd actually been to these places. We were sort of inspired by the landscape." Wheatley still had a huge influence, though. "Ben brought his flair, and his editing skill, creating this really visceral thing. Particularly with the murders. Originally, we didn't see as much of them, or for as long..." Lowe agrees, saying that the director helped enormously with the structure. "I think he helped us to see the film in a less linear way, because we'd gone 'It's real time, they're doing this journey,' and he taught us it was alright to have imaginary bits, and flashbacks, which gave it this added layer of mysticism."

As we revealed before, both Lowe and Oram are planning their own directorial debuts, so have no immediate plans to work with Wheatley again on his ever-growing stack of projects (although, as Lowe jokes, "We did voiceovers in 'Kill List', which is funny, because people are always going 'What are you in 'Kill List?'' It's always nice to have an extra film credit on IMDB, even though you didn't really do anything..."). But they're definitely keen to work with the director again at some point. "He's just the most fun you can have, to work with him. Even though the films are so dark, and seem so impressive, the team he has around him, and the atmosphere he produces, there's a real camaraderie, and a real light touch. 'Cos it's low budget, you're there because you want to be, and that's true with everyone. It's very fulfilling for an actor, you get so much freedom, he wants you to be instinctive, and to do what you want. He makes sure as an actor that you're not hampered by anything, you're as much in the real moment as you possibly could be. And it's such a privilege to work in that way."

"Sightseers" hits UK theaters on November 30th, and IFC Films will release it in the U.S. in the early part of 2013.