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Director Daniel Stamm joins Adam Montiel for a fascinating trip inside the craft, psychology, and very human heart of horror.
Daniel is the filmmaker behind The Last Exorcism, Prey for the Devil, 13 Sins, and the new supernatural thriller Lockbox, starring Carla Gugino, Lou Taylor Pucci, and Katharine Isabelle. Inspired by a story from Soren Narnia’s cult audio series Knifepoint Horror, Lockbox follows Ellen, a grieving woman whose attempt to rebuild her life is shattered when an otherworldly force begins hunting her severely traumatized cousin, Winthrop. The film is now available to rent or buy digitally.
But even for listeners who do not usually reach for horror, this conversation opens a much wider door. Daniel explains why a frightening scene cannot work until the audience cares about the person trapped inside it, why love and compassion can make a character both stronger and more vulnerable, and how being believed can stabilize someone whose entire reality is falling apart.
Adam and Daniel also explore the creative challenge of taking Knifepoint Horror from audio to screen. The podcast leaves empty spaces where the listener’s imagination can build its own monster. A movie has to preserve that unease while also delivering a satisfying conclusion. Daniel shares why Lockbox would succeed or fail on its third act, and how screenwriter Justin Yoffe helped transform Soren Narnia’s haunting original story into a complete cinematic experience. Knifepoint Horror identifies Lockbox as an adaptation of one of its 2019 stories.
The conversation gets deeply personal as Daniel discusses living with narcolepsy, the disturbing nightmares in which he is often the perpetrator instead of the victim, and his fascination with the loneliness and secrecy surrounding evil. He also reveals how a year spent studying Buddhist psychology forced him to ask why making horror movies was a worthwhile use of his life.
His answer is unexpectedly beautiful. Horror gives audiences the chance to survive something safely. It creates catharsis, reminds us that we are still alive, and can make the ordinary problems waiting outside the theater feel a little less terrifying.
Daniel also talks about the responsibility he feels when viewers give him ninety minutes of their finite lives, why character must never take a backseat to spectacle, why Psycho remains the most frightening movie he has ever seen, and how Snickers bars help carry him through the anxiety of directing a film set.
This is a conversation about horror, but it is also about empathy, grief, faith, denial, human blind spots, and the darkness that grows wherever we refuse to shine a light.
• Watch the Lockbox trailer: YouTube
• Find where to watch Lockbox: JustWatch
• Explore Lockbox: IMDb
• Follow Daniel Stamm: Instagram
• Explore Daniel Stamm’s films and television work: IMDb
• Listen to Knifepoint Horror: Apple Podcasts
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