Unit 234, written by Derek Steiner and directed by Andy Tennant (Ever After; Sweet Home Alabama; Hitch) is a solid and effective thriller that really exceeded all of my expectations. Starring Isabelle Fuhrman (read our interview with her HERE) and Don Johnson, the entire film takes place at a storage facility, and you know what? Storage facilities are pretty terrifying, for several reasons. One, you never know what you might find locked away behind those doors. Two, every time I’ve ever been to one, it wasn’t an exceptionally crowded place, so I was either alone, or I was alone and some rando shows up, both which are creepy. And three, I don’t know about your storage facility, but mine did not have its own lighting inside so it was pretty dark. That’s what makes Unit 234 so effective. The setting is already a scary place to be and when that’s combined with a rainstorm that knocks out the power and a few bad guys, as well as a mysterious, unconscious man that was locked inside a unit, well, that’s what nightmares are made of.
After the shocking discovery of an unconscious man in a locked unit, the lone employee of a remote storage facility must fight to survive the night against a ruthless gang, dead set on retrieving their precious cargo – at any cost.
To celebrate the release of the film, I chatted with director Andy Tennant about finally getting to make a thriller, Don Johnson, horror movies, and more!
PopHorror: I’m a huge fan so this is an honor to speak with you.
Andy Tennant: Thank you!
PopHorror: I loved Unit 234! I went in totally blind, and I had so much fun with it. It really surprised me.
Andy Tennant: Can we end the interview right there?! Great, that’s how I felt.
PopHorror: What is it that intrigued you about the script and made you want to be a part of the project?
Andy Tennant: Well, if you know my movies, nobody offers me a thriller, ever. As a moviegoer, I love thrillers, I love horror, I love all that. So, for me, it was just a shot out of the blue that I got this script and most times you read a movie, and by page 20 you’re like, I can’t even finish it. A storage unit is scary anyway, even during the day. I have one and I don’t like walking through the storage unit at noon. I thought the concept was great. I didn’t see the twists coming. I didn’t know how that worked, I thought it was incredibly clever. And then ultimately, I really related to the Don Johnson character, without giving away anything. It was just that nobody offers me a thriller so let’s go!
PopHorror: I’m glad that they did! I am familiar with your movies, and I didn’t see any thrillers or horror-adjacent or anything so I’m glad that you took this because it really shows that you’re down for more than just one genre. Sweet Home Alabama is one of my favorites to watch because it’s funny and heartfelt. To get such a solid thriller from you, I love that. I hope that you do more.
Andy Tennant: Oh, thank you. I do too. I’m actually working with Derek, the writer, on a Silence of the Lambs kind of thriller, which is really fun. It’s a completely different muscle group for me, which I enjoy. I think the thing that I brought to Unit was I like people movies. I like people talking. I like relationships. I think my contribution to both a little bit of the script and the polishing was, to me, it’s a very perverse love story so I locked into that, which is how I think I got Don Johnson, which is how I will talk to Jack, and Isabelle was just the cherry on top because she’s just so gung ho to do anything. It was great. Lots of fun.
PopHorror: I’m glad you brought up Don Johnson because that’s a great segue into my next question because I was really surprised by his performance. At first, I was like, oh Don Johnson, let’s see how this goes, but by the ending of the movie, I found his character to be very heartfelt, and I was really feeling for him. I almost cried, to be quite honest.
Andy Tennant: Yeah!
PopHorror: I don’t want to talk too much about it and give too much away.
Andy Tennant: I agree, but you’re not alone. When my wife saw it, she was like, “I’m choked up. How did that happen?”
PopHorror: Yeah, I was not expecting that. What was your process to get him on board?
Andy Tennant: Listen, I think we’re all desperately looking for good material and I think once we did a little work on the script, if you’re Don Johnson’s character, you’re constantly being revealed as more than what appears at first. I think he loved that and I think the speech, the dialogue that happens toward the end of the film when you realize certain things, it’s like, oohh. For an actor, I think that’s… If you keep reading a script and it keeps surprising you, and then you get to something that you hope is a satisfying finish and you have what he gets to do, I’m sure he put the script down – I think he told me this – and, “I’m in.”
PopHorror: Speaking of the script, was there anything that you were adamant about keeping in the film, no matter what?
Andy Tennant: Well, to protect the twists and to make them actually land, I think was probably my contribution to the thing because Derek did a great job on the script. But he’s a baby. When you look at people like Don Johnson and me, anybody under 30 or even under 40, is a baby. So, for him, he did all of the heavy lifting and the architecture and everything else, I think what I brought to it was, I know this man. I am a father, I know this, and I want that. I think that, to me, was really important to make sure I kept everybody. I didn’t want to lie to anybody. A movie that lies I think cheats the audience and I think it’s unfair and I don’t think anybody in the movie lies, except… Well, I don’t want to give anything away. But the movie itself doesn’t lie, and I think that is a really smart thing.
PopHorror: You’ve made some of my favorite things. Ever After, I remember seeing that in the theater when I was in high school. I had it on VHS!
Andy Tennant: Well, Ever After was written by two men who had just had daughters. To me, that’s my favorite movie of all the things I’ve done.
PopHorror: What is it that motivates you to keep making art?
Andy Tennant: Paying the bills. Loving movies. I love what I do. When you take your passion and turn it into your job, there’s nothing else to do. I don’t do anything else. I’m not good at anything else. I like writing, I like directing. Love directing and I love editing, and I just love the genre. There’s something in me that just… When you have music and whether it’s a comedy or a drama or a thriller or science fiction, whatever it is, a story that’s cinematic and has music and can transport you, what a great job. I kind of mourn the fact that it doesn’t seem to be that way right now. I sometimes get the feeling that the people who run the studios don’t really love the product they make. Luckily in my years in the business, I worked with people who loved movies, who literally that’s who they cared about. They cared about the audience, and they cared about the story, and it really wasn’t about the shareholders. I’m lucky. Ever After, that would never get made today. Sweet Home, no. Hitch, definitely not. I grew up with movies and film, and I loved both of them. I loved a really great film. Out of Africa, The English Patient, Zhivago. But then I also love movies like Unit 234. I loved Jagged Edge, I loved Halloween. I loved all movies, any good movie.
PopHorror: That’s who should be making movies for movie lovers, someone who loves movies.
Andy Tennant: I don’t get it. I understand that it’s an investment and it’s a lot of money, but it feels like an original film is a dirty word. And a period piece? God forbid. If it’s a good story, it doesn’t matter. I would argue that a science fiction movie is a period piece. Star Wars is a period piece.
PopHorror: Absolutely! One last question for you today. What is your favorite scary movie?
Andy Tennant: Oh, God. What is my favorite scary movie? What movie scared the shit out of me… The Exorcist. I live in Los Angeles, and when I saw The Exorcist the first time, I was in the National Theater in Westwood, a thousand seat theater. I mean, a massive theater, sold out. Everybody’s amped up and the woman in front of me fainted during that movie. It was like a collective experience. That’s why you’ve got to go to the movies, especially for a thriller or a horror or a comedy. Those movies need to be seen in a theater.
Thank you so much to Andy for taking the time to speak with us. Unit 234 is now in theaters and On Demand!
