Article by Eddie on 26/10/2026

Recently I was fortunate to grab some time with Australian director John V. Soto to chat about his latest directional outing, the zombie/werewolf hybrid Dead Howling.

An Australian production that is sure to gain a significant cult following, Dead Howling is a clear labour of love for all involved and showcases that creativty in the local filmmaking scene is still alive and well.

You can read my Dead Howling review here and for updates on Dead Howling’s local and international releases you can follow the films official social media page here.

Happy reading, see you at the movies!

Q – John, I have to start off with asking. Was there ever one of those pinch yourself moments for yourself when you realised you were about to make a film that was going to feature The Man From Snowy River, Boba Fett and Jason Stackhouse?

Yes, there were many “pinch myself” moments while shooting the film! I was a bit starstruck when I first met Temuera Morrison (who played Boba Fett in the Star Wars series). It turns out Temuera is a very humble and kind person, which matched his character (Uncle Tony) perfectly. Likewise, I was a bit nervous about meeting Ryan Kwanten (who starred in one of my favourite Aussie films, Red Hill, and another favourite TV series of mine, True Blood), but he too was friendly and fun to work with.

Meeting and working with Tom Burlinson, a legend of the Aussie film industry, was another highlight of the shoot. It turns out he’s a consummate professional and super nice. But one of the best “pinch me” moments was during the first week of the shoot, when I realised that we had cast Joel Jackson (Jungle, Kangaroo Island) perfectly as our lead character, Carter. He gives an amazing performance and, thankfully, is as passionate and committed to the movie as I am!

Q. Where was the idea for Dead Howling born from? The concept of joining a zombie film into a werewolf feature is certainly something both unique and challenging in its own right.

Back in early 2024, I was approached by veteran UK producer Tom Reeve, who asked if I was interested in working with UK writer James Pickering on a zombie and werewolf project. I was intrigued by the concept, and Tom sent through a draft of James’ script.

I felt the script was pretty good, but it needed more development. The main issue for me was that the werewolf had no real backstory and no explanation for why he even existed in this apocalyptic world. Also, was this a supernatural world or not? Some major details had to be worked out. I completed a number of rewrites until I came up with a version that Tom and Spencer Pollard (our sales agent at Kaleidoscope Film Distribution) felt was strong enough to take to the market and gauge interest from film distributors.

Q. Are you a big horror fan yourself? There’s shades of The Last of Us and 28 Days Later in Dead Howling. Was there any particular influences from the genres past that really inspired your vision for the film?

I’ve been a huge horror fan since I was a teen and have been watching and studying zombie and werewolf movies ever since! In terms of the film’s key influences, they would be 28 Weeks Later, Dawn of the Dead, An American Werewolf in London, Black Summer and Dog Soldiers.

Q. The locales and visuals of Dead Howling are notable. Did you always envision shooting the film over in the sometimes remote Western Australia?

I live in Perth, Western Australia, and we have so many cinematic locations that it’s surely one of the best places in the world to shoot a movie. When I was completing a rewrite, I specifically wrote in locations that I knew we could access. For instance, a large part of the outdoor footage was shot in Kalamunda, near where we shot my previous film, Avarice.

Q. Surrounded by a vast array of screen experience, the performances of young stars Téa Heathcote-Marks as Megan and Riley Stiles as Billy really stand out in the film. How was the process behind the scenes casting those integral roles?

Finding the right Megan and Billy was key to making the film work. Casting was a long process, and I worked closely with casting director Candice Callaghan to find the right actors for those roles. We had a number of talented young actors apply, and after a series of auditions, we finally narrowed it down to Téa and Riley, who nailed their auditions and, to me, embodied the characters in the script.

Q. I was quite impressed by the practical effects utilised in the film, particularly when it comes to main character Carter’s more “hairy” form. Was that a challenge for the film when you’re operating in the low-budget film-making realm that a lot of local products have to contend with?

Right from the start, we had a difficult choice to make: do we have a VFX werewolf or a practical werewolf? The fact is, audiences can easily spot a VFX creature, and once they’ve done that, you’ve lost them. So we decided to go practical for the werewolf. Unlike the US and the UK, Australia has very few practical special effects houses that have designed and built a werewolf from scratch. So I started calling special effects houses to find a company that could design and build the head and costume from scratch. Fortunately, I found a Melbourne special effects shop, Sharp FX, run by special effects wizard Russell Sharp, who had previously created a werewolf for fun.

I sent him a rough sketch of what I was looking for, and he and his team got to work creating the werewolf. This was a long and difficult process that took months, and up until the moment the werewolf arrived on set, I only had a rough idea of how it would look. Luckily, it turned out great! In fact, my fellow producer Tom Reeve, who produced the legendary Dog Soldiers movie in the UK, was blown away by the quality and realism of the werewolf when it arrived.

Q. Dead Howling marks your 6th time behind the camera of a feature film. Since your first film Crush in 2009 how have you found the directional journey up until this point? Any words of wisdom for those budding filmmakers now looking to take the leap into feature filmmaking?

It’s been challenging on many levels, but overall a good journey, and I feel I’ve grown enormously as a filmmaker since directing Crush back in 2009. I think I’ve become more confident in my storytelling, my instincts as a director and my ability to bring a creative vision to the screen.

Words of wisdom for budding filmmakers? I could literally write a book on this, but the two major pieces of advice I would give are:

1. If you want to work in the film industry, make sure you have a side hustle or part-time job of some sort, something to fall back on when you’re not on a film set. Films and TV shows are made sporadically, and you have bills to pay.

2. Keep writing! Don’t write one or two scripts and think that’s all you have to do. I’ve written or co-written over twenty-two genre scripts at this point, and I’m continually developing new material.

Q. While the local film industry has been through its challengers over the past decade, Australia appears to be bustling with productions presently both from our shores and afar. Are you feeling buoyant about the movie scene locally?

The WA film industry does seem to be in a growth phase at the moment. A lot of the credit for this goes to our state government and Screenwest. Hopefully, it continues!

Q. Looking past Dead Howling’s impending releases around the globe, do you have any plans for your next feature? Do you think there’s anymore werewolf’s or zombies in any of your concepts?

I do have another project in development. It’s a supernatural horror titled “Spook”, which I hope to get off the ground in 2027. In terms of working in the Werewolf or Zombie subgenres again – I definitely would, although I would need to come up with a concept as fresh as Dead Howling.

Dead Howling will be screening as part of the 2026 Monster Fest Program taking place across Australia from October 30th to November 1st. For a full program rundown CLICK HERE.