Barbara Crampton: Sun Choke trailer video debuts

In the new horror-thriller Sun Choke, Sarah Hagan (Freaks and Geeks) plays a young woman named Janie who is recovering from a psychotic break and is subjected to an extreme wellness regimen by her caretaker, portrayed by genre legend Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator, You’re Next). Essentially a two-hander for its initial half, the film gains another character, and an even more sinister dimension, when Janie develops an obsession with a third woman, Savannah (Sara Malakul Lane).

“It’s very dark,” Crampton told this writer at last year’s Stanley Film Festival, where Sun Choke received its world premiere. “If Lars von Trier was more depressed than he already is, that would be this movie! But it’s interesting, and provocative, because it really digs deep into the psychology of people, and how they become who they are.”

She continued: “There’s three main women in the movie, which is very nice, and all three women sort of inform the other women, and it seems that none of us could really exist without the other one. I don’t want to give too much away because it’s really a different kind of movie than I’ve ever been in, a different part that I’ve ever played before. When I first read it, I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t know if I can do this, this really is intense for me.’ But I’m glad I did, I think it turned out spectacularly. It’s a beautiful film to look at and the lead actress, Sarah Hagan, she’s fantastic. We haven’t seen to much of her — but I think people will look at this movie and see her as a brilliant young actress. She blew me away.”

Sun Choke is written and directed by Ben Cresciman and is being released in theaters, Aug. 5 (the movie will debut on VOD and iTunes, Aug. 2).

You can see the trailer for Sun Choke exclusively above.