The comedian's horror movie Loop Track could ruin tramping for generations. Photo / Milon Tesiram
The comedian's horror movie Loop Track could ruin tramping for generations. Photo / Milon Tesiram
Like Steven Spielberg who forever ruined a nice day’s swimming at the beach after releasing Jaws,Tom Sainsbury has just ruined Aotearoa’s world-renowned tramping tracks by reframing their picturesque tranquillity and natural beauty as a threatening isolated place full of death and horror.
Today, Sainsbury’s debut feature film Loop Track releases in cinemas. He wrote, directed and starred in the movie that has been a long seven years in the making. Loop Track is a psychological horror flick that follows an incredibly anxious chap named Ian, played by Sainsbury, who is teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown. To reset he goes bush, rushing away from all his problems and barely prepared to tramp a newly opened, multi-day, bush track.
All he wants is to let the solitude heal his breaking mind. But instead, he bumps into Nicky, a chatty, cheerful chap who insists on joining him on the trail. At the track’s first overnight hut, they’re joined by Austin and Monica, a couple visiting Aotearoa from overseas. To Ian’s great distress, they all decide to travel onwards together.
What he doesn’t tell them well, not immediately anyway, is that he’s positive someone - or something - is following them as they progress deeper into the bush. Forever on the edge of his periphery, he can’t quite make the threat out. Increasingly spooked and erratic his sanity comes under question from both his new friends and himself.
Loop Track is a psychological horror flick that follows an incredibly anxious chap named Ian who is teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Photo / Milon Tesiram
And then things get violent.
“I had an experience out on one of the west coast beaches in Auckland, where I could see someone in the distance over the sand dunes. They were looking at me, but I couldn’t read their expression or what their intentions were,” Sainsbury says of the film’s genesis.
“Of course, they were just walking the dog,” he laughs. “But I liked that idea of seeing a threat in the distance and being unable to identify exactly what it is or what its intentions are. The few times I’ve gone bushwalking you’re kind of with strangers in very isolated surroundings with no contact, there’s no phone coverage. It’s quite a vulnerable position to be in. I really liked that too.”
Shortly after that fateful afternoon on the beach, Sainsbury got to work on his script. The idea of a man suffering clinical anxiety tramping in the bush was there from the start, but through his revision and collaborative process with his longstanding production team, the various characters and situations Ian encounters changed over the years.
“There are many failed scripts in my drawer, that led to this moment,” he says.
While known for his comedy work on stage, television and Instagram reels, it’s film that is Sainsbury’s big love. And while it may seem surprising that he didn’t write a comedy, for Sainsbury it’s perfectly normal.
“I am such a huge horror fan. I’ve loved horror my whole life,” he says. “Lots of people know me as a comedian, but my true heart has been like heavy drama and comedy. I really wanted to make a really grim, unrelenting horror film. But obviously, I love comedy so much and when one of the other actors would do a comedic take of course, I was like, yes, more of that. I didn’t realise how funny the film actually was.”
The psychological terror in Loop Track is very real, with the isolation of being alone in the Kiwi bush with a killer, killers or a rapidly cracking mind truly horrifying. Sainsbury’s direction and sweaty, jittery performance turn our wonderful nature into a source of dark menace.
That said, the film also has some genuine laugh-out-loud moments. Something Sainsbury only cottoned on to when the movie played during the recent International Film Festival.
“There’s a scene where I’m running for my life in my underwear and the whole audience erupted in laughter,” he says. “It was a real wake-up call to me. I was like, ‘Okay, I’ve made kind of a dark comedy.”
The psychological terror in Loop Track is very real, with the isolation of being alone in the Kiwi bush with a killer, killers or a rapidly cracking mind truly horrifying. Photo / Milon Tesiram
Filming began around Auckland in 2020 but was constantly interrupted by the lockdowns. The ongoing delays and ongoing Covid interruption gave them a whole year to edit the movie before normalcy returned and allowed them to find a cinematic release date.
Rather than be put out by the constant delays, Sainsbury appreciated them saying they worked in his favour.
“For me, being in a constant state of something almost being made, is more preferable to actually completing something,” he grins. “Because then you’re like, ‘Oh, my God, this is it. It has to go out to the world and be its own thing.”
Inspired by his beloved classic 80s horror and thrillers like Alien and The Thing, Sainsbury too embraced physical effects over CGI. It was important to him and definitely adds that fun classic horror vibe to the movie.
With Loop Track now in cinemas, screening at festivals, including Screamfest, America’s specialist horror movie festival, and enjoying a largely positive reception, Sainsbury has begun thinking about his next project. One that hopefully won’t take seven years.
“It’s a similar take on Kiwi characters with a horror spin,” he reveals. “That’s what I’m interested in; horror.”
It’s an answer that begs the question, why? What is it about the horror genre that people find so appealing?
“It’s an outlet. Horror and thinking about horrible things is part of the human experience. My mind is often just wandering through the most horrific situations or thoughts,” he says with a quiet chuckle.
“Horror films are a safe way of expunging or experiencing a necessary part of human life. It’s evolutionary. Our ancestors had to deal with such everyday horrors that it’s part of our DNA. This is the healthiest and best way to process those feelings.”
