Paura 3D is an intense, psychological piece of work that has just received its European Premiere at FrightFest The 13th. It's a simple enough tale but done with a raw energy that it's hard to keep you eyes off the screen even when things get incredibly brutal.

We chatted to the directors, The Manetti Bros known to their family as Antonio and Marco about this and their other works.

HC: Have you always been horror movie fans and if so do you have a favourite director?

MB:Yes, horror movies have always been among our favourites. Probably our favourite movie genre since, in almost every film we've made, even in the most unexpected ones, we always put at least an horror style scene, or some kind of homage to horror movies and culture. I don’t know exactly who is our favourite horror director because there are many directors and, more specifically, many different films that inspired us to love horror in all its different forms. But if we have to decide a director that inspired us more than any other then we have no doubt: Dario Argento. He is the master of disturbing fear and probably one of the main reasons we are directors.

HC: Did the script for Paura 3D take long to come together and where did the idea come from?

MB: The idea came from the first pages of a novel Piano Delta by our friend Giampiero Rigosi and co-writer Guido Leotta. The film has nothing to do with the actual novel, it's just an idea that came to our mind of how differently those few pages could be developed. The idea danced in our mind for some time. Then when we decided to develop it, it didn’t take much to write the script. Especially because we wanted to shoot the movie!

HC: Why did you decide to shoot the movie in 3D?

MB: The wish to experiment, plus the fact we like 3D a lot. And we also thought that the claustrophobic nature of this movie that takes mostly place in long dark corridors was perfect for 3D.

HC: Where did the imaginative title sequence come from?

MB: At one point we had the idea of using the opening credits as a space to deepen our story We wrote the concept together with Michelangelo La Neve an experienced comic books writer we sometimes collaborate with and then we started looking around. We met Sergio Gazzo, the artist.

HC: The cast are incredible with Peppe Servillo particularly standing out, how did you go about casting the movie?

MB: Working with wrong actors is a director's worst nightmare, so we’re very careful and maniacal in choosing our cast.

HC: There's some very extreme moments of torture and psychological abuse, did any cast or crew object to these strong themes?

MB: Not really. We thought this could happen but it didn't. Probably we know how to sell our ideas to our crew.

HC: What was the atmosphere like on set?

MB: There are moments where a Manetti Bros set looks more like a party than a place of work. I don’t know if it's always a good thing but hey! Paura 3D, wasn't different.

HC: I have read somewhere that the film is based, slightly, on real events, is this true?

MB: Not really. Let's say that the idea came on our reflections over a few real cases, for examples the Austrian Natasha Kampush. There were some psychological aspects we wanted to investigate. But our story is 100% fictional.

HC: There's a nod to the great Giallo movies of the 60s and 70s with lots of close up shots of eyes etc; was this deliberate?

MB: Maybe not totally deliberate, but I’m sure our creativity was inspired by those great movies of our country’s past.

HC: Is the Italian horror industry in good shape?

MB: The Italian horror industry is basically dead. But this year (let's cross our fingers) the lid of the tomb maybe starts opening. It's a heavy marble lid but some good movies are being produced. For example we can't wait to see Federico Zampaglione's Tulpa at FrightFest!

HC: What advice would you give to anyone wanting to make their own horror movie?

MB: To be always inspired by fear. Even if sometimes this goes against logic, storytelling or style. Fear is the strongest force in a horror flick.

HC: With reference to the movie are any of you any good at Guitar Hero?

MB: Good is a big word! But we actually play a lot with it. We’re Guitar Hero fanatics, but definitely not 'good'!

HC: So what's next for you?

MB: We are, as usual, working on different projects. We're shooting an action comedy in October: an undercover cop story in the world of Napoli neomelodic singers. We're writing a creature movie with the Thornton brothers, two American brilliant screenwriters. And we're editing the pilot of a creepy web series: Macabrus. Among other...

HC: Antonio and Marco Manetti, thank you very much.

MB: Thanks to you for watching our movie.