Interview: Itch! writer, director and star Bari Kang on indie filmmaking and getting all kinds of bloody
- Brian Fanelli
- Apr 23
- 7 min read
At this point, we've seen plenty of horror movies about infections and the way people panic in their reactions to a global outbreak. Yet, Itch! slightly alters the formula and the result is a tense indie thriller. In writer/director Bari Kang's film, the infection causes people to scratch themselves to death, and yes, the movie contains its share of gory sequences.
Don't worry, though. The film isn't all about the gross-out gore. It's also character driven and focuses on a father, Jay, played by Kang, and his mute daughter, Olivia (Olivia Kang), reeling from the loss of her mother. Locked in a department store, they're forced to deal with other survivors, which creates its own tension.
We recently spoke with Kang about working with his real-life daughter, the benefits and challenges of indie filmmaking, and happy practical effects accidents.
This interview was slightly edited for clarity.
The Horror Lounge: How did you come up with the concept of the infection and the itch as a byproduct of it?
Bari Kang: It just came to me, as many things come to people. I was working at the store and going about my business. Something like that happened with a customer. She freaked out about how her skin felt like fire and to call the doctor. Having this mind of taking things out of context and going somewhere else with them, I just sat with it. It kept bugging me. I thought of contagion on top of contagion with a virus. I thought it could make for a cool concept and thought it could be something different. It came to me that way.
The Horror Lounge: You mentioned working in the store. Did you shoot the film in that same store?
Bari Kang: That’s my store. I was just going about my business there. We stayed open. That’s the beauty and curse of low-budget, independent filmmaking. This is my third film. When you first start out, you want everything to be perfect. As I gain more experience, I’m learning to do more with what I have and make it be the best it can be.
I’m in the store all the time. I realized I was sitting on a location. I thought it would be cool. It served the story and contained it the way I wanted to do it. That’s the movie I could make, instead of a script for a movie I couldn’t make. I only write when I know I’ll make something. I don’t really write anything that I don’t intend on making. For me, the ultimate goal is to create something off the page. I wanted to make this movie and wrote it with a little hindsight of where it needs to go and how it needs to be produced. That also keeps me focused.
The Horror Lounge: What were some of the challenges and rewards of writing, directing, and starring in the film?
Bari Kang: I never thought I’d be doing all of this. I got the acting bug. That led me to writing and directing out of necessity, but when I started out on that path, I really enjoyed it. I realized it all goes together. There are no more clear distinctions on these roles anymore. So many people have done it successfully.
The biggest challenge, I suppose, is time. I’m only one person. To write it takes a good year. To set it up for production takes another year. Time is a challenge. You do what you can, but I also find a lot of benefit in it. For example, the writing aspect informs my choices as an actor. It makes my life easier when I’m stepping in front of or behind the camera. I already did a lot of that work through the writing process. If I’m looking at someone else’s material, I don’t know what the intentions are and have to create that from the ground up. Writing has been a godsend, and you don’t have to wait for anyone’s permission to write. To write, you need to just make time. I’m peaceful when I’m lost on the page, and I don’t do it enough. I am writing again now because I feel like I need to make something again. [Laughs].
The Horror Lounge: The father dynamic between Jay and Olivia is really strong. Can you confirm that she’s your real-life daughter? What was that experience like?
Bari Kang: That’s my daughter, yes. [Her role] wasn’t planned. She was five when I started writing it, and when I decided to make it, she wasn’t even seven yet. It was right after COVID and during the shutdowns. No one was working, so this film is naturally, non-union. None of my former collaborators could be part of this. I said, though, that I had to make the movie. I found some amazing people, so shoutout to everyone who worked on this film. It really does take a village at the end of the day.
I needed this child actor. I looked at Olivia. She always does stuff and always performs. She’s not an actress, but she likes to get up in front of the family and sing and perform. If you have that, you’re halfway there. I thought she could do it, but not the way it was written. I had to go back and reenvision the character. The character of Olivia is more like the kid in Logan [Dafne Keen], but I thought that wouldn’t happen. It had to be a different character, and it made it better. It made her character more mysterious. What started as restriction and need forced the creative juices. The story morphed with this character, and I think it became a lot stronger. I leaned into it. I’m glad it happened. It was incredible.
The Horror Lounge: Your movie also drives forward the human moments and even humanity, especially during one particular dinner scene. Why was it so important to weave the humanity into the script?
Bari Kang: I’m really interested in character work. Maybe that’s the actor side of me. I’m fascinated by why we do what we do and why we can’t just get stuff right. I feel like every character we meet needs that color. It wasn’t enough to just make a film for its own sake. I tend to write like that, and I’m interested in what people have to say and why they’re doing what they’re doing. There’s no real good or evil. Everyone rides a gray line. I also love those scenes. That [dinner] scene was like the Logan dinner scene and the Alien dinner scene. I wanted to do something like that, but I knew my budget wouldn’t allow that. So, it became these two separate scenes.
Then there’s the calm before the scene. We all kind of know, right? What a nice dinner! In the back of your mind, you know something is going to happen. You’re just waiting for it. It’s nothing new, but I’m glad it worked.
The Horror Lounge: What was it like shooting some of the gorier scenes? Was it fun to get all bloody like that?
Bari Kang: It was definitely fun but also super annoying in the sense that continuity was such a pain. We didn’t have one person tracking where the damn blood was. At one point, I just said forget the continuity. If people were paying attention to where the blood was on my shirt, we already lost the battle. Just put the blood on my shirt. Just put the scratch. Try to get it on the right side. [Laughs].
One thing I did learn is that if you think something needs to be five inches, make it ten. When it comes to that kind of stuff, double what you think you need in terms of practical effects and then maybe it’ll read like the way you see it in your head. If I could go back, I’d double down on everything. I also found that the simpler things worked much better than the more complex gags we tried, due to time restraints. I think we also relate to simple things more, like the skin peeling. That was a test with latex glue, I believe. I thought it was creepy and looked so real. That was a happy accident.
The Horror Lounge: What's some advice you'd give to indie horror filmmakers and writers?
Bari Kang: Look, I don’t have any advice, but I can probably share. You just gotta do it. Nobody is coming to lend you a hand. You have to find the right people that want to go on this journey with you, whether it’s writing the script or shooting the film. You have to find the people that you need. Even if you don’t find people, you have to take the first step. The longer you wait to do it, the bigger the thing looms. It gets bigger and bigger and then you’ll say you can’t do it. You just gotta do it. It’s tough.
You know what, I do have some advice. Making the movie is not even the hard part. It’s getting it out there after. Temper your expectations of whatever it is you think you’re making is going to do for you. I fell into that trap with every single film. It’s just not like that. It has nothing to do with you or your work. Just try to make the best thing that you can and make it because you want to make it, not because you want to get into some festival or you think you’ll get some distribution deal. Do it because you want to do it. That’s powerful. Even with this third project, I’m still learning that. As people who create stuff, you need validation. Try to find people who appreciate your vision. Try to find as many of those people as you can so you can keep going. It’s a rough ride out there, but there’s nothing like it.
The Horror Lounge: What are you working on next?
Bari Kang: I have a feature that’s a crime thriller. Itch! seems to be connecting with people, though. There’s a lot to explore there. I would love to maybe continue developing that world, so I have the rumblings going on about that.
The Horror Lounge: Bari, thanks so much for chatting with us.
Itch! is now available on digital platforms in the U.S.
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