LOS ANGELES, July 3 (UPI) — Star Carla Gugino and director Daniel Stamm said Lockbox, in theaters Friday, roots its horror in character. Gugino, plays Ellen, a caretaker who takes in her cousin, Winthrop (Lou Taylor Pucci), following her mother’s death after a long period of taking care of her.

Winthrop is plagued by some mysterious visions, which Ellen assumes are related to post-traumatic stress from his military service. In a recent Zoom interview with UPI, Gugino, 54, said Ellen’s compassion makes her more present than those traumatized by horror.

“She says yes when most people would say no to helping someone, whether it be a stranger or a cousin who is suffering from PTSD,” Gugino said. “There’s an act of generosity in that that’s really beautiful. That’s bizarrely juxtaposed in a really interesting way with horror.”

Stamm, 50, also directed The Last Exorcism, 13 Sins, Prey for the Devil and other horror films and television shows. He said he is drawn to characters in all of his projects.

“We’re looking for stories where if you stripped out all the genre stuff, all the horror stuff, would there still be an interesting core, interesting characters to it?” Stamm said. “It is about themes that live underneath the darkness. The compassion to an extreme degree, almost to self-sacrifice is very much anchored in our protagonist.”

Beginning her career in ’80s and ’90s sitcom episodes, Gugino said it has always been her goal to explore characters like Ellen.

“I do feel innately the more we live on this planet, hopefully the more empathy we gain,” Gugino said. “That was really the reason I started acting. I wanted to be able to see the world through different eyes, eyes that were different than my experience.”

When dead bodies begin to appear, Winthrop becomes a suspect. Ellen defends him, but law enforcement disbelieves her, just like Winthrop’s superiors disbelieved him.

“Her intentions are only good and she is being questioned and mistrusted for that,” Gugino said. “That’s an interesting statement in and of itself.”

Lockbox still benefits from lessons Stamm learned on his early horror movies. His first film, A Necessary Death, purported to be found footage and The Last Exorcism is a fictional documentary about an exorcist.

Those movies taught Stamm the value of handheld camera, even when the film is not predicated on the characters filming the movie themselves.

“The camera is breathing for the audience, but it’s not so strong that you feel a camera operator in the scene,” Stamm said. “I think if you get that right, that’s a very powerful level that the audience can put their finger on.”

The film was adapted from the Knifepoint Horror podcast episode. Justin Yoffe adapted Soren Narnia’s episode which was called “The Lock Box.”

Ellen learns about the lockbox late in the movie. So Gugino felt the title invites the audience to wonder what they’re getting into.

“As an audience now, you’re going, ‘Oh, what am I going to learn about what that is?” she said.

Gugino was filming a movie she could not yet announce in Australia when she conducted this interview. She previously wrapped the Cliff Booth movie, set in the 1970s.

“I love the ’70s just aesthetically,” Gugino said. “There was just this free-spirited nature as you know in California in the ’70s, I think Cliff Booth being the quintessential embodiment of that freedom and fun and playfulness and wit.”

However, Gugino said Spy Kids is a film of hers that still introduces her to new fans. 25 years ago she played the mother to Daryl Sabara and Alexa PenaVega.

“Generation after generation, people come up to me all the time,” she said. “I was 27 when I played that role so I was just far too young for the part at the time but we made everybody believe it.”