Naveen Chathapuram breathes new life into his shelved film ‘The Last Victim’

Credited for being the filmmaker who gave Chris Hemsworth his Hollywood break, poducer-turned-director Naveen Chathapuram discusses his latest neo-Western thriller ‘The Last Victim’ starring Ron Perlman and Ali Larter

It is no secret that Ron Perlman looks scary, whether in his bright red Hellboy suit or his leather chops for Sons Of Anarchy or in a sheriff’s uniform for the upcoming The Last Victim. But director Naveen Chathapuram assures that Perlman was the one on set cracking jokes with his trademark wry humour. “He would say tell the crew who’d ask him to hit a certain marker on set, ‘Don’t tell me where to stand’ or he would say ‘I’ve been accused of worse’ when a voilent scene would come up, and he would have the most straight face and it took a while to understand that humour; then we realised he was pulling our leg! This was a great tension-easer,” laughs Chathapuram over a video call with MetroPlus. The Last Victim is a neo-Western thriller set in the American southwest, following Sheriff Hickey (Perlman) trying to solve the worst case he has seen in his small town, likely caused by a violent local gang led by a fearsome criminal.