PRESSKIT-VOL 2 I Lycaon by Scott Hand

Scott Hand – Director & Screenwriter

Scott Hand grew up in Wildwood, New Jersey, where his lifelong passion for movies and film history first began. A dedicated movie buff and historian, he has long been interested in preserving stories connected to art, culture, and entertainment. In addition to filmmaking, Scott authored a book about Wildwood’s historic Fun Pier and co-produced a biographical documentary about legendary amusement display artist Jim DeMusz.

A trained screenwriter and director, Scott made his filmmaking debut in 2018 with the independent short thriller Lost in the Night, serving as writer, producer, director, and actor. The project marked the beginning of his journey in narrative filmmaking. Over the years, he has written eight original screenplays, reflecting his strong commitment to storytelling.

Scott made his feature film debut in 2022 with Lycaon, an important milestone in his career as a filmmaker. While writing remains his first love, directing has become an essential extension of his creative vision. His style has been influenced by filmmakers such as Tim Burton, Michael Mann, and John Carpenter.

Scott credits his late aunt, Artenzie DelliPaoli, as the greatest influence on his love of cinema. He is currently working on post-production for Lycaon while preparing his next project, The Black Tent, which is in pre-production. He has also expressed interest in eventually directing a feature-length version of Lost in the Night.

Reviewed by Swagata Misra

Scott Hand’s Lycaon is a tense and atmospheric short film that blends psychological horror with mythological intrigue. Set in the quiet town of New Falls, the film unfolds amid a series of brutal animal attacks that leave the community gripped by fear. As panic spreads, psychologists Jeff Matthews and Nick Toscani work to calm the town’s increasingly anxious residents—while unsettling questions begin to surface about the true nature of the threat.

What initially appears to be a grounded thriller gradually reveals deeper layers. Hand skillfully plays with ambiguity, keeping the audience suspended between rational explanations and the possibility of something supernatural. The looming presence of Greek mythology—particularly the legend of Lycaon—casts a long shadow over the narrative, adding symbolic depth without heavy exposition. This restraint strengthens the film’s tension, allowing dread to build through suggestion rather than spectacle.

Visually, Lycaon adopts a muted, somber palette that mirrors the town’s growing paranoia. The camera often lingers in quiet moments, using darkness and negative space to suggest unseen danger. Sound design plays a crucial role, heightening unease through subtle ambient cues rather than overt horror tropes. The result is an atmosphere that feels constantly on edge, as if something primal is waiting just beyond the frame.

The performances are appropriately restrained, grounding the film’s more fantastical elements in psychological realism. The two psychologists serve as anchors for the audience, representing reason and skepticism even as evidence begins to challenge their understanding of reality. This balance between intellect and instinct reinforces the film’s central conflict: the struggle to reconcile modern rationality with ancient fears.

Lycaon succeeds as a slow-burning horror short that prioritizes mood and mythology over jump scares. Scott Hand demonstrates a confident grasp of tension and thematic layering, crafting a film that invites interpretation and lingers in the mind. By merging small-town anxiety with mythological dread, *Lycaon* becomes a thoughtful exploration of fear—both inherited and imagined—and a compelling addition to the psychological horror genre.

Interview: Scott Hand

1. What inspired you to create Lycaon, and how did the Greek myth influence the film’s core idea?

Director-I had been working on a few screenplays after I made my first short film, “Lost in the Night”. My mentor, Jim DeMusz was over and we were discussing ideas since we were both fans of the classic monsters. Jim said, “How about a werewolf move, or wolf man?’  I was like, Jim I don’t like most of them and Jim said, “well, make your own story and have it be story heavy. I was thinking about writing a script with Greek mythology and then I found the story of Lycaon, king of Arcadia and I got excited!  So, it was a cross between me wanting to do a movie using Greek mythology and Jim’s idea of a werewolf movie. I read the story of Lycaon, took a few notes and then Jim passed away. I went back to it a few months later and I hammered out the first draft in two days. I was driven both by the story that I had and I felt compelled to make the movie and dedicate it to Jim’s memory, which it is.

2. Why did you choose a small, quiet town like New Falls as the setting for this story?

New Falls, is a fictional town and it appears in some others scripts that I have written. I first had the idea over thirty years ago, to created my own fictional town to have all these crazy horrors unfold. New Falls, can be any small town though. When I first saw “HalloweeN” on TV back in 1981, it says it takes place in Haddonfield, Illinois but there is a Haddonfield, NJ. That also helped influence my ideas. If I get to make more movies out of my screenplays, New Falls as aa location will turn up again with even more mayhem.

3. Lycaon balances psychological realism with mythological horror—how did you approach maintaining that ambiguity?

I approached that very carefully! I had many discussions with my DP, Andrew Boylan about this and how this should be presented visually. Again, I am a John Carpenter fan and I felt that with the original “HalloweeN” he had done that to perfection! So, I went about creating real characters in a believable setting. These are your average everyday people, they have job, they have lives but more importantly they have troubles. Each character is very interesting and I wanted them to be interesting and somewhat mysterious. Some characters we get closer to than others, and I felt that was important to the story. I always liked movies when they had those elements of mystery to certain characters that I got intrigued with and wanted to see more of and the old line was,“Leave them wanting more.”

4. Fear and anxiety play a central role in the film. What interested you in exploring collective fear rather than focusing on a single character?

Anxiety is a terrible epidemic and most people, that I know have it. Anxiety leads to excessive worrying, irritability, a sense of impending danger. People who have it experience restlessness, insomnia, nausea, headaches, all kinds of horrible symptoms. So, some people go for help and get medication and treatment. But, sometimes even the medications can have a side effect. I felt that the issue of the Anxiety especially during the Covid lockdown was the right time to explore those themes. More people seemed to be having anxiety and spells during that time. Excessive anxiety can lead to serious mental health issues, even death. I felt that the theme of anxiety being the trigger to having a person transform into a werewolf and go out on a rampage seemed very organic in this piece. The movie also addresses that sometimes even the psychologists have their own issues.

5. Why did you decide to make psychologists the audience’s primary point of entry into the story?

Think the Yin and the Yang, Opposing yet interconnected forces. We introduce these characters dealing with anxiety. We also introduce TWO psychologists, one has one agenda and the other has another. There is a pictorial scene that I wrote early on during the first draft which I retained into the final cut. The two psychologists are in the diner arguing over the character, that I play Joe Spiker. This is what it was all about for me. It was the doctors fighting for control over their patients. One wants to turn them into monsters to serve him while the other is trying to stop him. It’s the beginning of a much greater threat and these two psychologists are at the core of it.

6. How do the animal attacks function symbolically within the narrative?

Well, the female lead does say at one point, “What are these former patients of yours?” The good doctor doesn’t answer. I left some threads dangling because the best movies for me have always been the ones that raise a lot of good questions but leave a bit to your imagination. I wanted to have the move be layered . These characters are complex, therefore the movie is bit complex. I have already had people come up to me and ask a lot of questions about it. I think thats a good thing.

7. What guided your visual and tonal approach to building tension without relying on traditional horror tropes?

We were very low budget and on a tight schedule, I would like to have had more time to prepare with everyone but it was one of those times, the script was being re-wrtitten and the parts were all cats and we were ready to roll. I had many meetings with Andrew, who served as my DP and editor so we collaborated closely on this, the blue moonlighting during pivotal scenes. Since we were filming right here in my backyard, I have always been the type that OI look at the moon and the stars etc, so as I write the script I was doing a lot of that so that the visuals were in my head long before we shot the movie.

8. Were there any particular films, myths, or artistic influences that shaped the atmosphere of Lycaon?

 I am a huge fan of both John Carpenter and Tim Burton. Burton always has that fantasy element in his films and this one needed gritty realism. The story of Lycaon is a myth I liked and borrowed heavily from, movies; “HalloweeN”, “The Wolf Man” (1941) were instrumental in creating this movie.  I wanted and I prefer the Wolf Man look. During pre production there was talk of a four legged werewolf which I rejected. But, we have the wolf dogs in it so maybe there is more?

9. What kind of emotional or psychological experience do you hope audiences have after watching the film?

I hope that they find the movie entertaining and worth seeing again and again, thats the biggest compliment that I could get. I hope that enjoy the humorous scenes that I injected into the film as well but I hope they find the film to be compelling.

10. If viewers leave Lycaon with one lingering question or feeling, what would you hope it to be?

What happened with Renee? Where did she go? Where there other werewolves? Where did Dr Toscani come from, why was he doing this?

Pageant Jury Review

Scott Hand’s Lycaon is a compelling short that skillfully merges psychological tension with mythological undertones. Set in the seemingly quiet town of New Falls, the film explores how fear can quickly take hold of a community when unexplained violence disrupts everyday life. What begins as a grounded investigation into a series of brutal animal attacks gradually opens the door to deeper, more unsettling possibilities.

Hand demonstrates a confident command of atmosphere, allowing suspense to build through subtle visual language and restrained storytelling. The film avoids conventional horror excess, instead relying on ambiguity and mood to sustain its tension. The mythological reference to Lycaon adds a symbolic dimension that enriches the narrative while leaving space for interpretation.

Supported by measured performances and a carefully controlled visual tone, Lycaon effectively balances realism with the suggestion of something ancient and primal beneath the surface. The result is a thoughtful and atmospheric work that lingers in the viewer’s mind, offering a nuanced exploration of fear, belief, and the thin boundary between myth and reality.

Full cast & crew