Movies - Pitfall: The Cast and Filmmakers Explore Fear, Trauma, and Claustrophobic Terror

By Mulder, Los Angeles, 18 may 2026

Before diving into our interview, it is worth noting that Pitfall already feels like one of the most intriguing independent horror releases of 2026. Directed by James Kondelik, the film blends survival horror, psychological tension, and old-school slasher brutality into a claustrophobic nightmare set deep within the woods, where a seemingly accidental fall into a spike-filled pit slowly reveals something far more sinister. With a cast featuring Matt Hamilton, Alexandra Essoe, Marshall Williams, Jordan Claire Robbins, Richard Harmon, and MMA legend Randy Couture, the movie immediately stands out thanks to its strong genre pedigree and its commitment to grounded, physical horror rather than overproduced spectacle. During our conversation, the cast and director opened up about the emotional intensity of the project, the challenges of filming such a physically demanding survival story, and the desire to create a horror experience that feels painfully real for audiences.

Q: You said Pitfall came from a traumatic personal experience. At what point did you realize this could become a survival horror film ?

James Kondelik: Oh god. Uh, I can't remember where the idea of doing Pitfall, a movie around a pitfall, came from, but it certainly, I think, was around 2011 or 2012. Um, there was a crazy accident involving my brother, and I dealt with that, and um it was very weird. And so I think I was dealing with it in some weird way. And then I remember seeing movies like 127 Hours or another movie that really messed me up was Buried with Ryan Reynolds, where it's just a guy trapped in this horrible situation. So I'm like, I think that would be really awesome if we did something similar, but to make it less punishing for the audience, have it be part slasher so that it's a bit more exciting instead of just a guy in a hole for two hours or whatever, you know. Um, I thought that would be too much on the audience, and ultimately, I think we made it much more exciting and much more thrilling and suspenseful. And uh, I don't know, there's just a lot more to it now, having these other characters outside, you know.

Q: What attracted you most to playing The Hunter, and did you approach him more like a slasher villain or a real-world predator ?

Randy Couture: Uh, I tried to approach him as more of a human than something supernatural. This guy's been through a lot. He's been traumatized as a very young boy, and I think having the young actor on set with me and getting to actually meet him and connect with him allowed me to kind of find the arc of this character, from what he did in those flashback scenes to where I was at, you know, much later in my life. Um, but there was a very kind of human part of The Hunter that I wanted to shine through, not just some grotesque-looking psycho that's out slashing people. And I think that's why this film resonates with a lot of people.

Q: What was everyone’s first reaction when reading the concept in the script for the first time ?

James Kondelik : Hard to tell.

Richard Harmon: Marshall. I mean, you're the one who had to be in the pit.

Marshall Williams: I was excited. I feel like any time you get a role like that, it's a challenge. So that's something I really wanted to do. So, I was excited to do that when I read it.

Richard Harmon: I was excited to prance around the forest, and I got to do that.

Matt Hamilton: I was excited to do some stunt stuff. Originally, there was more early on. Um, there's a scene where we just couldn't get to it. There's a couple of scenes where I think I roll down a hill and grab something, and then another one where me and Richard are kind of going at it and I throw a knife. Uh, but we couldn't get to it. So, I was excited for that kind of thing.

Richard Harmon: At least Lars put up a fight against The Hunter.

Matt Hamilton: Hey, Charlie was sleepy. Was sleepy. No, sucker punch. Spoiler. Yeah, sucker punch. What do you want? Spoiler. Why ?

Q: Spending so much time trapped inside the pit looks physically exhausting. What was the funniest part of filming those scenes?

Marshall Williams: I feel like the funniest part was just interacting with the crew on the day. Like, just having jokes and whatnot while you're going through the worst time in your life. I feel like that was the funniest part for sure. I don't know if there were too many fun things about the actual acting part. Like, it was fulfilling to do the acting, but I wouldn't say it was necessarily nice.

James Kondelik : I thought it was a hell of a lot easier to be in there. Me and the crew were relieved to be in one little space out of the elements. It's probably terrible for you, Marshall, but for us it was like, “Oh, thank God we're inside,” because the rest of the movie we're out in the fucking forest.

Marshall Williams: Water's cold. He's chilling. Can't move. Hell. But God bless. I'm glad you had to do that. I'd say the best part actually was warming up after I got out of the cold tank.

Q: The film feels very grounded and realistic. Did that make the horror more intense to perform compared to more supernatural projects?

Richard Harmon: I very much enjoyed the fact that it was grounded and, you know, the chances of this happening to you, as far as an insane, murderous sort of man-child out in the woods coming after you, are slim, but it's certainly never zero. And it's important to kind of tell the audience that, in fact, camping can be fun, but it is dangerous for these very specific reasons. So, I'm happy that we could all kind of help, you know, sort of as a PSA and kind of get people behind this idea.

Randy Couture: I think we just found the next Smokey Bear right there.

Q: How important was the chemistry between the cast to make this group of friends feel believable before everything falls apart?

Matt Hamilton: I mean, the chemistry of the cast is the most important thing.

Jordan Claire Robbins: Everything. Yeah. We really found that, I feel like, on day one. We were improvising a bunch, and it felt really easy.

James Kondelik: Thank God we didn't do any chemistry reads or anything like that, and everybody just played off each other very well, very quickly. And there were a lot of friendships formed, or people already knew each other thankfully.

Randy Couture: I felt like doing the real VFX effects with the ropes and all the other stuff that we had to do to pull off these fight scenes and these kills, I think it felt like it brought the cast together. There was a connection there that was unusual, that wasn't your usual “walk in front of the camera and then hey, I'm out” kind of deal.

James Kondelik: Well, that was the thing. We were walking this fine line of being very real and grounded, but then having these kinds of larger-than-life moments where, you know, Randy is dropkicking people into trees or these snare traps whipping people up into trees and things like that. So it's like we're kind of pushing the limits a little bit here and there as far as reality goes. Um, but it was very exciting, and I think people really take to that because if it was too real, it'd be too boring. It's just the right amount of extra oomph.

Richard Harmon: Yet again, rare, but not zero.

James Kondelik: Randy can dropkick somebody into a tree.

Richard Harmon: No, that's not even rare. The tree is actually the rarest part of that. Yeah, dropkicking someone? That's a Tuesday.

James Kondelik: Yeah, exactly.

Pitfall only further confirmed why it has already started generating serious buzz within the horror community ahead of its theatrical release on May 29, 2026. Beyond its brutal premise and relentless atmosphere, the film appears to channel a much deeper exploration of fear, endurance, and psychological collapse, drawing comparisons to survival thrillers like 127 Hours while embracing the primal terror of classic backwoods slashers. Backed by the visual ambition of PandaPix Pictures and featuring strong performances from its ensemble cast, Pitfall looks poised to become one of the year’s standout indie horror discoveries. Whether audiences come for the vicious survival setup, the psychological tension, or the terrifying hunter lurking behind the nightmare, James Kondelik seems determined to deliver a horror experience that is raw, immersive, and deeply unsettling from beginning to end

Synopsis :
After becoming separated from his friends while in the woods, a young man falls into a 10-foot-deep pit filled with spikes, which pierce his leg and leave him trapped. He soon realizes that his fall was no accident.

Pitfall
Directed by James Kondelik
Written by Victor Rose  
Produced by Wai Sun Cheng, Alex Bogomolov
Starring  Marshall Williams, Richard Harmon, Alexandra Essoe, Randy Couture, Jordan Claire Robbins, Matt Hamilton, Brenna Llewellyn, Stephanie Izsak, Michael Ryan, Grant Vlahovic, Chance Orion Wood, Charles Jarman, Shanelle Connell, Nathan Parrott, Teresa Laverty, Marcel Schneider
Cinematography : Robert Zawistowski
Music by Jordan Han Andrew
Production companies : Dragon Bear Pictures, Pandapix Pictures
Distributed by Cineverse (United States)
Release dates :  May 29, 2026 (United States)
Running time : 108 minutes

Thanks a lot to KLA Media group, especially Kelli and all the cast for this interview…