Sometimes, the best scary stories come from our own dark history.
The pair discovered the story that would inspire their German-language film while listening to an American podcast.
In Vienna alone, there were 95 cases of suicide by proxy between 1668 and 1783.
Anja Plaschg in ‘The Devil’s Bath’.Shudder/Everett
It was kind of strange to us to get to know this.
That was the emotional starting point of the whole story.
You would never only want to make a film about the past, says Fiala.
Agnes’s home in ‘The Devil’s Bath’.Courtesy Ulrich Seidl Film Produktion and Heimatfilm/Shudder
We feel it always also needs to [say] something about our daily life now.
She always thought she was not good enough and she was the one to blame in a way.
That’s something that I think many people and many women in modern days still [feel].
Anja Plaschg in Agnes’s home in ‘The Devil’s Bath’.Courtesy Ulrich Seidl Film Produktion and Heimatfilm/Shudder
They also had hopes and dreams and fears.
That was important to make it relatable.
Fans of her work, Franz and Fiala reached out to her to compose the music forThe Devils Bath.
So we said, Okay, let’s do an audition.'
She had never done an audition before.
But once we started shooting, she was so fast in learning and she did everything.
She was a gift of God because she did things normal actresses would never do.
She moved into that house, Fiala reveals.
She was actually cooking there.
Still, the filmmaker admits, It was very hard.
Also super, super, super cold.
“The whole thing looked totally fake and we were kind of desperate and didn’t understand why.
“They were like, ‘Why are people staring at us?'”
It’s just royalty and nobility and maybe some artists.
And she said ‘because we’re related to the woman that film is based on.'”
“Their grandfather had done research by himself, so they knew the name,” adds Franz.
And they showed up."
The Devil’s Bathis streaming now onShudder.
