Co-writer/producer Eli Roth takes on his first starring role in Aftershock, a fictionalized disaster film loosely based on the 2010 Chilean earthquake.  Roth stars as Gringo, an American divorcée touring through Chile with his friends Ariel (Ariel Levy) and Pollo (Nicolas Martinez).  After meeting a trio of beautiful women (Andrea Osvart, Lorenza Izzo, and Natasha Yarovenko) the group heads out for a night of drunken debauchery, but when a devastating earthquake hits they must do whatever it takes to survive a night of recurring aftershocks, escaped convicts, and panicking civilians.  Directed by Nicolas Lopez, Aftershock takes a decidedly “genre” approach to the subject matter setting up death after bloody death and delivering on gruesome effects.  Aftershock is available in select theaters and on VOD May 10th.

At a recent LA press day I sat down with Roth for a one on one interview.  We talked about morality in disaster films, how much of the story is based on real events, Nicholas Lopez’s innovative approach to directing, and making a realistic disaster film with a limited budget.  We also talked about Green Inferno, his hopes to premiere at Toronto, how new technology is changing the industry, and much more.  Hit the jump to check out what he had to say.

Premiering at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was the natural disaster thriller, Aftershock.  Co-written by star Eli Roth and director Nicolas Lopez, Aftershock centers on a group of young partygoers in Chile who find themselves surrounded by death and destruction when a violent earthquake brings the town down around them.  You can watch some footage here.  Also, Dimension just picked up the rights to Aftershock, so you can expect to see the film for yourself sometime next year.

Before the world premiere, I sat down with Roth and Lopez for an extended interview.  They talked about premiering at TIFF, how they ended up working together, the genesis of Aftershock and how the original idea was to make a sci-fi movie, being distributed by Dimension, and a lot more.  In addition, with Roth and Lopez involved in a number of other projects, I got updates on Clown, The Green Inferno, and RZA’s The Man With the Iron Fists which Roth called a “hip hop kung fu Avengers” and who did the soundtrack.  Hit the jump to watch the interview.