What made you want to get involved in the film industry? I have always loved movies, since I can remember. When I was a kid I thought I wanted to be an actor but I eventually found that I enjoyed writing more so I pursued that. After having a couple of scripts produced I decided to take it to the next step and started directing. Filmmaking is definitely something I’ve always been passionate about.
From script–to–screen, how close did HORNY TEENAGERS MUST DIE! come to its original vision? Pretty close. There were some issues we ran into during production that forced some changes. One scene was completely cut from the script due to the loss of a location, and a couple scenes were added after the initial shoot in order to help with some character development. Overall though, the final movie is probably 85% as it was written.
What was your favorite day on set and why? I think day 3, when we shot all the stuff at Jenna’s house. The entire cast was there and we had so much to shoot, so many set ups, but we managed to get through it. That was the day we all really started to get into the groove, and everyone was just working so well together. We basically took over Erin (Fitzgerald, co-producer & Intimacy Coordinator)’s parent’s house for the day, but they were so sweet and accommodating. It was a really good day.
What scene did you enjoy directing the most? The arrow scene where Elliott is tied to a tree. That was a lot of fun. There’s a lot happening in that scene, even though the majority of the cast is just standing around in the scene. I think we were racing against a thunderstorm and we finished just a few moments before it hit.
What is the biggest obstacle you faced while making HORNY TEENAGERS MUST DIE!? There were actually two huge obstacles that happened during production. The first one, one of the actresses had to drop out on the second day, so we had to scramble to find a replacement as soon as possible. This meant also rearranging the shooting schedule to shoot what we could without that character and then having to accommodate the new actress once she finally arrived.
The second was replacing the FX artist. Things just didn’t work out and we were forced to let him go. Unfortunately, that meant having to rethink a couple of the kills because we did not have the appliances and whatnot for what was originally planned.
What was your proudest moment during production? Finishing the movie. There was a lot of adversity to overcome, but we did it.
How do you get a film to stand out in the crowd in such a vast crowd of independent horror? Well, I think the title is the biggest factor. When I was trying to come up with a title for the movie, I didn’t want it to be some boring, generic title that would just be looked over. I think “Horny Teenagers Must Die!” certainly grabs your attention and also encapsulates what the movie is about. I also tried to make the characters be more than just the stereotypical “jock” or “nerd” etc type that you usually see in horror movies, especially slashers. I gave them all a little backstory and motivations. And I also think there’s one death scene that hasn’t quite been done before.
What other filmmakers inspire you to do what you do? Currently I’m a big fan of Damien Leone, Adam Green, Ty West and Mike Flanagan.
What is your favorite horror decade and why? The 80s, without a doubt. I think that’s the decade where horror really showed what it could do. Practical FX were huge in the 80s and while they didn’t always land, the ones that did still hold up today: American Werewolf in London, the Howling, the Thing, just about all of Tom Savini’s work. I’ll take those over CGI any day. There’s just so many classics that came out of that decade.
What is the next step in your filmmaking career? I’ve gotten a little into producing other filmmaker’s work. I definitely want to make another movie of my own. I have a few in mind but not sure what I’ll settle on yet. But chances are it’ll be horror.
Horny Teenagers Must Die! | Amazon
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