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Your new movie Massacre
at Femur Creek - in a few words, what's it about?
Massacre at Femur Creek is an 80s
inspired backwoods slasher comedy that I like to say is a mix of Friday
The 13th and a John Hughes movie. Ten
years ago you made a short, also called Massacre
at Femur Creek - so how closely are the two films related and is
the new movie in any way an afterthought of the earlier one (or vice
versa, really)? There are a few remaining elements from the short, including a few
scenes that have been ported over to the feature, but I think that short
was more an experiment to see if I could make a horror film that could
also make people laugh. I took the formula of the short and used it to
tell a bigger story with more complex characters, and truly focused on
creating a universe that felt like it lived and breathed. It’s
exciting to have the original short film as a special feature in the
upcoming Blu-ray release of the 2024 movie, so everyone can see the
roots of where this film started. With Massacre
at Femur Creek being a slasher movie, is that a genre at all dear
to you, and some of your genre favourites? And since slashers are a dime a
dozen these days, what do you think makes your movie stick out of the
crowd? Hell yes I am a fan of slashers - movies like Just
Before Dawn, Don’t
Go In The Woods and The Burning have a huge influence on this
movie, but the ones that inform the vibes of
Massacre
at Femur Creek have to be the Friday
the 13th films, I’m particularly fond of Part 2
and Part 4!
While in pre-production on this film, I did watch a lot of modern
slashers, especially ones that were produced on ultra low budget like
mine is. The biggest take away from those films is the lack of character
depth. By the time the “monster” shows up in the film, as an audience
member I really didn’t care what happened to any of the characters in
any of these films. I think it’s extremely important to have interesting, relatable
characters in horror films because it raises the stakes when the horror
is unleashed. I took great pride in coming up with the main characters
in my film, and I also credit the actors for fleshing those characters out.
(Other) sources of inspiration when writing Massacre
at Femur Creek? I’m not influenced from just horror films. I was having trouble
figuring out the story for Massacre
at Femur Creek and re-watched the
action-thriller Judgment Night, and I had a big light bulb pop over my
head, and that heavily informed the structure of the movie. The Deer Hunter is one of my favourite films and I used the way the
characters relate to each other in that film into
Massacre
at Femur Creek’s main characters.
I also love films that take place over the course of 24 hours - I love
how a character's arc can grow so much even in just the span of a day,
and as an indie filmmaker it also helps keeping wardrobe costs down! Some films that influenced
Massacre
at Femur Creek’s 24 hour setting were movies
like Dog Day Afternoon, Dazed & Confused and the trilogy of 24 hour
movies made by John Hughes - Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club and
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Do talk about the violent bits
in Massacre
at Femur Creek for a bit, and how were they achieved?
I contemplated interesting ways to kill off our characters in this movie
while working on the script, and some early drafts had some very
elaborate murders that I knew would be far too complicated to pull off. I had initially inquired with some
special effects companies on what their costs would be for the deaths we had in the movie, but based on
our budget and the funds we raised, it was just too costly. So I
decided to do some research and do the gore effects myself. Every single
special effect in the film was tested on myself first, there’s a few
ridiculous videos I filmed on my phone of me botching early effects
tests, but eventually I figured them out!
What
can you tell us about Massacre
at Femur Creek's approach to the horror genre?
I always like to say I only make movies
that I would like to see myself, so I know what I like when I watch a horror film. With
Massacre
at Femur Creek I wanted to have effective gore, spooky atmosphere and a killer who is capable of
slicing your damn head off. I think these are some of the ideal elements
of a great horror film, so I tried to follow these creeds, all the while
trying to infuse humour into the horror, which I hope will help the low
budget spooks go down a bit more smoothly. You
also have to talk about Massacre
at Femur Creek's brand of humour, and was it intended as a comedy
from square one, or did this only happen during writing ... or during the
shoot even? The film was always intended to be a comedy, because I myself never
really take anything seriously! I spent an exorbitant amount of time
writing the dialogue, and I wanted the jokes to lay on top of each
other, so you would laugh at one line and before you could take a breath
you would laugh again. It was also a blessing to work with the great
cast we had, because there was a fair bit of improvisation done by the
actors, which also made the humour feel more natural and spontaneous. A few words about your overall directorial
approach to your story at hand?
I’d like to think I’m an actor’s director, I’m not too big on
flashy set pieces, or elaborate camera setups, and maybe I’m talking
myself down here, but I love to work with the actors and develop the
characters, that to me is the most important element to telling the
story of a film. Do talk about Massacre
at Femur Creek's key cast, and why exactly these people?
As an example, our two leads - Eric De Santis (Teddy) [Eric
De Santis interview - click here] and Adam Lemieux
(Patrick) [Adam Lemieux
interview - click here] - were both found in completely varied ways: Adam has auditioned for another film I was producing and he just had the
look of the character, this sort of leading man look. We chatted about
the character over coffee and I gave him the script to read. He was the
first actor cast for the film, and brings such an authenticity to his
character Patrick. Eric on the other hand was the last actor to be cast, and sent in a tape
about a month before principal photography. The role of Teddy was tough
to cast, I took a bit more of an interest in this character as I feel
he’s the one I relate to the most. What Eric did with his audition was
bring a genuine heart to the character, and Eric understood the
assignment of Teddy from day 1! Where
did you shoot Massacre
at Femur Creek, and what was it like filming there? We filmed
Massacre
at Femur Creek in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The
majority of the film takes place in the woods during a camping trip so
our locations were simple rural areas in and around our city. We scouted
the locations before we filmed, as this film has a significant dialogue
element - we paid close attention in finding spots that were good for
sound, but also easy enough to hike in. We didn’t have any major
issues while shooting, except for mosquitoes!
What
can you tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
The shoot was a lot of fun, and the cast
and crew seemed to have a great time on set. We got so extremely lucky
with an incredible cast, one with no egos or complications. I’ve
always found myself to be a very unlucky person in life, but somehow for
a week in May of 2023 everything fell in place - from our cast &
crew, to our locations and right down to the weather! I’ve been
waiting all my life to shoot my first feature film, and it could not have
gone any better! The $64-question of course, where can Massacre
at Femur Creek be seen? We have a Blu-ray release on the way…
stay tuned! Anything you can tell us
about audience and critical reception of Massacre
at Femur Creek?
People seem to react favourably to the film at the film festival
screenings I’ve attended. The jokes seemed to land well and some of
the effects received genuine groans and gasps! We haven’t had a ton of
critical reviews yet, but I’m looking forward to reading the
Letterboxd reviews (positive or negative) when the film gets a wider
release. Any future projects you'd like
to share?
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I’m currently working on the script for the sequel, Escape From Femur
Creek! And I have a few coals in the creative fire burning as well. Your/your movie's website, social media,
whatever else? My Instagram is @ahenrykrinkleproduction, and that’s the best place to
get info on Massacre
at Femur Creek and myself. Anything else you're dying to mention and
I have merely forgotten to ask? I really love to eat pickles. Matter of fact anything doused
in vinegar is fine dining to me. Thanks for the
interview!
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