Spark Of Madness Podcast with John Evans
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Spark Of Madness Podcast with John Evans
EP 14 Alexander Watson's Favorite Horror Films and Demonetize
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Alexander Watson talks with John about his favorite horror movies and his new feature film Demonetize.
He does say the best line, I think, in horror movie franchise, uh, which is welcome to prime time, bitch. That's the best line of all time.
SPEAKER_02I wrote that when I rewatched it, I wrote it down. Um I mean he put a lot of stink on on bitch too. Like I think Freddie might be a little he might be a little sexist because he put a lot of he put a lot of stink on bitch.
SPEAKER_00I think that's safe to say.
SPEAKER_02Bundy Manor, let's start there. Um when did you make that and what kind of motivated you to make Bundy Manor?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, uh so it was the height of quarantine, and there was not a ton to do. Well, actually, even before that, I think it was two years even before that, uh, I was watching you know, I've been writing scripts ever like feature scripts ever since I moved out here in Los Angeles. I currently live in Los Angeles, but from Salt Lake City, well, technically West Jordan, Utah. Um and I uh watched this documentary about um people who make haunted houses in their backyard, but there was one in particular that was like an extreme haunted house where they were just basically torturing people. Uh and I was like, oh, okay. Uh and but it was just fascinating to see people going through it, getting like their eyebrows shaved and their like teeth pulled, and oh my gosh. Oh yeah, all this stuff, and then and then coming out the other end being like, that was the greatest thing ever. And I was like, Whoa, what's wrong with these people? Yeah, so I was like, All right, there's definitely a story here, and so you know, years go by, I wrote a little bit of like a treatment, but then when quarantine happened and there was nothing else to do, I was like, I'm going to write a movie that I can absolutely make. And so I started to think about like how can I make this the cheapest possible? And I went to college in uh Southern Utah University that I could get right, because I actually went there. Uh and I did improv uh with Off the Cuff, they're a fantastic improv troop if you ever get to out there. Um, but uh they own a theater now, and so I asked them, I was like, hey, if I wrote a movie and it takes place majority like most of the time in the theater, would I be okay to film there? And they were like, of course, absolutely. And so uh Cedar City is also a pretty, you know, cheap town. So we got to like I was looking up Airbnb's and they were very cheap, and so we were like, okay, I think we can do this. So I wrote the script specifically for that. We did Kickstarter, we raised 60k uh for that on Kickstarter, and then it came out in 2020. Oh, and casted Walter, of course. Uh, and then that came out in 2023, uh during the month of well, first it came out on Amazon on September, and then was fully released on like Tubi and some free websites uh that October, and we were uh for like two and a half, three weeks, we were in October. We were the number what one of the number one watched um horror movies on Tubi. Um, and I think it came from uh we have a killer marketing team, and we you know went ham with that, and so um, yeah, and that really kind of got us to the point where we are with demonetize.
SPEAKER_02I agree with your killer marketing team. So you guys are the only film like uh like after you after you got accepted to to the Spark of Madness Film Festival, you guys are out there creating events for your screening, and you're out there posting in the Facebook groups, and it's like we're trying to do that stuff too, but it's like it's so great to see the filmmakers promoting their own work because you hear so many stories about even at uh these really big festivals, maybe even especially at these big festivals, um, screenings screening to like 10 people in the audience or like five people in the audience, and it's because nobody tried to like promote their movie locally. Yeah, you guys are you guys have a great marketing team.
SPEAKER_00It's well thank you. And that's a big shout out to Clyde. He he'll be there uh for Spark of Madness for any filmmakers who want to chat with him about that. Um, and I just think it's important. It is, it is unfortunately the job as a filmmaker that you have to also you don't have to be great at social media, but what we are great at is capturing content, and so you just gotta be, you know, willing to capture the content for people who maybe are better at social media, and uh, you know, that's my biggest fear is I have screened, you know, you know, certain films in uh to five or ten people, and not and I'm not saying that's wrong, like cool, like but it but I I if I screw if I screen to those people, but I tried, I'll at least know I tried, you know. Um so yeah, we're we're really trying to push, and we have a you know, we're really have some really cool, fun videos coming out to to to push Spark of Madness. And this is the first time my family's gonna see this movie, and they grew up very, well, we all grew up very religious, and so it'll be very fascinating for them to see. Uh I mean Bundy Manor was also pretty, you know, graphic and had some swearing, but uh yeah, this is this is double that. So yeah, very interested to see what my Mormon mother thinks of uh thinks of this movie. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_02I didn't know that you guys were that you had a Mormon family. My uh my partner Erica, her family's all Mormon too, so I don't think they're gonna come to the festival, but uh we we we also tried like um since we're it's well you're familiar, we're in like kind of 50% Mormon territory, sure. And uh so we're trying to make like one of the themes of is of course crazy films, right? But um another one that we're trying to really focus in on is inspirational films because we got so many great like documentaries and inspirational documentaries and stuff, and a lot of those are like family friendly, so it's like if we kind of have that mixed crowd turn up, we can be like, here's the inspirational kind of films that are family friendly. You know, you can maybe maybe don't go see these ones if you're not looking for a rated R contest or anything like that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, don't bring your kids to demonetize. I have to say that. You know, definitely drop them off with your neighbor and then come on out and see Demonitize.
SPEAKER_02So that we yeah, we were given away a couple free a few free tickets at uh like a First Friday art walk, and some guys like, is it kid kid friendly? And we were like, you know, it depends, you know, like I'd say like maybe half of it is probably not kid friendly, but then but but then there's some great like um Rocky Mountain documentaries and inspirational documentaries and stuff. So if they're into uh documentaries, but kids don't always love those, so again yeah, and I'm a I'm a big fan of Idaho.
SPEAKER_00My my grandparents uh were born and raised in Rexburg, so we spent a lot, a lot, a lot of time in Rexburg. My grandparents still own their mom, their like childhood home. So we'll we'll go up there every once in a while. And then I have family in I always say Ruby, but I think it's Rigby. Rigby Idaho.
SPEAKER_02Maybe that's where my partner's uh parents live there. Yeah, Rigby.
SPEAKER_00Oh, nice. It's so pretty, it is so cool. And of course, Idaho Falls. I've been there, and uh it's just such a really pretty place. And Yellowstone, I know it's not Idaho technically, but that that used to be like our prime and Pocatello, funny enough, we would always stop at Pocatello. There's this really cool, I hope it's still there. I don't know, but there's this really cool uh hotel that has a giant pool and it has like a waterfall, and uh it's right off the freeway. So we would always stop there first before Idaho or before Yellowstone, stay there at night, and then go to go to Yellowstone. It used to be a holiday inn, but now I think it changed its name. It might have been destroyed. I don't know, but it was a good time.
SPEAKER_02I'll have to look that up. Uh waterfall hotel because we like to partner with uh different hotels in the area. So oh, sure. Um Kate, so I wanted to use that as kind of a bookmark. We'll start with Bundy Manor, and then we'll talk about um maybe your one to eight uh favorite horror films, and then we can end with uh talking about demonetize a little more. Sweet. So first one on your list, it was okay, because we can get up. Yes, Halloween. Halloween. So yeah, so this is is this your all-time favorite movie or just all-time favorite horror movie?
SPEAKER_00It's your all-time favorite horror movie, because all-time favorite movies back to the future. Um, but Halloween is probably my back to the future of horror movies. Uh when I went into college at SU, it was the first time being out of the parents' house. I was a little 18-year-old, right? And I wasn't allowed to watch rated R movies growing up, and so when I got out of my parents' house, the first thing I did was I went and rented tons. This is this ages me a bit, but from Hollywood Video in Cedar City and rented tons of rated R movies that I was like, I just have missed out on. And one of them was Halloween, and I remember watching it and just like having this like awakening almost of whoa, like this is and you know, you can't escape slasher, so it's not like I didn't see PG 13 slashers, but like I could really understand why this was like considered one of the slasher films, and just feeling it like it could happen. I mean, literally, I watched it in a small town, and this takes place in a small town. Uh, it's not in like any kind of crazy different environment. It's like, no, this this killer could be right next door, and it creaked me out. And I love the music, and John Carpenter just kills it with that music, and um yeah, it's just a vibe, as the kids say.
SPEAKER_02John Carpenter, of course, he's so he's so good with his uh his own scores. I was I forgot I was uh researching the thing the other day, right? Oh, yeah. And uh it's funny because he had and you I always forget, like at the very beginning, you see like music by Enno Morricone, and I'm like, Ennyo Morricone did the freaking music for this. I like I forget almost every time I watch it. Oh and then um I was reading that later, like John Carpenter was just shooting down all his scores. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, and he kept like and until he like reduced Ennio Morricone's score to just like that kind of almost like heartbeat, like which is such a John Carpenter move because he's so kind of simplistic with his scores. But uh I found out later um that that Enno Morricone score for the thing, Tarantino ended up using that in um the hateful eight. Oh and uh shoot, okay. Yeah, and I guess that's cool.
SPEAKER_01I had no idea.
SPEAKER_02I didn't either, yeah. I was just reading this the other day, and then Ennio Morricone, I think, won the Oscar for that. That kind of like rehashed.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's funny.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but I was like, that totally sounds like uh I you go back now and you listen to the score on the hateful eight, and you're like, that would have been really good in the thing. I wonder if like John Carpenter just wanted to like keep it really simple.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's funny.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. So uh Halloween, you watched that when you were how old? 18. Yeah, 18, right? Because yeah, you had to you went out and got all those radio movies.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And like, you know, I I I love hearing the things that they like. I I think one of my favorite facts about it is that they it was shot in LA, right, in Pasadena, and you there's not there doesn't really we don't really have a fall, like certain trees do fall, but not really, so they had to like hand put down so all the fallen leaves is them, they put it down, and so that's super cool. And then yeah, I've got to go and see the Michael Myers house, and what's funny is because it was just it was built on an empty lot, and then it the whole house they moved uh out to like the the street, and now it's a dentist office, and so that's funny, but you could totally recognize it when you drive past, you're like, Well, that is definitely uh and they have like Michael Myers looking out the window, but it's a dentist's office now.
SPEAKER_02That's funny. Yeah, uh, that's kind of a cool dentist office, though, to be in the neighborhood.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02That would totally be my dentist if I was in that neighborhood.
SPEAKER_00Definitely.
SPEAKER_02Um, cool. Yeah, I was gonna bring up the fake leaves that that that would be such a pain in the butt to have to clean those up after every shot and like move them over to the next shot and everything, like instead of.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely, yeah, it is. And that that's just you know the kind of thing that you gotta think about with with film is that you gotta do those little tiny things. And I I always think like those little things, those little things are so important, and they just really end up making your film so unique and so different than everybody else's when you do those tiny little things. Like, yeah, you could have been like, uh, but is really the leaves gonna be that important? But it just like again, it's such a vibe of making it Halloween. It's called Halloween, so it needs to feel like we're actually celebrating Halloween. So yeah, I thought that's a cool idea.
SPEAKER_02Fantastic. I love it. So that was your number one was Halloween. Yes, and maybe I should have gone about these backwards. Maybe I'll jump around. Okay, there's there's no rules here. I like to do it.
SPEAKER_00Um and then I got the three other ones.
SPEAKER_02So heck yeah, I like it. All right, let's let's jump to across Halloween off the list. Let's jump to Nightmare on Elm Street 3. Oh, because this this is when I watched after after you put it on your list. I'm like, I remember that like something about like a wizard in that one. You know, and it be and then um I remember people talking about it being the one where Freddie really like maybe came into his own. But why why do you think uh why is Nightmare on M Street 3 on your list?
SPEAKER_00Well, so I love I love ensemble movies in general. Like I love Clue and I love uh you know, Demonetize, obviously, which we'll talk about, has is very much an ensemble piece, I would say. Um, and I just love like characters, like Back to the Future. Yeah, Marty is is a very big character, but like so is Doc, so is Biff, so is Lorraine. Like everyone is just like really like defined, and I feel like this feels like that. And I love that it makes sense that you know the main protagonist from the first movie, she's back, and I like that it takes place in like a um I'm not sure if the correct term now, mental institution or uh, you know.
SPEAKER_02That sounds good, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Uh, and I just love that they get very, you know, everyone is very clever. When you have the concept of never fall asleep, it's you know, it could probably get easy to like go into some repetitive things, while this feels very much like they they really be they they focus on each individual character and their worst fears, right? Like one of the characters, you know, is an ex-drug addict, and so he has that really famous part where his knives on his hands end up turning to like syringes, and he stabs them into her, and um, you know, playing off of like certain sexual nerves and scariness. And uh definitely we talked about this. I can't remember if we were recording or not, but uh my the best line I think in cinema history, or at least one of them, because there's a lot of great lines, but welcome to prime time bitch is an amazing and like that that like scene of seeing her head go into the into the TV is just like uh it's it's and honestly ahead of its time because if you think about it, it's like how much of media we consumed by, and literally it consumes consumes her. So I don't know. Yeah, I just think there's a lot of a lot of crazy cool moments in it, and uh we actually find out what Freddie is, like where he cut like we know how he got attacked and you know how he was created, but like his mom and his you know, like how that all happened, and so there's a lot of cool lore that happens in the movie. So yeah, I could go on and on, but oh, and then yeah, I got it. Sorry, the last thing about it is the part where uh I believe it's Patricia Arquette, right? I think she's in it, and she there's a part where she falls asleep and she gets eaten by a giant uh Freddy like slug thingy, and it's all practical and it's just terrifying, it's awesome.
SPEAKER_02It was so cool, and they the stop motion or whatever that they used, yeah, like when he's like grinning and stuff, and and uh the animatronics on the on the face for some of it. I was like, dang, they written like that was one of the coolest parts. I had that written uh giant Freddy worm or whatever it was supposed to be. Yes, and then um there was there was a really cool effect with uh do you remember the bike that came into the room? And then um it was like the same, it was the same dream as the Freddy worm thing. Oh, okay. But uh a bike rolls in to kind of like wake up and then it and then it like melts, and I was like, oh, that's really cool. So I wonder if they did like miniatures and they just actually melted a uh wax. Yeah, something like that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it just looks so cool. I miss that kind of stuff, and that is kind of having a big resurgence lately. Like a lot of filmmakers are like I saw Project Hail Mary, and a lot of filmmakers are touting like trying to use as much practical effects as possible, which is pretty sick.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. Uh and uh why am I having a brain aneurysm? Um but uh who he just created it the guy who just did Frankenstein. Uh oh, Garibel Del Toro. Del Toro, yeah. Um, he just he's creating his own stop motion studio, I think. I saw oh that's sick. That's pretty sweet. Yeah, very cool. And I was gonna talk about the ensemble. Uh, it's something I'm doing in a horror script I'm working on too, where I just love the thought of everyone having like their own individualized, like personalized um powers almost. And that was such a cool thing in Nightmare on Elm Street 3 where it's just uh, you know, you got the wizard and you got the super strength guy. Patricia Arquette's character, I think, maybe got uh the short straw because she can like just do backflips and stuff, but I guess it helps her escape. Yeah, and honestly, like that helped her more than like the wit the wizard guy. This is this is maybe like I don't know if this is a critique because I don't think this is what the film is supposed how the film's supposed to be enjoyed, but I was like, everyone gets these really cool personalized powers, and then it doesn't do anything, like yeah, yeah, exactly. Like he's uh like the wizard, right? He zaps that chair in that one hallway scene or whatever, and then he goes to zap Freddie, and Freddie's just like naha, oh it's like oh it doesn't these powers don't do anything. Yeah, exactly. So it was almost disappointing, but at the same time, it's just like I don't know, that's not really how the movie's supposed to be enjoyed.
SPEAKER_00Is that uh no, it maybe they love to do that false sense of hope, right? Where they're like, Yeah, we got all these cool powers, and then yeah, Freddy's ready for you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Freddy's ready. I like it. Uh so it's what's your before I move on to the next one, what's your second favorite nightmare on Elm Street?
SPEAKER_00Probably the first one. I I I have to, you know, and I do have a lot a bigger appreciation for the second one, especially highly recommend anyone watch the Scream Queens uh documentary. It really just gives you an insight into the second one because that used to be like the the really black hole of the franchise, but it really gives you a whole new appreciation of the second one. So uh but yeah, definitely the first. You mean crazy cast, you know, great concepts and uh Robert England is just you know, people keep bringing up like who would play him in a remake because the guy from uh the guy who played Rorschach tried and he did a really good job, but like I don't think it was necessarily his fault, but some people you know there's a lot of comedic uh uh elements to him that kind of make him and I just don't know if anyone else can do it. So yeah, it'd be interesting to see if someone else tried to to make that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm trying to think of who and of uh who would be a good actor to play Freddie if if uh they were doing a like a new reboot or something like that.
SPEAKER_00Who would Robert England famously said Jim Carrey would be a good uh but I'm like I I don't know, I don't maybe in his like early career, but now that he's like Mr. Big Famous, I just don't see it happening. Um yeah, I don't know. I think you would have to have an actor who who has great comedic chops, but Sinisterly. That's that's such it's such a hard thing to navigate. So right.
SPEAKER_02Like a danger to him. Because Jim Carrey has almost no danger to him, I don't think. That I can really pick up on. So yeah, it's it's tough to have like someone who's funny and someone who's kind of scary. Jim Carrey's not really that scary. I I just watched uh Earth Girls Are Easy the other day.
SPEAKER_00Nice, nice.
SPEAKER_02And uh which is a classic, and and I had totally forgotten about that movie. And I'm like, it's so funny to have Damon Waynes and Jim Carrey and Jeff Goldblum in there as furry aliens. I'm like, yeah. So love it. Um okay, next movie. Let's go with Hereditary. We'll mix it up and kind of go we'll go uh a little more modern. So why is uh this is one of two kind of modern ones on your list.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I tried to make it make some modern because yeah, I've definitely been affected. And I'm sorry if you this was your first time watching it. Uh it is okay, good. It is brutal, and I've only seen it twice. All these other ones that are on the list, I've seen a million times. But this these are and I will say the only reason I watched it a second time was because my partner, she hadn't seen it, and so I was like, all right, well, I'll watch it with you. So like it's a brutal movie, right? And it is, it's heavy, yeah, and it really hits, and I really think it's the movie that kind of like really had this like uh set the tone of like generational trauma, which I know is like kind of a theme right now, right? Um, and I mean I'm currently writing a script about it, so I'm not trying to criticize it at all. But yeah, I mean, one, it was filmed in Utah, so it and it so it has a little bit of a soft spot there, but two, it's just it just does grief so well in a horror movie, and to have a and to have grief be a villain, uh, which you know hasn't which isn't the first movie, like Baba Duke does that really well. Um but yeah, and then Tony or or what is her, yeah, I think it's Tony Colletti. Am I saying that right? The main star, the mom, she is just incredible. I think she should have got an Oscar for that. And uh, I'm happy to see that Oscar movies are starting, or sorry, horror movies are starting to get some Oscar nods. Uh, because you know they used to just not even be looked at. Um but yeah, the the trauma, the the just horrific um I don't feel like the visuals are just random. Sometimes I feel like some horror movies throw in really scary moments just because they're scary, but this feels like it's all connected back to um the trauma that this family has faced. Uh and so yeah, highly recommend it. And then and if you haven't seen it, try not to look up anything about it because yeah, going blind, yeah. Yes, it is it is hinged on a very pivotal movie point that if it's spoiled for you, it's a little, I don't know, not as impactful. Um but yeah, Ari Astor, I think, is an incredible filmmaker, and I liked Midsummer. Um, but yeah, this and I I I don't know why I also love movies that are set in the woods. Uh not and it doesn't necessarily have to be like Cabin in the Wood movies, but like um I saw Cuckoo recently, uh well, I guess it was last year, and that's another really great uh movie. So yeah, overall those are very long-winded, but that's uh that's a big reason for hereditary for sure.
SPEAKER_02No, that's great. And it I've been thinking about modern horror movies and and uh and rewatchability, and like we were saying earlier, it's like hereditary is like it's a heavy movie and it's hard to re-watch it. Like I wouldn't go sit down and re-watch hereditary just like for fun. And it's like I kind of miss honestly, like fun horror, like like uh Halloween is so rewatchable and and Nightmare on Elm Street is so rewatchable. What why why what is it about Hereditary and especially you know Ariaster stuff? Um that makes it is it do you think it's just Ariaster that makes makes it hard to rewatch?
SPEAKER_00I think there it is a trend because I because there are a few other horror movies that I've seen that I've absolutely loved that I'm like, I just don't know if I could re-watch this again. Like Monkey is one, I loved it. I thought, and I thought it was actually really comedic. But it's just it's just very gory. I will say, uh, I thought that I wouldn't want I wouldn't watch Long Legs again because it just creeped me out so much, but I have, and I actually has become a very rewatchable movie. Uh yeah, I think Ari is a big thing of that because yeah, I don't I haven't watched Midsummer again since that first time. And I think it does have to do with the graphic visuals. Um but then I gotta say, Sinners, I've seen that like three or four times. I think that's a really great rewatchable movie. And yeah, maybe it's because there's some very graphic moments in there, but I think it's I think it's very, you know, maybe going back to what we're talking about, character-driven, and not that Aries isn't, but I think it just handles very heavy subject matter and not that systemic racism and uh you know religion forcing their uh beliefs on, you know, certain groups of people is not a heavy issue, but um I think it's it it I kind of feel like Ari's movies are trying to explore trauma while giving you traumatic visuals, which makes it hard to re-watch.
SPEAKER_02It does, and it's like I'm a big fan, especially in horror, of like really fun moments, like the uh like the that's why Freddy is so great because it's just like ridiculous moments. And I watched uh you brought up Monkey, which I did like, and there were fun moments in that. But I watched Monkey, is it Monkey Shines, the George Romero one? Like oh, I haven't seen that about the super smart monkey that ends up kind of like corrupting this guy too.
SPEAKER_00I've seen the trailers, but I have never seen that. Is it fun?
SPEAKER_02It's so the whole thing is it's funny because it's like the whole thing, maybe there's some fun moments because they use they use a genuine monkey the whole time, right? So it's not a CGI monkey, yeah, yeah. And and that adds a lot of charm to it, so it feels fun almost the whole time. But there's a scene at the end, I won't spoil it, but it's like makes the whole movie fun. And so it's like I love I love fun moments in in horror, and I and I miss like weapons, of course, has fun moments, and I think that makes it really re-watchable.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I can re-watch weapons. Oh, actually, I have watched it twice, and I I've bought it, so like it's gonna be and I I you know I've been doing a lot better with with physical media and things like that. Um, but yeah, I usually only buy movies when I'm like, oh, I'm gonna rewatch this so bad. So yeah, and I love Zach Kregger. I think that's who did I always get Zach Krager and Oz Osgood Perkins mix, but Osgood Perkins did long legs, Zach Kreger did weapons, right? Or am I switching and did I just do it and I mix them up? Oh I'm in trouble. I'm in trouble.
SPEAKER_02Let's see. Uh we will I will Google it real fast. I'll do the uh Jamie pulled it up.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there you go.
SPEAKER_02I need a Jamie equivalent.
SPEAKER_00I'm pretty sure it's Osgood who did it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you're right, Jack Crager. And that name sounded familiar because he did um he was the whitest kids you know, guys.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yep. Um and then yeah, Sinners also had some some fun moments. I wasn't as like like into Sinners as I think the Academy was, but um, because I feel like after like shit hit the fan, that it didn't feel like any of the action had to do with like overcoming like the main theme or the main conflict of the like so I was just like something's missing here, and I honestly really loved I would have watched a whole movie, like just a drama about those two brothers and like in that town and stuff, and like setting up shop. Like if like the setup for me like was a lot more enjoyable. Yeah, I thought it was really good. Um, well, anyways, so so fun moments in horror. That's that's a good uh underline that. So uh what do we have next? We had so that was hereditary, and then next, let's go with Jaws.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I kind of talked about how my parents wouldn't let me watch rated R movies, and even though I believe this came out and it did, I think it came out as PG, but that was before rated R, but then it became rated R for a little while, and then yeah, something like that. But it was one of those movies that got to that I got a skirt by. Don't get me wrong, it terrified me, but like it got a skirt by for me with my parents because they were like, Well, it's an older movie, it can't be that scary. It's PG, and it's Steven Spielberg, so it's like, you know, uh, but yeah, it it is it is again. I I I also really love the you know, my biggest takeaway from from that, and I it sounds like it was for a lot of filmmakers, is you know, obviously we heard the story about the shark not working, and they couldn't get it to, you know, do things, so like they had to get creative with how the shark appeared, and it ended up working in their favor because it was more scary to know it's on its way than actually you know physically seeing it. And so I try and approach that with a lot of horror movies where uh or any script I write is like how can we and I love build-up. I I feel like we're losing a lot of that in movies. I feel like a lot of movies nowadays it's just like, oh, here's the main characters, oh, here's you know, where it's like Jaws, we get an incredible introduction to him, and we get an incredible introduction to all the main characters. I mean, I gotta say in Jaws, uh, when we get introduced to the um, I'm really terrible with names, but we can get introduced to like the actual uh shark hunt hunter himself, you know, he scratches the uh chalkboard, and then everyone turns and looks at him, and you know, and he's like, if you want to give a shock of it, I've got a shah. That's my impression. Uh that's my impression for you. Uh and uh yeah, just just incredible you know, introductions, and then uh yeah, I I I love I love that concept, and then you know, hearing I I I'm sure for them it was awful at the time, but it really feels endearing and it really motivates me to be like they had an awful production on that shoe, and like it wasn't like they weren't like mean or big, I mean I know there was some moments, but like they were all just trying their best with the little budget they had, and it was Steven Spielberg's, like you know, it's not his first feature, but it was like his first big feature, and really what created blockbusters pretty much, and so but I'm sure they didn't feel like that at the time. And I'm pretty sure there's like a famous uh food fight that happened because they were all just all fed up about it. Um, and I actually got to over here at the um Academy Museum, they have a whole section dedicated to Jaws, and it it is so cool. They got like the original editing station that it was edited on, they got like slates, they got the actual barrels that they shot into Jaws and uh or Bruce, as we all, you know, us uh aficionados call it. All right, but yeah, I could talk forever about Jaws. I could do a whole podcast just about Jaws, but yeah, it is uh so incredible.
SPEAKER_02It is. Uh did you see dual Spielberg TV?
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, yeah, definitely. And a lot of similarities.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah, yeah, that's what that's what I heard. So so what uh what kind of similarities? All all I've heard is like he used some of the sound at the end from duel the death scene, yeah.
SPEAKER_00The death scene of Jaws. There's the same sound of of Jaws dying and like a almost a roar that's the same in duel. Uh also, you know, seeing seeing the car or seeing the diesel car uh truck, what am I saying? Uh you know, behind the vehicles and having it come up on them and you know, building that tension, you could really tell that that really kind of helped, you know, what he learned on that movie really helped with this movie. Uh and I think Duel was actually a TV movie that, of course, once Jaws got super successful, they pushed it out and really tried to get it going. And so uh, but yeah, so definitely like that. I I don't remember if John Williams did the score for duel, but there is some like similar tension building uh moments, and and score is incredibly important. So yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02I totally agree. Uh Jaws is fantastic. I hear it on so many people's lists, and it's on my one of my lists too. It's I want to do an episode of like um just movies that I shouldn't have seen when I was a kid or something like that. Where and Jaws is such it's on so many because I think it was PG. I don't know if it got played on TV because it was PG, and like I don't know what happened, but it so many like uh seems like 10-year-olds like watched that movie and just got traumatized by the ending.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, my mom, I remember my mom, or or maybe not my mom, but I know my parents had a copy uh on VHS that they recorded from TV. And what's what's fascinating is is I very remember specifically when Jaws bites into um again the the Shark Hunter. I'm so sorry. Uh people in or who are listening to this are gonna be freaking out that I don't remember his his the character's name.
SPEAKER_02I'm right with you. I'm like the worst with uh it's like chancy chance starts with a ch a there's Cooper Hooper, who he's the scientist who's paid by uh uh oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00Quinn, I can't think Quinn Claritis. Quinn. I wasn't even close. So good. Uh yeah, but you know, I remember him getting like bit for a second, and then it cuts right to way where he pulls him under. And I was like, oh, okay, that's it. That wasn't too bad. But then watching it actually and seeing him like they he gets a couple bites in there and it's gruesome. Uh, but I and also I gotta mention real quick, probably still an incredible jump scare happens where it's at night, they have the lights on. Uh Hooper goes down in his scuba suit to go because he because he can see that uh boat is sunk, and he goes and he pulls out the shark tooth, which is ginormous, and then the head of the guy pops out, and it is such a good tension building. And I still I know it's coming, and I still jump.
SPEAKER_02Yes, and isn't that I think I heard a story about that you're probably aware of of didn't Spielberg film that like in LA in the swimming pool at the editor's house or at his house or something?
SPEAKER_00Yes, and I believe the the actor who they modeled and who played that was actually from Amityville and or Amityville from uh Martha's Vineyard, who uh just was lucky enough to because they casted a lot of locals and then they had to cast his face to have it pop out, and the local was very happy. But yeah, that one was filmed just in the backyard. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yep, yep, fantastic. It's it's it's yeah, with Jaws, there's so many like fun facts because it was what set like a seven-month shoot or something out there on a lot open water and everything, and so it's just like people getting seasick and just nothing working, and actors' egos, and oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00Is there is there a full documentary of the behind the scenes stuff in there?
SPEAKER_02Because I always just see there's several.
SPEAKER_00There's there's several, and they usually do a new one every like you know, five or ten years. There's also a uh Broadway play now that's called like the shark doesn't work or something like that. But it's it's just about yeah, it's pretty great. It it's it's about the three yeah, the three actors like you can only hear Spielberg like over, and it's just the three actors having to wait until the shark works on the ship. Um, but it's pretty cool because they have like a big moment where the where Jaws actually comes out and has you know him in his mouth, which is really cool. So yeah, it's cool. I didn't know that.
SPEAKER_02I would totally watch that play.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, it's cool.
SPEAKER_02Uh all right. Uh last one before we move on to some surprise ones. Yes. Uh was Bodies, Bodies, Bodies. Yeah. The other kind of modern uh movie in the in the collection. So I watched this one because I hadn't seen it before. And um, I'll let you talk about it before I render my opinion. Uh-oh.
SPEAKER_00But uh it's a very diversive movie, so or decisive, whatever. Um, so I get it. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but uh, what I think it does really well is it really kind of exposes exposes the the social media pop culture. This and I saw this movie very early when me and my my co-writer were writing demonetize, and it was like, whoa, like this is this feels very much kind of like the world and humor we're kind of trying to to play in. And I love the the color, uh, you know, they all wear like these like glow sticks and stuff. Uh yeah, I can't I I've heard the I definitely understand that maybe the ending in the reveal isn't as it's kind of underwhelming, but it's also kind of like, you know, oh man, what happens when you take away phones from a generation that has grown up on phones? And what happened to go down. So uh I just love the humor. I think it's very funny, and yeah, we there's a few there's actually quite a few things that we took from that movie that inspired us from Demonetize, which we can get into when we talk about it.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, let's do it. Because I I'm gonna kiss your ass for a second because I think your movie did something very similar, but did it better, because with bodies, bodies, bodies, so much of bodies, bodies, bodies uh it felt like it's just Gen Z whining, which is which can be which is well, Gen Z girl drama, where it's just like and I didn't get any. I guess it if you're going to do something like that, like I it needs to be funny, and I could I could feel the attempts at it, like at the humor and everything, but it was just like it felt more annoying to me, it just landed more annoying. I I don't know why. But uh with Demonetize, it's like it's more like we're actually genuinely making fun of these ridiculous characters, and I can and it like I I felt like I could laugh at them more, whereas something in bodies, bodies, bodies is like you need to like take some of these perspectives, these ridiculous perspectives seriously. Where in demonized where in demonetize it's just like we can laugh at these ridiculous influencers a little bit.
SPEAKER_00Gotcha, gotcha. Yeah, I I feel that. Yeah, we I think the biggest thing we took away from bodies bodies bodies was the color palette. Like, if you watch back demonetize, uh they each each character on Demonetize has a camera, and our amazing gaffer, he he had the idea of like, what if we made each of the lights a slightly different hue, just depending on the character. So Tara's uh our very ditzy uh drama influencer. She has a pink hue, we have a purple hue for our uh Brie for our like our new influencer. We have like more of a yellow uh for Jane, who's making her comeback, and it's really cool because it can it can really help the audience, maybe without them really realizing like who's filming, because we have the different lights and stuff. And they did that in in bodies, bodies, bodies. Um, yeah, I think we really just kind of took inspiration and built on top of the fact of like what people would do for content and what people would do for uh you know, for fame and and and what are they gonna do when when tragedy actually strikes. Uh and obviously in our case they keep filming and think they're doing the right thing without getting too spoilery. Uh but yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm so I'm super excited to uh see the audience reaction to that one. And uh let's look. So so there's a few you wrote down a few like uh extra movies to to put onto your list. What what's your first one?
SPEAKER_00Okay, first one is Lost Boys. Uh okay, nice. This is a this has quickly become my favorite vampire movie. Uh and so I do I celebrate Halloween early. I'm one of those weirdos. September. Sept through the month of September, I try and watch. I don't do very well, but I try and watch one horror movie a day that I haven't seen before. Uh, because there's a lot. And so one year I watched this was like four or five years ago, I watched Lost Boys, and I was just like, whoa, this is incredibly well written. This is incredibly 80s. And uh it quickly became, and then what I do in October is I do my like heavy hitters, like the ones that I have to watch every year. Well, Lost Boys has actually kind of moved and shifted into that October uh slot. So I just love again, I just love the characters. I love uh I mean again, it has an incredibly line where incredibly great line that's like I'm gonna get it wrong, but it's like uh oh, you're a you're totally a vampire. I'm gonna tell mom or something like that. So good. Um yeah.
SPEAKER_02Keefer Sutherland, I think, right? He's the he's uh I was like that guy's got some uh it's a sexy dude. Like yeah, he kills it. I love that guy.
SPEAKER_00And then you can't, I mean, if you're talking about sexy, you can't you can't forget the the sax player uh who's just has his shirt off, there's flames going, and he's just he's just jamming on that saxophone. So really the star of the movie.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, really. Yeah, um, I I love like characters like that that just pop up with just this element of weirdness, and they're just like one of the best uh elements.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I think horror has a lot of those for some reason.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I totally agree. Yeah, um all right, what's your next one?
SPEAKER_00Next one is uh Alien. Ah, nice, yeah. One of my favorites. Yes, I love horror, I love sci-fi, and if there can be any sci-fi horror, just goes up, you know. I'm like, is a priority that I need to see it. And uh Alien was is is such a good one for me, and I just love too that as the franchise goes on, it's so different, and yes, some movies are definitely better than others, but especially the first two, it's just like and I really loved Alien Romulus. Um, highly recommend. But Alien is yeah, it just such a cool, clever way. I love the style. I love I'm very much a big like retro dude. Like, I love your background because I love like your TV and stuff. I you can't really see it, but down here I have one, two, three, four, five. I have five television like uh V C uh like CRTs right over there, and then I have one right right on my desk where I could just pop into VHS and watch. And right now I have uh Mimic. I haven't seen this. Oh nice. Uh Congo Insane. Nice insane movie. Uh and then I haven't seen this yet, uh, but arachnophobia on VHS. So pump to watch it, and they're sitting here because what I'll do is I'll write or um sorry, you probably can't hear me very well, but I'll write and pop in a VHS uh tape. But anyways, so Alien, I love that they've continued that kind of like um style throughout their movies where it still feels very um yeah, that kind of thing. And so Gourney Weaver, I mean, come on. Uh and I I uh one one last thing I want to say about sorry about Alien is there's a shot that so many people who watch it laugh at where where there's just a shot of chains, and you very clearly can see one of the aliens just kind of like swinging in the chains. Oh, is there but yeah, and see, I'm glad you haven't noticed it, but every time I watch it with friends, they always laugh at that moment, but then I realize like just imagine not having seen Alien yet, and the first time watching it, and you know, xenomorphs are now just very a part of our pop culture, so like of course you would look at that and be like, it's just sitting right there, what the heck? But someone who's never seen that movie and then seeing that would be like, Whoa, what the heck was that?
SPEAKER_02So it's just so it's probably the is it the scene where he's trying to get the cat. Um he's trying to find the cat, and it's like on the cargo area, yeah. That's the scariest uh scene almost, I think, in the whole movie. Oh and it's just so well done, like the pacing and like the little the heartbeat kind of score or whatever. Uh it's so humble.
SPEAKER_00And I don't know why a sh a spaceship needs to have so much water falling around it, but I love it.
SPEAKER_02I do too, and like the color in there, it's just it's lit so well. And I watched the 4K or whatever recently, and it just it looks so good. So good.
SPEAKER_00Ridley Scott. We love ya.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that was a movie that I watched when I was too young, so that would make it on my list of yeah, nice. Wait, and I was so young that I uh I ended up like having I went into my parents' room because I was gonna tell them like that I was having nightmares or whatever, and uh I saw something in the corner by the window, and I just knew it was an alien. And I stayed and I stayed and I sat down and I didn't move until the sun came up. Like that's how bad it messed me up. And uh now it's just like one of my favorite movies.
SPEAKER_00So the first like big horror movie that I watched when I was little, when I was too young, and I watched it from the corner, right? Right, I was like peeking on the wall was Anaconda. Nice literally that whole scene, like where it first pops out of the water and hits through the windshield, and it's like going after ice cube and J Lo. I was so terrified. But same thing happened. My mom had had a dress that she wore to church that kind of had like the pattern. And I remember being so scared one day go and going into their closet and seeing that and being like, it's gonna come out and it's gonna get me.
SPEAKER_02Yep. Yeah, so um something something that what got me curious with Alien, it's also another, like for me, anyways, like a really rewatchable movie. And I'm trying to think, it doesn't have really any fun moments, right? So it's not like that's the only thing that makes a horror movie rewatchable. But yeah, is it just I'm wondering if it's just the the quality of the pacing in the atmosphere that you just want to like get back into that that haunted spaceship? Like, I wonder what it is about that movie that just makes it. It's honestly, I think, the tone that keep that draws me back every time.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And um I love the atmosphere. I think you hit it right on the head with that. The atmosphere really brings me back. And um it's it's it's it sucks that we don't have a lot of. I mean, I understand why it's very expensive to make a horror uh sci-fi horror movie. Um, it's much easier to make you know one that happens in a town because it's just yeah, easier. But that's definitely what brings me back, and also, you know, having a lead who isn't hopeless, I think is a big thing. So Gordon Weaver kicks ass in all those movies, and she saves a cat. I mean, come on. It's it's in the book, right? There you go.
SPEAKER_02There's a whole book about it. Exactly. Yeah, did you say you hadn't seen Arachnophobia though? No, nope, it's right here. So I gotta see okay, cool. That was a good one to watch, like uh as a kid, too, because it's like that was it was terrifying. Um, but it's hilarious at the same time. So that's I guess a horror that's horror comedy that's right up your alley, huh?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I'm excited to pop that in.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that one's great. What so what's your next uh what number are we on? This is the last one. Okay, cool.
SPEAKER_00Uh, because I just did three extra ones. So perfect. This is gonna be probably a little bit of a hot take. Okay, but uh the movie Us. Us.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I haven't seen it yet. Jordan Peel.
SPEAKER_00Yes, Jordan Peel. Get out is obviously a masterpiece. I'm not trying to say, but just for me personally, as far as like scares, comedy, visuals, I feel like it does it a little bit better than Get Out. And again, I love what Get Out is saying. So I'm not trying to dissuade that. But yes, it is a weird concept. Uh, I don't want to spoil it for you, I guess. So, but it's just it's just like incredible visuals, a good balance of horror and comedy, and I just love family horror. Like, if you would have said, hey, what's your favorite? Like, one of your favorite horror TV shows. I'm really a big Mike Flanagan fan. And uh uh what's it called? Um Haunting of Hill House is like it is god tier, as again what kids say.
SPEAKER_02I like the the vampire one better, actually. Yes, whatever that one was called.
SPEAKER_00Oh my god. Uh Midnight Mass. That was also incredible. Yes, definitely. Um, so yeah, us highly recommend uh and it's always fun to see comedians. So I'm a big Tim Heideker, he's a he's a comedian. Uh he did Tim and Eric. Uh he's in it, and I just I always love when uh comedians, and you know, Jordan Peel is obviously a comedian, so to have him uh bring in comedian friends, it's always fun to see them give a crack at horror.
SPEAKER_02So right, perfect. I love it. So we'll uh well to wrap up, we'll talk a little bit about Demonetize, your movie that's showing at our film festival. Yeah. May 21, 22, 23. Um, so what drove you? You said you started writing the script before bodies, bodies, bodies. Was there like an inciting incident that was like I need to write a script about the kind of ludicrous nature of social media and influencers and kind of the horror maybe that's involved?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. There was so I so when I moved out to LA in 2016, it'll be it'll be 10 years in June, which is crazy. Uh, one of my first big gigs I got was editing uh YouTube videos for some of the biggest influencers. Um, and one in particular, they're called the the Marcus Brothers, and they are the very rich family that um yeah, they have like mansions right next to each other in like this huge plot of land, and they just make these videos. And one day they made a video called uh Help My Brothers Possessed. And I edited a video where it was just them chasing each other uh with white face paint on their faces and chasing around each other in their huge mansions. That was the whole thing. And I was like, I was I really love conjuring. If you probably had me do one more, I'd probably do conjuring too. Um and I was just like, man, I like what would happen if these influencers were in a conjuring situation, like a legit horror situation, and and you know, I I I know it's not the first time doing an influencer horror movie, but I was like, I've seen a lot of behind the scenes stuff, right? Because as I'm cutting these the footage, I'm seeing them talk about like, uh, you know, this shot is not interesting enough, or hey, we're not as hyped or excited. Like, I've seen behind the curtain of that, of them trying to get it. And then I've been in rooms with like sponsors where they've like argued prices and like so. I figured I there was a unique perspective, and um I will say one joke, it is in the trailer, so I think it's okay that I can say this, but the only other joke that really started to like get the gears turning was uh I was like, how funny would it be if there's an influencer all hell loot is breaking loose behind them, and they say, like, I love you all so much. They're talking to their audience, and just don't forget, right now, you can get 15% off your Hello Fresh order. Ah, they get dragged away, which is in the movie. Uh, and I had this idea before even Bundy. And while we were shooting Bundy Manor, people were asking me, like, do you have your idea? And I would tell them that joke, and they would laugh, and I'd be like, Oh, okay, maybe there is something here. Uh, and then yeah, Janine, my co-writer, we've been improv buddies out here in LA for yeah, uh basically as soon as I moved out here. And so she's been one of my oldest friends here, and I've always wanted to create something with her. Um, yeah, so that was kind of the big inciting incident that that got us to today.
SPEAKER_02I love it, I love it. It's perfect. Um, well, that's fantastic, man. Well, uh, I'm really excited to show demonetize to uh to an audience and see yeah, yeah. You just got back from uh from Panic Fest, is that right? You sold out uh a screening at Panic Fest.
SPEAKER_00Yes, we sold out a 500-seat theater. Uh, it was just incredible. And seeing this, I gotta say, for everyone who's gonna come out and see it uh for Spark of Madness, seeing it in a movie theater, seeing it in a theater with people is the whole reason why we made this movie. Like there are certain moments in it that get a certain reaction that's just so fun with people. And I'll say this, I don't know if you're having directors introduce but or whatever, but maybe I'll just have you do it. I don't know. I know we're with other really cool shorts, so I don't want to take away from their time and stuff, but uh uh I love rowdy screenings with respect to the theater, of course. So I hope that when they come out and see it, I hope that you got everyone has just a great time. I hope they cheer, I hope they laugh, I hope they you know jump with the scares, and yeah, I hope they just have a great time because we will. So perfect.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we'll try to get them pumped up, get them excited, get them a little rowdy. Yeah, there you go. Cool, man. All right. Well, thanks so much for coming on, and uh, we'll see you May 21st ish um for the film festival. Yep, sounds good. All right, Alexander Watson, thank you so much. We'll talk soon. Okay.