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[Interview] iHorror Chats It Up With Writer & Director Rebekah McKendry.
Christmas time, the time of year when we are all try to do a little more, be a little nicer, and do good onto others. Director and Writer Rebekah McKendry has just done that by giving us the most wonderful gift, a new sinister horror holiday anthology All The Creatures Were Stirring. Rebekah has quite the impressive resume, she is an award-winning television and film director and she has a doctorate focused in Media Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University, a MA in Film Studies from City University of New York, and a second MA from Virginia Tech in Media Education. Rebekah is no stranger to horror journalism as she has served as the Editor-in-chief for Blumhouse and as the Director of Marketing for the world famous Fangoria Magazine. Rebekah currently serves as a professor at USC School of Cinematic Arts and is a current co-host to Blumhouse’s Shock Waves podcast.
Rebekah’s husband David Ian McKendry also served as a director and writer on All The Creatures Were
Interview With Rebekah McKendry
Ryan Thomas Cusick: Hi Rebekah!
Rebekah McKendry: Hi Ryan! How are you doin?
RTC: I’m great, how are you?
RM: I am doin well, it is a very rainy day in Los Angeles, aside from that, I am doin well!
RTC: Yeah, I was going to ask you if you were enjoying this rain. [Laughs]
RM: I am looking outside right now, and it’s downpouring! My dog refuses to go outside, I don’t want to go outside either but I am going to have to in a bit. These days it only
RTC: Yup, and when its not here we want it.
RTC: All The Creatures Were Stirring was great, Christmas time is getting to the point where I enjoy watching the Christmas horror films more than I do so around Halloween.
RM: I love that. People are making these lists of the best Christmas Horror that we have been ending up on, which is awesome. But then just looking at the list its like “My God there is a lot of Christmas Horror and they are damn good.” It is just a fun time period to tackle, Christmas is wonderful but there is a definitely a sinister side to it as well.
RTC: There definitely is a dark side to it. I think you captured that, just in your introduction with your two characters going to the theatre, captures that loneliness, the two of them meeting up, to fill that void on Christmas Eve. I really enjoyed that.
RM: Oh thanks! Dave [McKendry] and I started to think about our first Christmas in Los Angeles, we had lived in New York city for years prior and it was within driving distance of our family home. We were used to this kind of snowy home for the holidays, family, Grandma and everyone eating turkey and mashed potatoes, bad sweaters Christmas. We got to Los Angeles and couldn’t afford to go back our first year and you just and it was just weird! It was like a ghost town, everyone that was here was like orphans, Christmas orphans. We all hung out together and BBQ in my backyard because it was like eighty-five degrees on Christmas Day, it was just a completely different vibe for us so it was an interesting starting point, “well its Christmas, I can’t get home, so umm, yeah we should hang out because its Christmas and I feel like we need to do something.” We thought that was an interesting starting point for it.
RTC: You did capture that, I picked up on it right away. Out of the five stories the first two were my absolute favorite.
RM: I love hearing that from people! That’s the interesting thing about an anthology, as soon as people see they are inclined, which is great, to say which one is their favorite, and which one is their least favorite, which is cool, I think is fun because no one ever says the same one for either of those. Every single segment has been someone’s favorite and has also been someone’s least favorite. I then look at them and say “well did great with the parking lot segment,” I love that one. Other people are like, “I didn’t like it, you didn’t explain anything. Where does that monster come from? Why does he live in a van?”
Both: [Laugh]
RM: I just love how polarizing these have become.
RTC: I think the first one, ‘All The Stockings Were Hung’ is about workplace bullying, workplace violence, it was great, and it caught me off guard. [Laughs] It really did! When the first gift was open, I said, “Oh Shit!” We are going to be in for a ride.
RM: We were hoping that would get some people because Chase Williamson we had worked with him before. Chase had starred in a short that we did and so our idea was to put him as one of the top billed on the movie and then kill him within like thirty seconds! We just loved that element and Chase was totally fine with it.
RTC: You and your husband co-wrote and co-directed the film, did the two of you have any creative differences or did everything just flow?
RM: Oh my gosh we always do! Oh Lord no, we argue about everything and that is kind of our process. When Morgan [Peter Brown] and Joe [Wicker] told us that they wanted to purchase the concept and they wanted to fund and get the investments, immediately Dave and I started generating ideas. When we pitched it we had three segments
RTC: I like that!
RM: If we’re not passionate about it, if we approach the concept and we are both like ‘meh, it will work” its probably not that great, and neither of us are really passionate about it enough to argue it.
RTC: Do you have anything in the future that you are going to be working on? Anymore features? Can we expect a sequel?
RM: We would love to do a sequel eventually. Right now we just wrapped on a second feature that I did through Producer Buz Wallick through MarVista Entertainment. It is a thriller, and even though it is a thriller it has a really high body count, I beat someone to death with a teapot in it.
RTC: oh, WOW!
RM: That was pretty fun and I stab someone in the neck with knitting needles, even though it is more of a thriller more than a supernatural horror, it is super fun! We just wrapped that, we are in post on it now and hopefully it will be coming somewhere in early 2019. Dave did a pass on the script for that so it does have some of his comedic voice in it. Dave and I are just pitching around, we have pitch meetings and we are attached to projects that we cannot talk about yet and that we are hoping will get greenlit. If not, like I said, we created a lot of segments for creatures and we have a lot of ideas that we didn’t get to use. So if there is a sequel I would be excited as hell to get the team back together to be able to do this again.
RTC: Very exciting! Again, congratulations, and thank you so much.
RM: Oh my gosh, thank you and stay dry!
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News
Exclusive Sneak Peek: Eli Roth and Crypt TV’s VR Series ‘The Faceless Lady’ Episode Five
Eli Roth (Cabin Fever) and Crypt TV are knocking it out of the park with their new VR show, The Faceless Lady. For those unaware, this is the first fully scripted VR horror show on the market.
Even for masters of horror like Eli Roth and Crypt TV, this is a monumental undertaking. However, if I trust anyone to change the way that we experience horror, it would be these two legends.
Ripped from the pages of Irish folklore, The Faceless Lady tells the story of a tragic spirit cursed to wander the halls of her castle for all of eternity. However, when three young couples are invited to the castle for a series of games, their fates may soon change.
So far, the story has provided horror fans with a gripping game of life or death that doesn’t look as if it will slow down in episode five. Luckily, we have an exclusive clip that may be able to satiate your appetites until the new premiere.
Airing on 4/25 at 5pmPT/8pmET, episode five follows our final three contestants in this wicked game. As the stakes are raised ever higher, will Ella be able to fully awaken her connection with Lady Margaret?
The newest episode can be found on Meta Quest TV. If you haven’t already, follow this link to subscribe to the series. Make sure to check out the new clip below.
Eli Roth Present’s THE FACELESS LADY S1E5 Clip: THE DUEL – YouTube
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News
‘Blink Twice’ Trailer Presents a Thrilling Mystery in Paradise
A new trailer for the movie formerly known as Pussy Island just dropped and it has us intrigued. Now with the more restrained title, Blink Twice, this Zoë Kravitz-directed black comedy is set to land in theaters on August 23.
The film is packed with stars including Channing Tatum, Naomi Ackie, Alia Shawkat, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Christian Slater, Kyle MacLachlan, and Geena Davis.
The trailer feels like a Benoit Blanc mystery; people are invited to a secluded location and disappear one by one, leaving one guest to figure out what is going on.
In the film, a billionaire named Slater King (Channing Tatum) invites a waitress named Frida (Naomi Ackie) to his private island, “It’s paradise. Wild nights blend into sun-soaked days and everyone’s having a great time. No one wants this trip to end, but as strange things start to happen, Frida begins to question her reality. There is something wrong with this place. She’ll have to uncover the truth if she wants to make it out of this party alive.”
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Movies
Melissa Barrera Says ‘Scary Movie VI’ Would Be “Fun To Do”
Melissa Barrera might literally get the last laugh on Spyglass thanks to a possible Scary Movie sequel. Paramount and Miramax are seeing the right opportunity to bring the satirical franchise back into the fold and announced last week one might be in production as early as this fall.
The last chapter of the Scary Movie franchise was almost a decade ago and since the series lampoons thematic horror movies and pop culture trends, it would seem they have a lot of content to draw ideas from, including the recent reboot of slasher series Scream.
Barerra, who starred as final girl Samantha in those movies was abruptly fired from the latest chapter, Scream VII, for expressing what Spyglass interpreted as “antisemitism,” after the actress came out in support of Palestine on social media.
Even though the drama wasn’t a laughing matter, Barrera might get her chance to parody Sam in Scary Movie VI. That is if the opportunity arises. In an interview with Inverse, the 33-year-old actress was asked about Scary Movie VI, and her reply was intriguing.
“I always loved those movies,” the actress told Inverse. “When I saw it announced, I was like, ‘Oh, that would be fun. That would be so fun to do.’”
That “fun to do” part could be construed as a passive pitch to Paramount, but that’s open to interpretation.
Just like in her franchise, Scary Movie also has a legacy cast including Anna Faris and Regina Hall. There is no word yet on if either of those actors will appear in the reboot. With or without them, Barrera is still a fan of the comedies. “They have the iconic cast that did it, so we’ll see what goes on with that. I’m just excited to see a new one,” she told the publication.
Barrera is currently celebrating the box office success of her latest horror movie Abigail.
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