PopHorror Let's Get Scared
You can see by our review that we loved the movie 4/20 Massacre (2018), filmmaker Dylan Reynold’s debut horror flick. Although he has a bunch of credits working in the film industry, his directing projects are few, although we honestly admit that his talent in directing makes up for his inexperience. We were lucky that Dylan spent a few minutes of his time with us to share his thoughts on Miss Mary Jane herself and gave Pophorror some insight in what it took to make 4/20 Massacre.
Pophorror: What inspired you to do 4/20 Massacre? Are you an advocate for the legal use of marijuana or just thought the idea would be generally cool to mix a slasher with a weed theme? I know of some older films such as Toxic Zombies (1980) and Evil Bong (2006) that went with this theme, but were not necessarily slasher films.
Dylan Reynolds: You mean what inspired me besides the obvious? (laughs)
PopHorror: Well, yeah. (laughs)
Dylan Reynolds: I didn’t go in with an agenda as far as legalization or whatever. But when I was developing the project, I realized that, except for a handful of movies like Dazed and Confused (1993), the stoner sub genre isn’t really handled in a dramatic or realistic fashion, with most stoner movies being of the Cheech & Chong and Harold & Kumar variety. And in regards to the horror genre, it’s even more so.
Like you said, there have been a handful of instances where marijuana has been used as a plot device… Ticks (1993) comes to mind. And there are a couple flicks where smoking weed turns people into zombies with the munchies, probably most memorably in the film Blood Freak (1971), where a dude smokes pot and turns into a giant killer turkey. (laughs)
My point is that, by and large, cinema treats stoners and marijuana consumption as mostly comic relief or the butts of jokes, and usually in an over-the-top and ridiculous fashion. So my attempt with 4/20 Massacre is to treat marijuana and pot heads in, at least, a somewhat grounded, realistic manner with actual human beings rather than caricatures.
Plus I was inspired by some real world stuff. For one, the concept of the weed farmer as a slasher comes from the actual problem that exists in national parks where individuals known as “guerrilla growers” set up illegal marijuana farms and in some instances these growers have attacked or killed unwitting hikers that have stumbled upon their turf. The second real world inspiration is derived from the actual date of April 20th (4/20). While doing research for the film, I found that, not only is the day the official holiday for weed enthusiasts, but both the 20th and late April have been host to some real world tragedies, ranging from the birth of Hitler to the Columbine mass shooting to Waco. It was these coincidences that got my imagination going, and I built upon the concept of 4/20 Massacre as a holiday set slasher film… like Friday the 13th, but with weed.
Pophorror: What films and directors have made the biggest impact on you as a film maker and film fan in general? ?
Dylan Reynolds: I was born in 1980, so I grew up on Spielberg and Lucas movies as a kid, and then in the late ’80s/early ’90s, came the big wave of Sundance indies. Like many filmmakers of my generation, I assume we’re all in one way or another inspired by Richard Linklater, Kevin Smith, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. I’m also a big fan of maverick auteur filmmakers like John Cassavetes and John Carpenter.
Pophorror: What are your personal beliefs regarding the use of marijuana? Where I live in Canada, it will be legal come July 1, 2019, and already in the U.S., there are many states with increasing laws regarding legal and medicinal usage. ?
Dylan Reynolds: I think it’s been pretty much well determined that weed is, at least, no worse than alcohol, and arguments could be made that it is not nearly as dangerous. Plus, with the various medical uses, it just makes more and more sense to go to legalization. And the writing is on the wall. Big money is being made in the states where it’s legal and, once that happens, it’s only inevitable that the Federal laws will change… if for no other reason than for the government to get their tax money. (laughs)
Pophorror: Jaimie Bernadette is a strong lead actress. She has starred in similar movies, with an upcoming sequel to the original I Spit On Your Grave which I am excited about. ?Did you seek her for out for this role or did she approach you?
Dylan Reynolds: I’ve seen Jamie in a few independent movies, and I’ve always thought she was a great actress that I wanted to work with. Plus, she has the scream queen/final girl qualities that I felt were needed for the role of Jess. I had ended up talking to her about the project a couple times at some screening and film market parties, and I was really stoked that she agreed to be part of the film once I got it off the ground. And it turned out really well, I think. Not only is she a good dramatic performer, but she was really dedicated in doing all the stunts and fights for the film, which I think adds to its effectiveness.
Pophorror: What were some of the biggest challenges in making a film like 4/20 Massacre??
Dylan Reynolds: We shot the movie just outside of Big Bear, California, and we basically housed the cast and crew at this sleepaway camp that is mainly used for kids and corporate or church retreats. So we would get up in the morning, go out and shoot the scenes in and around the surrounding forest, and then go back and have some adult beverages and talk about what we would be shooting the next day. It was rinse and repeat for 10 days straight.
So yeah, the whole movie takes place outdoors and, besides the usual pitfalls of low budget/short schedule, we had the additional challenges of lugging gear and people to onsite locations. There were bugs, snakes and God knows what else that we had to be mindful of. Plus, there was a ridiculous amount of dirt and dust that would get into the gear and every orifice of your body. At times, it was challenging to block and stage scenes. You see, usually if you have a set or location like a house or an office, there’s a finite amount of shots you can practically stage. But when you’re dealing with a 360 degree situation, you can trip yourself up. It’s almost as if having too many options is just as challenging as having limits of where you can point the camera.
Pophorror: What were some of the best highlights and moments while shooting 4/20 Massacre??
Dylan Reynolds: Doing a low/no budget shoot in ten days straight has a lot of inherent challenges and invariably every day – damn near every hour – there was some kind of disaster or threat that could potentially derail our schedule or budget or entire production. But we managed to get it done, in no small part due to the solid attitude and dedication of the cast and the very understaffed but hard working crew that agreed to go on this crazy journey with me. It was stressful as hell, but still a lot of fun… I would describe it as an adult summer camp where we just happened to make a movie.
Pophorror: What kind of response have you been getting from 4/20 Massacre? I reviewed it and thought it was more of a serious movie than expected, and I noticed that other reviews thought the same as well. It’s not just a goofy people smoking pot and joking around. It gets down and dirty.
Dylan Reynolds: For the most part, I’ve been happy with the responses and feedback the film has received. I know it isn’t perfect, but we tried to make a fun throwback slasher flick that takes some chances with the typical formula. I think the people that get it seem to genuinely enjoy the flick… and as a filmmaker, I don’t think you can ask for anything more.
Yeah, like I’ve alluded to before, for some reason, I found a lot of potential with the idea of a stoner slasher film that isn’t taken as a joke. I also liked the idea of creating an indie drama… but then a killer shows up, and I saw the structure of the slasher film as a way to populate the story with people that you would actually care about when they die.
Plus, more often than not, the slasher sub-genre is treated like the red-headed step child of horror, even among folks who profess to be horror fans. But when watching some of the earlier slasher films, pre ’84 or first wave slashers, I found them to actually be comprised of some interesting storylines and characters. I’m not saying these are perfect films, but they are far from deserving the automatic dismissal that people have given them as soon as they hear the word “slasher.”
So, I tried to approach my slasher film, 4/20 Massacre, with the seriousness and respect I feel the sub-genre deserves, or at least should be given more of, by spending some time writing likable characters that viewers – hopefully! – won’t be counting down the minutes until they die.
Pophorror: What are some of your favorite slasher movies? ?
Dylan Reynolds: I love film in general, and I would say I have a particular fondness for horror and exploitation cinema of the ’70s and ’80s. I knew I wanted to direct a horror film for my third feature, and I gravitated towards the slasher sub-genre because some of my fondest movie watching memories from childhood that came from late night viewings and VHS rentals of Friday the 13th and Elm Street sequels.
But when picking certain films that influenced 4/20 Massacre, I would have to start with the Holy Trinity of the ’70s that laid the slasher film groundwork… Black Christmas (1974), Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), and Halloween (1978). Then, of course, there is the movie that perfected the slasher formula, Friday the 13th (1980), and I would actually throw in the first five Paramount produced films of that series as being influential. There is also the sub/sub-genre of slashers that are backwoods/camping in nature, namely The Burning (1981), Just Before Dawn (1981), Final Terror (1983), The Prey (1984), The Forest (1982), Madman (1982), Don’t Go in the Woods (1981) and Memorial Valley Massacre (1989).
Pophorror: Do you think there could be a possibility of a sequel to 4/20 Massacre??
Dylan Reynolds: Sure! If everyone rents or buys the movie a couple of times! (laughs) I think there’s definitely potential for some sequels and, like I said, I’ve got a few ideas bouncing around. What I would like to do for the next one is take it from a backwoods slasher survival film, and make an urban set, Giallo-esque thriller. Giallo films were ’70s Italian exploitation movies directed by the likes of Dario Argento and Mario Bava that were precursors to slashers and often had a whodonit plot structure. So yeah, hopefully we’ll get to make a 4/20 Massacre 2 in that style.
Pophorror: Are you working on any upcoming projects??
Dylan Reynolds: I’ve got a few things in the pipeline that I’m hoping will be a follow up to 4/20 Massacre. It’s always a matter of getting a script together that can be funded, and then getting the money together is always the challenge… We’ll see.
