PopHorror Let's Get Scared
After waking up hungry, hungover, and next to a murdered stranger, Jill’s (Ruby Modine, Silent Night, Deadly Night, Shameless) day goes from bad to apocalyptic. Between a tied-up man in her closet, an unconscious roommate, and a knife to her best friend’s neck, her only mission is somehow to make it to brunch by 3:00 p.m.
Written, directed, and produced by Ian Kimble, Dead Giveaway takes a hilariously twisted premise and turns it into a whip-smart horror comedy bursting with tension and wit. Ruby Modine and Mikaela Hoover (Superman [2025]) share electric chemistry that keeps the chaos believable and the laughs coming, with Scout Taylor-Compton (Rob Zombie’s Halloween) rounding out the cast.
A filmmaker known for his award-winning shorts and inventive storytelling, Kimble makes his feature debut with Dead Giveaway — an expansion of one of his earlier short films. In this exclusive conversation with Pop Horror, Kimble discusses the challenge of balancing horror and comedy, finding rhythm in chaos, and what happens when your characters start speaking for themselves.
Pop Horror Interview with Ian Kimble — Dead Giveaway
PopHorror: You expanded Dead Giveaway from one of your short films, so the story had enough gas in the tank for a full feature. What did you do to expand upon it from the original version?
Ian Kimble: Yeah, it’s funny you ask. With the original version, it was the same timeframe, right? So it’s still from when she wakes up to when they go get something to eat. I knew I didn’t want to add any time before or after — I didn’t want to suddenly make it a whole day. So it just became this really fun game of, like, how much more can I pack into this situation these girls are in, just to ramp up the intensity of the morning for them.
PopHorror: Horror comedy is a tough tightrope to walk. How did you find the right balance between generating laughs and scares without one undercutting the other?
Ian Kimble: Yeah, I mean, I think that as a fan of both genres individually and together, for me it’s like—whenever I feel like I need a breath of one or the other, I just follow that instinct. When there’s a lot of comedy going on and there’s a good break in there, I’ll think, “Okay, what can I do to keep the audience on their toes a little bit?”
When I was writing and making it, I always tried to remember the feeling of being an audience member. I’m not just trying to shove stuff in their face — I want to enjoy the movie as much as they do. So I’d ask myself, “What would I want in this moment?” That makes it easier to direct the emotion one way or the other.
On the Mysteries of Writing
PopHorror: Were there any moments in writing it where the characters sort of wrote themselves? Writers talk about that — they want the story to go one way, but the characters take it somewhere else.
Ian Kimble: Yeah, absolutely. It’s such a weird feeling when you hit that stride and you know the characters well enough. After doing the short, expanding it, constantly reworking and rewriting, it got funny — I’d be writing a scene, and like you said, it’s hard to explain, but it’s almost like you hear them talking in your head. I’m just writing down what they’re saying.
It’s an odd feeling, but it definitely let me know I was on the right track — when I didn’t have to think about what they were going to say or do next.
PopHorror: They say that about music too — songwriters say the song was floating in the air and they just grabbed it. Obviously not literally, but something like that.
Ian Kimble: Yeah, that’s a great way to describe it. It’s hard to explain any other way than as some metaphysical thing you’re pulling out of nowhere.
PopHorror: So, I’m not misremembering — the main character’s name is Jill, right?
Ian Kimble: Yeah, yeah.
PopHorror: Okay, so Jill’s day goes from bad to worse. It’s obviously a chaotic situation — what drew you to having her as the center of this mad tale?
Ian Kimble: It’s funny, because as much as she absolutely is the lead, I still think of it as an ensemble piece. Everybody plays their own part. But I think watching movies like Clue, where even though everyone’s involved, you’re following the butler mostly — he’s leading the charge — that stuck with me.
It became easy from there: she’s the one who wakes up next to the dead body. Her desire to figure out what happened and get rid of it just slightly supersedes the mission of getting to brunch on time. And as much as the Leah character comes in to be comedic relief and push the story along, she also balances things out so it’s not just “let’s solve this mystery.” There’s another direction — another reason to get this resolved — beyond just wanting the body gone.
PopHorror: It seems like a comment on how routine-oriented people are, where the routine is almost more important than the dead body that’s there.
Ian Kimble: Oh yeah. I mean, we all have the metaphorical dead body hanging out somewhere in our lives, and we’d much rather just go get our normal coffee. Routine is the driving factor behind most things in life. And when you’re hungover, that routine definitely takes the forefront in your mind.
Wearing Different Hats
PopHorror: You wrote, directed, and produced this film. What was the hardest hat to wear — and which came most naturally?
Ian Kimble: Producing comes very naturally to me. I really enjoy the puzzle pieces — putting together a schedule, budgets, organizing people and places. Writing also comes naturally because I can do it alone and take my time with it.
Directing is something I’ve been doing for 20 years in theater and film, so that comes naturally too. The hardest thing is switching hats — when I’m directing, I have to stop producing. I have to focus on shots, actors, and the story — not the budget or schedule.
Each role individually, I enjoy. But not doing more than one at a time? That’s the challenge.
On-Screen Chemistry
PopHorror: Ruby Modine and Michaela Hoover have real chemistry here. Did you have to build that dynamic in prep or on set?
Ian Kimble: Not as much as you’d think. I was really lucky. When I cast Ruby, she totally understood the script — the rhythm, the character, everything. Same with Michaela — she’s a huge horror fan and got it right away.
The first time they met, they were already hanging out. We flew them in, they were staying in the same place, and before I even saw them, they’d already started bonding. When you see that working, you just let it go. They’d send me pictures hanging out in their hotel rooms, going over lines — they got along great, and the chemistry just happened naturally.
PopHorror: Sure, because you always hear horror stories about people feuding backstage — “I’m the star!” “No, I’m the star!”
Ian Kimble: Yeah, exactly.
PopHorror: One of my favorite parts of the movie is that bit of dialogue where she says, “Can you come up with just one good idea today?” I think we’ve all been there.
Ian Kimble: Yeah, it’s funny, because I’ve always been that guy saying, “There are no bad ideas.” It’s better to have 100 bad ideas and one good one than none at all. So I was sort of making fun of myself there, because I throw out plenty of bad ideas on the way to a good one.
Michaela really sold that moment perfectly — how she delivered that line was spot-on.
PopHorror: There’s also that saying, “There are no dumb questions,” but there absolutely are.
Ian Kimble: There absolutely are dumb questions.
PopHorror: Yeah. And you don’t want to say that because it sounds unfair, but nevertheless — I’ve heard some dumb questions. And I’ve asked some as well.
Ian Kimble: (laughs) Haven’t we all?
Influences for Dead Giveaway
PopHorror: What films or filmmakers helped shape your approach to Dead Giveaway? Were you pulling from any horror classics or comedies or both?
Ian Kimble: Definitely more from comedies. Especially the resurgence of the Sundance filmmakers of the early ’90s — Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino, Linklater — those guys really focused on dialogue and character.
That was a big influence out of necessity. I didn’t have the money for blowing up cars or 80s-style action. So I had to rely on dialogue, character, story, and plot. Those filmmakers did the same thing after the big 80s explosion era — they went back to storytelling.
From there, I drew from a hundred other things. The girls being dressed like the gang from A Clockwork Orange in the bathtub cutting bodies apart — that was one nod. There are a hundred little references that sneak into any movie you make.
PopHorror: Were there any creative or logistical hurdles that stand out?
Ian Kimble: Logistically, it’s always time. Everybody wishes they had more. We shot in 14 days, and I was proud we didn’t do any overtime. You hear horror stories of 18-hour days — I hate that. I don’t like working people overtime. I want everyone well-rested, fed, happy, able to shower.
So the challenge was: how do we take this script, with the time we have, and shoot it efficiently so it doesn’t look amateurish, but still tells the story we want? That goes back to producing — I love that puzzle-solving.
Each night, we’d review the next day’s schedule. If we had 22 setups, I’d say, “Let’s try to get this down to 18.” What can we cut, consolidate, or reimagine to still get everything we want?
PopHorror: All right, final question — what projects do you have on the horizon? And is there anything else you’d like to say about Dead Giveaway?
Ian Kimble: Yeah, I definitely have a couple of features written that I’d like to make. One is really taking the lead in my head right now — it’s darker than Dead Giveaway, for sure, but fun.
This movie was such a pleasure to make. Such a great group of people. I was just talking to half of the art department from Dead Giveaway about working on the next one — I loved everyone I got to work with, and I want to bring them along.
We made a really cool movie with limited means and great performances. I just hope people like it.
