PopHorror Let's Get Scared
When done right, a thriller/comedy can be a lot of fun. I’m happy to say that F Marry Kill, a new genre mashup from director Laura Murphy and starring Lucy Hale and Virginia Gardner is on point. I was thoroughly entertained from beginning to end. It’s full of laughs, intrigue, mystery, and of course, murder.
As a serial killer targets women on dating apps, a true-crime junkie must figure out which of her three dates is a f-boy, marriage material, or is trying to kill her.
To celebrate the release of the film, I chatted with director Laura and star Virginia about why they wanted to be a part of the film, horror movies, and more!
PopHorror: I had so much fun with F Marry Kill. I’m super excited to speak with you both about it. My first question is for you, Laura. What intrigued you about the script and made you want to be a part of the project?
Laura Murphy: I think I really loved the idea of the mixing of two genres where it was like a thriller but there was also a comedy element. There was this great twist. I liked the idea of making something where you could draw somebody in with the mystery part but then throughout there was lots of levity and laughter. I was excited at the opportunity to stretch my legs filmmaking-wise and make this very visually striking piece that looked like a thriller, which you often don’t get to do when doing just plain comedy, but then we didn’t have to sacrifice any of the comedy elements. So, it was kind of like a dream job.
PopHorror: I liked that the comedy was from start to finish. There’s no wavering in it. You don’t forget what you’re watching, and I really like that.
Laura Murphy: Thanks!
PopHorror: Virginia, what was it that made you want to say “yes” to this movie?
Virginia Gardner: So many things. I’ve never done a character quite like Kelly so that was a fun opportunity to play with something that I haven’t been able to do before. I love murder mystery, I love movies that feel genre bending and feel really unique and sort of one of one. Just as soon as I picked up the script, I was obsessed with finding out who the killer was, so I was just immediately drawn to it.
PopHorror: It definitely keeps you on your toes wondering, who did this? You think you know, and then it’s like, no, you’re wrong. Laura, how did you convey your vision to your cast and crew?
Laura Murphy: We had a lot of talks beforehand. I kind of talked early on about how I wanted it to… The visuals were going to take care of the thriller part so the only thing that I really wanted to focus on in the performances were moments where we could find comedy even in the most serious of scenes so that we could have a continuous tone throughout. And then going into it, that was the challenge, talking to everybody about, “Here’s the dramatic part of your character but where can we find the places that the levity can come from? Where’s the touchstone of like where we’re pulling comedy from in the characters?” These guys are so great and had so much range that on the day, for certain characters specifically – Virginia’s character – I would do a take that was like, “Let’s do a really dramatic take and then let’s just do a take where we play it for comedy and then let’s add on that and build on that comedy.” The range is so impressive that we were able then in post, I was able to have choices of how much we push the comedy or how much we pull back on it and make it a more dramatic scene so that we could achieve a really great tonal balance.
Virginia Gardner: Which I have to say as an actor is so fun. Like there’s a part of me that almost wishes you could do every movie like that as an actor because it’s just fun to like to do a scene one way and then flip it on its head and do it the complete opposite way and you never get stuck doing it one way or the other, you’re always changing it. I just found that really fun as an actor, to sort of play with the different genres each time you do a scene.
PopHorror: That sounds like a lot of fun! Virginia, was there anything you were adamant about bringing to your character?
Virginia Gardner: I don’t know that there was anything I felt super adamant about. I think the biggest thing for her was really getting into her driving force, which is like the sanctity of marriage and how dead serious she is and how committed she is to her point of view on that, and really just driving that home and finding out what her deep connection is to the sanctity of it all.
Laura Murphy: I think we were both in agreement that her wedding dress had to not be cool.
Virginia Gardner: Yes! That is so true. It needed to be obnoxious!
PopHorror: One last question for you both today. What is your favorite scary movie?
Virginia Gardner: Oh, I love horror movies!
Laura Murphy: I love the original Suspiria. I like the remake. The remake, I think did a great job but something about… Maybe because I didn’t know a lot about it. I’m not a big horror/scary movie watcher because I’m a chicken, but the original Suspiria I found to be incredible.
PopHorror: It’s the colors and the soundtrack.
Laura Murphy: Yeah! And they hand painted the blood in it. The blood was like all hand painted blood, so it popped so much from regular color in the movie.
Virginia Gardner: I love all horror. I love arthouse horror. And then one of my favorite franchises ever is the Final Destination franchise. I love a creative kill. I love a kill I’ve never seen before. I think I’m so fascinated by horror because I’m always blown away like, “I would not have thought to murder someone like that. What a fun thought!” I really enjoy that franchise in particular.
Thank you so much to Laura and Virginia for taking the time to speak with us. F Marry Kill is now in theaters and on Digital.
