PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Filmmaker P.J. Starks has made a name for himself in the indie film community as a writer, producer, and director. You may know him by reputation from such films as 13 Slays Till X-mas, Volumes of Blood, New Fears Eve, and The Boy From Below. He was kind enough to sit down with us recently to talk about a number of his projects, both past and present.
Here’s what he had to say!
PopHorror: How did New Fears Eve come about and how was the experience working with Jeffrey Reddick, knowing that he is a legend in the horror genre?
P.J. Starks: In the middle of filming 13 Slays Till X-Mas I came up with the title while driving. I thought it sounded cool. I worked out a basic concept but with the workload of the production I shelved it for later. Once we finished filming and 13 Slays did so well, Eric thought it was a natural progression to go forward on the next holiday. I pulled the idea back out and completely reworked New Fears Eve conceptually.
Originally what was planned to be another anthology became a single narrative feature since we’d made the creative decision to go in a different direction. We didn’t want to pigeonhole ourselves as anthology filmmakers. Plus, I’d written and directed two single-arc films previously, so it just felt like the right time to return to that format—and everything else naturally fell into place.
Working with Jeffrey was a great time. He and I have become good friends over the years and this flick gave us the excuse we needed to get on set together. For a creator and industry name that impacted popular culture he’s down-to-earth, level-headed, generous and kind. Jeffrey has been a pivotal force during post-production and the distribution process. He’s championed the film the entire time and I couldn’t be more grateful to have him involved. I think he honestly just used being on set as a cover to come home to Kentucky and hang out with his sister, but that’s just my theory. (laughs)
PopHorror: What were some of the highlights of the film’s reception so far?
P.J. Starks: The festival tour was a blast. One of the biggest highlights was the premiere in Manhattan. I’d never been to New York City, so going there as a filmmaker was something special. It was surreal showing our slasher in front of a New York audience and visiting the Ghostbusters firehouse on the same trip. Considering that film was the impetus for my love in everything that goes bump in the night, just felt serendipitous.
Mixing comedy with horror isn’t for everyone, but the compliments New Fears Eve got for being genuinely funny tells me we struck the right chord. That’s not to say every joke landed but regardless of where it screened—was almost always a crowd pleaser. The thing is, when you create something, the goal is always to entertain —so when a crowd laughs together over a raunchy joke or winces at a brutal kill, it makes all the on-set headaches totally worthwhile. In the end the film won over fifteen awards during its run including being nominated for a Fangoria Chainsaw Award, which was epic even without the win.
PopHorror: You also got Felissa Rose and Dave Sheridan involved in New Fears Eve, did you ever fathom working with them?
P.J. Starks: Honestly no. We knew we needed industry actors involved to elevate this project to the next level. They couldn’t be just any name; they needed to have the acting chops along with the gravitas. So, I reached out to my friend Lance Wagner who put us in touch with Felissa. After reading the script she immediately said yes to the project. She then asked if there was anyone else, we had in mind for parts. Knowing she had ties with Dave and Hannah Fierman, both solid talents in their own right, I asked. Felissa sent them the script and told them what roles we had in mind. Dave and Hannah loved the parts; the rest wrote itself.
One of the coolest things during pre-production is Dave would call me on like a Friday evening. We’d barely talk about the film. We’d just shoot the breeze discussing our kids or personal experiences working on other film projects. He had some awesome stories about his time on the set of Scary Movie. Being a huge fan of that franchise, had you told me in twenty-five years I’d be shooting the shit on a Friday night with Doofy, I would’ve called you crazy. But there I was. (laughs)
I think like a lot of people I have a great story about the first time I watched Sleepaway Camp. I mean, that twist ending. Being able to direct Felissa was an absolute treat. She’s so kind and her passion for every project she takes on is unparalleled. Felissa takes direction very well; she asks all the right questions and is really fun to work with. I’m glad I got to work with her on New Fears Eve and I’m excited to see her again soon on the set of The Last Sleepover.
PopHorror: Let’s shift gears to The Barn Part III – did you guys ever imagine this would have so much popularity when you were working on it that it would become a trilogy?
P.J. Starks: The first time I met and worked with Justin (Seaman) on Volumes of Blood: Horror Stories was right after he’d made the first Barn film. I’m honestly not sure if, at the time, he’d planned on it being a trilogy, but the popularity and immense staying power of this indie franchise is undeniable. Anytime you produce something you keep your fingers crossed it grows a following, but you never really know. Thankfully The Barn did, and it’s been exciting to see Justin develop the sequels.
Now Eric and I are producing Part 3, which has been a fun ride. For a little over a week in September of last year, we got to visit the set in Pennsylvania. The late night on-location shooting was grueling at times. However, getting to see the crew again was cool and we got to meet the new additions. Kaleb Griffin, who is an executive producer on New Fears Eve, was there when we visited. He was instrumental in helping fund that project, so it was great getting to see him.
Another highlight was Courtney Gains being on set. His performance is outstanding—and it elevates the entire film. Usually when I produce a project, unless it’s within driving distance, I’m doing most of my work from afar. With this project it was different from the start. Getting to be hands on with someone else’s film by assisting with crafting the crowd funding campaign, helping cast, procuring financing,coordinating scenes on set and working directly alongside Justin has been a journey worth taking.
If anyone is interested in getting involved on the ground level of this horror opus you can check out the in-demand campaign at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-barn-part-iii#/.
PopHorror: What are some of the details you can share about The Barn Part III and can you give us an idea about how fun the plot will be?
P.J. Starks: The footage looks fucking phenomenal. Even when I’m not on set Justin will send me screen grabs or behind-the-scenes photos to show what they’ve accomplished. Fans of the franchise are going to be in carnage-laced heaven. The monster mayhem is turned up to eleven, which means the kill scenes are slathered in gore. You can thank Cody Ruch for all that. He’s overseeing the effects and they’re insane. I will say though that it’s not completely violence saturated because there’s a more serious undertone happening with the narrative. Justin wanted to ramp up the drama and the emotional stakes. Based on the performances we saw while on set this is definitely the case.
PopHorror: The Last Sleepover has a ton of well-known people involved in the project as well. What can you tell us about that film?
P.J. Starks: The film takes place during a high school reunion wheresome long-time friends are stalked by a vengeful killer tied to a prom night prank, they thought they’d buried. The terror unfolds during a deadly sleepover where they’re forced to confront their past.
Gregory Brock and Austin Rutherford co-wrote the script, but it was Greg who’d asked me to join the team. After reading the script, it really did feel like a slice of 90s slasher fare. That’s what made me interested most in the project. Not to mention they have a very kickass masked villain. Scarlett is like the nightmare child of Coraline and Raggedy Anne. Overall, I enjoyed the script but felt like the kills were too tame sans maybe one or two. Greg was open to the idea of giving the kills an overhaul, so I did some basic re-writes for those scenes. I’m a red-stained cinephile, therefore, I want brutal and impactful deaths. You want the audience to have a visceral reaction.
As stated previously, Felissa Rose is attached to the project. A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 and 5 alum Lisa Wilcox is also starring in the film. Lisa too is a strong talent. I’m stoked to get to watch her act. I’ve never met her before so that’s one of the things I’m excited about. I’ll be headed to set soon, which will be great because I’m again working with my longtime friend and colleague Jason Crowe. I haven’t seen Katie Stewart since 13 Slays Till X-Mas so it’ll be great to hang with her again.
The film features a bunch of great acting talents such as Audrianna Curtsinger, Ashe Parker, Holly Anspaugh and so many others. Spooky Madison (read our interview here), who’s a solid up and comer, is part of the project and I recently worked with her on The Boy from Below.They’ll be filming a big reunion scene while I’m there. A ton of friends and creatives I know are involved in that scene including Kent Collins, who like Kaleb, helped us tremendously with getting New Fears Eve financed; Kelly Marks, Erica Dyer, Johnathon de Haviland, up and coming scream queen Sammy Morningstar and Owensboro filmmaker Daniel Benedict. It’s going to be a real-life reunion. (laughs)
Greg has been sending me shots and clips of what they’ve filmed so far, and it looks great. I think fans of stalk-and-slash films with a healthy dose of comeuppance will get a true kick outta this movie. The Last Sleepover is currently in-demand so if anyone wants in on the action check out https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-last-sleepover/reft/29885601/13393873.
PopHorror: Half–O–Ween seems like my cup of tea as well, what was some of the inspiration for that project? And how did you get involved?
P.J. Starks: Stephen Wolfe is a talented filmmaker, check out his film Doll Factory if you don’t believe me. He was telling me the other day that he’d always wanted to make a slasher film, and it finally felt like the timing was right. Like New Fears Eve, it isn’t your typical killer-on-the-loose story line, though that does play a part. Stephen has likened the narrative to Ghost World meets Halloween and it plays much more like something you’d see A24 release than say New Line Cinema. It’s a very dark comedy with some cool twists and turns. The film also has a pretty horrifying maniac that I think genre fans will enjoy. It films this summer in the Los Angeles area so if anyone is interested in getting involved, they can contact hawthornehousefilm@gmail.com for a pitch deck.
PopHorror: Thank you for taking the time to chat with us, P.J! You’re obviously a busy guy. We look forward to seeing how all of these projects come together for you in the coming months!
