WSB: Holiday-centric horror can be kind of a guilty pleasure for a lot of horror fans, but New Year’s Eve often feels like it gets overlooked in the holiday slasher genre. What drew you to New Year’s Eve as a holiday setting and what made you want to make this film?

P.J.: It wasn’t by design really. The title popped into my head one day while driving. It sounded cool so I ran with it. It was never really a situation where I thought, “there’s barely any New Year’s horror films, so we should do that.” Once I figured out we were going to make our first feature narrative, and that this would give me the opportunity to leave a mark on the slasher sub-genre, especially considering it’s my favorite, I was completely sold on this being our next project.

When I think of New Year’s Eve, my mind goes to “almost-classics” like Terror Train, New Year’s Evil, Ghostkeeper, etc. Were there any specific films that you drew from or used for inspiration when creating New Fears Eve?

Not in terms of using similarly themed films, but as a long time horror fan I'm always tipping my hat to or injecting references to the genre films I love. If you really pay attention there are direct visual homages to many films from Saw to I Know What You Did Last Summer to Scream 2 to The Burning. Being as this was a horror comedy I took a lot of liberties with familiar tropes and then tried to retool them where I could so you aren’t sure where the film will go next. I feel there are some key scenes where we’re really successful with those misdirects. Ultimately, the inspiration for the story came mostly from my own life and personal experiences of loss.

A lot of those same holiday-centered horror films seem to go to great lengths to explain why the holiday is important for the killer, for the victims, or for the location. You go the opposite route, keeping the killer’s motive a secret throughout the film. Can you talk a little about that decision?

The time of year is really not important to the killer whatsoever, but evil doesn’t sleep. Even on holidays. I’ve watched enough true crime to understand that serial killers thrive on bloodlust, and most times there’s never a clear-cut conclusion as to why they murder. Most singular murders are crimes of passion, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. Similar to Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees, The Doctor is a shark. He approaches death with the passionate devotion of a serious hobbyist. The other more “artsy-fartsy” explanation is that our slasher has a deeper meaning. The Doctor symbolizes an abrupt turning point in life, those traumatic moments that permanently alter our trajectory. He represents the nightmare you wake from in a cold sweat for no clear reason—the unstoppable cancer stealing someone you love, or the betrayal of the one person you should have been able to trust above all others.

Image of a man in front of a red background, wearing a "Monster Squad" T-shirt. His left hand is in his pocket and his right arm sits atop a plague doctor mask. — P.J. Starks shows off the killer’s mask from his new film *New Fears Eve*.

I think the humor that you’ve written for a lot of the characters was much more prevalent in the '80s than in many of the films you see being made nowadays—in general, we see a lot less crassness than we used to in the genre. Was that a conscious decision to push back against the more “sophisticated” scripts that have become the norm and shoot for a more irreverent group of characters? Were there any specific directions needed for the younger cast members to get into that mindset for their roles?

That’s a great question. Horror wasn’t my only favorite genre. I grew up on a steady diet Porky’s, American Pie and Mel Brooks comedies, therefore, my dark and unapologetic sense of humor was molded at a young age. Yes, using that type of humor was a conscious choice but no, it wasn’t my way of trying to push back against modern sensibilities or to even be malicious. It’s simply an authentic extension of who I am. As a matter of fact, most of the people I’m closest to are equally built with a snarky wit and can take a joke. Jeffrey [Reddick], who’s a fantastic writer that has meticulously crafted his own abilities over years in the industry, heavily praised the script after reading it. He particularly loved the humorous aspects. When the writer and creator of the Final Destination franchise favorably recognizes your abilities, you listen, and I did.

Regarding the actors, Eric and I suggested certain comedies or specific comedic actors to our leads to help give them a better idea of what we had in mind regarding said roles. However, they were never told to mimic those actors. We wanted them to put their own spin on the parts. Lily-Claire [Harvey], Matthew [Tichenor] and Turner [Vaughn] did that in spades. They each brought their own textures to each character.

What was your approach: to make a horror movie with comedy, a comedy movie with horror, a new enduring slasher, or just a “gross-out” movie with gnarly kills and effects?

All of the above. When I wrote the script it was about creating the most interesting characters I could, putting them in an impossible situation and then finding the most colorful way they might try to get out of it. On the surface the narrative is very simple. Like the films Hell Night or even Clerks you’re following a brief moment in time in the lives of a few people and how they navigate life and relationships in times of duress or basic stressors. Of course these scenarios are all heavily coated with dick and fart jokes. Beneath all of that is a carefully shaped and layered narrative of these individuals traversing the traumatic valleys once this unstoppable force of nature begins to unravel their normal existence. Based on a few Letterboxd reviews it seems those undertones were lost on some, so I’m sure they’d read this thinking I was full of shit. [Laughs] Thankfully, it seems most who’ve watched the film have understood what we were trying to do and had a great time with it.

You co-directed New Fears Eve with Eric Huskisson. How do you divide your directors’ duties while trying to maintain a cohesive vision? How different is it from directing solo?

Eric and I have been producing together for over a decade now and we do so very well. On set I dealt directly with Alex [Clark], our DP, because I’m a visual artist and had a specific vision as to how certain moments should be shot. I don't want anyone to take that the wrong way, the reason the film looks so beautiful was because of how incredibly talented Alex is. I relied on him quite a bit. I also directed all the kill scenes because I understood how they needed to be filmed so they have a more visceral and stylistic execution. The majority of Eric’s directing duties were working with the cast on much of the dialogue-driven scenes. With us co-directing though there was a lot of crossover. Because I’d written the script, Eric did lean on me during the character and story building moments. Especially when it came to certain inflections or set-ups. It was different only because it was honestly less stressful. Having someone you work well with and can lean on can be a Godsend.

With this film, you’ve got the makings of a bona-fide ensemble cast. Dave Sheridan (Scary Movie, The Devil’s Rejects), Hannah Fierman (V/H/S, Siren), and of course, the inimitable Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp, Terrifier 2). How would you describe working with talent like theirs (and everyone else involved) that spans decades and genres, even under the umbrella of horror?

We’re very picky when we choose actors for roles. Felissa, Hannah, and Dave are all very strong actors. We knew they could carry a role and that’s exactly why they were cast. Felissa is really fun to be with on set and has an infectious enthusiasm that quickly spreads to everyone. Dave is a hilarious performer and he gave us some really hilarious riffing that I was able to use when editing the film. It was unscripted material that made his scenes that much funnier. Hannah is a very natural actor and a professional in every sense of the word. This was the first time Eric and I had the resources and opportunity to cast full industry professionals. This includes Jeffrey, who also acts in the film, as well as produces, and gives a very funny, nuanced performance. The whole experience was surreal and unforgettable.

Every horror fan loves a good practical kill, and you deliver that in spades with this film. Do you see yourself as an “all-practical, all the time” kind of director, or do you think CGI has a spot in the toolbox like any other tool?

Thank you so much for saying that. I'm a big gorehound and I love elaborate and inventive deaths. I’m all-practical, as much of the time as you can. There are about fifty-six visual effects shots in the film, but they’re minor tweaks and adjustments. There’s a single digital blood shot in New Fears Eve. Usually I’m against using CGI, especially with blood but Josh [Siegel], our Script and Visual FX Supervisor, did such a convincing job with the blood that Eric and I both okayed it to stay in the film.

Speaking of toolboxes—how are there so many conveniently placed weapons around the Hooper Industries office? Should I be secretly stashing heavy tools around my office? Just in case??

This is a horror comedy so you can’t ask sensible questions like that. [Laughs] Echoing Dr. Giggles, The Doctor employs a variety of medical instruments to kill his victims, from bonesaws and tongue depressors to stethoscopes, with a basic scalpel serving as his signature weapon. In the third act massacre, he does use office tools like scissors or a paper cutter. Nevertheless, because of a crowd-funding decision to allow total strangers to purchase a chance to be murdered in the film, the death toll rose by a staggering twenty-three kills. After a while, I had to start using non-medical implements and the next thing you know, Hooper Industries has a double-sided axe hanging on the wall, perfect for killing. This is where you have to suspend your disbelief.

I mentioned earlier that you left plenty of questions unanswered by the end of the film—do you have plans for a New Fears Eve 2? Is there anything else in the pipeline that you can talk about?

Yes and this was intentional, much to the dismay of horror fans who hate that sort of thing. But rest assured, the story isn’t over and there is a fully-fleshed-out narrative for the next installment. I have really big ideas, a bunch of hilarious set-ups and some pretty gnarly over-the-top kills planned for part 2. Whether we get to make NFE2 is yet to be seen. It will depend largely on how well this first film does. The budget will be larger so simple crowd-funding may not be sufficient enough to cover our financial needs and we’re more than likely going to have to look at investors. So if anyone out there has any expendable income and wants to help make the next big horror franchise a reality, please email us at bloodmoonpics@gmail.com! New Fears Eve is currently trending in the number two spot in Screambox’s Top Ten Movies category. It’s also available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime, Google Play, Plex, YouTube TV, Hoopla, Fandango at Home and The Roku Channel.

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I’m currently producing several other projects. One is a short comedy slasher called Half-O-Ween that will begin filming soon in the Los Angeles county area. The other is a more serious slasher reminiscent of the '80s and '90s revenge slice-and-dice films titled The Last Sleepover that features both Felissa Rose and Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master). We get back on set next month to finish filming. The film has a really cool killer named Scarlett and being on set with everyone last year was intensely stressful, but also a ton of fun. Eric and I both are producing The Barn Part III, which is the final installment to Justin Seaman’s Halloween horror indie franchise. The film is currently in post-production where we’re finishing up with sound design, score and color correction. Justin will be launching a finishing funds campaign very soon so anyone interested in getting involved will have an opportunity.