Posted in: Horror, Interview, Movies, Streaming | Tagged: All Hallows' Eve, All Hallows' Eve: Inferno, horror, interview, Steve Barton, Tubi

All Hallows' Eve: Inferno Producer on Nourishing New Horror Filmmakers

Producer Steve Barton spoke to Bleeding Cool about nurturing new generations of horror filmmakers in Tubi's All Hallows' Eve: Inferno.

Producer Steve Barton is doing everything he can to champion and proliferate prospective horror filmmakers with big dreams of making them realized. He's been able to achieve this with All Hallows' Eve. Without the horror anthology film franchise, a collection of shorts, we wouldn't have seen the sensation that Damien Leone's Terrifier has become with its third film released on October 3rd. Having also produced Leone's second film, Barton looks to continue All Hallows' Eve's legacy with Inferno, featuring a variety of shorts from Kays Al-Atrakchi, Christianne Cruz, John Ferrer, Patrick Kennelly, Jorge Lucas, Sumire Takamatsu, Evan Tramel. The producer spoke to Bleeding Cool about the goals for the franchise, the selection process, and whether the franchise's future can expand to TV like Creepshow or Tales from the Crypt.

All Hallows' Eve: Inferno Producer on Nurturing New Horror Visionaries

Bleeding Cool: What's the inspiration behind 'All Hallows' Eve: Inferno?' What do Kays, Christianne, and John bring to this anthology?

They bring a whole lot. The problem with the indie film work film world is that there are so many talented filmmakers out there who've done these amazing projects, but when you're a short filmmaker or an indie filmmaker, for that matter, short films have a finite lifespan. You do your festival run, get featured on a website or two, and ultimately, unfortunately, your short goes live on YouTube or Vimeo. The best chance you have of anybody seeing it is if they happen to come across it. It was important when the idea of doing another 'All Hallows' Eve' came about; the filmmakers had a chance to showcase their films in a good way to reach an audience beyond the film festival world or the website world.

It's so important that people have a chance to do this because there are so many good films out there, and I'm happy to give them a platform and be part of something that enables them to be seen. It's important to note these shorts were not specifically filmed for this anthology. It's the opposite. When I was approached, the angle that excited me was to give a second life to these films sitting there, open them up to a new audience, and hopefully, the right people see and enjoy. Maybe these filmmakers were part of the deal, and they got to keep their IP, and that's important. They get to make a feature version or even just something else. It's a good way to further give their careers a shot.

How did the casting come about? Was it something you had a hand in, or was it up to the filmmakers when you got some pretty good talent with Kevin [Scott Allen], Corinna [Brown], Larry [Cedar], Joe [Lando], and Heather [Langenkamp]?

Amazing filmmakers; it was a ride, man! Once we decided to do this. I put out a call for short films on my social media, and it was purely up to the filmmakers whether they wanted to participate. A lot of them did, and rightfully so, but I ended up getting over 900 responses, and I watched every single one of them. I picked a handful of those I thought had what it took to be seen on a grander level.

One of the things that were advantageous about me being able to watch all of them, aside from my loving to watch cool shit, because that's what I loved more than anything, was I got a feel for each short and where which ones would fit together in a way where it wouldn't take away from the other one. You can't take shorts that look like they were filmed on a $1 million budget and put them next to one that looks like it was filmed on a $5,000 budget, even though they might be as good as each other. It's almost jarring for the audience to go from something that looks a particular way to something that looks very low-fi in terms of the filmmaking process. I was able to group these shorts into different collections. 'All Hallows' Eve' is the flagship title, so those filmmakers were the best of the best, and that's why their shorts were chosen.

Is there any of the other shorts able to expand like Damian Leone was able to with 'Terrifier' on any of the previous 'All Hallows' Eve shorts?

Maybe on 'Trickster' [from 'All Hallows' Eve 2'], because I did have a small hand and putting together 'Trickster,' which was 'All Hallows' Eve 3.' This one definitely, 'Trial 22' is screaming for a feature-length version. What's exciting is the shorts were chosen, because they did something better than usual. Some of the shorts in 'All Hallows' Eve: Inferno' tell a good psychological story, some tell a good monster story, and others tell a good ghost story. It was important to group them so that they could complement each other and give the user variety. The idea for me at least, the vision was to be able to give people short film showcases in their houses, that way they could have experience and find these cool movies.

What makes Tubi the perfect platform to carry 'All Hallows' Eve?' Were there other platforms you guys considered, like Shudder or Netflix?

We consider everything. What's cool about Tubi as someone who grew up in the 80s, I used to spend a lot of time in video stores, and Tubi is like the mom-and-pop ones, but online. I love what they do, and it makes sense. There's so much cool stuff on there and we're honored to be counted amongst it. If it comes to Shudder or wherever, we'll be happy to work with them, too. We want to get these films out there on as large a level as possible, and we're always open to working with everyone, but it depends on the fans. If the fans dig it and prove they like it and want more, we'll make more. I'll do this for as long as I can.

Where do you see the future of 'All Hallows' Eve' going in general? Do you think it can be expanded into a TV anthology, like 'Creepshow' or 'Tales from the Crypt?'

That's something that could easily happen. There's enough content for it if its roots stay firmly planted in the indie arena designed to get out these talented filmmakers' work. The future is bright, and I love to see more of these. We put out ['All Hallows' Eve'] last year and another of this year. Is there going to be one next year? I hope so. It's ultimately up to the fans, and what fans want, the fans get. That's what I have done my whole career and what I'll keep on doing.

All Hallows' Eve: Inferno is available to stream on Tubi and Fandango. You can also check out the 2013 original, 2015 sequel, All Hallows' Eve: Trickster, and Terrifier (2016) on Tubi.

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