Posted in: Exclusive, Horror, Interview, Movies, Shudder | Tagged: Christmas Bloody Christmas, exclusive, horror, interview, Joe Begos, Riley Dandy, rlje films, Sam Delich, shudder

Christmas Bloody Christmas Dir Joe Begos Breaks Down Holiday Slasher

Writer-director Joe Begos always looks for new opportunities to refine his horror with previous efforts like VFW and Bliss. With his latest in Christmas Bloody Christmas, he provided his spin on a homicidal slasher Santa. The story is set on Christmas Eve, and Tori (Riley Dandy) just wants to get drunk and party, but when a robotic Santa Claus at a nearby toy store goes haywire and begins a rampant killing spree through her small town, she's forced into a battle for survival. Begos spoke to Bleeding Cool about how the RLJE Films & Shudder film, why Christmas became a fertile ground for horror, his favorite films of the genre, casting, and how the movie compares to his previous work.

Bringing 'Christmas Bloody Christmas' to Life

Bleeding Cool: What's the inspiration behind 'Christmas Bloody Christmas?'
Begos: I love Christmas horror movies and robot movies. I was asked to pitch on a remake of 'Silent Night, Deadly Night.' When that didn't happen, it got my brain working, and this spawned from that and became its original movie.

What's unique about using Christmas as fertile ground for horror?
I like the setting of it because it has such distinct characteristics, from being its season, lights, vibe, snow, and all that stuff. It's such a distinct vibe I like and also like because it's seen as this super happy family-oriented holiday. As a kid, seeing the iconography and sensationalism of Santa as this all-encompassing good thing and then really turned that in instead of using it as a basis for a horror movie. If you're a kid, that's going to be fucking scary to see: St Nick killing people. If you're an adult, it's the sensation of knowing what that holiday brings. It's a cool juxtaposition. It's the setting, look, the whole vibe, and what it brings subconsciously to the viewer.

What were your favorite Christmas horror movies you had growing up?
For me, the number one piece of narrative filmmaking is Christmas horror. It's hard to consider it a movie, but the pilot episode of 'Tales from the Crypt' and the episode 'And All Through the House,' directed by Robert Zemeckis. That was the first thing I saw that was based on Christmas and horror. That stuck with me and made me a lifelong Christmas horror fan and Tales from the Crypt fan. That sticks up like it's such a great, little gnarly piece of the genre, and Larry Drake was so good as Santa, and the juxtaposition of the kids believing he's the real Santa makes it great. I loved that.

Drake was one of the most underrated horror figures in history because so many people knew him from 'L.A. Law,' and he dropped this performance on the HBO series that's memorable, not to mention his dentist slasher in 'Dr. Giggles.'
Santa is good, and he was also Durant from 'Darkman,' and that had the whole early '90s trilogy with Larry Drake fucking killing it.

What can you tell me about the casting process and how you got everyone together?
I wrote many secondary roles for actors I had worked with before and knew. That fell into place, and then for the two leads, I wanted to find fresh faces. Since my partners, financiers, and producers in Shudder didn't need the movie to be cast-contingent, they were okay with me finding the best actors. I didn't need to find somebody who had some big name. That allowed my casting director, Amey René, who's phenomenal, and I to hone in and find the best people for the roles. Who had the best chemistry and did the best?

I saw Riley's audition and loved it. I kept working with her a little bit before making the final decision. She got what we were doing and could riff in ways that sounded like I was writing it. I knew she was going to be perfect. You never know. Somebody can be a great actress or actor when they're reading or when you're working with them, but you don't know how down they're going to be for the physicality of the role. When she has to do everything from crack jokes to fucking hold her arguments, her stunts, be in terror, sex scenes, and she fucking delivered 120% while being covered in blood and ice cold water. This also happened while dealing with animatronics and these makeup effects. She went above and beyond, and I'm so glad it all worked out. I don't know what the movie would have been like with somebody else as the backbone. Not as good, that's for sure.

How does this project like this compare to your other projects like 'VFW' and 'Bliss?'
With 'Bliss' and 'VFW,' I wanted to make movies that took my favorite styles or elements and blended them into both. 'VFW' is a hardboiled action movie with some horror elements. 'Bliss' is a very colorful, experimental, old-school horror movie. I wanted to take both those elements and put them together. It's a very singular, character-driven movie. I wanted to elevate the character work, set pieces, and esthetic beyond anything I've done in [Christmas Bloody Christmas].

What were the most influential or creative minds growing up that helped you shape your style?
James Cameron was OG from the get-go because I loved 'The Terminator,' 'Terminator II,' and 'Aliens.' There's also John Carpenter and David Cronenberg. As I got a little older, I became a giant fan and explored the filmographies of Abel Ferrara, Martin Scorsese, and Gaspar Noé. I go through these periods where I find directors that I like from every country, background, and period. The little things influence me that I bring because I don't see myself as trying to bed myself with any one single, distinct directorial personality. I'm trying to put my life view on things with small influences here and there from many other directors I like. That becomes clearer or more successful with every movie in trying to build my unique take on filmmaking.

Was there a subgenre of horror you hoped to tackle?
My number one hope is to do a werewolf movie. That's my big one.

Which werewolf films did you gravitate to?
I enjoyed almost all werewolf movies. I re-watched most of them because there is such a dearth of them. One that gets overlooked quite a bit is 'Bad Moon' from the late '90s. Eric Red wrote and directed that. The movie's got its issues, but overall, it's got an amazing werewolf design. Steve Johnson did a couple of really great sequences there, and I also enjoyed 'Ginger Snaps' quite a bit.

Christmas Blood Christmas, which also stars Sam Delich, Jonah Ray Rodrigues, Dora Madison, Jeremy Gardner, Jeff Daniel Phillips, and Abraham Benrubi, comes to theaters and streams on Shudder on December 9th.

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