Scott Frazelle co-produced and co-wrote House of Bad, hitting DVD in December.

Chris Hill November 12, 2013 0
Scott Frazelle co-produced and co-wrote House of Bad, hitting DVD in December.
Most important question, Scott : What did you use for blood in the movie?

We used a combination of commercially available “Halloween” blood, and some higher-end stuff.  Most notably, our FX man Anthony “Doctor Death” Eikner brought his own special, extra-goopy, sticky formula for blood and brains debris for the goriest moment of our film. Doc told me some of the details of how he created it, then swore me to secrecy, so I can’t reveal it.  Plus, Doc is scary. There are a lot of stories in the industry about him, and I don’t want to run into him in dark alley because he’s upset about something.

I will say this, however; I’ve been on more than a few FX shots, and that brain blast was the first one I’ve ever seen that silenced the crew upon completion.  I mean, it turned stomachs.  Thank you again, Doc.

Is it true you have to be a horror fan to make a horror film, you think?

To make a good one, absolutely!  If you don’t have a true appreciation for what makes a horror film a unique experience, you’re probably going to miss the mark.  Good storytelling is good storytelling; but horror films play on specific emotions and primal responses that can be different from a comedy, a romance, etc. You have to like what you do to bring your best efforts, and if you aren’t a fan of horror you’re going to be hard-pressed to successfully combine those specific elements with good storytelling. 

This is your first film as a producer, what did you learn about producing House of Bad that you didn’t know before?

That putting together a good film utilizing a good crew is the (relatively) easy part!  We were able to assemble the crew quickly, and everyone brought their A-game to shoot it in an incredible eight days.  The hard part was developing a strong business plan to put the film in a position to get distribution, and let the world see what we created.  We needed to raise additional capitol to go the extra mile in post, and learn the market requirements for domestic and international distribution, all on a timeline.  Going into principal photography, I was confident of us getting through the schedule in a timely manner and having the makings of a great film; but post was very much a trial-by-fire situation.  I consider myself appropriately-charred. 

Most independent films take a considerable amount of time to get up. How long ago did you make the film? Was it a long journey from script to screen?

From the time our Director, Jim Towns, brought me the script until the time we started shooting was about a month!  I was thinking we’d have the whole thing knocked out in three months, and then… post-production set in.  Our excellent editor, Nina Lucia, was stacked with work on projects, and with each cut of the film, we found little things we missed on our break-neck schedule, so there were a total of four pick-up days over the course of nine months. At the same time, Gregg Detrich came up with the perfect ghost effect that really worked with our story, and Terry Huud developed a great score, and all their work had to be flexible with the developing final cut.  I think we had a cast and crew screening almost one year exactly from the time we wrapped principal photography.

The leads are excellent, but I assume the ‘should we get a big name star to be in this?’ conversation ever come up? If so, can you let us in who some of your thoughts were at the time.

That conversation did come up, because as a Producer, you have to think of the financial viability of the film you’re developing.  However, in this instance, in the process of casting, we realized that our three initial leads were the real deal.  A conversation between myself, Jim Towns, and Producer Dorota Skrzypek confirmed that we all felt we were sitting on a gold mine of undiscovered talent, and that mucking with what was appearing to be a natural chemistry would undermine what we already had.  I truly felt that our movie was going to stand on it’s own merits, and didn’t need a quick video-friendly casting to help marketability, so that’s the way we went, and I have no regrets.

Do you have a favorite moment in the film?

There are so many moments where the performances were just right, and truly sold the premise, than I honestly can’t say any one was my favorite.  When I watch the finished film, I think of all the nuances from performance to music to sound FX to visual  FX that made it all work, and I’m floored at how hard everyone worked to make that happen.  My favorite moment is the film itself. 

How was it working with Jim Towns on the film? Did you work well together? No disagreements when it came to the screenplay?

I’ve cut my teeth on a lot of Independent film, some better financed than others, and I can say with all honesty that Jim Towns was the best prepared Director I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with! He knows his own story, he knows his characters, their motivations, and as a result, can make decisions on the fly when we’re handed a curveball. Working with Jim was a Producer’s dream in that he truly takes those curveball moments and turns a challenge into an accomplishment.  Of course there were moments of disagreement in the script, and in the final edit, but it was never about who was right or wrong, it was always about what makes this story the best it can be.  Plus, I’m bigger than Jim, and was able to settle those moments with through Greco-Roman wrestling.

The film is coming out on DVD next month. Obviously December is a jam-packed month for DVD releases, leading up to Christmas, but this one looks like it’ll do well. Why do you think people have responded to the film as well as they have so far?

When I read the script, what resonated with me was that it initially appeared to be a standard horror set-up, then quickly developed into a different wrinkle within the genre.  It doesn’t hurt that we have excellent performances by three leads that are easy on the eyes, but we worked very hard to make sure that element translated to the screen, and I think it did; people who are not horror fans constantly tell me “that was a good movie,” and horror fans tell me “that was a refreshing movie.”  Everyone seems to appreciate fullness of the characters, and the depth of the story.  At then end of the day, we simply tried to do the best we could.  And it shows. 

 

 

 

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