by RICKY J. DUARTE
Through the generations, the themes that frighten horror audiences have shifted with as much diversity as the genre itself. From monsters bred from nuclear radiation in the ’50s to the occult and witchcraft revival of the ’70s to the Satanic panic of the ’80s, the zeitgeist speaks to the genre’s keynotes of storytelling. In modern times, social media presents a perfect canvas on which to paint such stories. We, as participants in the world of online voyeurism, volunteer an alarming amount of information to complete strangers via a multitude of apps and websites. We freely share our best and worst moments without a second thought; We blindly trust that information is true – whether verified or not – and replace hand-written signatures with a simple, legally binding tap of a finger. These platforms own our content, and those who observe it create instant opinions on who we are as people, whether valid or not.
#AMFAD slickly utilizes social media as a means of execution while maintaining a heart not often seen in such a bloody display of violence. RUE MORGUE spoke with Dunstan to discuss the film’s “of-the-moment” take on slasher flicks, the film’s tightly-bonded cast and what drew him to the project.
This film is very much of the TikTok era. How do you feel that Gen Z is informing the horror genre today?
Well, it is about an attention span. And so, the goal of this – and this was through a collaboration with the cast all the way to the trailer – is we’ll be so fortunate to be in the theater during our run at the same time that we’re on-demand. So, there’s a chance our trailer will be running against this guy named Deadpool and this guy named Wolverine, heavy tornadoes and whatnot. So, what can we do that says this is why we’re different, and this is why [you should] look at us? The answer was a resounding “This is the sugar rush to the brain.” We need your attention right now, and we’re gonna have to earn it in a microsecond – a little faster than anyone else – so it’s got to be punch, punch, punch! Faster, smarter, scarier. – and out! And that’s the goal. It’s almost like you’re driving at 100 miles per hour and we are the billboards – and our billboard has to be loud.
The film utilizes bright colors and saturated filters. How did this choice speak to the storytelling?
Well, in this case, there is a theme of seven deadly sins. In doing the research on the sins, in many cases and interpretations, a color was associated to differentiate the sins – even in art, even in stained glass. Well, wouldn’t it be interesting if, even before they pick up the shot glasses, every character happens to be wearing that color? I knew sort of the schematic of each person, and then that was fun to also shape the characters. I want to credit our production team, led by Kirk Shaw and Stephanie Rennie, because we shot [the film] in order. That means we could develop our characters, and as they were a really tight batch of friends by the time I showed up – I want to give Julian Haig, who plays L.B. (“Lust”), who gets to be adorned in red in so many ways – in every meaning of the word. He took it upon himself like, [in Australian accent] “I want to do a Zoom together, and I want this cast to know each other by the time they show up, so we’re already friends.” And it was wonderful. So, they kind of had themselves imbued with the “lean-into-it” factor.
What I love about going in order is every character has an arc. I love it when they do. No matter if they’re the first victim, the last victim, the surprising victim – often the ones that are compromised in a moral sense have more color. [They] have more shading. All of this was informing me. Now, when the threat comes in, we’re probably going to see the cast [member] of that color in there. And then, the one that changes under any kind of light spectrum is the one we have inside of us as it spills on the floor. That was a joy. And then, I’ll try to sneak in the glass and the symbol somewhere, so everything ties in a bow.
And I gotta beg right at the top of the interview. Folks, please stay through the credits! Stay through the credits. At least give us five minutes into the credits because we don’t stop turning the knife until the last image flickers.
I always stay at the end of the credits, and I’m so glad I did with this one. And this cast, you can feel the camaraderie. You can feel that they know each other – that they like each other. It feels real.
Well, we had a heck of a North Star with Jade Pettyjohn. How many people do you know that have ten to fifteen years’ experience, and they’re only in their early 20s? So, this Plymouth Rock arrives and is like, “Come to me, and now the bar will be set this high!” And everybody responded to that, so it was nice. She has such a wonderful presence and a gravitational pull. I could say, “Alright, when Jade isn’t speaking, she’s actually the movie’s camera.” She’s the observer, so always plant near Jade. Always cut back to Jade and see how the extremes of the other personalities are reflecting through this person.
And then, wouldn’t you know? Jade Pettyyjohn and Jojo Siwa were in School of Rock together, way back when they were kids – the TV adaptation. To have them back together in a room was just awesome as well because, hey, a friendship resumed is a rhythm resumed. I just felt so, so fortunate. And I have to give a shout-out to Jessica Schwartz of Roundtable [Entertainment] for making Jojo happen because this person is a surprise performer. This person has so many layers, and I’m really excited that whatever you see on social media today, whatever you’ve seen five months ago, this is something different.
The tone of this movie is very different from your previous projects. What drew you to this particular story?
Well, this is a script by Josh Sims and Jessica Sarah Flaum, so I loved walking out at the edge of that diving board. The writer in me could help on a day when a budget would intercede. For example, there was an ending sequence at one time that was on the roof of a house. Well, we didn’t have a roof that we could do that with, so the writer [in me] … could be like, “Well, we can stage it this way, so it’s even more exciting and perilous!” But those two laid the bedrock, so that’s really when I leaned into it. And I liked what scared me about it. What I wanted to do most of all was, when it came time for a twist – and then a second twist – and because we shot an order, we were able to add a third. It was the idea of protecting it. And way back, when I was a first-time co-writer with my dearest bud and partner, Patrick Melton … Here’s a guy who has successfully married and raised three kids, and I still get to be the anarchist in the partnership and find these different things. And he was there in lockstep as an executive producer on this one. Yes, we wanted to protect this first-time writing duo’s first movie, just like John Gulager did for us in Feast twenty years ago.
What do you think is the scariest thing about social media?
The scariest thing about social media is we used to be told – we latchkey kids – that you don’t talk to strangers. You don’t go towards the van. You don’t go towards the things with the black glass. Then, all of a sudden, we brought something into our pockets [holding up phone] which is about three inches by four inches, and it’s a little piece of black glass. We stare into it, and we give it all our attention, and we invite people in – anybody. The more, the merrier. And then doing so, that 2% of our potential viewing horizon has been reduced to a three-by-four black window. And the voyeur – the one who could sneak up on you – is not only invited to follow this way, he has all this ability, all this territory – that 99.9% – to sneak up and grab you. That’s what I wanted to do with this movie as well. Voyeurism isn’t something that has to hide behind the tree line anymore. You’ve invited that into your pocket.
You’ve made that sound very scary! What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your career as a horror filmmaker?
As a horror filmmaker, I want to champion what Oz Perkins just said in an interview: that horror lets you experiment and play. It gets to evolve. You almost get to pull in the poetry of all these other types of films and styles. I love Dario Argento [and] Mario Bava. I love the Italian style, with the bold colors and sound – the sound of dialogue, the sound of score, the sound of performance, the sound of big, the sound of color! Like, let’s be bold! I love that because way back when I was a kid and I saw Argento’s Suspiria, that was the first movie I watched through splayed fingers. That was the one with the scratchy voices of the witches chanting [imitates Goblin’s score] … Goblin was like, wow! And then, my eye is seeing a letterbox, Woo, big deal! VHS didn’t have a lot of those! It said horror can be beautiful. And isn’t that nice? It wouldn’t make sense in a comedy because that would distract. But for whatever reason, horror takes that and is like, “No, no. This is the sugar.” And when you lean towards the sugar, we can have a razor blade and [imitates stabbing with a razor blade].
So the film plants seeds for future storytelling. Can audiences expect more installments? If so, when? (Without giving away anything from the credits!)
Yeah, please stay for the credits! You’ll know exactly what we’re talking about! It all depends on how this one is embraced. That’s another great thing about horror. We’re not the $200, $300-million movie, where it’s all, “We’re banking the studio on this one!” It can be a success at any number of levels. We’re hoping that people show up and embrace this story, find its heart and maybe want to see this heart pump a little bit more, then we’re ready for that. As always, we can believe it when we see it. And we’re in an era where, let’s say, you made – completed – a giant, great movie for a big studio. They can always be like, “Well, delete. You know, we just don’t want to do that.” Or maybe you made one that’s like $135 million, free tax credit, and be like, “No, no! No theaters for you. We’ll just put it over here.” Well, our little tugboat had to earn every step of the way. We shot it with the hope it could see a silver screen and turn it red. This August, we’re going to do it! And I’m so proud of it, and I’m so grateful for it.
Is there a moment in the film that you are most proud of?
The moment I’m most proud of is when we reach for the biggest tone. And the reason I’m proud of it is that it’s not something I could do by my lonesome. I can do a lot with maybe an insert. Bending over backward, I can loop. I can edit. I can even darken. I can reduce something to nothing in the hope that a mind can fill in the space. But I cannot make a performance out of nothing, and I cannot make a performance connect with someone and have them feel sadness, this connection, something that is a relationship-based hurt. When Jade Pettyjohn showed up and she was like, “Guess what? Make it as dark as you want. I’m a lighthouse.” Yes, I was proud of that because that was alchemy. That is something you hope for. And when that shows up, that’s like the one time everyone goes dead quiet. They just race over to the cameras and make sure they’re not broken … And all I had to do was go, “Action!”
#AMFAD: ALL MY FRIENDS ARE DEAD will be released in select theaters, on digital, and On Demand on August 2, 2024.
