Eye On Horror
Eye On Horror
First Horror with Shihan Van Clief
This week, the boys are joined by Writer & Director Shihan Van Clief to talk about his new film, My First Horror Film! An in depth talk about the process of concepting the story, choices on how it was shot, how to make a film on such a micro budget, inspirations, and much more! Oh, and can't forget about the awesomeness that is The Last Dragon! My First Horror Film is out on digital to rent or own on August 13th!
But first, the boys review Twisters, Deadpool & Wolverine, The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout, Jacob attends a few anniversary screenings (F13 2009 rules!) and Correia visits The Archive in Aurora, Colorado! It's all new on EYE ON HORROR!!
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Get more horror movie news at: https://ihorror.com
Welcome to eye on horror, the official podcast of ihorror.com. This is episode 131 otherwise known as season seven, episode 12. I am your host, James, Jay Edwards, and with me, as always, is your other host. Jacob Davison, how you doing? Jacob
Jacob Davidson:Davison, okay, just had a long night, so doing my best to stay awake. It's sleepy.
James Jay Edwards:Yeah, we record these early and yeah, we're we're all sleepy. Also with us, as always, is your other other host. Jon Correia, how you doing? Correia,
Jonathan Correia:doing great. I I have, I already just have chugged half a bang, so, you know, and I haven't eaten anything yet, so I have about 30 minutes before I start getting weird.
James Jay Edwards:You know what? I tried those bangs when they were on sale at Costco. The bang is nasty. It is, I couldn't handle it. You know? What I want to try, though, is there's a new energy energy drink called Lucky fuck. Have you seen Jesus? Heard about that? It's I keep getting targeted ads on Facebook for it, and it looks really interesting. So anyway,
Jacob Davidson:and I wouldn't trust, I didn't want to trust Facebook ads for an energy drink. Yeah, well,
James Jay Edwards:you can get it, you can get it through Amazon, and I'm waiting for them to have, like, a variety pack at Costco or something like that. But yeah, this is not eye on energy drinks, though. This is eye on horror. And I think we're already going to be stretching that definition this episode, because not a whole lot has come out horror wise. But the big release. It's out right now, and we can't even talk too much about it without spoiling anything but Deadpool and Wolverine. Yeah, no spoils.
Jonathan Correia:I haven't seen it yet. You haven't seen
James Jay Edwards:it. Oh, my. Okay, so we can't, we can barely even talk, because there's this movie is full of fun shit that just cannot be spoiled, like literally first frame to last frame, you just know that it is. It's typical Deadpool. It's R rated Marvel, and there are just fun Easter eggs and cameos from beginning to end. It's so awesome.
Jonathan Correia:Yeah, I'm looking forward to it, mainly because it we're finally getting the multiverse hopping Deadpool. Which we have a guy before, and that's such a big part of his character, is the ridiculousness of that. So I'm seeing it Friday.
Jacob Davidson:And the thing I really love about it, and I don't think this is really much of a spoiler, but it is kind of a love letter to the 20th century, Fox era of Marvel movies. Yeah,
James Jay Edwards:it totally is. It's like, if you know the pre quote, MCU Marvel history, yeah, you'll love it. It's, I mean, you'll love it anyway. I mean, it's, I don't see why, how anyone cannot love this movie. The funniest thing, a lot of it's being spoiled on Facebook, like it's doing that annoying thing, like, the reason I stopped watching Walking Dead, you know, because Beth's death was spoiled for the West Coast. And I don't even, I don't even follow their page. It just popped up because someone I know followed it. The same thing is happening with this, like, pages I don't follow are spoiling things. So, yeah, I mean, it's, you got to be careful a little bit. I don't watch trailers. I think I've told everybody that, but I did go back and watch trailers after I saw this, and there's one thing in the trailer that that gets spoiled is, yeah, Wolverine fights Saber Tooth, but it is not what you think.
Jonathan Correia:No, I'm looking forward to it. But the big release I did see though, because I had to see it opening night, Twisters. Did you guys see Twisters? I
Jacob Davidson:know I haven't seen that.
James Jay Edwards:Yeah, I saw Twisters. Twisters. Okay, here's the deal. I watched Twister the night before I saw Twisters because just to kind of refresh and here is the difference. Here's my problem with Twisters.
Jonathan Correia:To remember the mythology, the lore of the Twister franchise,
James Jay Edwards:exactly. And it paid off, because in the very first scene, there's freaking Dorothy four. But anyway, my problem with Twisters is okay, Twister was a totally fun movie. Everybody in that movie is in on what kind of movie they're making. They all know, you know, even you know serious like, like freaking Jamie Gertz, even realize what kind of movie they're making. And Philip Seymour Hoffman, this is a movie that got him his role in Boogie Nights. It's, I mean, he's so amazing. Well, I can see this role getting him, what his role in Boogie Nights, because it's, I had even forgotten he was in it, until I saw and I'm like, well, is that? Yeah, that is him, because it's so different from anything else he's ever done. But Twister is so fun. And Twisters, to me, is not it takes itself so seriously. And they have the perfect they go to a rodeo and a tornado hits. They had the perfect opportunity to do a cow joke, and they didn't take it. Yeah, come on.
Jonathan Correia:I will say the lack of cow joke was, was a bit disappointing. Twister. I didn't re watch Twister before because I was waiting for my 4k to come in and didn't come in in time. But I've seen that movie so much. It's one of those ones where just kind of, know, like, the back of my hand, and, like, I remember I went to a friend's house and they put it on for, like, background and, like, there's a whole party going on, and I was just sitting there in the living room watching living room watching Twister, and everyone's like, you watching Twister? I'm like, Uh, fuck yeah, I'm watching Twister. Look how hot everyone is in this movie. Holly Hunter, Bill Paxton, fucking Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jamie Gertz, do I need to keep going get out of here? Oh,
James Jay Edwards:Cary Elwes is is it. Oh,
Jonathan Correia:dude, next thing I know, half the parties watching Twister was made. Everyone's like, holy shit, this movie's awesome. I'm like, Yeah,
James Jay Edwards:I think I told you guys one time we, my wife, used to do roller derby, and we had all the roller derby girls over for a party at once. And Rollerball happened to be on one of the channels. We had original, yeah, the original Yeah. And it was, it was on, and little by little, people started watching it. And at one point, when the girl goes, Why don't we get motorcycles?
Jonathan Correia:I've been saying that for years, Rollerball needs to be an actual thing.
James Jay Edwards:Okay, on with your Twister sorry, yeah, really, no, but back to,
Jonathan Correia:back to Twisters. I really like twisters. I They're definitely, I know the first wasn't all practical it. And actually have twisters Come on, but, but, but there was definitely in the very beginning, where, when, when the first tragedy happens, right? The establishing tragedy happens, where I was like, okay, okay, yeah, this is, this is fine. I'm in it, yeah, we're in it. And, like, I was pretty fine with it, and then Glenn Powell and Katie O'Brien show up in their RVs, and just took that film to the next level. And I wanted, and it was, it was almost like two different movies were happening. There was, there was the daisy Jones movie, Twister movie, and then there was the Glen Powell and even her acting changed when Glenn was on, or whether Glenn or was in the scene or not, and it just the the two of them elevated it so much. And you know, as a as a sequel, especially a legacy sequel, so many years later, it's a lot of fun without trying too hard to be like the first movie without trying too hard to connect. Like, yes, we have Dorothy four at the beginning, but there wasn't a whole lot of connection. It kind of did feel like, originally, she was going to be Helen Hunt's daughter, but then they couldn't book her or something. I
James Jay Edwards:did feel like when they got the mom into it, that I'm like, Okay, this role was written for Helen Hunt yeah,
Jonathan Correia:it kind of felt like that. But like, for whatever reason, they didn't I really appreciate because I did read that, uh, originally, they do kiss in the movie, but Steven Spielberg was like, nah get rid of that, because I really appreciated that it was like a love story, but like, it's still a work in progress, you know, between them, so that so that was nice.
James Jay Edwards:What I loved most about it is because you've got the Kate character. She's like, like you said, the establishing tragedy, one of the survivors of that, he works for some real estate developer, and they're tracking these tornadoes to find out where, where they're going to land, and where they where the dangers for like, the insurance company kind of a thing. And then the other team, the Cary Elwes team, I guess you could call it, is the Glen Powell one. They're YouTubers that are storm chasers and stuff. And they're like Mad Max rolling in in their trucks. And this is in the trailer, the truck that drills itself. So
Jonathan Correia:good. I love that.
James Jay Edwards:I question if that would work, but if it would, I love it, because that is pretty good. But, um, I do love how about halfway through the movie, there's this ambiguity as to who the good guys and who the bad guys are. And one of the youtubers is played by Sasha Lane, and she has a drone that she flies into these tornadoes and Sasha Lane with a drone, come on that I did enjoy that. That was about as fun as the movie got for me, though Sasha lane and her drone
Jonathan Correia:well for me as an obsessed Scream Queens fan. Because I've been team Glen Powell ever since Season One of Scream Queens. Just the fact that his main friend in twisters is named Boone, was the greatest thing in the world to me. Just hearing Glenn Powell shout Boone multiple times throughout the movie just filled my heart with joy, because that was Nick Jonas's character in Scream Queens was also named Boone, and so just having him go, Boone, it just every time my face lit up. It was beautiful. And although I do have to say, because they show it in the trailer that there's this, there's a sequence in a single screen small town movie theater, and it's the one time I'm like, movie logic, come on, guys. Because they go, they basically go, do we, do we do the the research, or do we save the people? And it's like, we gotta save the people. And then they move them all into a single screen movie theater that was probably built in the 1930s and it's like, this is the worst fucking place you can it's a tall building that has, like, no structure. That thing's coming down hard. Like, what are you guys, that's not saving people.
James Jay Edwards:And you know that they're in Oklahoma, you know, there's a basement to that building. Get everybody down there.
Jonathan Correia:There was no basements in the movie. No basements anywhere. Uh, though the pool sequence at the rodeo was pretty awesome. I gotta say, like, yeah, twisters is a lot of fun, if you like the first one. I think this is, I think this is how you should do a legacy sequel, not trying too hard to be like the original, not trying too hard to reinvent the wheel, just taking what worked before, and also the director also did Minari. And boy, does he know how to shoot the Midwest. Does he knows how to shoot those open spaces? And so there's a lot of really great camera work happening in there. So, yeah,
Jacob Davidson:yeah, between that and the guy who did Pig doing the prequel to A Quiet Place if it's wild, just how many directors have got their start with the with these kind of groundbreaking independent projects are handling these big budget blockbuster sequels and prequels?
Jonathan Correia:Yeah, good for them, dude, especially if they can do the Nolan thing, where they get these big, you know, like, uh, budget franchises, and then turn around and make the personal films like, hell yeah. All for it.
Jacob Davidson:You gotta get that paycheck, yeah?
Jonathan Correia:Uh, a really interesting documentary that I found the other day on canopy. Again, I'm plugging Kanopy. If go out to your local public library, get a library card and then sign up for Kanopy. Kanopy is an amazing resource. Your local library is amazing resource. Go do it. They get a lot of new stuff, like all the new A24s are on there for free to watch, and then the whole service is free. Now
James Jay Edwards:I think that the library on Kanopy varies with what library you sign up with, though,
Jonathan Correia:yes, some libraries don't have access to it, so check your local library well, it and
James Jay Edwards:some libraries don't have access to the same stuff as other libraries. That's what I'm saying. I think your library might not have access to all the brand new 824, stuff, but yeah, I
Jonathan Correia:think with Kanopy, it's, it's because they do a ticket system, so you get like 25 tickets a month, and a movie is usually like two or three tickets, so it's per title. It's doesn't work exactly like Libby, but check it out, you could also get a digital library, especially the New York library allows anybody to get a digital library card. So that's
James Jay Edwards:true. You may just have to find the right library,
Jonathan Correia:yeah. So check it out. But anyways, on Kanopy, they have this documentary called The Conqueror Hollywood Fallout, and it's all about Howard Hughes's last film The Conqueror, which is famously the Genghis Kong movie starring John Wayne, which right off the bat, you know that that's an insane production. If they go, Yeah, John Wayne, the epitome of American, machiso Western, playing Genghis Khan, yeah, it's, it was an epic failure on many levels, except for financially, kind of, I don't know, but they go into where Howard Hughes was in life, because this was, this was the movie, if you remember the aviator when he's locked up in his house, in his very hermit, this is the movie he was projecting on repeat, day in and day out in his house. It was the last film he made, and and the production behind it is absolutely insane, mainly because they shot it in in Utah, 300 miles away from where they're, where they were doing the atomic testing in Nevada. And so everyone on the cast and crew got cancer from making this movie, and so did the entire town that they shot in. And so the documentaries goes through the making of it and how it was made, but then they also continued going into its legacy and what it made. And they talk about like, how the director got cancer and died, like three or four years later, how a lot of the main actors. Got cancer. John Wayne famously got cancer, but he was because I was around the time when people were starting to go, Hey, smoking's bad for us. Holy shit, it is. And so John Wayne was famously saying that it was that, and he's a and he was super patriotic, so he's not going to say that the US government gave him cancer, but it's really interesting, because the legacy with that town, especially, like a lot so many people got cancer, uh, young children were like eight. They were talking about eight year olds who were dying from testicular cancer, which is insane. Eight
James Jay Edwards:year olds barely have testicles. How they get cancer?
Jonathan Correia:That's how that's how radiated it was. But the propaganda that the government was putting out at the time was saying, no, no, no, you're safe as long as you are inside your house for a few hours after the winds. But it they go into they kind of cover up the propaganda. And it wasn't really until the 80s did someone, some journalists, basically read a report saying the US government killed John Wayne. Did people start paying attention? Because that town was largely ignored about it, even though the cancer rates in it were absolutely insane and it it's so as much as that movie was a disaster, it's because of that movie that that town was able to get reparations. Because enough of a when you say the US government killed John Wayne, people listen, but it's really well done, really well researched, and it's and it really gets you thinking, like, holy shit, yeah, we were doing nuclear testing, like the amount of nukes that were tested in that area, essentially the amount of times the US government bombed its own country. It's, I think they said they did 928 tests out there. IE, they did 928 things. And it's not like that. Radiation goes away. It's not, you know, it gets picked up from the wind. And they showed, like, the graphs of where the nuclear fallout and radiation goes, and it's across America, it and goes up into Canada and shit, and it's something that we're not talking about. So yeah, The
Conqueror:Hollywood Fallout. I highly recommend it, especially if you're a movie buff, because again, the Conqueror is an insane movie, and how it was made is insane, but its legacy is much darker than just, you know, John Wayne in yellow in yellow face, yeah, on Kanopy
Jacob Davidson:and on my end, I've watched a bunch of horror movies on the anniversaries that's been A lot of repertory screenings, like just last week was the 15th anniversary of the Friday 13th remake from 2009, yeah, which, in my opinion, is very underrated as a Friday 13th movie. And, you know, it's just also wild that that's the last movie we've had since then, you know, it's been 15 years, and because of the rights issues, you know, haven't seen Jason in action for a long time outside of, I think, mostly video games. But yeah, no, the remake still holds a special place in my heart, because I think you know, Shannon Swift did such a great job in distilling the franchise into one story with and doing that incredible opening Prolog and leading into the main story.
James Jay Edwards:That's what I think about. When I think about the Friday the 13th remake, I think about basically that opening scene, which is like 20 minutes long, and it's like, you almost forget that you haven't seen an opening title, and all of a sudden, then it's like, Friday the 13th. You're like, Oh yeah,
Jacob Davidson:that was a mic drop of a title drop. Yeah, very much. Yeah. And yeah, no. Derek Mears was an incredible Jason Voorhees. It was like, because Derek Mears was actually there for Q and A with Shannon Swift, and they talked, and somebody from the audience mentioned just how much acting he does with just his eyes, because actually, we do get some movement from Jason. This is not like zombie Jason. This is not invincible, Jason. This is like kind of a backwards Rambo, Jason, because he's got all the traps, and he does get injured and he can be taken aback. So there is more of a humanity to Jason in this, but he's still a terrifying killing machine, and it has some pretty inventive kills. I think a lot of the screaming was from the one where the stoner kids in the tool shed, he gets, like, slowly stab in the neck with the screwdriver. Yeah, that got a big response because it was that. It was also around that time with the Platinum Dunes remakes and stuff where, you know, it's just kind of the violence was just a bit more brutal. But yeah, no, that was a fun one. And a couple days ago, I went to the 25th anniversary screening of The Blair Witch Project, and that one still is probably one of my all time favorite found footage horror movies. It just does such an incredible job of balancing making it feel real, you know, with just how far they went with the actors and the finale still just so bone chilling when they go into the house and there's such a level of ambiguity that it feels nightmarish. And I was lucky enough to even win a stick man from one of the production designers. Of course, he wins, makes a good desk ornament. Can't,
James Jay Edwards:can't leave the house without winning something
Jacob Davidson:to stand on the street corner like a Blu Ray said, will magically appear my arms off the back of a truck.
Jonathan Correia:That's true. It's true. I've seen it.
James Jay Edwards:There will never be another Blair Witch Project, because I think audiences now are too smart, even with something like Paranormal Activity. That was pretty convincing, people are like, No, this is found footage, but when Blair Witch was released, it fooled so many people. It
Jacob Davidson:was that magic moment of the internet. Yeah,
James Jay Edwards:exactly, exactly. It was like, you know, the Internet was still relatively new, you know, first 10 years, first five years of its real popularity, and the the the internet campaign for it. I mean, they were invading chat rooms and, you know, web, you know, message boards, and they had people convinced. And I don't think you'd be able to convince people that something like that is real. I mean, I probably, I
Jacob Davidson:know you couldn't get away with it today. Yeah, I
James Jay Edwards:appreciate found footage. I mean, I, I love it, and I'll watch any found footage movie hoping I, you know, nine times out of 10 they're really bad, but I always will watch it, hoping to find the next Paranormal Activity, or, you know, you know, Lake Mungo, that just the next Megan is missing, that kind of a thing, you know, because when it's done well, it's done so well, but I don't think you're ever going to fool anyone again like Blair Witch did. No,
Jacob Davidson:I mean, it's, it was just a magic moment, like, like you were saying, you just with the kind of, you know, Internet being relatively new, so a lot of people were kind of adjusting to that and the spreading of information, plus they handed out those missing persons posters that Cannes and stuff like that. And the actors were disappeared for a while. And I even rewatched Curse of the Blair Witch, you know, the documentary accompaniment that aired on the Sci Fi Channel to help kind of plug the move even more. So, you know, just really lean into that. And I even rewatched the Scooby Doo project, the Scooby Doo parody they did on Cartoon Network. So, you know, just thinking back on the kind of cultural phenomenon that was because everybody was doing a Blair Witch parody back in 99 and afterward,
Jonathan Correia:oh yeah. I mean, I think the closest thing was the one that predated the McPherson Tape, and that mainly when, yeah, believed in viral, or pre internet viral, because copies were being spread around without the end credit. So everyone thought it was an actual alien invasion, to the point where the director remade it in the 90s to be like, No, see, it's a work of fiction. And everyone went, No, you work for the government.
James Jay Edwards:Well, also Ghostwatch on the BBC, yeah. But that was more of a war of the worlds kind of thing where it's like, you know, it
Jacob Davidson:was live. Yeah, they
James Jay Edwards:were going live, and they knew what they were. I mean, when you're watching something live on Halloween, you got to expect that, you know. But it did. It did scare people. Ghost
Jonathan Correia:watch was so I could not even put my brain into the mindset of being fooled by it, mainly because it has the actor from red, Red Dwarf in it, and so it was immediately like I was pulled out because of that. It's still a great watch. It's so much fun. I do think, though, that when it comes to convincing and misinformation on the internet, I think people are super ripe for it. I mean, I think, I don't think you can do it as part of a movie campaign, but I think the spread of misinformation and things are happening. I mean, I would say the modern equivalent to the Blair Witch phenomenon is QAnon and all that 1,000% um,
Unknown:kind of, I guess, very similar tactic. There's a whole Deep Web or rabbit hole thing that you can go down on, like, how that happened, but, right? Yeah, but yeah, it feel like that's kind of an apples and oranges situation,
Jonathan Correia:right? They're both fruit, yeah,
Jacob Davidson:but yeah, the closest approximation I could think of for found footage day is Frogman, which, I mean, it wasn't plugging itself to be real, although they did do a thing where they made up the Frogman as like a local legend or cryptid. But, you know, everybody knew it was a movie, but still, it's also fun. Like, I really like it is
James Jay Edwards:frogman actually a local cryptid from that area? I mean, they
Jacob Davidson:made that up, but they, they did establish their own kind of local folklore and saying, like, Frogman, is it around this town in Kentucky? I thought. And because
James Jay Edwards:The Legend of Boggy Creek is based on a real cryptid, oh, yeah, Bigfoot, but, well, no, it's the folk monster, which I guess is, is samsquatch, yeah, I guess it is a Bigfoot. But most of it is fabricated, most of the movie they made, but it is based on real legends. So
Jacob Davidson:and the Blair Witch Project was inspired by the Boggy Creek movie. Yeah. So it all goes for circle, really, that
Jonathan Correia:4k restoration on Boggy Creek is Boggy
James Jay Edwards:Creek is Boggy Creek and the and the directors, uh, next movie, the um, The Town That Dreaded Sundown, those, those movies have no right to look as good as they do in these restorations. These are the movies that you're supposed to be able to see the grain on. I
Jonathan Correia:love
Jacob Davidson: Boggy Creek 2:An dThe Legend Continues, yes,
Jonathan Correia:which I still need to watch. I still haven't watched my VinSyn version of it. Speaking of VinSyn, I went to the archive in Colorado, and I gotta say, it is great, especially if you're a big VHS fan. Holy shit. Their VHS collection is is massive. Lot of great stuff. If you're in the Denver area, highly recommend going there. And it's just nice to see where all my blu rays get shipped out of because they cover the West Coast
Jacob Davidson:shipments there you get to go to the nursery. Oh, great,
Jonathan Correia:great staff, great selection. I was very tempted to buy a laser disc player that they had there, because it was 130 bucks. They tested it, and I'm like, Ooh, a working laser disc player, but I didn't have room in my carry on for it, and but they had a great deal where if you bought it, you got you could pick two laser discs for free. So I was very tempted, very, very tempted
Jacob Davidson:you just put a wig on the laser disc and say that it's your child.
Jonathan Correia:My fight back home was was half empty, so I maybe I could have this is my boy, my baby boy.
Jacob Davidson:Yeah, Johnny Junior.
James Jay Edwards:So now let's bring in our special guest for the episode. This episode, we have Shihan Van Clief, the director of My First Horror Film. How you doing? Shihan,
Shihan Van Clief:I'm doing well. I'm doing well. Glad to be here.
James Jay Edwards:Thanks for being here. Let's start off at the beginning. How did you get started as a filmmaker? What?
Shihan Van Clief:How'd you get started actually, as a filmmaker, I mean, I love film. I grew up loving film. My father actually did a lot of Blaxploitation films in the 70s. So I grew up just loving film. And I used to, I still, to this day, I watch almost a movie a day. To this day, I love, I love storytelling in general. And I grew up where my father was a single dad, so he used to take me to everything. So I saw, I remember going to the movie, see The Thing, and seeing The Boogens when I was five and six years old and stuff like that. And so I just loved horror. And so when I got older, I knew I want to tell stories through film, but I was scared to ask, right? And I think as artists, a lot of people were scared to ask for help when you're doing stuff. So I was like, how am I going to do this? And I had a lot of friends who were in the entertainment industry were like, Why don't you just get it done? Stop saying you're a writer. Stop saying you're this unless you're getting something done, you're none of those things. So I wind up getting some friends together said, look, here's what I'd like to do. This is the idea. And my mentor said, if you can get it done for this much, I'll give you the money to do it. And I said, Oh, shit. And so that's basically what the jump off point was. And from that moment on, it was about a month as far as this movie, specifically, from idea to starting first day of shooting. But I loved film. I did television, I wrote advertisements. I was a copywriter for years. I also directed commercials for Powerade and Wingstop and all sorts of stuff. So filming was part of my thing, but telling my story was what I wanted to do. And that's kind of what happened with My First Horror Film
James Jay Edwards:film. What? Uh, if you don't mind me asking, What movies did your dad make?
Shihan Van Clief:So there was a series of films called the Black Dragon. So he was in this, uh, The Black Dragon, Black Dragon's Revenge, Death of Bruce Lee, Way of the Black Dragon, then he choreographed the film in, I mean, he choreographed a few different films, did a lot of stunt coordination, but he wind up doing The Last Dragon, which was like a huge film in the 80s. And he was the also, he was also the choreographer for that. And so I was on set every day because my dad was doing that. So, yeah, my dad was actually the commissioner for the UFC for a while. My father's a martial arts so it was all martial arts films that he was into. Ron Van Clief was his name,
James Jay Edwards:yeah. Oh, great, yeah. I was just curious because, you know, so he was mainly a stunt guy, or
Shihan Van Clief:he was a stunt guy. He was the lead in the, in the Black Dragon series. He was the lead because he was Black Dragon. Ron Van Cleef, the black dragon. And yeah, and so that's kind of what it was. Yeah, funny enough. I
Jacob Davidson:think I saw a bit about him in that new documentary about Bruceplotation Enter the Clone of Bruce.
Shihan Van Clief:Yes, yes, he isn't it. Yes, he is. Oh, awesome. They were friends. They were friends. And actually he got the name. The Black Dragon from Bruce Lee himself. So, yeah,
Jonathan Correia:that's super awesome. I was wondering, because with my, My First Horror Film, the credits, which are hilarious, there is that moment where it says the credits
James Jay Edwards:are hysterical. When, when you guys watch this movie, stay read through the credits, because they are my favorite. It's financing by Shihan's pockets,
Jonathan Correia:but I saw the Thank you, of course, to The Last Dragon. I was just like, hell yeah, last dragon fucking rules. I didn't realize there was that much of a personal connection that's amazing. Yeah,
Shihan Van Clief:yeah. Super close, super close connection.
Jacob Davidson:And I wanted to ask, Where did My First Horror Film stem from? Or what, what inspired you?
Shihan Van Clief:You know, I was watching, so I was watching. It was two different things. I actually had watched Halloween II. And right after I watched Halloween II, I saw an interview with with some actors talking about how difficult the industry is, and how, basically, you could show up in an alleyway. You could be told your audition is going to be in an alleyway. And because people are so wanting to get a job that they literally would show up and get in a van and just go wherever this van took them, because they want to work so badly. And so watching Halloween and then watching that interview, it made me think about the friends I have who are actors, and the things they do, and the stories I've heard from them about what they did for work. And I was like, Okay, this is what I can do. I can tell this story. And Halloween, specifically, I love the idea. I mean, Halloween obviously show black when you show blood, where you get shot in the eyes and those kind of things, but for the most part, especially in the first one, there wasn't very much blood. And I liked the idea of telling a story and telling a scary story that did not have blood in it, and also didn't have to have everything on screen. I also loved that idea. And so putting the two together, I was like, I think I can make this work, but can get the team together to make that happen? And I think that was more the reserve on my end was kind of like holding the reservation on my end was holding back and saying, Okay, do I have the right pieces to play because it's done, and play it the way I'd like to play it. I have to have the actors who kind of can come off as natural as possible and almost like a fluid like and get the language of the writing so it comes off like it's natural, because I love Jamie Lee Curtis was obviously fantastic and was one of the original Scream Queens. And still, there's debate about, you know, whether or not Pam Grier was in Scream Blacula Scream, or even in, you know, in Black Christmas. But I love that idea that she was just so natural in what she did, and it was such a good role for her. And so the people we put in play was kind of also a motivating factor behind it. And some of the people I knew, Oh,
Jonathan Correia:absolutely I was watching, I was actually at my friend's house, who's one of my he's in my production company, and him and I came up doing the low budget, LA, uh, shorts and movies and whatnot, and so that whole experience of showing up, and it just kind of like not being organized, and like, like you said, showing up in an alley, getting in a van. We were both sitting there. I'm like, Are you triggered right now? I'm pretty, I'm pretty, I've this is how these are the sets we met on. This is where we so for us, it was like,
James Jay Edwards:you were the guy driving the van, though, when,
Jonathan Correia:not always, I did a lot of roles, but like, when they show up to set and there's like, you know, the wardrobe person's wearing, like, five hats, also doing makeup, also doing all that stuff, I'm like, Man, I think, I think I know the set that they're on, too. Man, like, I think I I am like, like, so I was already in it from the beginning. I'm like, I'm so uncomfortable right now, just for personal experience.
Shihan Van Clief:So, yeah, oh, cool. That's cool. Thank you. One
James Jay Edwards:of the things I found interesting about it, and I I noticed it because last night, I just happened to watch the Chernobyl Diaries again, and that movie is not really found footage, but it's it's so Lo Fi, and it almost feels like the camera is another character. And in My First Horror Film, some of it is, you know, done through the social media or the photography of the bleed, but some of it, where it'll step out of that, and you'll still see, you know, it'll go to more traditional filmmaking, but it'll still be that Lo Fi like, like you're peeking over the shoulder of people. What were some of the influences for the visual style? I mean, obviously the lack of money was one of
Shihan Van Clief:them. But lack of money, yes, but
James Jay Edwards:what were some of the visual influences? Like I said, I noticed diaries. I'm a this is this kind of goes well with that.
Shihan Van Clief:Um, for me, I think I'm a big, you know, like I said, I brought up Halloween already. But Halloween, Friday 13th, I love the idea of it being. Seen from first person. So, you know, obviously opening of Halloween with the same with in Friday the 13th, your seeing through the eyes of them so you're part of it. I also am a P.T. Anderson fan. I love his films, Boogie Nights and Magnolia There Will Be Blood. And I do like the like, you're watching something happen. Kind of had a thing too, where it was like, oh shit. Like, there's stuff happening, and you're kind of watching it, but you're kind of close to it. You may not be the one doing it, but you're close enough to be experiencing what's happening without any threat to you. And I kind of played with that. I think that was kind of the thing. So there was a lot of figuring out what camera made sense for what moment, right? So the real camera, the real footage, not the found footage, not the camera that she's walking around with. That footage had to make sense. So when kills ready, when things were happening that were real life, that was happening on real camera, when it was you know? So that was something that we had to pay attention to a lot, actually.
Jacob Davidson:And on that note, what inspired you to go with the influencer aspect for lead
Shihan Van Clief:part of it, a huge part of it is my daughter and a lot of these people now who feel like that is the thing, like just doing the thing is enough, or just just cause you do it, it was brought about the poetry background, right? So just because you say you're a writer, you're a writer, or just because I say I do film, or I'm a model, it's like there's more to it than that. And so the ease of it, I think there was this parallel for me, where I can look at the time I wasn't necessarily thinking like this, but when I look at it after the fact, I felt like lead kind of was my story, right? She's making this thing not knowing what's going to happen, which was my story in creating my first horror film, to write it, to direct it, to do the different things. And I was kind of experiencing the character of Lead, like, that's what it was, you know, in a weird way, but I think it was a lot with the young people around that, I go, sheesh, there's a lot you put into there's a lot of stake and a lot of weight you put on this that doesn't necessarily imply safety, in the sense of, like, monetary like, Yo, I'm here to flourish. This doesn't mean you're going to be able to live. And so that parallel too, like she thinks she's gonna live just because she's the thing or so and so's gonna live. And it's like that gets blurred along the ways. Oh, man,
Jonathan Correia:you hit us a little too hard because we're podcasters. We don't get paid for this.
Shihan Van Clief:But there's a passion to it that I think can be, can't be removed from what it is. But, and I feel like that's with most art and arts that you love, right? Because even though horror is this thing that makes a lot of money, there's still a lot of people go, Oh, that's the kind of film you did, or that's, that's, they like shit on it. And I go, Oh, are you kidding me? Like, this is a great art form, great genre in general, and especially recently, there's been such great horror that I'm like, How could you discount it as anything other than some great filmmaking for what it is? You know, in the same way with any kind of art podcasting in general, this takes time. I know the setup of this and getting things in order is not just like, Okay, turn the camera on. Okay. Let's go. It's okay. We have to go through a run of show and see, make sure this is happening. Or you your headphones working, your microphone working, are we getting the right sound? Are the levels correct, or this and this. So I always think it's valuable when people are artists and they do the thing they love to do, but there's danger in it. There is danger in it.
Jonathan Correia:Oh, it's always the weirdest thing, especially when it comes to film, because it is an art form. But first and foremost, it's also a business. So yes, there's always that thing. So especially with horror, it's often dismissed as like, oh, that's just a cash grab. Oh, that's just an easy way to get money. It's like, well, there's a lot you can I mean, yes. But also within that realm, you could play around with it a lot. I think Corman and other filmmakers would often say, we have to include the things that sell we need, you know, the we need blood and we need boobs, and we need this outside of that, do whatever you want and like that's why Dante, Joe Dante, and all those other ones were able to get away with so much social commentary, and John Carpenter especially, I
Shihan Van Clief:mean, Oh yes, oh yes.
Jonathan Correia:It's an exciting genre, you will. You will not find bigger defenders of that. It's worth it. I mean, our very first episode was, why are wise and horror included in the Oscars more often?
Shihan Van Clief:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and I've seen recently, at least some of the horror filmmakers, at least trying to get their recognition in the Oscars. I have seen, you know, I remember last year or the year before last, they tried to get Mia Goth for for Pearl. And I thought that was a smart thing. That was 22 right? So I. I thought that was great. I think I even saw Terrifier. They tried to get that nominated for makeup. But I here's the thing like, I think, because it's been discounted as a as a genre for so long, I think you have to take those jumps and say, Yo recognize this, this, this. And at first, people go and whatever, and blow it up. But at some point someone will go, oh, that's actually a really great scene. That's a really great that, that exploding chest, or the, you know, in Alien, whatever. That's a great to see that even the costume designer, the makeup design obviously, didn't get nominated for that, but for Silence of Lambs when he walks in, when they walk into where Lecter was, and the dude's hanging up in the fucking thing with his chest all open. That's a great scene. The visual of that, just on a visual level, it's like the fact that they'll go, they'll go. The acting was good. But that was, you know, it's like, that looked fantastic. That was fantastic, you know. So I think the more things happen, they will get those shots. I love Barbarian. Last year, I thought Barbarian was great. And like in the three in the three acts, structure of how they laid out the story. I know there's people who feel like different things about it, or whatever, but I think that the different tones for each act, I thought were great. I thought that was a great idea. You know what I mean. And looking at and you they played well, and the actors were good, and like, I think all of that at some point will be recognized, hopefully sooner than later, but I do believe it's an undervalued genre consistently
James Jay Edwards:well now, after 70 years, we finally have Godzilla Oscar winner. Because we did. We did get a visual effects Oscar for Godzilla. So things are changing, but I think you're right. Nia goth got completely robbed. And you know, who else? Lupita Nyong’o For Us got totally snubbed. And Toni Colette in Hereditary How did that not get nominated it? But you know, so there is still work to be done.
Shihan Van Clief:Toni Collette, first of all, she's greater than everything, because I thought she was great in the car scene in The Sixth Sense. I thought just the scene where he tells her about the grandmother, I'm like, She's killing this scene. How is she not being recognized for what she's doing? So yeah, I
James Jay Edwards:100% and that's as close to an Oscar movie as she's done, too. Yeah, that, yeah.
Jacob Davidson:And on the subject, it is ironic, because at the start of the Oscars, like movies like Dr Jekyll, Mr. Hyde won Best Actor with like Frederick March. So there was a time when these types of movies got this kind of recognition, just there was a cultural shift.
James Jay Edwards:Well, Sigourney Weaver got nominated for Aliens, for Aliens for best. So I mean, every once while it does happen, and Silence of the Lambs you said, you know, the the makeup effects may not have won, but they won the Big Five they did when they were nominated. So, I mean, every once while The Shape of Water did well when it was up. And, you know, it's questionably horror, but it's a monster movie. Yeah,
Jonathan Correia:let's not forget Jordan Peele won for screenplay with Get Out. So
James Jay Edwards:screenplay can sometimes be the Miss Congeniality of the Oscars, though, you know, it's like they're not going to give anything else that movie. So let's give it screenplay. So, I mean, get out was my favorite movie of that year. I thought I should have won everything absolutely. And
Jacob Davidson:back in my first horror film, you said, since the premise is about a micro budget horror movie, and you said you drew on some real life stories, I was wondering just how you constructed it,
Shihan Van Clief:how I constructed the story itself. Yeah, I looked at a day in a life. I want to do a one day story. I knew I wanted to do that, right? And I thought of the day in the life of so for a while, one of the people who shows up in the film also has a cameo at the end of the credits. We were roommates together, right? And so I got to see them go on auditions all the time, and what that life was like. And so I would talk to him a lot about what that was, what what they did, why they did this. Would you just go out for anything? Does it matter? Does it and so then stuff about conversations about being an actor, and what kind of roles are available to you, right? And, and, and so as I constructed it, I wanted it to be a story that was about Lead, but also talked about and made commentary on what people are willing to do for recognition in any capacity, right, like they what, what kind of vulnerability they allow themselves to go through to, uh, finally, be seen. So as I was putting things together, I thought, well, what are these conversations like? Some of the conversation I have with my friends, what are these conversations like when we talk about film, when we debate about any film, what is that conversation? And in horror and someone who's going to do that, what are these conversations we have? Yeah, you know what? I loved Paranormal Activity 2. Do more than I like the others, and that's a disagreement with my friends. But again, that conversation so in the beginning, when they're talking about this person and this and what that means, I wanted to include that along the way, but also still have someone who was looking at it from the outside, which her best friend is doing right, and she's going, you're not paying attention to this. And this and this was stuff I was thinking when I was doing, my friend, wait, you're not. This doesn't raise a flag at all, like, and even. And that was part of the inclusion of, like, the Willy Wonka, little thing in the car where she goes. You know, no one knew what he was doing. No one knew. No one ever saw Willie or his Wonka. And there's a and, you know, those re cuts of like horror, like comedies, and turning them into horror, like they did with Mrs. Doubtfire and those kind of things. It's like those things. So I wanted it to be this continuing conversation that's evolving as the things are happening. But then there's still people who are unaware of what danger they are in. I see it all the time where you're like, you don't see there's someone running with a hatchet in a mall, and someone's just standing going, what? What'd you say? What? And then they're and then they're gone, right? So I wanted to include that in the construction of what I was doing, right? So as it moves along, each person is having their own observations that they're making. While there are some who have no clue, regardless of what's going down, they still are like, what? Because I think that's real i think that's real life. And I think the comedy and the horror part of it, and infusing that in it, what was important for me. I think those that's a very blurred line between comedy and horror, because I think they're both extremely difficult to do. I think they're extremely difficult to do, and both depend on a vulnerability from the audience watching, right? Because comedy, you know, it's like going to a comedy club so many people are just waiting to go. That's not funny. Yeah, that's not scary. That's not that would never happen, right? And I think blending that and putting those things together allows it to open up more, because I think making someone laugh is one of the hardest things to do, and once you open up to that, it allows the other things to take place. So that's why it starts a little on the lighter side, so that you can kind of like, okay, you know, I like this girl. She's funny, she's and then, as it happens, you're like, Okay. And I think it's a natural progression. So I'm putting it together. That's how I looked at it.
James Jay Edwards:The friend role is almost like the role of the audience, because she's saying what everyone's thinking. She's called. You're really gonna get in this van with these strangers, drive off for the rest of today, be back at midnight ish.
Shihan Van Clief:Oh, man, yeah. And she was and she was great. I loved her too. She was there was everyone in the cast. It was first time working with any of them in any capacity. So it's like a complete thing too. And I think that's the thing of the parallel I could draw between being the lead and be myself doing it the first time, like it's all new. Everything is new. So yeah, and what a
Jonathan Correia:great cast, too. Because even in the trailer, I was like, I instantly don't trust this director. And there's a few moments in the movie where, and it's like, early, you know, in the interactions and stuff, even when he's being friendly, I'm like, I've seen those eyes before. I don't let I don't I don't trust him. Like, right?
Jacob Davidson:The cast is giving me big duplus Creep vibes, yes,
Shihan Van Clief:right? Yeah, totally Yeah. Miles was great. He was great. Um, yeah, trying to think of how even people were brought in. We lost. What's crazy is we lost two of the actors the weekend before we started shooting. So we did a complete recast for two characters, and then someone had to shuffle into another role. So it was a whole lot of trying to learn stuff in the weekend leading up to first day of shoot. So the guy who played jock was not part of the thing at all. He came in on that Friday. Someone got covid The weekend before. So we couldn't, they couldn't be included at all. So, but I do think that reshuffling of who played what actually played out really well in the film. So the best friend was originally the girlfriend, and the girl who's the girlfriend was actually the PA. So all these roles kind of shifted all around, which I thought was winding a bit, working to our advantage, but it was definitely a oh shit moment, like, are we gonna be able to get this done? Are they gonna know everything when it's time? So no
James Jay Edwards:listeners that might be confused by how we're talking about this. No one in this movie uses their real name by design. So like, they're called the characters. Lead, jock, you know, girlfriend, and then there's, you know, PA, Director. So when we say it's not that we can't remember these names, right, those are the names, right? Yeah, yeah.
Shihan Van Clief:And everyone was thrown off to like, wait. We're not gonna have names like, no.
Jonathan Correia:But there's some genuinely great moments. Moments because of that. So, like, one of the characters, he's, he's played, he's put his character's name is the black guy, and so for the whole movie, yeah, there's, where's the black guy, there's moments where it's like, they really need to know who this person is. Like, yeah, then there's the black guy, or, yes, yeah. And that's
Shihan Van Clief:the thing too. And I think that's part of to me again, after the fact, when I was writing it, those things weren't being thought about as much. But after I was like, Oh, it makes sense. When they're even asking and police are involved, and it's like, who's so and so, it's like, I don't know. I don't know who anybody is. Yeah, who's there? Well, there's
Jonathan Correia:the PA, there's the girlfriend, there's, you can just see all the police's face being like, What are you talking about? Exactly. But also, that's pretty real. I mean, I've been on plenty of sets, and people are like, what's in power? I'm like, I don't know. I couldn't tell you what's going on here, but I got the call at 3am right. Been here since six, so, you know.
Jacob Davidson:And, yeah, no, I do love the kind of meta aspect to the film, especially as of horror movie. And you've definitely shown that you're a huge horror fan. And I wanted to ask just kind of how you went about that or like, Did you do any additional research? Or were take or were watching similar movies
Shihan Van Clief:I watched, let's see. I watched Final Girls again. I went through and watched Dream Warriors. Yeah, I watched, like I said, I Oh, I watched The Thing even though, obviously, mine's not a monster film. I watched the thing because some of the stuff I really liked in The Thing was the not knowing of what it is and what's happening, right? They they know something's happening, but they don't know what is happening, right? And it takes so long. So I looked at that and how that was strung together. I looked at, oh, again, not a horror film. I looked at this movie, The Killer David Fincher film. Oh, yeah, Netflix
James Jay Edwards:one,
Shihan Van Clief:yeah. And, because there was a process, right? I enjoy process, so listening to the process be narrated through that film, I was thinking about how I'm narrating this story throughout even though they're totally separate, they're not in the same world at all. It's totally different things. But I I looked at that, and then I watched series, a bunch of series. So I watched the first season of Fear. I watched, oh. I watched The Wailing, which I think is like an amazing I love the movie, The Wailing, Korean film, horror film. I watched the night of again on HBO, which is also not horror, but this, this back and forth, of again, not being given the answer. As a writer, I felt like it was always important not to give the answer to what the thing is, because I've always felt it was better to walk out of a film going blah, blah, blah, or laughing or whatever, than being, oh, that was cool, and then there's nothing else there. So I was trying to figure out what conversations could be started on screen. Does it matter that you know, you know, some people, some people may get the whole black guy thing, like black guy is black guy is going to be black guy. And he says the tropes in the beginning, right? So I was thinking about those things. I watched The Blackening. I watched Blair Witch again, because to this day, I still love the last scene in it. I still like the film. I can whatever about, but I really love the last scene when they run through the house and she walks and he's just in the corner. I just felt it was a great setup moment where it's like, and the music would you just the score was really good. It was just like, this rumble underneath, and it's like, oh shit, something's going you know? And I thought that was great. So in my head, I was like, what is the antithesis of that for me, right? And it's, you know, whatever happens at the end, right? And so it's those kind of things. So I watched so many things, but like I said, I watch a lot, all the time, anyway, like, you know, yeah, I was like, looking at posters in the back. Also, like, you know, I'm a all the films that have, like, The Big Lebowski just my glasses weren't theirs at first. So I was like, Oh, these films, they all tell me something. So I try and watch whatever genre I'm jumping into. Oh, HOST, THE MOVIE host, Jed Shepard was the whole thing told on Zoom. And I went, I remember talking to him about this. Also, like, what it was being done and then watching it, we were talking about what that was like. I thought that was important too. Like, I think getting feedback as I'm watching things, but also getting feedback from certain people who you know had experience in, yeah,
James Jay Edwards:they're absolutely the third act of my first horror film. It was given me real hardcore Blair Witch vibes when they're, you know, running around the shaky cam and stuff. So I could tell that you had watched that. What is, what's coming up for you? What's What you working on now?
Shihan Van Clief:So currently, I'm working on my follow up, which is more in the thriller vibe, right? So it's a totally different thing. I just finished the second draft that's getting turned over on next week for production companies to look so we can find out what realistic budget we're going to be working with to get that done. But that's basically a Thelma & Louise meets The Fugitive, kind of film about a support group for survivors of abuse who track down abusers and basically them up. Basically the setup, cool, oh, yeah, so yeah, and that's what I'm working on now. And, yeah, just editing, editing, editing, editing. And then while I'm up here, can I'm just going to room at night, there's a Moose Lodge with nice big, giant moose bust right over my hand. I just sit there. I'm writing, thinking about stuff, and I'm trying to, you know, also incorporate elements of horror. It is not a horror film, but I think incorporating elements of horror because, again, I think playing with what people characters people are in real life. Do you know teeter on being monsters in real life? So I think that's kind of where even that idea came from. Was like, there's a monster element to what this is, even though these are real people and how they do things.
Jacob Davidson:Cool. Well, thanks
James Jay Edwards:for joining us this morning. Shihan, everybody watch my first horror film and stay for the credits. Because not only do you get to see audition footage, which is a lot of fun, but read the credits because they are hysterical again.
Shihan Van Clief:Thank you so much.
James Jay Edwards:Read all the way through the end and yeah, look forward to it being a big success for you.
Shihan Van Clief:Thank you.
James Jay Edwards:Where can people find you to find out what you're doing? Are you on the socials?
Shihan Van Clief:I am on socials. It's all@therealShihan. So T, H, E, R, E, A, L, S, H, I, H, A N, just a real Shehan, and that's kind of what it is. Or if you can just Google my name. Shihan Van Clief, and you can find whatever else you're looking for. But yeah, that's it. And I hope everyone gets a chance to watch it. Enjoy it, pick it up, pre order it, do all the things and enjoy it. My thing is, enjoy it. I'm a big fan of enjoying it.
James Jay Edwards:It releases on August 13, so you'll have your chance to enjoy it for yourself then, and thanks again for joining us. So thank you very much. Our theme song is by Restless Spirits, so go and enjoy them. And our artwork is by Chris Fisher, so go and enjoy him. And you can find us on any of the socials, at @eyeonhorror, or at ihorror.com, which is the site we all call home. And everybody go see My First Horror Film, and we will see you in a couple of weeks. So for me, James Jay Edwards, I'm
Jacob Davidson:Jacob Davison.
Jonathan Correia:I'm Jonathan Correia, and
Shihan Van Clief:I'm Shihan Van Clief.
James Jay Edwards:Keep your eye on horror.
