au·teur noun \ō-ˈtər\
1: a filmmaker who exercises creative control over his or her works and has a strong personal style.
2: A creative artist, especially a film director, seen as having a specific, recognizable artistic vision, and who is seen as the single or preeminent ‘author’ of his works.
There are a select handful of people in the world that truly personify that above definition when it comes to horror filmmaking, in particular. Of those people...there are only a few who are waiting in the wings to be that next big thing in the genre. Horror is a tricky class of film to get right. There are countless big Hollywood movies that are released all the time that fail to deliver that true scare. Drew Daywalt knows how to deliver that true scare. You see, he is a special breed of filmmaker because he gets it. He knows what scares the fuck out of you. Drew understands the importance of timing and atmosphere in horror film and he studies every goddamn facet of fear. If you've seen his short films and read his School of Fear then, you know what I'm talking about. There is no doubt in our Deviant minds that he will go on to do big things and scare audiences on a grander scale.
Mr. Daywalt's first horror feature film (technically, his first feature was an action/comedy called Stark Raving Mad) makes its debut on the Syfy Channel this Saturday night at 8/9c...just in time for St. Patrick's Day. It is a film called Leprechaun's Revenge and it's pretty badass! We caught up with Drew while on a mini vacation in Santa Barbara and asked him 5 quick questions where he revealed a few things about Leprechaun's Revenge, some new nightmares in store for us and a half bottle of Jameson's Irish Whiskey.
CHECK IT OUT...
1. Are you a fan of the Leprechaun films from the 90's?
Drew Daywalt: I have to be honest. I've still never seen one. I know, I know, as a horror aficionado, I should have my card taken away. But when this project sprang up, I wanted to avoid them so I could (hopefully) deliver something just as fun and quirky without duplicating the genius of Warwick Davis.
2. How is your Daywalt Fear Factory going? Any new nightmares in store for us?
Drew Daywalt: God man. I have 3 films in the can that have been there for a year now. THE OLD CHAIR, MAMA'S BABY, and NAKED - all of them are just waiting to be edited. I was about to dig into them when last year exploded on me. I got the MTV DEATH VALLEY series, then the G4 Horror Donkey Kong thing with Joe Lynch, and right after that I did the SyFy feature Leprechaun's Revenge with After Dark. So now, I have a month or two before the next gig (it's still top secret) and I 'm hoping to get at least one of my short films done in that time!
3. Have you ever considered using the Irish legend of the Banshee in one of your films?
Drew Daywalt: I love Banshees. And as you know I'm scared shitless of hags, witches and harpies, so hmmm.... yeah. I would love to tread that ground.
4. Do you have any cool stories from working with Billy Zane and William Devane on the set of Leprechaun's Revenge?
Drew Daywalt: Those guys are both so awesome, seriously. What great guys. First time I met Bill Devane I said, "Knot's Landing Schmott's Landing, let's talk ROLLING THUNDER, the best grindhouse film of all time." He laughed and rolled his eyes and said I was as big a fanboy movie nerd as Tarantino. I smiled and took that as a compliment. As a wrap gift, he left me "half" a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey. I looked at him and said, "Half? What the fuck?" and he said, "Yeah. Well, I drank the other half." I laughed so hard I hurt. Then I drank the whiskey.
I strive to be as cool as Billy Zane. It'll never happen, but I can try. He's one cool cat. And a great sense of humor. He made the sheriff in this film hysterical, man. Here's a small town sheriff cleaning up murder scenes where there's gold coins that have been half eaten, disemboweled red necks... and there's green blood spilled everywhere that looked like Nyquil. He had a lot of fun with the role and so did I.
5. What are we in store for with your new film Leprechaun's Revenge?
Drew Daywalt: Oh man, I dunno. (laughs). It's quirky as hell, and incredibly funny, to me and my team, at least. We never went full campy like the Warwick Davis series, but instead wanted to go for a Del Toro look (on a budget) and with an offbeat Coen brothers sensibility. If I've done my job on this one, I won't necessarily have scared you guys with this one, but I will have entertained you wildly for a night.
Thanks for the interview and your time! And Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Drew is not only a super talented filmmaker...but, he's an all around nice person, too. He's got more cool stuff in store for us soon...so, keep it here when details become available. In the meantime, make sure to keep up with Drew at his SCHOOL OF FEAR as well as his DAYWALT FEAR FACTORY! And pick up the DVD of MTV's DEATH VALLEY for some truly awesome funny/scary stuff that he helped create. There's even hats and t-shirts over there! Also...don't forget to pick up your bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey and watch Leprechaun's Revenge on Syfy this St. Patrick's Night at 9PM/8C.
Thanks for reading!
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