If there's one thing we like at NYX and that's a cool slasher movie and Brittney Greer's Happy Halloween which has just had its European Premiere at FrightFest 2024 is a belter. We had a quick chat to Brittney about this pic.
NYX: Have you always been a fan of horror movies?
BG: Oh yeah! I've been a fan since I can remember. I watched Killer Klowns From Outerspace when I was around 5, something about the colors and music just stuck with me.
NYX: Where did the idea for Happy Halloween come from?
BG: I'm a huge fan of slashers and Halloween is my favourite holiday. One Oct, man, like 15 years ago I was sitting going through my horror collection wishing there were more Halloween themed slashers. So I decided to start writing my own. As I grew older and did rewrites some of me started finding its way into Hadley and her love of Halloween, but that dread of past issues surrounding the holiday.
NYX: Was it a hard movie to cast?
BG: Yes and no. Hahaha. A few characters were cast from the proof of concept like Aline O'Neill and Mickey Stone we knew they were locked in. Chris Greig also came over from our POC we just put him in a different role. We had a few people we were looking at for Hadley and it just didn't work, it didn't feel right. We were starting to stress and then Aline told us to reach out to Emma Reinagel. We were originally looking at her for the opening of the movie but all three of us (David, Aline, and myself) were like oh man… did we just find our Hadley!? We had a few people drop out during production that we had to recast on the fly but that's to be expected for indie filmmaking.
NYX: This is your first feature, were you nervous when you went on set the first day?
BG: I'm always nervous that first day. Especially with this being a project I had worked on for so long and meant so much to me. I was also asking all of these amazing people to trust me and to go on a journey with me, so I just don't want to let them down. So that added to the nerves. But David our DP/Editor and our female leads Emma and Aline were so supportive and were always ready to help problem solve.
NYX: What lessons in directing did you learn during production?
BG: Feel free to slow things down. Its always a time crunch, but sometimes you need to take a breath and slow it down. Surrounding yourself with not only talented people, but passionate people will make all the difference. Not to worry with the continuity of the blood. If you want more blood just do it. Try your best to match it but if you want it use it.
NYX: Was it all shot on location?
BG: Yes. We were blessed to have some amazing locations. Some of my favourites are the maze and pumpkin house. All of our exterior corn maze was shot at a working Corn Maze in Aurora MO. The tent was made and set decorated in David's backyard. The pumpkin house is a house that decorates like that every year in Nixa MO. It's called the Nixa Pumpkin Haunt. It was a dream. If we had the budget the whole town would've looked like that.
NYX: Which sequence was the toughest to shoot as I assume it would be in the cornfield?
BG: Surprisingly the corn maze stuff wasn't too hard shoot. I think everyone was so excited to be in an actual corn maze. David our amazing DP/Editor was the one setting the lights so once he had them set we were good to go. The one day we had the most trouble in the maze it was just me, David, two actors and David's son on set. I was running sound and when you see the Figure, that's me. That day was pretty hard. But our end sequence in the tent was difficult. We had to shoot it in two sections about 2 to 3 weeks apart. Then we had issues with two blood gags. It turned out great though.
NYX: Were all the effects practical?
BG: I did all of our makeup FX practically except for some blood touch ups on the chest in the beginning… and well… the head. I love fake blood and practical is more time consuming and doesn't always go according to plan but I think it looks way better. Me doing it is again just part of indie filmmaking.
NYX: How hard is it to bring something new to the slasher genre?
BG: I think its extremely hard. You don't want to have the same ole same ole to the point its predictable but you also want to be true to the heart of the slashers that came before you. It's a fine line to walk.
NYX: It surely has the most pumpkins ever used in one movie!
BG: That is a badge I will wear with pride. I love me some pumpkins!
NYX: Will you be nervous when the movie has its European premiere at FrightFest 2024?
BG: I'll be nervous for sure, we put so much time and passion into the project its hard not to keep it safe and protected. Our cast and crew feel so honoured to have Happy Halloween having its European premiere at FrightFest. Such an amazing feeling. We had such a small cast and crew and very little money so us getting to have a premiere at FrightFest is a dream.
NYX: Do you have a favourite horror slasher franchise?
BG: 100% the Scream franchise! My all time favourite for sure. Happy Halloween is very much a Scream/Halloween vibe.
NYX: So, what are you working on at the moment?
BG: We have a feature we helped on called Aging Predators that's in post. We are also trying to finish the script to a Happy Halloween sequel. Which is extremely exciting!
NYX: Brittney Greer, thank you very much.
