Interview with TALES OF HALLOWEEN’s Ryan Schifrin

To celebrate the October 16th release of the horror anthology Tales of Halloween, Daily Dead spoke to the filmmakers behind the movie to discuss the project, their individual contributions and more.

Best known for his 2006 debut feature, Abominable, Ryan Schifrin wrote and directed “The Ransom of Rusty Rex,” his segment of Tales of Halloween in which two kidnapping thieves get more than they bargained for on their latest job. Schifrin (whose legendary father, composer Lalo Schifrin, contributes a wonderful theme for the anthology), spoke with Daily Dead about working with one his heroes, finding the right tone and his segment’s classical literary roots.

There's an O. Henry story that clearly served as inspiration for your segment, "The Ransom of Rusty Rex." What was it that inspired you to draw from that story while writing your piece?

Ryan Schifrin: I approached this thinking about what I could do that would be different from the other stories. I figured a lot of them would have kids and teenagers as protagonists, so I thought having two criminals as the leads would be interesting. Tarantino and the Coen Brothers always tell funny and twisted stories involving underworld types. I was into the writing process when I saw a story about Elmore Leonard having adapted O. Henry’s short story. I went back and read “Ransom of Red Chief” and it absolutely fit the mold of what I wanted to do, and I thought a horror version of it could be really fun.

A Hollywood legend makes a really fun cameo in your segment. How did that come about?

Ryan Schifrin: After I made Abominable, I got invited to the Masters of Horror dinners and got to meet many of my idols, John Landis being one of them. He has such a large personality, and I was thinking about who would have a strong presence on the phone calls the kidnappers make. Originally it was just going to be a voice on the other end of the call. I had to work up the nerve to ask John, as he can be quite intimidating and doesn’t pull any punches! He read the script and thought it was funny, and said "yes." I still don’t know why he said "yes," but thank God he did. Not only that, but after we finished editing, he offered to sit down with me and Matt Barry, my editor, and give us detailed notes. We spent about five hours going through and getting a master class from John. I’ll never forget it. Such a generous and warm person.

How did Sam Witwer and Jose Cantillo come to be involved in your piece?

Ryan Schifrin: I’ve been a huge fan of Jose since I saw him in Crank. I thought he stole the movie. When I was putting together the sequel to Abominable, I wrote a part for Jose in it. Mark Neveldine, the co-director of Crank, introduced me to Jose. We really hit it off, and discovered we had a lot in common. We’ve been trying to work together for years.

I met Sam at a mutual friend’s party and geeked out over the fact he is the star of the Star Wars Force Unleashed games. Poster artist Drew Struzan had worked with me on Abominable and knew I was a big Star Wars fan. He had me "model" for a few book covers he did, and Sam thought that was pretty neat. We became friends over time, and I think he’s incredibly talented and also really wanted to find something we could work on. I wrote both roles with the two of them in mind.

There's kind of a theme that runs through a number of the segments in Tales of Halloween dealing with a fear of children, particularly on Halloween. Why do you think that is? Where does that come from?

Ryan Schifrin: I can’t speak for the other directors, but for me it started with the Garfield Halloween special, the sequence where Garfield and Odie go trick or treating and every costumed kid they encounter is really a monster underneath. The holiday is all about kids getting to do things they normally aren’t allowed to do. The thought of them taking that to the extreme seems like a natural fear.

Like several of the shorts in Tales of Halloween, your segment has a lot of comedy in it as well as horror. Do you find it tricky to balance the two tones? Do you lean heavily towards one or the other?

Ryan Schifrin: Tone is the most important thing, and the trickiest to pull off. If you play up the comedy too much, it’s just silly and if you go too dark, then it’s off-putting. I try to play it fairly straight and let the comedy come from the situation and honest reaction of the characters. They don’t know if it’s comedy or horror; they’re just dealing with the situation as realistically as they can. If the situation happens to be getting licked on the face by a demonic imp, how would you react?

I also have a theory that the personality of the director is infused into the film whether they want it or not. When I try to do something really scary and disturbing, it always seems to offend no one, so I guess I’m too nice! My desire is for the audience to have fun above all else, sort of like going on a rollercoaster ride. I don’t want people to go home feeling like life is shitty and depressing. There’s enough of that in reality, so I’m all about pushing the fun factor.

I also wanted to mention that the music has a great influence on the tone, and give a special shout out to composer Chris Drake, who scored my segment. He did a masterful job of enhancing the tone and making both the comedy and horror really come to life. Music is often 50% of the experience. I defy you to watch E.T. without the volume and still feel as moved.

You've directed both shorts and features but this is (if I'm not mistaken) the first anthology in which you've participated. How did you find the experience? What is it like to be on set with so many other filmmakers who are both your peers and your friends?

Ryan Schifrin: Making movies is fun and stressful. The analogy I heard which best describes being on set is that the train leaves the station and is barreling down the tracks, only the tracks don’t exist. You are running in front of the train, laying down tracks as fast as you can. Doing an anthology is great in that it’s a shorter timeframe (although the pressure to make something really great in that small amount of time is heightened), you can pull more favors (hey, it’s just a couple days!), and you have plenty of talented people around you to offer their advice and suggestions. The idea of collaborating creatively with a group of friends like this is really exciting and attractive. You get to do something you’re so interested in and can talk about it in depth with people who are equally interested, know what you’re going through, and are fully rooting for you to succeed. our successes are their successes, and vice-versa. It’s an awesome thing.

If the movie were to get a sequel (and I hope it does!), do you already have ideas for what you might want to do for a short? I won't ask what it would be.

Ryan Schifrin: I would love to see Tales of Halloween become a yearly tradition. I’ve got a whole bunch of ideas I’d be keen to do. Having said that, part of me thinks they should get a whole new set of filmmakers so each outing is fresh voices and points of view. They’d still have to adhere to the one night, one town concept. A shared universe with multiple directors would be so cool.

What makes a great horror anthology?

Ryan Schifrin: Variety. Having different voices with interesting stories and points of view. Think of it like a Twilight Zone marathon of the best episodes: they’re smart, they’ve got fun twists and just when a favorite one ends, another one starts.

What is your all-time favorite segment in any horror anthology?

Ryan Schifrin: So many to pick from… but I’ve gotta go with what made a strong impression on my young mind. I’ve always loved “The Crate” from Creepshow! Great characters and dialogue, and when the monsters bites off a chunk of the guy’s head—freaked me out!

Tales of Halloween will be released in theaters and on VOD on October 16 from Epic Pictures Productions.