I love watching independent films, and I love everything that Jeremiah Kipp has directed so far. His latest work is a short horror documentary. What is scarier than the Slender Man or Mothman? Find out with my review, and interview with Jeremiah Kipp.
Review
The Nain Rouge Murders is a Beautiful Lady production short film written by Joe Fiorillo and produced by Jeremiah Kipp and Ari Rossen. It stars Ari Rossen, Suzette Gunn, Larry Mihlon, Sydney Morgan, Ashley Noel Jones, and Silvia Dionicio. The Nain Rouge Murders is part of the “Self-Taped at Home During Coronavirus 2020 series.”
The Nain Rouge Murders (2020) from Jeremiah Kipp on Vimeo.
The documentary is based on the legendary creature that haunts Detroit, Michigan. It is said that horrific deaths occur whenever the creature is spotted. Nain Rouge is French for Red Dwarf. History has it that the Nain Rouge has been seeking revenge on the unfortunate citizens of Detroit because of Detroit’s founding father, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac’s refusal to appease the creature.
Using interviews with City Councilman Harry Walker (Jim True Frost), the police department, and friends of one of the victims, a reporter tries to get to the bottom of the savage murder of three teenagers that happened during the March of the Nain Rouge festival.
Interview with Jeremiah Kipp.
Gilbert: Jeremiah, how did you hear about the Nain Rouge, and what convinced you to do this in documentary form?
Jeremiah Kipp: Our producer Ari Rossen is from Michigan, and the legend of the Nain Rouge (Red Dwarf) is part of his cultural history. As a metaphor for the painful history of Detroit, one of our great and dissipated American cities, this was a powerful monster. Since I’ve always been interested in true crime documentaries, that format felt like a way to ground our story in some of our harsher realities.
Gilbert: How many films have you produced since Covid, and is it hard getting everyone on point while working from a distance? What difficulties have you run into?
Jeremiah Kipp: We’ve made at least six or seven, and have three more in post. Having everyone self-tape at home made actors have to be responsible for photography and sound; although nowadays a lot of them self tape for auditions so they’re getting used to it!
Now that production seems to be resuming on set, I don’t currently have any plans for more of them. But in movies as in life, one never knows what will happen until it happens.
Gilbert: Will you consider making a longer version of The Nain Rouge Murders once we overcome Covid?
Jeremiah Kipp: We’re already developing a script with our writer Joe Fiorillo. Audiences seem to enjoy this one; it feels like they’d love to hear more about the Red Dwarf.
Gilbert: What are you working on now?
Jeremiah Kipp: We’re just wrapping up post on the feature length version of our monster movie SLAPFACE, and just wrapped my first project back on set: a ghost story called DRAW UP AND STARE starring wonderful actors Michael O’Keefe, Linda Powell and Academy Award winner Melissa Leo. We look forward to sharing this work in 2021.
