This week marked the digital/VOD release of director Vivieno Caldinelli’s latest film, Scared Shitless. Our own Marie Gilbert wrote about Scared Shitless last year following its Toronto debut at the Blood in the Snow Festival, calling it “a well-done horror comedy that is laugh-out-loud fun to watch.”
Here’s the log line: Don (Steven Ogg), a blue-collar plumber and Sonny (Daniel Doheny), his germaphobic son, are forced to take care of one another after the death of Sonny’s mom. To help Sonny overcome his germaphobia, Don drags him out on a routine house-call where they encounter a plumber’s worst nightmare… a vicious killer creature that’s swimming through the pipes, killing the building’s tenants in an increasingly grisly fashion.
I had the chance to talk to Vivieno Caldinelli over email about Scared Shitless, its recent pick-up by Netflix, and lots more.
Andy Burns: I just saw the news that Scared Shitless has sold to Netflix. Congrats! How are you feeling?
Vivieno Caldinelli: Thanks! I feel great, obviously… Finally, everyone gets to see our movie. Excited to see how the reception is, especially with the time of year being close to Halloween. The entire team is over the moon!
Andy Burns: Tell me about how Scared Shitless came to be.
Vivieno Caldinelli: (Writer) Brandon (Cohen) and (producer) Lewis (Spring) had been working on it for a while. They made a short film some years ago as a proof of concept. A couple of years ago, my agent sent me the script for the feature. I loved the concept, I met with Brandon and Lewis, and it was a great fit. The rest was history, as they say…
Andy Burns: What was the shooting experience like? How much time did you have? Whereabouts did you shoot?
Vivieno Caldinelli: We shot in Toronto— Etobicoke, mostly. It was nice being close to home. Schedule-wise, things were tight. To be honest, they always are. No matter the budget or schedule, you are always maximizing to make the most of things. Scared Shitless was especially tight, around 15 days, including inserts and SFX days. It was pretty intense. Generally, I like those kinds of shoots, when your back is against the wall and you’re operating on adrenaline and instinct— That’s when I feel I’m doing my best work!
Andy Burns: Let’s talk about practical effects and the creature design. You’ve got a great monster in your film. How was it designed?
Vivieno Caldinelli: Our monster is essentially Steve Kostanski’s creation. We had our talks with Steve, along with going over the designs of the short film and feature script, and then Steve put his stamp on it. It’s really one of the stars of the show!!
Andy Burns: One of the things I’ve appreciated with your work, specifically with Portal To Hell and now Scared Shitless, is that you manage to find the balance between horror and humour. Are there any works that have helped inspire how you approach finding the sweet spot in your own art?
Vivieno Caldinelli: I think all of my work has some balance between comedy and horror/violence/gore in some form. It just comes from my love of both horror and comedy from a very early age—being obsessed with both. In the ’80s, there were only a few movies that were able to really blend the two. Stand-outs for me as a kid were Ghostbusters, An American Werewolf in London, Return of the Living Dead, and The Blob (1988). It’s funny because everyone always says Horror/Comedy, but to me, it’s always just Comedy. In comedies, there is always conflict driving the story—just in my case, the story always happens to be horror or elements of gore. Anyway, that’s just how I see it.
Andy Burns: What’s next for you?
Vivieno Caldinelli: Who knows—We’ll see what the universe has in store!
Scared Shitless is now available to rent or purchase on VOD. It starts streaming on Netflix Canada on October 14.
