As horror fans we are constantly looking for that next new high. What can we experience this time that will truly terrify us? I think that we can all agree that more often than not when we set out on these quests, we are disappointed. So imagine my surprise when, a few years ago, I stumbled across a bit of horror that chilled me to the bone. It was a film entitled “Bedfellows” and it managed to absolutely terrify me…in just less than 3 minutes. I was immediately hooked and had to have more. And the man to provide the next fix was none other than fear master Drew Daywalt.

Drew joins us to talk about his career, his insane new web series and the future of The Daywalt Fear Factory.

Thanks for talking to The Blood Sprayer audience and myself today.

My pleasure. I love the site so it’s an honor for me to be here.

I was wondering if you could touch on what brought you to horror and filmmaking?

I grew up in a 160 year old inn in Hudson Ohio that was chock-full of scary places, cold spots, bad rooms and alien noises (mostly in the basement).  I’m the youngest of 6 and my parents bought the 7 bedroom behemoth when it was abandoned and in a state of almost complete ruin.  Everyone in town thought they were crazy, but they needed a cheap home for their huge family, so they moved in and started fixing it up.

What followed were great times, but also some terrifying experiences – one afternoon there was a blood curdling scream that shook us all up, but no one was ever able to explain… then there was the inexplicable cold spots in the back staircase to the servants’ quarters. (We didn’t have servants – we used the rooms as some of our bedrooms). There was also a VERY CREEPY well from 100 years ago in the woods behind our house.  My parents always warned us not to go near it, for obvious reasons, but all us kids were convinced it was haunted. (When THE RING came out, I was like, THERE’S OUR WELL!)

I loved horror films as a kid – everything from the old James Whale & Todd Browning Universal Monster movies to Jacques Tournier’s Night of the Demon, all the way through Jack Arnold, William Castle, Hammer Horror and eventually John Carpenter. While the other kids were worshiping sports heroes, I loved Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Vincent Price.

Was starting your own production offshoot at all intimidating for you?

No not at all. I’m not smart enough to be easily intimidated. *laughs* I was writing, producing and directing films at Fewdio, and I was also cinematographer for all the shorts while there and I edited a number of the films too. So heading off to do my own thing and hanging my name on a shingle was a pretty easy step.

Let’s talk about your current milestone, Camera Obscura. For our readers that aren’t familiar with the series yet, what is the story?

At it’s core, Camera Obscura is the story of a woman coming to terms with an emotionally distant, alcoholic parent.  (in this case, her bachelor Grandfather), and discovering that while he was greatly flawed, he did love her. He loved her enough to sacrifice everything for her.

But on the surface, Camera Obscura is the story of a woman who’s world is shaken when she discovers that the same said grandfather, who passed away recently, was, in fact, a demon hunter; capturing the demons using a camera that was half mechanical construct and half black magic. But Grandfather died before his quest was finished, and now the task falls into her hands. What she does with it, is up to her.

What was your inspiration for the series?

I remember reading about the aboriginal people who earnestly thought that when a picture was taken of them, that the photograph stole their soul. I thought, wow what a great weapon that would be. I also have a thing for creatures and demons so I thought, what if I created my own pantheon of supernatural villains and the only way to fight them was with a soul snatching camera.

One of the aspects that really brings the world of Camera Obscura to life, aside from the fantastic writing and haunting soundtrack, are the demon designs, expertly handled by Jeff Farley. How did your working relationship with Jeff begin?

Jeff did a creature for a short I produced and we had a blast, so when MWG bought my pitch that was filled with otherworldy creatures, Jeff was my natural choice. He’s since become one of my dearest friends, so the advantage we have over others is that he’s there hanging out with me in the writing phase, throwing out design sketches, ideas, and thoughts as I’m writing the concept down… so what happens is a very organic construction of the world as design and story grow and intertwine together from the very origin.

What was the process like for creating the demons for the series? How long did this process take?

We were lucky to be fast tracked, and I knew Jeff was going to be pressed for time on the construction of the creatures so three months bfore the shoot I showed up with a bunch of photo collages and story outlines for the demons and I pretty much just handed them off to him. He’s like the Geppetto of  monster making. Off to the lab he went and he’d send me photos and files for notes, but Jeff does his best work if I give him concepts then get out of his way. He’s truly an artistic genius.  I’m truly priviledged to have him on my team.

How was the shooting process for you? What were some of the most challenging/rewarding moments of the shoot?

Well at this level, it’s always the budget. We had big ideas and very little money. But I’d been making these short films guerilla style for two years already and was well prepared to beg borrow and steal to get the job done. And so was my cast and crew. They rocked at improvising and making due. One thing I didn’t want to do was bite off more than we could chew. It’s a rookie mistake, so we really pushed the envelope as to what a web series is capable of, without trying to do too much. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to keept he story intimate and contained.

One of my favorite parts of the series so far has been the inclusion of Jack Klugman. I grew up watching Twilight Zone and Quincy with my granddad and he’s just such an icon. What has it been like working with him? What has his impression of the series been?

Jack is so cool. He jumped right in and went for it. He loved the concept and he’s a big fan of the supernatural. It’s been since Twilight Zone that he’s done anything supernatural and he mentioned on set how excited he was to be doing something with ghosts and demons again. He also did a 5 page monologue without the teleprompter that we had on hand. He’s amazing. And what a kind, intelligent man. It was amazing to sit on set between takes and hear him talk about Twelve Angry Men, one of my all time favorite films.

Although as of writing this, we’re only 7 episodes in (now at 14), do you have a favorite episode overall?

I have a weakness for the demons Magoria and Mr. Hurt. But I don’t want to give anything away.

Taking a different direction, in a recent article with Massive Hysteria you gave a behind the scenes look at a list of your films. I thought all of the information you provided was really amazing and it was great to learn about some your “greatest hits”. However, there is one film that still scares the hell out of me that wasn’t addressed…can you tell us a little more about The Easter Bunny is Eating My Candy?

HA! I love that one. It stars my daughter, my wife, and a carnivorous demon in a bunny suit. When I originally wrote that, I wanted it to be a rabbit-creature – akin to something like a slavering realistic werewolf kind of thing. But at the time, that was out of the budget ( I didn’t know Jeff yet), and we decided on a maniac in a cheap bunny costume. I’ve always joked that I wanted to do a sequel called SANTA IS EATING MY COOKIES, about the family cat…

One look at your Facebook updates and its clear that you constantly have a lot on your plate. I wonder if you could tell us and update us on some of your upcoming projects:

Recently you discussed two features you have in the works Ringbearer (which before I read your synopsis thought you had written a wedding slasher) and The Call. Can you give us an update on these?

The Ringbearer script is now complete and Fangoria is lining up funding so we can go into preproduction. The Call is something near and dear to my heart and there are several companies looking at it now, and I’ve got my fingers crossed that that will be my next film.

Several of your shorts have been teased but not seen yet. When can we expect to see Poly Deus and Mama’s Baby?

Polydeus is a personal best for me, for sure. It’s a mindbender that’s sort of HELLRAISER meets TRON… There are some video games that you would never want to be sucked into. Mama’s Baby is this crazy psychosexual thing where I get to explore the menaing of true nightmares. It’s a bit experimental and a bit Cronenberg. Polydeus has been purchased by FEARnet and will air in November. Mama’s Baby will be in January, venue TBD.

Can you tell us about The Old Chair which, if I’m not mistaken, features the fantastic A.J. Bowen.

Aj is a good friend of mine. We’ve bonded over intelligent horror and we really feel that there’s a serious need for strong storytelling in modern horror. He’s like the nicest guy in Hollywood and I think he’s one film away from being super huge A list. Talent like his is rare and I’m honored to be working with him on a few things. In THE OLD CHAIR he plays a guy who’s just taking care of his old aunts…. albeit in a rather sinister way…

You mentioned earlier that you joked about a sequel to Easter Bunny. Is this something that’s just a passing fancy? Have you had ideas for sequels to any of your other films?

I am not a fan of sequels, generally speaking. I have so many stories to tell that I want to keep moving on to the next thing. As far as Easter Bunny, I wanted to do a Santa Version, but I’ve come up with a new Holiday Horror Short called MY NAME IS CHRIS KRINGLE that’s going to be Fangoria’s Christmas film this year. It’s starring R A. Mihailof (Leatherface, Pumpkinhead) as Santa Claus!

You’ve spoken very highly of the amazing work that Joshua Hoffine does and speaking on my behalf, you are both responsible for my continued love of the genre in the past few years. Is there any chance of collaboration between the two of you in the future?

As a matter of fact we’ve been looking for something to do together. The guy is literally the best horror photographer in the business. We met because every time one of us did an interview they’d mention the other guy and when we finally looked at each other’s work we realized we’re pulling from the same playbook.  One of the films I’m doing soon NAKED involves quite a bit of production design and art direction and Joshua is doing all of that for me. We’re crazy excited. He designs and builds all the stuff for his photos so I can’t wait to see what he comes up with for the film.

One of my favorite places to stop on the net is Fearnet to check out your School of Fear articles. I was wondering if you could talk about how this started? How do you keep content fresh each article?

Actually, I just ramble about whatever’s on my mind that week. Thankfully, other people find my mad ramblings interesting. I can say though, that I’m a fan of horror and a true believer in the genre. It’s not a stepping stone to another career, it’s not a waypoint for me, it’s a destination. I love horror. I love dark fantasy, and when I write, I write from my heart. So I think people are responding to my earnest love for my craft and for the genre as a whole.

In these articles you’ve talked about the state of the genre. What do you think the next big trend will be? What would you like to see? Hags?

Hags. I’m doing a short called THE CLOSET this weekend with actress Bonnie Aarons. I love her. She’s one of David Lynch and Sam Raimi’s favorite character actresses and she’s a sweetheart and she really understands horror and fantasy. I love her to pieces.  I also love working with Maria Olsen and Jonica Patella – lovely ladies who have a GREAT grasp on how to scare the shit out of you.

Lastly, how do you keep working? How do these fresh and original ideas continue to come to you and will the horror genre be your home for now on?

Like I said before, I’m here to stay. I came from big action stuff, writing for Tony Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer and Brett Ratner, and frankly I felt empty writing all that action stuff. Horror is where my heart is and it’s absolutely where I will stay. I feel like it was a long walk to get here and I’m just happy I’ve found my way home. Horror and horrific dreadful thoughts come naturally to me. They tickle me and entertain me, so it’s a scary neverending font of evil that keeps me writing and directing!

There you have it folks! A look into the mind of a modern genre genius.  You can check out Drew’s work at the following locations:

• Drew’s short films can be seen here at the Daywalt Fear Factory

• You can also check out his weekly blog, The School of Fear

• And all of the installments of Camera Obscura can be found at Daily Motion