To celebrate the release of the true crime-inspired horror film “Kill Teaser”, we interview writer and director MB X. McClain.
I watch a lot of horror movies, so it takes a lot to scare me. But seeing the words, ‘Base on true events…’ or ‘Based on a true story…’ is enough for me to know that I’m in for a treat.
Kill Teaser, a new horror film from MB X.McClain is no exception. It is absolutely a wild ride of a ‘Base on true events’ film. To celebrate the release of the film, I chatted with MB about what inspired the film, and what made him want to be a filmmaker.
Morbidly Beautiful: What inspired your film, Kill Teaser? How did the project come about?
MB McClain: I lived in South Korea for three years where I was developing another film, and during that time, I saw a lot of strangely incompetent horror films. Like they would make massively strange choices and spend half the movie doing stand-up comedy or eating Chinese food. Kill Teaser is a project we created during that time to express our frustration. It is also loosely inspired by events from a series of true crimes that occurred in New Jersey and Upstate New York around the mid-’00s.
Morbidly Beautiful: What’s your creative process to prepare for shooting?
MB McClain: I plan the movie out as much as I can before the shoot to make it go smoothly. If the actors are capable of it, I sometimes explore improvisation.
Morbidly Beautiful: What made you want to be a filmmaker?
MB McClain: I’ve wanted to be a filmmaker since I was a kid, and I’m not sure how, but I think I knew YouTube would inevitably exist. When I was in the 4th grade, I reshot the entire Star Wars trilogy with my friends and my dog playing most of the parts. I have a lot of cool ideas I want to see executed.
Morbidly Beautiful: What kind of ideas do you have that you would like to see come to life?
MB McClain: I’m mostly trying to tell original stories that haven’t been told yet, I feel like no one’s taking risks lately, and it’s been a while since movies have been really interesting. I also want to bring back the quality that’s been lost with computers.
Morbidly Beautiful: What is it that draws you to the horror genre?
MB McClain: The horror genre is cool because there are a lot of cool ways to do it and if you kill too many people in your movie suddenly it’s a horror movie anyway. My next movie is essentially a sci-fi movie with zombies and monsters so that kind of makes it horror right?
I’ll keep coming back as long as I can if I’m not dead.
Morbidly Beautiful: What’s up next for you? Are you currently working on anything?
MB McClain: I’m currently working on a new project we need more funding for, but it has some really awesome monsters and a lot of potential.
Morbidly Beautiful: Just one last question for you, MB. What’s your favorite scary movie?
MB McClain: I like pretty much everything. Alien is cool. Gremlins was good.
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