Jeri Jacquin
Coming to Bluray from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
and director Stacy Title is a thriller that will keep you from putting your
toes outside the covers with THE BYE BYE MAN.
Three college students find an old house off of campus and
move in not knowing they have a tenant of another kind. An entity called The
Bye Bye Man is just waiting to come out and the students, without knowing, open
the supernatural door for him.
I am a fan of well done horror films and director Stacy
Title has given us just that. With creepiness oozing from every frame, I was
thrilled at the opportunity to speak with her about where the idea came from
and her vision for bringing the frights to all of us.
Jeri Jacquin: Hi Stacy, I’m so excited to talk with you
today and thank you for talking the time to talk about THE BYE BYE MAN that’s
on Bluray this week. I’m excited to talk to you for several reasons but the
main one is that it is rare to find a female director in the horror genre.
Stacy Title: Yes, you are right, it is a rare thing.
JJ: How did you become involved in the film and I know your
husband Jonathan Penner worked on the screenplay as well.
ST: I tell you that it was luck and friendship as Trevor
Macy is a dear friend of mine and fan always had wanted to do something
together. The script for THE BYE BYE MAN came and it really wasn’t in the shape
that I wanted it to be in but there was something in it that intrigued me. My
husband Jonathan and I started breaking it down and split the roles very
clearly. He did most of the writing and I wanted the definition of me as the
director fully realized. I’ve had people ask me if I’ve co-directed with my
husband and tell them I’ve never done it before. We got the script the way we
wanted and my friend Jeffrey Soros from LAMF partnering with Simon Horsman and
they financed the movie. It’s really a lucky thing of having a fan and a good
friend putting those pieces together. Without all of these things coming
together I would never have gotten a shot at this.
JJ: What was it about the story initially that intrigued
you?
ST: I loved that the Bye Bye Man can hurt you without
touching you; that he can turn you on yourself by playing on your weaknesses. I
thought that was really unique and original. Further, I am really interested in
the idea of fear and paranoia today is a large part of our lives and that
intrigued me too. You can hurt yourself by being to afraid, by being too
paranoid about life. There are going to be links to the mythology that will be
made available to people as well. It will explain the DNA of the movie a little
more about the coins and the trains. I think people will understand even more
fully what I intended.
JJ: I understand that it was based on the piece The Bridge to Body Island; did you dig
further into that?
ST: That story is incredible and that’s in a book called The Presidents Vampire I believe and it
has a lot of really interesting stuff. I can’t verify there were three grad
students that this happened to but there was a great amount of material that
was useful. One of the things is how the Bye Bye Man was murdered, that he was
left on a train, his eyes burned out with coins and all the things they did to
him. The book had some wonderful detail and we turned that into a movie because
it wasn’t a natural movie with the work.
JJ: Is this a genre you enjoy?
ST: I love it I have to say. I’m a real horror geek. I love
science fiction and fantasy as well, oh I just love all movies and genres but I
do genuinely love horror. I love that feeling of being afraid and I find that
interesting. I also enjoy scaring people too.
JJ: Do you think it is that rush we get knowing we will walk
out of the theatre in one piece after watching a horror film?
ST: It’s so true! It’s a wish fulfillment like can I be on
the edge of a cliff, fall and survive it. It’s very satisfying and makes you
appreciate the world you live in. The expressions ‘enjoy each day as if it’s
your last’ but a horror movie can make you believe that more.
JJ: There is nothing like that roller coaster of emotions
and walking out of the film with a nervous laugh saying ‘ha! I survived!’ but
inside your heart is still pounding a bit.
ST: In my bedroom in the middle of the night there was
something hanging on my door and it looked like the Bye Bye Man! You see shapes
and dark things that test all of those scary feelings. I also think what is fun
is the community of going to see the film in a theatre.
JJ: I was so thrilled to learn that Doug Jones was playing
the character of the Bye Bye Man.
ST: Yes, he is amazing and I was so thrilled that he was on
our project. Have you ever met him?
JJ: Yes, I spoke to him as well for another project he did.
ST: He is the sweetest most genuine person you have ever met,
such a delightful, lovely and a thoughtful person. It is so interesting that he
can convert that. He completely channels the darkness for this character and
how he can use his body with the smallest movement. He gets so much out of so
little. He is funny, scary and brilliantly dramatic actor and I am very lucky
to have gotten him.
JJ: He is just amazing.
ST: I love him.
JJ: You have a wonderful cast that comes together strong for
the film. When it all came together did you think ‘yep, this is it!’?
ST: Totally, I’ve have a lot of luck in my life with casting
and I’ve had great experiences with actors. I don’t know if it’s because my
husband is an actor who has done television and film as well as Survivor. When I did my Oscar nominate
short I had Jason Alexander and Edward Asner, with THE LAST SUPPER I had Bill
Paxton and Cameron Diaz so I am very ambitious to get the best person for each
part. So for THE BYE BYE MAN I was completely happy and agree with you about
the cast.
JJ: When it came to doing the effects for the film, how was
that for you knowing that you see one thing in your head and have to create
that on the screen?
ST: I think we were overly ambitious with the amount of
financing we had. There are some shots that didn’t work or didn’t look good. If
anything it made me realize is that I need to hold out to expand the budget in
the effects area to get those things absolutely perfect. I’m very happy with a
lot of what we did. There are things that are beautiful and I wouldn’t change
them.
JJ: I’m glad to hear you understood what to use and what to
leave out. It seems a lot of the horror films just throw everything but the
kitchen sink at a film and it sort of ruins it for me. It’s a way of saying
that we have to watch and accept it. I don’t think audiences are buying that
anymore.
ST: I agree so much. I think there is a judiciousness that
you have to have when things aren’t really perfect and accept that it has to be
cut. I believe you are right that things are just shoved into films and people
are expected to just let it fly and it doesn’t.
JJ: I have found in the last couple of years is that the
blood and gore just don’t tell a story for me which is why I stopped watching
my favorite genre for a while. You have gone back to scary and tension. You can
have a little gore but give me suspense, creaks, rustling bushes!
ST: Really the feeling of something awful is about to happen
and I so think that is important. The jumps are great to release a little of
the tension but it’s the tension, the dread and that identifying with the
characters, I think that works much better and is more important.
JJ: It’s like when Willy Wonka is watching something bad
happen to one of the kids and he says, “The suspense is terrible! I hope it will
last!”
ST: You are hilarious <laughing> what a great
metaphor.
JJ: I love the tension! <laughing> I don’t need a lot
of the other stuff, just give me the feeling of body aches when I leave the
theatre because I’m exhausted from the tension.
ST: When we were early humans and living day-to-day and
moment-to-moment we had to listen as if our lives depended on it in the forest
because something could get us. That’s that tension you are talking about, I
love it.
JJ: Yes, that primal fear that knows that at a drop of the
hat something could happen and we’d have no control over it. You give us that
safety of not having control, it’s hard to describe.
ST: Absolutely, taking you on that ride and to the edge. We
knew the last hallucination of the film was extremely important. You had to
think what was happening to Sasha was happening and the dread with the running
down the hall. If I hadn’t set everything up at the beginning no one would want
to take that ride.
JJ: Exactly, okay, I love you
<At this point we are both laughing>
ST: I love you too! You get it; you really understand how to
put that together because it’s not easy to do. I like that you understand why
you like it – you’re like a shrink!
JJ: Actually I have four adult children and we all love
horror films. We love that feeling of terror but feeling safe. I’m not going to
lie though; my feet do not dangle over the bed at night.
ST: When you are alone at night and you sort of see
something rustling around, I admit to having a little bit of fright outside the
movies. I do like the movie thing because you are right, I’m safer sometimes
more than real life.
JJ: I think it helps us with those little creepy moments
like going from our car to the front door which is a ten-second walk but we
hear things and see shadows and fumble with our keys to get in the door.
ST: That funny sound when you slam the door and then there
is a funny sound coming from upstairs and now that creepy is in the house. I
live in an old house that makes noise which doesn’t help.
JJ: I have a cat who thinks it’s funny to scare the
daylights out of me.
ST: Does he jump out?
JJ: I have a staircase with space between the stairs and he
just rubs on my ankle as I walk up. It is the creepiest feeling in the world!
ST: Oh my gawd, that is so funny!
JJ: When people see the film on Bluray which is amazing,
what do you want them to take away with them?
ST: I want them to see that fear and paranoia bring you down
and that it can take over your life. You have to make a choice not to let that
happen. I think the concept behind THE BYE BYE MAN is that you really get lost
in your fear and by living in that fear it can hurt you – especially today.
JJ: You are so right Stacy; I had an amazing time talking to
you about THE BYE BYE MAN.
It was amazing having such a fantastic conversation with
Stacy and I am still thrilled to have been able to chat about horror films and
what makes us love it so. THE BYE BYE MAN is a fright fest that now on Bluray
gives us a reason to turn off the lights, cuddle up on the sofa with your
favorite hero/heroine and enjoy the ride.
Coming to Bluray from the stellar director Stacy Title and Universal
Pictures Home Entertainment is dark and focused THE BYE BYE MAN.
In the end – the evil behind the most unspeakable acts has a
name!
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