Fantastic Fest 2014: Interview with Chris Nash from ABC’S OF DEATH 2

By Michael Haffner | October 3, 2014

After seeing ABC’S OF DEATH 2 at Fantastic Fest (you can read my review of the film HERE), I was able to sit down with the director of my favorite short in the anthology – Chris Nash. His short “Z is for Zygote” is about a pregnant woman left by her husband to survive in a cabin during the winter months. She takes a special root each day to satisfy her needs. It’s what happens when the roots runs out that will have horror fans twisting in their seats. Nash has previously directed a series of shorts called the SKINFECTION TRILOGY. You can find those shorts through his Vimeo page by clicking HERE.

The interview below does contain some spoilers to his short film. If you don’t want to have it ruined for you, go check out ABC’S OF DEATH 2 on VOD right now and then come back to read what the Toronto native has to say about his film.

 

The reception to your short has been great from everyone I have talked to. What feedback have you heard?

Yeah. It’s good from the other filmmakers. Which is all I can really ask for. Tim (League) and Ant (Timpson) like it too.

 

One of the things that I really like about it is that it seems to show a sort of fantasy world that is close to our reality but slightly off. It subtly creates this disconcerting world. Can you talk about the environment and the setting and what you were trying to translate to the audience?

I was really trying to show the place where I grew up in Northern Ontario. It’s rural. I basically grew up in the woods. Lot of farmland. Being here (in Austin) kind of reminds me of it. So I kind of wanted to make a film set in that place. It’s a weird place that not a lot of people pay attention to. You hear weird stories and see weird people. It’s a weird place. In terms of my favorite storytellers, I like anyone that deals with that kind of anxiety. I like Cronenberg. I like anytime where that one thing is off a little bit. Where you set the one rule.  Like this is the normal world but this is the new rule. As long as I don’t deviate from that or don’t do anything too obtuse than it’s real enough for people to hold onto and believe.

 

I was going to ask if it’s low-hanging fruit to say that Cronenberg is kind of an influence on you between this and some of your previous shorts like BLACKHEAD? Is it accurate to make that comparison?

I’m even hesitant because it is that low-hanging fruit. More than the “body-horror” aspect of Cronenberg, what I love about him is that he doesn’t waste his devices. His allegories are so clear. He doesn’t sacrifice his story to hit you over the head with a message. He’s a smart filmmaker and I appreciate that even more than the “body-horror” aspect. That comes secondary even though it’s really memorable.

 

The main character has to eat this root in the film as a form of medicine. Is the idea of the root something that came from this backwoods environment? Because it’s not something that’s commonplace like a pill or some liquid that you drink. The root and all of these mason jars throughout her home is an unsettling image.

With the mason jars, I knew she wasn’t going to be going out and dragging food in (because she’s pregnant). Everyone has a storm cellar or fruit cellar with reserves. It also turned out to be out of convenience that day.

(Pauses and laughs)

As far as the root goes, I guess I just like the aesthetic. To go with an old-timey vibe. Where she almost is like a witch.

 

When they approached you to make a short for this was this your first idea you came up with or was there other ideas as well?

This was the main. I did have another one that was remarkably similar to Dennison Rahmalho’s “J is for Jesus” except mine was going to be “Z is for Zealot.” Yeah… I’m glad I didn’t do that one.

(laughs)

That would have just be mine standing on a milk crate and hitting people over the head with a message. I would have been a lot more annoying about it than Dennison’s.

 

The woman and her large belly looks like it took a lot of work. Did you have a hand in creating the special effects?

The special effects were all done by me at my kitchen table.

 

Wow! That’s impressive.

I had some help from the producers when we had to cast our actor. The producer Shannon and I did all the casting and made all the molds for the two actors, but the special effects were all done by me in my kitchen over a long time.

 

How long did just that aspect take?

I mean . . . I definitely bit off more than I can chew. I say that but it at least got done.

(laughs)

Yeah. It got done in the end. It took about two months. Then when we were shooting it was about another month of tweaking and modifying some effects. I had to build 3 or 4 different busts for the one shot when the hand goes up the neck and breaks the jaw. It just didn’t look quite right at first. I got really crazy over that one shot. That was actually the starting point for the whole idea of the short and I kind of worked backwards from there.

 

The idea of children consuming their parents or children becoming their parents over time is what I really got from the film. It’s also a visual you don’t see often in horror. You see beheadings and people getting stabbed all the time. But this is different. The tagline for ABC’S OF DEATH is “26 ways to die,” and I must say that this is one of the more original ways. You made the entire audience I saw it with very squeamish during that scene.

Thanks. I appreciate that. I mean… I think it’s kind of easy with “body-horror.” I think it’s low-hanging fruit but I appreciate it nonetheless.  

(laughs)

 

Image Source: Screencrush.com

 

 

Someone had told me that there was an email or drunken tirade you went on that helped you get the job.

Tirade? Why does this word keep coming up?

(laughs)

 I wouldn’t call it a tirade but it might have read a lot angrier than I thought.

 

I didn’t read it so –

Long story short, I entered the first ABC’S OF DEATH contest. I did “T is for Thread.” It went over really well with the other filmmakers. I got to know many of them and really enjoyed the community. I also really liked the competition because there was so many good ones submitted. So, when I went to the premiere I was really disappointed with some of the filmmakers in the first one. I…

(pauses and carefully selects his words)

I really don’t want to seem like I’m being a dick. I just really felt that some were very lazy. That they weren’t even the best examples of what they are capable of making.

 

I can think of one in particular and I’m not sure if we even need to say the director’s name.

It was just disappointing. So when they announced a sequel. I just knew that if I was selected I would give 100% of my energy towards it. So I wrote this alcohol influenced two page tirade saying that if you add me to this project I will give it everything I got.

 

So they responded?

Yeah. They responded within hours.

(pauses)

I was terrified. I woke-up at 8:00 am in a panic, and I wrote it at 4:00 am. Todd Brown was the first to respond. I was thinking I made a huge mistake. He wrote me saying, “We got your email. It’s eliciting a lot of conversation here.” And I was like, “What the fuck does that mean, Todd?”

(laughter)

That could go either way. So I was thinking they were like, “get a load of this fucking asshole.”

(more laughter)

 

You know that you might have said something that was in the back of their heads but they didn’t want to acknowledge.

Oh yeah. This community is so supportive. It’s so insular. It’s almost overly supportive in a lot of ways. It’s maybe starting to eat itself.

(laughs)

 

What were some of your other favorites in ABC’S OF DEATH 2?

I really liked Steve’s (“W is for Wish”). That one is just funny because it’s a thing he’s been batting around for a while. Just to see it done is fun for me. I really loved Jim Hosking’s (“G is for Grandad”).

 

The grandfather hiding in a cut-away in the mattress is such a strong image.

I know! It’s such a perfect cut-away too! There are a lot of little touches in there. After I saw that I started to watch a lot of his other work. I just love that guy. Todd Rohal’s I really liked (“P is for P-P-P-P Scary!”).  I really like Dennison’s (“J is for Jesus”). Honestly … I really feel like I could say I liked all of them.

 

Yeah. I feel the first time around there were a lot of peaks and valleys. They were either really great or really bad. This time most were on the same high quality level.

Yeah. I saw effort in every one and I saw personality in every single one.

 

There seems to be also an odd cohesion between all of them this time. I’m not sure if that was a happy accident or not.

It might have to do with that they wrote a manifesto this time. I’m not sure if they had one for the first film. They were like, “Listen. You still have complete freedom, but we do want some quality control.” I’m not sure what it was really. It could just have been the luck of the draw this time.

 

Have you been approached to do any features or are you working on anything new currently?

Me and my producer Peter have been working on a feature for the last year now. We’re just prepping it. I mean … I could be prepping it for the rest of my life.

(laughs)

I’ll just keep making stuff in my backyard I guess.

 

 

I want to thank Chris Nash for his time and being so candid with me about his experience working on ABC’S OF DEATH 2. The horror anthology film is now available on VOD and will be hitting select theaters starting on October 31st.