Q&A: Toby Wilkins
Here’s a few more questions with Toby Wilkins, director of “Splinter,” beyond what we could fit in the newspaper.
Matt Price: Has the reaction to Splinter been what you were expecting?
Toby Wilkins: We screened it twice now, for an audience. At Screamfest was the first time I had seen it with an audience, and I was blown away by the reaction. It was a really great mix. Screamfest being a horror festival has this hardcore horror audience who are there to watch and love horror movies. And then the other half of the audience were people I’d invited, people from the industry and friends of mine who don’t necessarily watch horror movies all the time.
And it was a great blend of audience to see it for the first time with, horror fans cheering at all the right gory moments and the stuff that they love, and the less experienced horror audience screaming at all the right moments and laughing at all the right jokes. It was a really great experience, I can’t imagine a better audience to have seen it for the first time with.
MP: What can Oklahoma City fans who attend your screening expect?
TW: I’d guess there’d be an introduction and a Q&A afterwards. I would imagine or hope some of the local crew and cast will be able to attend. But basically they’re in for a roller coaster ride of a horror movie!
MP: And you’re also distributing “Splinter” in kind of a new way.
TW: The way theatrical distribution is going, with a third more independent films launching each year, something like 600 movies per year, the number of theaters you can actually get a movie into is becoming greatly reduced. And there’s a huge audience for horror movies and especially independent horror movies, people are really excited to see them. So it’s a great, cutting-edge type of distribution that Magnet have been able to secure for “Splinter.” You can actually see the movie right now, before it releases in theaters on Halloween, if you don’t live in one of the four cities, New York, Los Angeles, Austin or Oklahoma City, where the movie is being released, you can watch it through your cable’s on-demand service, for basically the price of a movie ticket.
I think independent film in general needs to find a more efficient way of reaching an audience. Because even if you do what in independent film is considered a very wide release of 100 screens, that still cuts out a huge section of an audience who may be responsive to a film. With the internet as a distribution method, things like iTunes rentals and downloads, and video on demand, which is obviously becoming very popular, there are great opportunities to release movies to a much wider audience.
Splinter: If you go
What: “Splinter” screening
Where: Oklahoma City Museum of Art’s Noble Theater, 415 Couch Drive
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday with director Toby Wilkins; additional screenings at 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Price: Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and students and $5 for museum members
Information: 278-8237 or www.okcmoa.com/film
“Splinter” gets Oklahoma City premiere
There’s a mysterious creature roaming through the woods of Oklahoma – but that’s actually good news for the state.
A combination of elements conducive to the script and incentives from the Oklahoma Film Commission drew director Toby Wilkins to Oklahoma to shoot “Splinter.” The horror film gets an Oklahoma City premiere Thursday at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
The state is “one of the few places you can still find isolated, rural pockets of civilization, like gas stations in the middle of forests, which is a key element of the script,” Wilkins said in a phone interview. “And I don’t want to spoil the movie, but for various reasons having very warm summer nights played a part in how the script worked.”
The key roles in “Splinter” are filled by Shea Whigham (“Wristcutters: A Love Story”), Jill Wagner and Paulo Constanzo. Whigham was the first aboard, Wilkins said, as escaped convict Dennis Farrell.
“With the 15 or more movies that he’s done, (he brought) an enormous amount of weight to the casting process.”
Wilkins hadn’t been familiar with Wagner’s genre background in “Blade: The Series,” but he said once he learned of it, it was a nice bonus. She and Constanzo play a couple who take to the woods for an amorous anniversary.
Wagner provided “a strong, powerful female lead who is a take-charge and confident character at the beginning of the movie, but still has access to the vulnerability that’s needed for the scares in a horror movie to work,” he said.
And Costanzo, best-known for his role on the “Friends” spin-off “Joey,” was interested in attacking something in another genre.
“The nervous energy that Paulo brings to the character of Seth is really what I was looking for from the beginning,” Wilkins said.
Wilkins said he was pleased with the talent of the local crew, which included many Oklahomans. And it’s not only Wilkins who is pleased with the finished work. The film won six awards this month at the eighth annual Screamfest horror movie festival in Hollywood.
“It’s a record-breaking sweep,” Wilkins said. “I’m so blown away that the crew involved in putting the movie together and creating it and making it what it is are getting the recognition they deserve.”
From Wednesday’s The Oklahoman
By Matthew Price
“Splinter” infects viewers with horror
In Toby Wilkins’ “Splinter,” a couple who just wants to spend their anniversary camping come upon an unexplained terror from the woods. Jill Wagner (“Blade: The Series”) plays Polly, a capable woman taking her somewhat nerdy boyfriend Seth (Paulo Constanzo, “Joey”) out for an sexy outdoor rendezvous on their anniversary. But after a tent mishap, the two decide to head for a motel. Along the way, they stop to pick up a woman (Rachel Kerbs). But it turns out she and her just-released-from-prison boyfriend (played by Shea Wigham, “Tigerland”) want to hijack their SUV, with them still in it.
After the truck hits a raccoon – infected by a strange plague – the foursome are stuck in a rural Oklahoma gas station. And that’s where the “splinter” plague intends to pick them off.
While plot-wise, it’s not that different from many a horror movie, this movie shines in the acting and execution. This movie is absolutely trying to scare you – and despite some gory scenes, it’s not doing it with only gore. There’s psychological suspense and creeping dread. While monster fans might be disappointed that, for much of the film, there are only glimpses and quick looks at the monster, it’s an effective way of sharing with the audience the uncertainty and fear of the characters.
- Matthew Price
From Wednesday’s The Oklahoman
Wizard World Texas to host Fear Fest
Press release:
Congers, NY (September 26, 2008) – Wizard World Texas just got even bigger with the announcement today that the pop culture extravaganza will host the hottest horror show in Texas, Texas Fear Fest, as part of the festivities November 7-9 at the Arlington Convention Center.
On top of the impressive list of comic book talent already attending at this year’s Wizard World Texas convention, Corey Feldman (“The Lost Boys,” “Friday the 13th 4” & “5”), Danny Trejo (“From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Rob Zombie’s Halloween”) and cast members from “Friday the 13th: A New Beginning,” “Monster Squad” and “Halloween 4” will be on hand to meet and greet their fans. In addition to the guests, there will be special events, including screenings of “Friday the 13th: A New Beginning” and “Monster Squad” and Fear Jam, a concert featuring Michale Graves, formerly of The Misfits, FirstJason, and The Horrifics with special guest Eerie Von of Danzig and Samhain.
“Wizard is thrilled to be able to play host to such a popular event and work with Texas FearFest partners John Gray and Sean Clark,” said Wizard Senior VP/Operations Joe Yanarella. “This amazing opportunity allows us to bring in more guests and more excitement and grow our show larger than ever before.”
“This really is a merger of powerhouses,” said Fear Fest’s John Gray. “What a fantastic opportunity for the fans of Fear Fest and Wizard! It also lets me combine my two great loves—horror and comics, so I am personally ecstatic!”
“Being able to join forces with an established and well respected company like Wizard World is truly a blessing for us,” added Sean Clark.
For complete information on guests, events and tickets, visit txfearfest.com. Texas FearFest is sponsored by pitofhorror.com, dreadcentral.com and conventionallstars.com.
Wizard World, the largest family-friendly comics and pop culture convention in the United States, returns to Texas November 7-9 at the Arlington Convention Center.
Asylum of Horrors releases 18-page preview
Frank Forte, creator of The Vampire Verses, Insidious Tales and Warlash, invites fans to take a look at a preview for his new horror anthology The Asylum of Horrors.
The 96-page anthology will feature 16 stories for $4.95.
According to a release, the book’s premise is that a mad psychiatrist induces dreams in his psychotic patients, which he is then able to view.
“I’ve always been a fan of horror and now I want to do the kind of book that pulls no punches,” Forte said in a release.
– Matt Price
“30 Days of Night” comic book to be distributed at Comic-Con
FEARnet, the horror and thriller Web site, along with IDW Publishing, is debuting a limited edition, 16-page introduction to FEARnet’s web series “30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust.”
The comic book, limited to 10,000 copies, will be distributed at FEARNet’s booth #4313 during Comic-Con.
Part 1 of the Web series “30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust” is available now on FEARNet.com.
– Matt Price
“My Name is Bruce” trailer
With thanks to Russ, here’s the trailer to “My Name is Bruce.”
“My Name is Bruce” stars B-movie icon Bruce Campbell as, well, Bruce Campbell. He’s mistaken for his character Ash from the “Evil Dead” trilogy and forced to battle a real monster in Oregon, according to imdb.
