In Sledge, Kristian Hanson plays a maniacal serial killer named Adam Lynch who, aside from believing he only exists in a movie or video game, truly believes he’s doing a good thing by slicing and dicing through teenagers. Hanson, who also wrote and directed the film, talked to MediaMikes.com about this fun horror-comedy.
Media Mikes: The film is only a couple of weeks away from release now, are you nervous? Excited? How much is riding on this for you?
Kristian Hanson: There is a part of me that is nervous because I have been promoting and talking about this film for two years now. The thing we said from day one with “Sledge” is that people will either love it or hate it due to the comedy aspect. Our little $800 film is finally going to be available to buy on DVD and rent on Netflix via DVD. As for how much is riding on “Sledge,” to be honest not that much. We say “Sledge” was our “film school” since John and I never went to school for this. “Sledge” was just a fun ride where we learned more then we could ever discuss.
MM: The film is getting good reviews online. Do you take much notice of reviews?
KH: I like to read every review when it pops up to be honest. I like to see what people like and don’t like about the movie. Some people love Adam Lynch (the slasher) and some say they wish he’d just shut up. Some love Alex (Dustin Bowman) and others cannot stand him. I am a movie fan first and everyone has their own opinion and I love to see what people loved or hated about the movie.
MM: How long did it take you to write the script – and when was that?
KH: It took me less than two days to write “Sledge” and it was back in June of 2012. We ended up filming “Sledge” at the end of August 2012 so it was a quick turnaround.
MM: Did you finance the film independently?
KH: Yes John (co-producer John B. Sovie II) and I financed it. Again it cost $800 so it wasn’t anything luxurious when it came to the filming process of trailers or anything. It was just a lot of fun with a whole lot of fake red sticky blood.
MM: The film is part horror, part comedy – did Wes Craven’s work inspire that tonal choice?
KH: Mr. Wes Craven will always be an inspiration with everything I do even if I don’t think about it consciously due to “Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Shocker” and so many other films. However, there are many influences in this regard and the biggest one influencing my sense of humor would actually be Kevin Smith from “Clerks” and now “Tusk” fame. I grew up watching his movies and he definitely helped shape what I find funny.
MM: The film is getting a lot of coverage online. Is the internet an important tool when marketing a smaller horror film like this?
KH: The internet is probably the best thing to have for a small film like this. After our first day of filming we made our first trailer and got it out online and people seemed to really enjoy it. The other side though is, everyone is marketing things constantly so people won’t necessarily look at your trailer or project anymore due to over saturation. That is why you have to be unique and that is what we tried to do with the talking wise ass slasher Adam Lynch.
MM: Sequel idea: “Sledge” goes to the swamp. You can call it “Sludge”!
KH: The sequel is already written and we intend to film it next August at the same time as we filmed the first movie and same location. Your title is funny but it will be called “SledgeD.” It is just another way to make fun of horror films who don’t come up with creative sequel names. We joke that if we made a third one it’ll be called “SledgeD-D!”