During SXSW back in March, I had the chance to interview some of the actors and film makers behind one of this year's most absurd horror comedies THE GREASY STRANGLER. If you've had a chance to see the film, you will totally understand the tone of my questions. If you haven't, beware that there are a few minor spoilers (hence the spoiler alert), but even these few clues could in no way prepare an audience for the bizarre cinematic ride that is THE GREASY STRANGLER. So, check out my chat with the GREASY crew, writer/director Jim Hosking, producer Ant Timpson, and actors Sky Elobar and Michael St. Michaels.
Rebecca Elliott: Alright, so straight out of the gate, I must ask how many merkins were actually used or created in the course of filming THE GREASY STRANGLER?
JH: Are you sure about that?
MSM: Yes. Because they kept disintegrating.
JH: I thought that you had seven or eight.
MSM: I had two of one kind, and I had the other ones that I wore under the clothing. Those were different than the fully nude ones.
JH: It was more like I wanted his (Michael St. Michaels) to look like a mouse's head, and for his (Sky Elobar) to be a smaller version of that. Like small and pointed with little balls kind of to the side. So that is really what I was going for. And the uncircumcised foreskin kinda added to it. You know where I'm coming from.
RE: I...sort of...you guys had a pretty great reception at Sundance. How does that feel?
JH: Well, he (points to Sky) got a phone out of it! The swag was good.
SE: Yeah, they liked me man. I got a thousand dollar phone.
RE: Nice! Did anyone else get swag?
AT: There was all kinds of swag.
MSM: T shirts, jackets, boots...first class American Airlines thing if I ever fly with them. I finally got my picture straightened out on IMDB after 20 years.
AT: Yeah, the reception at the fest was...people had no idea...so the Sundance reviews were kind of...there was kind of a lot of hype in the guide, so they built the expectation quite high.
JH: They billed it as more of a slasher film didn't they?
AT: Yeah, more like a slasher film. So for an average slasher fan, it's probably not their cup of tea. So, it was much better watching it with an audience that isn't genre heavy, that isn't into that.
RE: Well, sort of genre, but in on the context of the story.
AT: For me I want people who aren't familiar with the reference points that people could use or get a handle on it. I mean, I wouldn't want people who watch Julia Roberts rom coms to come along and watch it.
RE: You wouldn't?! Why not Ant, I can't imagine?
AT: It's so unfathomable and so far removed from anything they've ever witnessed, and it is for even some genre fans.
RE: Much of the essence of the film is in the awkwardness- how much of that is scripted and how much of it is unintentional?
JH: What do you think is awkward?
RE: So maybe that wasn't as inherent as I imagined?
JH: No, no. I just wonder what you mean.
RE: Were you intending it to feel ironic?
JH: I wasn't interested in making it feel ironic. I wasn't trying to make it awkward. I wanted it to feel very genuine and for the characters to feel fleshed out and real.
RE: Super real.
JH: Yeah, and they inhabit the same world as each other. It was really important to me that the son and the father- that you feel that they kind of like each other. That they really do live together and they have a relationship. So, I'm not quite sure what you mean about awkwardness.
AT: I think what she means is that its discombobulating for some people. They can't get a grasp on where you're going.
RE: It's a little bit strange. In a good way. I just mean that the average Julia Roberts movie goer might be a little lost.
JH: Yeah, it is. Right. Like you mean how some scenes go on a bit long, or there's strange exchanges.
RE: Yes, that.
JH: Ok, yeah.
RE: Intentional?
JH: Yeah. It's really as simple as doing-I wrote it with a friend of mine- so we were trying to write something that we felt was a different kind of experience, ya know? Personally, I like some comedy where they really milk the joke or just push things too far and it goes on and on. I was brought up watching Monty Python and other shows in England like Vick Reeves and Bob Mortimer and other similar kinds of comedy. I like stuff that just doesn't give up and doesn't care whether you're still with it or not. Ya know?
RE: I think that's my answer.
JH: Yeah. That's what it's about. Wanting to make something where it kind of doesn't care what you think about it in a funny way. To some people that's alienating, and I think to some other people it's really refreshing to see that there's not some kind of manipulative agenda here for the film makers to further their career that might hopefully go towards making the next...
AT: Iron Man!
MSM: Spider Man!
RE: So there's a distinct audience, but I'm sure you'd like to appeal to a broader audience?
JH: Well, I want to entertain people with the film. The whole point of it... I heard someone say the other day that he wouldn't want to make a film if he were the only person on the planet. Like, who would I show it to? It's wanting people to get into it. But I want everyone who sees it to feel something emotionally. Whatever that might be.
AT: That zone about pushing humor and everything, among really superstar comedians, they all worship those people that are fearless in terms of they go past the normal sit ups and the go to a territory where...
RE: Past the comfort point.
AT: Yeah. Norm MacDonald does it. You feel like they're walking a tightrope, like they're gonna fall off. That's really exciting and its really rare because everyone want to have the standard beats and the standard gags. That's the formula that everyone relies on because it's easy.
RE: To sort of transcend that is...
AT: It's a high wire act, and I think people really dig that balancing act, especially in terms of the tone of the film. It's hard to pull off and I think Jim has done an amazing job doing it.
RE: So, lets reel it back in a bit now. To Sky and Michael, the father/son relationship goes way out there and then kind of comes in again. As actors, how did you maintain the father/son bond throughout the shoot?
SE: He's just like my real dad.
MSM: Yes. Abusive...(everyone laughs)
SE: My dad and I had that kind of relationship. There was love there underneath. There were feelings. Then there was the faithfulness of, hey, you wanna take care of your dad. You want to cook for him, and you want to make sure he's alright. And you don't want to think that your dad is a bad guy.
JH: One thing that's interesting about it... it's like when you say about ironic or something- I know you weren't saying that it was, you were asking- but if you speak to Michael or Sky when we were filming they talked so seriously to me about the characters and about really feeling stuff emotionally. It was all very genuine.
MSM: You can't really do it unless it is. Otherwise you're just sort of phoning it in.
SE: But the dialogue is so good between the son and the father. All these conversations and these things back and forth...they're so good that it's something you can really, really sink your teeth into emotionally and feel the tenderness. I think there's some touching moments in the film.
RE: For how crazy it is, there are some legit emotional father/son moments.
JH: And bonding over the most extraordinary stuff.
MSM: I was never prouder of my son than when he popped her eyes out and then we munched them while we watched the rest of the movie.
RE: Gotta love bonding over a bit of gore.
AT: Especially nose gore.
MSM: We didn't have any snot jokes.
RE: Obviously there was a prosthetic suit for some of the greasiness, but what kind of real grease did you use?
SE: It's called methyl-cellulose. That's what they told me. It's plant based so it would wash off and wasn't harmful to your skin.
RE: Which is nice when you're covered in it for days.
MSM: I found the ultra ice the most difficult.
RE: Ultra ice?
MSM: This stuff would give you frostbite in the Sahara in the summer. I was shivering. There was one day I did a scene and I had to sit there for 5 or 6 hours, and I was shivering.
RE: You were in a full body prosthetic at this point?
MSM: Yeah, but with the ultra ice...
MSM: Yeah, but with the ultra ice...
JH: It took extreme physical strength (everyone laughs)
MSM: And the two or so hours it took to get the crap out of your hair every night...
RE: Being plant based didn't make that easier?
AT: No, it didn't.
MSM: It was a rock.
AT: We all went home and crashed out, and Michael was getting clean for ages each night.
MSM: They got me a shower at the end of each day, so I could at least get it out of there before I left.
RE: What about the car washes?
MSM: That was fun. I liked the car washes.
RE: How many car washes were you subjected to?
MSM: Three, four? It was only one car wash, but I think I went through it two or three times and he (points to Elobar) went through it once.
SE: Here's where the real Jim is, are you ready?
RE: Ready.
SE: In the car wash where we're going through- I only went through once- Jim said to the owner of the car wash, "Can you actually turn the jets on in there?" And this guy's like,"Are you crazy?! That's reclaimed water! He'll die!"
AT: He was like, how bad though, really? It's like sewer water, but...(everyone laughs again)
RE: What's your back round as actors?
MSM: Well, I get a pension from SAG, so I guess I'm retired. I've been a working actor for forever.
JH: You did some erotic movies in Switzerland.
MSM: No! I had my acting lessons by doing art, where I didn't take off my clothes in movies for the Pussycat Theater. And that way I got to work with really good directors, and people who have a lot of alimony to pay. There was one guy who did six Disney movies and was a great person to work for.
AT: Sky was in a Christian rock band.
SE: Yeah, I was in Stryper.
RE: What?
SE: In the 70's.
RE: In the 70's? You are a total liar! (everyone is laughing hysterically at this point) But if you were, I would be pretty excited.
AT: Look! I actually made Jim laugh!
RE: Well, I think that wraps it up nicely fellas! Thank you so much for sitting down with me today to chat about THE GREASY STRANGLER.
So there you have it. I hope you enjoyed my sit down with the Greasy crew. THE GREASY STRANGLER plays at Fantastic Fest on opening night 9/22 at midnight and will be "slipping into theater and VOD" on October 7th.
Thanks for reading!
Rebecca Elliott
aka Annette Kellerman
