Horror films have always been the black sheep of the film world. For years, the genre was thought to lack a certain prestige attributed to the dramas and period pieces recognized by critics and award shows alike. Even when The Silence of the Lambs became the first horror film to win Best Picture at the 64th Academy Awards, it was given the more accessible label of “psychological thriller.” Because of the horror genre’s reputation as a bloody, sleazy outlier in cinema, many failed to recognize its ability to deal with serious topics in a more nuanced fashion than even the most decorated critical darlings.
Luckily, we are in the midst of a horror renaissance. Get Out exploded onto the awards circuit as an unexpected and striking metaphor for systemic racism. The films of Ari Aster followed closely behind, dealing with grief and familial ties in some of the most horrifying ways imaginable. Producers are willing to reboot slasher franchises like Halloween and The Slumber Party Massacre, once thought to be misogynist by nature, with a fresh perspective on trauma and womanhood. People are ready to give horror another chance, and no one has been waiting for this reevaluation of the genre longer than filmmaker Jeremiah Kipp.
“Suddenly, there was a world where character-driven horror films that were performance-driven could exist and be seen by a lot of people,” Kipp recollected, referring back to the time when he was trying to find someone to produce his horror-drama hybrid Slapface. The filmmaker was relieved that the public consensus of horror was changing, as his script aimed to be much more than the average horror story.
Slapface follows a young boy, Lucas, and his brother, Tom, both recently left living on their own due to the sudden death of their parents. They each have their own ways of coping with this loss; Tom, by drinking, and Lucas, by wandering the woods and getting into trouble. Whenever Lucas acts out, Tom punishes him with “slapface,” a game in which the brothers slap each other back and forth until one of them can no longer handle the pain. As Lucas attempts to navigate this unhealthy relationship, he befriends a sinister presence in the woods whose motives are not entirely clear.
The film premiered this month on the ever-growing streaming service Shudder to a myriad of positive reviews. Much of the praise has mentioned the film’s outstanding performances and Kipp’s ability to tackle the tough topics of abuse and grief with ease. Many are eager to see what the filmmaker has in store next, which makes it all the more surprising that, at one point, he thought he might never get the chance to make Slapface at all. “I had been trying to make that movie for years,” Kipp said.
Finding a producer is hard, especially when dealing with a script that deliberately subverts genre tropes. “[The producers] try to find the money, they shake the trees, and nothing happens. I’d be back to square one. Eventually, I put that script in a drawer and said ‘Maybe this will never happen.’” Kipp surely had the type of track record producers like to see. His film career had audacious beginnings, tracing back to the day his grandparents gifted him an old camcorder. “Once we had a camcorder, I just invited all of my friends over, saying, ‘Alright, you guys wear old clothes that we can rip up, you’re gonna be a zombie.’” It was in his backyard that he made his earliest films.
“When you start out, you make movies extremely cheap, with your friends, with no result in mind.” Making these films became the building blocks for Kipp’s film education, a path he would pursue further with his acceptance to NYU. Since graduating, Kipp has been working his way up in the independent horror community, collaborating with genre pioneers such as Tom Savini and Larry Fessenden.
He spent years making films as a director-for-hire but always held onto that passion project in his back pocket. All he needed was a little push from future Slapface director of photography Dominick Sivilli to set things in motion. “He said, ‘How would you feel about doing a version of Slapface as a short? I’ll give you five thousand dollars.’” Kipp immediately agreed and decided to crowdfund a bit to beef up the budget, eventually meeting his goal. “But then [Sivilli’s] like ‘Good thing we got the money because I didn’t have five thousand dollars,” Kipp laughs. “He wanted to get the ball rolling. He wanted me to do something with this project, and I remember thinking if I never get to make the feature, at least I’ll do this short.”
Because of Sivilli’s encouragement and Kipp’s perseverance, the eight-minute version of Slapface was screened at festivals for three years. It was on this festival run that Kipp met producers Joe Benedetto and Mike Manning. “This was the culmination of years of trying to get this thing made, and then finally finding the right people and making exactly the movie I wanted to make.”
Three years later, Slapface is available to over 1,000,000 Shudder subscribers. When asked about the success the film had earlier this month, a smile spread across Kipp’s face. “It was one of the most validating experiences of my life. It was really a dream come true.” He seemed especially grateful that people were open to the way Slapface addressed some of its touchier subjects. “Abuse is learned behavior. I don’t think abusers think of themselves as abusers, I think they think of themselves as protectors. All the violence in this movie is informed by people’s desire to connect with one another.”
Filmmakers of various backgrounds are using the horror genre as a platform to discuss a wide array of social issues and Jeremiah Kipp has proven that he deserves to be a prominent voice in the conversation. He has just begun principal photography on his next horror feature in Savannah, Georgia. That’s a long way from his backyard with a camcorder.