BGG After Dark: The film has a tone reminiscent of Scream or some of the later A Nightmare on Elm Street movies. Was it important to you that the film be somewhat funny as well as scary?
Kristian Hanson: Yes, with an $800 budget I knew that it would difficult to make this movie truly scary. Plus, when I write I love to add jokes and humor, that is just my personality. I do not like to do serious stuff all of the time and Sledge was my way of creating my own slasher who is funny and crazy all at once. We joke that when we went to make Sledge we intended to make a Horror/Comedy and when we were finished it was a Comedy/Horror film.
BGG After Dark: Do you think the horror industry deserves to be made fun of? Has it gotten too serious in recent years?
Kristian Hanson: I am an equal opportunity individual when it comes to making fun of genres of films. Horror is something that has been poked fun at since Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein, a film from my childhood that I still love and adore. I believe that horror films have the ability to be jabbed at just like a romantic comedy or action film. When it comes to being too serious, I can’t really say that because Marlon Wayans has been mocking the horror genre for years with the likes of Scary Movie and now his Haunted House films. Horror will always have the ability to scare people, but horror/comedy is something that deserves to live on as well. One of the best and most recent horror/comedies is Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. A true comedy film that adds the horrific elements to make people go “ewwwww” and that is always a welcome addition to the horror genre in my eyes.
BGG After Dark: I can assume, but can you tell me what classic movies or classic filmmakers inspired Sledge?
Kristian Hanson: When it comes to films I can honestly say Child’s Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Clerks. I know Clerks isn’t a horror film, but Kevin Smith is a giant reason why I love to write comedy. I love the fact that he doesn’t take himself seriously and when people call him a Director or Writer he responds with “kinda.” Other then Kevin I would say John Landis, Wes Craven, Sam Raimi and John Carpenter. Trust me, there are plenty more to add to this list and I could talk for hours on the films that made me want to write and do horror films, but I doubt people would want to read about that and would eventually hate me for not shutting up. (laughter)
BGG After Dark: How did you enjoy playing Adam Lynch – did you feel like a different person wearing that mask and wielding that tool?
Kristian Hanson: I ended up playing the role because I said I didn’t trust anyone else with the Sledge. To be honest, I wanted to be the character from the moment I created him. I love comedy and have a bit of history doing stand-up comedy with my mom Mary Hanson (mean lady in the film) who is also a stand-up comic in Phoenix, Arizona. As for putting on the mask and teeth I didn’t feel like I transformed into anything. I created that character based on my sense of humor and my ability to be dim-witted and funny when the moment called for it. Overall, Adam Lynch is me if I lost my mind and started to believe I was living inside a movie or video game. Think of him as a crazier Truman from the Truman show where he goes off on a murderous rampage before going up into the booth to kill Ed Harris at the end of the film, but with a witty joke before bashing his head in.
BGG After Dark: Where did you find Lynch’s costume and mask?
Kristian Hanson: The mask was created by my friend Monster Matt Patterson. When I finished the script he was the third person I contacted (wife being the first and John being the second) and we discussed the mask. I told him my idea for it and he went and ran with it. I actually did not get the mask until the night before filming and he had sent two out on the same day. The second one did not arrive until after we got done filming, so it was god on our side to get that first mask there. As for Adam’s wardrobe I got the shirt and pants at a store in the Mall and the gloves were bought at the Dollar store in Potsdam New York. The teeth that Adam wears are from Party City and the contact lenses were bought at a tattoo shop in Hollywood somewhere. Finally the Sledge was bought at Dapper Cadaver in Los Angeles and it is actually a trip we took two months prior that inspired Sledge.
BGG After Dark: Did you have any other weapons-of-choice in mind for Lynch when you were developing the movie? How did you end up with a sledgehammer?
Kristian Hanson: To piggy back off of the last question and where I left off, the Sledge hammer is the whole inspiration for this film in the first place. When we went and visited the shop I saw the foam Sledge Hammer and told John that I wanted to make a film revolving around that particular weapon. So when I sat down to write the movie I knew he would be wielding a Sledge to finish off his victims. Without that trip and seeing that one lone Sledge Hammer hanging from a hook, I don’t know if Adam Lynch and Sledge would have come to be.
BGG After Dark: Have you a moment in the film that you’re especially proud of?
Kristian Hanson: There are two scenes that I absolutely love. The first is the Beetle Juice scene but I cannot ruin that one for you, so please watch it and I hope it makes you laugh just as hard as it still makes me laugh. Second, there is a scene with the two leads Sarah and Alex where they are in the woods trying to find there way. They stop and try to figure where they are and the music (awesomely donated by Eric Xton and Gods in the Machine and ScarCrow) plays in the background and you see just how vulnerable they both are. It probably is the best scene in regards to seeing how much they mean to one another, even if Alex throws in some jokes here and there and it helps lead into the final showdown between Adam Lynch and the ‘final couple.’
To learn more, visit the official Sledge website.