Evil Fucking Pricks

“Evil Fucking Pricks” began its journey as one-third of an anthology film based on a stage play by actor/playwright David Quast, entitled “Triptych” which explored the Tibetan notion of the “bardo”. The concept was similar to other anthologies in that each segment was to be directed by a different filmmaker and then tied together as one seamless feature film. The first two-thirds of the film were shot but ultimately abandoned due to the fatal combination of a drug-addled lead actor and bad choice of cinematographer. This perturbed me because I never got the chance to put the segment I was attached to before the camera. After licking our wounds for a bit, my camera operator Adam Dubeau and I took another look at our segment of the script and in brazen defiance of the defeat we had just suffered came to the conclusion that we could do it, “quick and dirty”, in 2 days, for cheap. So, we did.

We cleaned up a friend’s garage, enlisted a skeleton crew, tossed in a few choice actors and we were off to the races. We lit the set as if we were doing it on the stage, with a few PAR cans and a China ball, no storyboard; just a shot list and a great deal of experimentation and improvisation by myself and Adam on the day. We knew we had “something” in the can, we just had no idea what. Unfortunately, my commitments to other work meant that I sat on the footage for awhile until Covid came along and suddenly I had the time to cut something. The time away from the footage was actually beneficial in that upon rewatching what we had, I picked up on nuances and new interpretations of the original material that I was previously unconscious of. As well, during editing, I was heavily into smoking weed and watching gritty indie-horror and highly saturated giallo films of the 70’s, which greatly influenced the final look and feel.

“Evil Fucking Pricks” is a black comedy, not so much a horror. At the end of the day, I suppose it’s fair to say I gravitate to “weirdness” over overt gore and repeated jump scares. The plot is simple; two despicable social deviants attempt to summon a demon for their own selfish gain and hilarity ensues. Its characters are relatable, charming even, but if you invest in what’s being said and the scenarios being presented, you can’t help but cringe at their vile nature. In my mind the “horror” is derived from realizing by the end of the film that you’ve been rooting for truly evil pricks. After all is said, our team feels we achieved what we were aiming for and we’re very excited to introduce Uno, Lek and Toro to the world.