Exclusive: Anthony DiBlasi Talks Most Likely to Die
Staci Layne Wilson
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In Most Likely to Die, the newest fright flick from director Anthony DiBlasi, it’s the night before a 10-year high school reunion, and someone’s been holding a grudge… one by one, former classmates are slain in ways befitting their yearbook descriptions.
We got the opportunity to sit down with Anthony to talk about it, and here’s what he had to say.
Dread Central: Sadly, I have not seen the movie yet! But… in looking at the trailer and clips, I get a real “80s” vibe (April Fool’s Day, Prom Night) – am I right? Were you going for the classic horror feel for Most Likely to Die?
Anthony DiBlasi: The feel is definitely a throwback to both 80s and 90s slashers. Stepping into it, I really wanted to focus on two things from that era: an interesting psycho killer and characters we didn’t actually want to die. I think 90s slashers were a bit more successful with the latter, at least with ensembles. But I didn’t go into this wanting to re-invent the wheel either; I wanted to embrace the tropes from that era and tell a pretty straightforward whodunit slasher and create some interesting kills that hopefully people haven’t seen before.
Anthony DiBlasi Directing Last Shift
DC: I’ve noticed each of your features is different from the last, even though they are all in the horror genre. Is this something you’ve consciously decided to do?
AD: I think so. I’m drawn to new things when I’m making a movie, and I love all genres. I really like working with actors so taking on different sub-genres allows me to explore different parts of human psyche and psychology. And each sub-genre allows for a different style and look. My films Dread and Missionary are much more grounded and based in reality, and I think in some ways harder to watch for a casual viewer, but films like Last Shift and now Most Likely to Die are more accessible. Whereas with Last Shift I really wanted to scare the hell out of people, with Most Likely to Die I’m also trying to make people laugh. This movie has a lot of comedy in it as well as some over-the-top gore.
DC: How did Most Likely to Die come to you – was the script already written, or did you help develop the story and so on?
AD: Shout out to my lovely and talented agent Sheryl Petersen at APA; she had met the producers on the project, Margret Huddleston and Hannah Pillemer, and knew right away I’d hit it off with them. They were taking their first jump into horror and wanted someone who was comfortable with the genre, and they already had the script by Laura Brennan. When I read the project, I was excited because it felt like a slasher written in the 90s; and those were the films I would emulate the most when I would make home movies with my friends when I was a kid. So to be able to do one now was amazing fun. I approached the ladies with my designs of The Graduate, how I wanted him to look, how I wanted him to kill, and how I wanted him to stay true to his motives as a killer. I also wanted his motives to be complex as all hell because I feel in the 90’s especially the mythology of the killer was extremely multi-tiered, and I think there’s fun in that.
DC: You have some recognizable names in the cast – but the most intriguing is Perez Hilton. How’d that come about? Who does he play and how was he to work with? Any funny anecdotes?
AD: Perez was excellent to work with, so committed and willing to try anything. I think most people will see his name attached to the film and assume it’s a bit of stunt casting. But it’s not at all; it’s a lead, and I will say he definitely doesn’t get killed off in the first five minutes. He plays a character named Freddie who in high school was a bit of a party animal – “Most Likely to Spike the Punch” – who eventually became an alcoholic. And he comes to the table now with a lot of mystery surrounding him. He brings a lot of comedy to the table but also a lot of pathos. During casting my producers brought him up, and I thought it made sense, so I took a meeting with him and instantly thought he’d be good for the part. It was risky in a sense because he hadn’t acted in a long time, but I could see for sure he had it in him. And he really was willing to try anything.
There’s a scene in the film where I wanted to get a really big scream from one of the actors, and I originally approached Heather to do it, but she was getting over a sickness and her throat was understandably not ready for it. So I went to Perez next, which was just a completely off the cuff moment. I said, “What do you think about giving just a big over-the-top horror scream?” And he smiled as if this was the moment he was waiting for. And he totally nailed it. A few times actually.
DC: What are the most fun things about directing a body-count horror movie, and what can fans expect when they see Most Likely to Die?
AD: One of the really great things was developing the killer, “The Graduate,” with the actor that was in the costume. I won’t say his name here. How he moved, how he reacted to the characters around him, how he threatened and intimidated people. Those kinds of things really add a layer to a character and make him stand out from the pack. And then also, planning the kills of course and relating them to the characters’ “most likely to’s.” I didn’t want the superlatives to be unrealistic; they had to feel real so an audience could relate to it.
DC: What’s next for you?
AD: I actually just finished another film with MarVista called Beneficiary. It’s another left turn for me, a Hitchcockian style thriller. Not really a drop of blood in it… well, maybe a drop or two but not very much.
Look for Most Likely to Die in select theaters and On Demand on Friday, May 13th.
Heather Morris, Ryan Doom, Perez Hilton, Chad Addison, and Tess Christiansen star.
Synopsis:
“Glee” star Heather Morris and “Celebrity Big Brother’” enfant terrible/showbiz gossip blogger Perez Hilton are part of a 10-year high school reunion hosted by a disgraced ice hockey player. Soon the party takes a deadly turn when one by one the former classmates, each with a secret shared history, turn up dead according to their senior yearbook superlatives. Who is the masked psycho with the razor-sharp mortarboard, and what exactly is his problem?
Categorized:News
