Exclusive: Director Padraig Reynolds Talks The Devil’s Dolls
Sean Decker
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We told you last month that The Devil’s Dolls is being released in select theaters and on VOD/Digital this Friday, September 16th, via IFC Midnight Films, and we recently got in touch with horror filmmaker Padraig Reynolds to discuss his latest genre feature. Read on for the exclusive word on this voodoo-inspired shocker.
Reynolds, who wrote and directed the 2011 horror feature Rites of Spring, here co-produces and directs from a script by co-producers Danny Kolker and Christopher Wiehl (the latter of whom also stars). Here’s the official synopsis:
A serial killer’s curse unleashes a season of slaughter in the backwoods of Mississippi. According to an ancient Guatemalan tradition, parents teach their children to allay their troubles by telling them to handmake “worry dolls” just before bedtime. But when several of these talismans—which once belonged to a notorious mass murderer—find their way into the hands of unsuspecting residents of a small Southern town, it sets off a grisly wave of bloodshed.
Kennedy Brice (“The Walking Dead”), Kym Jackson (“NCIS: Los Angeles”), Tina Lifford, Samantha Smith (Transformers), Brea Grant (Rob Zombie’s Halloween II), and Yohance Myles (This Is the End) also star. Holly Amber Church provides the score, with cinematography by Adam Sampson.
Filmed over the course of twenty days in Canton, Vicksburg, and Natchez, Mississippi, on the Red Epic Camera, Reynolds says of The Devil’s Dolls, “I was sent the script and really dug the material. I met with the producers, and we got along great. They were really cool with the style I wanted to bring to the script and loved the fact that I had already shot a movie in Mississippi and was familiar with the area. We went location scouting and were shooting within two months. It all happened really fast.”
With the film’s original trailer evoking shades of Child’s Play and “true crime,” we asked Reynolds of any possible influence, to which he replied, “I really wanted to do a crime drama with shades of voodoo in it. I really liked that there aren’t many films in the voodoo genre. So it was a chance to do something fresh and different. There are hints of Child’s Play, but our film is different. The dolls in our movie cause people to become possessed upon contact and basically make them lose their shit and go nuts. The ‘true crime’ aspect is there as well cause we were in the Deep South shooting a detective story in the dead of summer. It was sticky, sweaty, and hot as hell. I think the locations in the film really add to the authenticity of the film and give it a unique look.”
As for Reynolds’ working relationship with co-writer, co-producer, and star Weihl, the director effused, “Chris and I worked every day and were on the same page from day one. He really let me run with my vision and supported every change I wanted to make in the script. I was really impressed with how many different hats he could wear on production. He was writer, producer, and actor all at the same time. We had such a great working experience that we are working on other projects together.”
Regarding the shoot itself, Reynolds said of principal photography, “My favorite part was shooting the opening. My DP Adam Sampson and I really set out to do something energetic. We wanted an action sequence to open the movie and introduce all the players in a unique, fast, and bloody way. Really try to grab you by the throat right away. Plus we shot in this abandoned mental institution in the woods that was pretty incredible.”
Reynolds, who is currently early in production on a new feature film called OPEN 24 HOURS, which is slated to go before cameras this fall, concluded of The Devil’s Dolls, “I’m really excited to be on IFC Midnight again. They released my last film, Rites of Spring, and they are one of the best indie distributors out there.”
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