Writer/Director & Star of SLAY BELLES Describe Real-Life Missing Cast Member Mystery
Josh Millican
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Thanks for checking out Part 2 of our extensive interview with the writer/director of Slay Belles, Spooky Dan Walker, and the film’s female lead, Kristina Klebe (who plays Alexi). If you missed Part 1, follow the link below to find out what it was like for the duo working with iconic cult movie star Barry Bostwick (best-known for his portrayal of Brad in The Rocky Horror Picture Show).
Related Article: Writer/Director & Star of SLAY BELLES Talk Working with ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW’s Barry Bostwick
Today’s continuation will explore a real-life mystery surrounding Slay Belles. I’m calling it “The Missing Cast Member Caper”. When the film enjoyed its premiere in Hollywood last week, one integral member of the Slay Belles family was missing: Actress Hannah Wagner who plays the bubbly, blue-haired “Adventure Girl” Sadie. It’s not that she wasn’t welcome; the truth is, no one has seen Wagner for years.
Pre-Slay Belles, Hannah Wagner was a well-known social media star who operated under the moniker, Hannah Minx. She was a popular YouTuber known for embracing Japanese culture; she would often appear at comic-book conventions dressed as popular anime characters. She amassed over 600K followers with consistent posts until, without warning or explanation, everything came to an abrupt halt.
While most familiar with the situation suspect the actress has dropped off the map of her own accord, the fact that no one knows for sure makes this a genuinely compelling mystery. What makes it most unsettling, though, is that the horror community in Los Angeles is surprisingly close-knit, making Wagner’s MIA status truly perplexing.
Following today’s portion of our ongoing interview, we’ve included our own deep dive into Hannah Wagner’s disappearance.
Spooky Dan Walker: One of the great things Kristina and I have is that living in Los Angeles, you have the support of the whole horror community. Basically, we’re all friends and we all support each other. And, unlike other groups, like actors and comedians, we really support each other. It’s not competitive in the same way. We all want each other to do well. It’s a really loving community out here in Los Angeles.
Dread Central: Don’t be surprised if this triggers a flood of horror filmmakers to move to LA! Dan, I don’t want to give too much away, but the ending of Slay Belles re-writes the entire mythology of Christmas as we know it and really begs the question, “What comes next?” I hear a lot of filmmakers say they’ll do a sequel if they make enough money, but Slay Belles really feels like it was designed to have sequels, like it’s really just the first chapter of a larger story. Were you always planning to expand the story or have you been taking a wait and see, one step at a time approach?
SDW: We’ve talked about how it would be fun to do another “Adventure Girls” movie where we follow Dahlia [Susan Slaughter], Alexi [Klebe] and Sadie [Wagner] on more adventures. But one potential hurdle is since we shot the movie, one of the actresses has literally gone missing; none of us know what happened to her. She erased herself from social media and, if you look up “Hannah Minx missing” on Google right now, you’ll get a bunch of results—hundreds of responses. There are rumors about what happened, but it’s heartbreaking because we’re her friends and we have no idea why she disappeared. As a matter of fact, [filmmaker] Darren Lynn Bousman [Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV] talked with us about maybe hiring a private detective, just to find out for sure what happened to her.
Kristina Klebe: She was at my house for New Year’s Eve that year and it was literally just a couple months after that that she disappeared.
DC: I had no idea there was this real-life mystery connected to Slay Belles!
SDW: There are conspiracies.
KK: So now, of course, we’re talking about doing an “Adventure Girls” movie where Alexi and Dahlia are looking for Sadie, and it turns out Krampus ate her!
DC: That would be pretty “meta”.
KK: The idea is Dahlia and Alexi will save her because, before we start filming, we’ll have actually found Hannah in real life.
DC: Knock on wood. I really hope she’s okay. So, Kristina, I guess this means you’re down for a sequel if the opportunity arises?
KK: I’m in. I guess I’d have to dye my hair purple again.
SDW: You could go blue this time. We could mix it up and give you blue hair!
KK: Okay.
Slay Belles is now available on VOD and Blu-ray/DVD; you can purchase your physical copy, HERE. Check out the synopsis and trailer below, and check back tomorrow for Part 2 of our exclusive interview with Spooky Dan Walker and Kristina Klebe.
Synopsis:
It’s Christmas Eve, and three cosplaying women are breaking into Santa Land for some partying and fun! What they didn’t expect was to come across the malevolent Christmas demon Krampus! The girls must team up with Santa Claus himself to battle the creature and save the world!
Have you seen Slay Belle yet? Are you a fan of Christmas-themed horror movies? And did you know about the real-life mystery surrounding the disappearance of Hannah Minx/Wagner? Sound off in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram!
The Hannah Wagner Case
Spooky Dan is correct when he mentions that the Hannah Minx/Wagner disappearance is still a popular mystery on social media, with her disappearance mentioned less than a year ago on Nicki Swift’s video “YouTube Stars Who Completely Disappeared” (below). The most extensive investigation, however, appeared in the Gazette Review.
It’s widely suspected that Wagner disappeared following a legal dispute with her then-manager, after which she lost the rights to the Hannah Minx trademark and all associated content. Her decision to abandon her Hannah Minx personae seems to have coincided with a much happier circumstance: Love. The Gazette Review story sites sources close to the former YouTube star who claim she married Steve Osterhagen and has embraced a new life as a wife and mother, leaving the trials and tribulations of fame in the rear-view mirror.
While lack of confirmation means there will likely always be those who suspect Wagner fell victim to nefarious circumstances, the truth is adults have the right to disappear if they please. As far as I could confirm, there has never been a police investigation or even a missing persons’ case file regarding the former Miss Minx.
Still, Hannah, if you’re reading this: Your friends miss you and we’d all love to know that you’re okay. Plus, there are more “Adventure Girls” movies to make!
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