“Fan Film of the Month” seems to be starting an early trend. And, much like last month’s choice, this one could even make John Carpenter a little bit jealous.
This time around, independent filmmaker and voice artist Dave McRae brings us his vision on Carpenter’s classic ’78 slashfest, Halloween.
Though, this fan-film is a little different version from what we saw last month with Chris Notarile’s Halloween: Season, it sticks to the very same formula the Prince of Darkness himself used when he made the original. That, to me, is what truly makes this film work so well.
The short fan-film is called Halloween: Fall Stalking and it was released to YouTube on October 28, 2009. This is the second of the four fan-films based off the Halloween franchise that he produced under his YouTube name “Mystery31.”
Photo courtesy of Dave McRae
This short tells the story of a man who is obsessed with stopping Michael Myers before it is too late and he kills again. The man does everything he can to alert police that Myers is in Haddonfield but he knows it is up to him to put an end to the killings.
And, like any good horror movie of this generation, the hero and the villain engage in a cat- and mouse-like struggle that ends in a showdown to end it all. Though, as any fan of the Halloween series knows, this particular evil can never be stopped.
One aspect of Fall Stalking I found especially fascinating was that McRae had absolutely no help in the actual filming process. Everything from the camera work to the acting was all him. He not only wrote and directed the short, but he starred as both the main protagonist and Michael Myers himself.
While this fact both surprised and impressed me, he said it wasn’t that hard for him to do.
“It wasn’t as difficult as you’d think” McRae said. “I have experience both in-front of and behind the camera, so falling into each role was very comfortable.”
McRae said while he originally made the films to keep himself creative, his decision to do all four comes from his love of the first two movies in the series.
“My inspiration comes from being a huge fan of the original two Halloween films,” McRae said. “It was actually to just keep my creative juices flowing while I write and create more original productions.”
McRae, 31, said one of his goals in the production of his fan-films was to show fans of the series that a big budget is not needed to make a high-quality scary movie.
“I wasn’t a big fan of the 2007 remake of Halloween, nor it’s sequel in 2009, so I wanted to show fans that it’s not about how big your budget is, it’s about what you do with what you have,” he said. “I feel, in my opinion, that I have been able to create something pretty special with virtually nothing.”
That is exactly what I felt when watching the films for myself. McRae was definitely able to do something special with this vision because he kept it simple. There was no reliance on an in-depth, complicated story involving paranormal curses or family members; McRae’s film stuck to the basic foundation for what gives horror films that creepy, uneasy feeling that made the original so great.
That basic foundation is mood and atmosphere. Those are two elements McRae said tries to include in any film he does in this genre, especially in Fall Stalking.
He said this is because the atmosphere of not knowing where the killer is makes the movie so scary. McRae said he wanted to make the audience fear what they thought was there as opposed to the obvious.
Photo courtesy of Dave McRae
“With Fall Stalking, I wanted to capture the slow movement of something menacing approaching, something evil,” McRae said. “I firmly believe that is what made the original Halloween so intensely popular… It’s all about what we ‘think we see’ that truly frightens us.”
McRae said Fall Stalking did not take long to make. He said it took one weekend to film and only one week for editing. He also said the film was shot entirely in Georgetown, Ontario, Canada because he is from the Toronto area and tries to keep his filming locations in close traveling distance.
McRae, 31, has been making films for the past 17 years but said he has only been doing them professionally for the last decade. He said he went to college for Broadcasting but began making his professional films after he left in 2001.
“I attended Niagara College in Welland, Ontario, but I never graduated,” McRae said. “I learned a lot in my two years there, but I struggled to keep up. I found the work load was just too much and I had a very hard time staying focused. So, I left in 2001 to pursue my career from a different angle.”
McRae said he has had the opportunity to work with many talented actors and filmmakers throughout his career. One of which is visual artist and independent filmmaker Bruce Dale.
Dale said he met McRae 19-years ago when the two were still in grade school. Since then, he said they have worked on anywhere between 30 and 40 different creative projects together.
When it comes to McRae’s movies, Dale said he has had many important roles both in-front of and behind the camera; though, he said the main roles he has played in the majority of McRae’s films are those of producer and cinematographer.
While he had no part in the production of Halloween: Fall Stalking, Dale said he has a lot of respect for McRae and he enjoys working with him in every project he has the chance to.
Photo courtesy of Dave McRae
“He’s a lot of fun to work with,” said Dale. “It’s easy to get excited and remain motivated about a film with him. He likes to put in a good prep time so that things run smoothly on set.”
McRae said he is currently hard at work on another horror-themed short film titled The Intruder. He said this film is similar to Fall Stalking in that is pays tribute to another horror classic.
“It’s paying tribute to the classic film When a Stranger Calls, in which a woman is home alone baby sitting, and is haunted by a stranger on the telephone,” McRae said. “Except in my film, the woman isn’t babysitting, but house-sitting instead. I hope to go to camera on the film sometime in this spring, maybe May.”
While I do look forward to seeing what McRae can bring to the table with The Intruder, I encourage you all to sit back, grab some popcorn and a cold soda, and watch one of the best fan-films I have ever seen.