Kevin Smith: 10 Things About His Horror Movies Fans Never Knew – Screen Rant

Kevin Smith became the poster boy of indie filmmaking back in the 90s when he released his first comedy filmClerksto the praise of movie watchers and critics alike. From then on, Smith cemented himself as one of the raunchiest and innovative comedy directors of his era, and many of his films are great contributions to the genre.

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But in 2011, everything changed, and Smith proved his ability as a capable filmmaker, able to delve in other territories. With Red State,his career took a different direction and started to explore the horror genre. Fans of Smith's horror films may not know these 10 facts.

WhenKevin Smith was coming up as a filmmakerin the 90s, another director was establishing his name, as well. Quentin Tarantino and Smith were part of the indie movement of the 90s. Smith withClerksandMallrats,and Tarantino withReservoir DogsandPulp Fiction. So it's no wonder these two eventually became friends.

Tarantino has even praised Smith's work on several occasions, and in 2011 he put Smith's first horror movie,Red State,in his best films of the year list. For themovieTusk,Smith asked Tarantino to play a role, to which theKill Billdirector declined, but expressed great interest in watching the movie.

The screenplay for Smith's first horror movie was already written in 2007 andready to shoot, but Kevin Smith wasn't allowed to do it before finishingZack And Miri Make A Porno.The production of the movie was delayed since Smith wanted it to be perfect (and because he had a weird superstition about dying afterhis 10th film).

The energy he had when he started production was such that he was able to edit the movie as he was filming. He himself was the editor of the project and, after just two days of finishing production, was able to show cast and crew a proper cut of the movie.

Like deja vu from his days ofDogma,Kevin Smith was embroiled in a bunch of controversy with the release ofRed State.First was his polemic marketing ploy when he presented the movie at Sundance that year. After saying he was going to auction the distribution rights of the film, he ended buying them from himself, angering a segment of the industry.

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On top of this, since the film portrayed a fanatic religious cult, reminiscent of the Westboro Baptist Church, the movie was protested by this church, similar to how some catholic groups protestedDogmain 1999.

Tusk was Kevin Smith's second horror movie, andit stars Justin Long and Micahel Parks. The film took place in Canada and it marks the first of the "True North Trilogy," a series of horror movies that take place in the northern country, and from which only two movies have been released.

The idea for Tusk came to Smith on his podcast SModcast while discussing an ad from a Craiglist-type site of someone offering living accommodations in exchange for, not money, but the guest dressing as a walrus. In the podcast, Smith developed the idea that eventually would become the film.

Many have describedTuskas one of Kevin Smith's weirdest movie. The plot deals with an insane old-man who kidnaps the protagonist and starts gruesomely transforming him into a walrus that once saved his life. With elements of torture porn and body horror, the terror inTuskis experienced through its graphic nature.

But interestingly, despite being a movie with a disturbing topic and belonging to the horror genre, not much killing happens. Actually, the only one who dies is Michael Parks' villainous character at the end, revealingTuskas a mash-up of tropes from other genres and movies.

The majority of films directed by Kevin Smith belong to the in-shared universe known by fans as the View Askewnivers. Like the Marvel or DCfilms, these movies share the same world, mostly recognized by the appearance of its two most famous characters, Jay And Silent Bob.

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These movies tend to fall into the comedy genre, while the movies that form the "True North Trilogy" are horror. Tusk, Yoga Hosers, and the upcomingMoose Jaws,despite their genre, also are part of Askewniverse.

Yoga Hosersis the film that Smith directed right afterTuskand is a spin-off. Starting his daughter Harley Quinn Smith andLily-Rose Depp, the film is a mix of comedy and horror in which a bunch of terrifying little creatures appear called "Bratzis" (little Nazi clones made out ofbratwurst).

Long-time collaborator Jason Mewes was meant to portray the creatures but couldn't because of his claustrophobia and inability to wear the heavy make-up. After failing to convinceHaley Joel Osment to take the role, Kevin Smith himself assumed the identity of the little critters.

Yoga Hoserscould be described as a family and friends affair. Not only does Smith's daughter star in the film, but his wife,Jennifer Smith, plays her mother. The other star of the movie,Lily-Rose Depp, is the daughter of actor Johnny Depp, who also appears in the film.

Lily-Rose Depp and Harley Quinn Smith have been friends since they were little kids,which is one of the reasons why Depp accepted appearing in the film and inTusk.Vanessa Paradis, the mother of Lily, also appears as a character, as well as his son and Lily's little brother, Jack Depp.

Besidesthe "True Noth Trilogy", Smith has plans for other horror movies. He alreadycontributed to the horror anthology Holidays, with a short film called Halloween. Another anthology, but this time of his authorship, is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2020, calledKilroy Was Here.This project is writtenwith Andrew McElfresh.

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Smith said: "The film is a comedy horror anthology centered around the phenomenon of the "Kilroy was here" graffiti" The Kilroy phenomenon is arguably one of the first memes in history and was a doodle made by American soldiers during WWII.

Until 2020, only two of the three moviesthatmake up the "True North Trilogy" have been released:TuskandYoga Hosers.The third movie, titledMoose Jaws,has been described by Smith as"Jaws with a moose," andhas internet starHarley Morenstein ofEpic Meal Timeas its protagonist.

The movie will also feature Jason Mewes and Smith himself as Jay and Silent Bob, placing this next film and the whole trilogy into the Askewniverse.

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Diego Rueda is a writer, journalist, and audiovisual producer based in Barranquilla, Colombia. He has worked in many publications, writing about all kinds of topics, going from entertainment, and music, to politics. Former writer at Latido Music and currently working as a writer at Screen Rants. He loves cinema, music, games, and any other kind of storytelling art.

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Kevin Smith: 10 Things About His Horror Movies Fans Never Knew - Screen Rant