‘Replicator’ Director Mark Andrew Hamer And Cranked Up Director of Development Phil Garrett On Goo, Guts, and Gore
2024 was a massive year for Cranked Up Films. They released a slew of horror titles, plus they launched their streaming service Cranked Up TV. For their Director of Development Phil Garrett, it was a year of successes, along with a lot of blood and guts, especially in their latest release Replicator from director Mark Andrew Hamer. The new body horror film is out now on VOD and is ready to disgust and delight with its effects, done by the incredible Dave Greathouse.
In Replicator:
Scarred by a troubled past, small-town public defender Darby Vincent is in constant pursuit of justice in a town littered with morally and ethically challenged individuals. But when the town’s more nefarious citizens begin one-by-one to make 180-degree turns to righteousness, seemingly overnight, Darby embarks on a journey that reveals violent otherworldly forces may be responsible… and that the way to virtue is a bloody and terrifying road.
We spoke with Garrett and Hamer about the power of practical effects, why we need to keep supporting indie horror, and getting creative with smaller budgets.
Dread Central: Phil, I’m going to start with you because Replicator has joined a roster of some really cool films you’ve put out this year for Cranked Up Films. So I wanted to hear more about what movies you’re looking for and why Replicator felt good to join this roster.
Phil Garrett: Good question. What are we looking for? We can talk about Replicator first. So I joined the company in the summer of 2022 and post-COVID, it was time to start production up again. The company produced films over the course of like 10 years. Actually Mark, at some point, got connected with Andy because Mark directed another feature, The Hunting. So Replicator was already in play as far as being a script.
The mandate at the time was that it could be achieved on a budget and it could really deliver on a certain level of production value. And on a very core level, those are important factors, obviously. So then we spent almost a year developing the script further for the drafts and so on, and then getting into pre-production to shoot in the summer of 2023.
Replicator is the first in a new series of feature films. So it’s called Nightmare Transmissions. It’s an anthology series of features where we’re taking sub-genres and conventions that we all know and love and trying to take them in a different direction, which in some ways sounds obvious because anybody making genre knows that that’s what the audience wants. They love the stuff that they love, but they want you to do something new with it, right? Convention plus invention. Some of the unique elements, or the unique combination of elements in this film came about really.
We want movies that are achievable for us as a smaller production company and independent studio. And we want to work with filmmakers who are passionate about doing this.
DC: I think a lot of your movies are so gross so far with the Fresh Hell films that came out this year, plus Replicator. There are definitely incredible uses of practical, nasty effects in these films so far.
PG: Well, thanks. Obviously, we know who’s responsible for all that, but I think Scott, myself, and some other folks involved in these productions, that’s what we grew up with, right? And they say, make movies that you love, and other people will love them, too. So we try to deliver on that and we just think practical looks real because it is real.
DC: Mark, I wanted to hear about where Replicator started for you and where this story came from.
Mark Andrew Hamer: We initially met through a previous film. We were like, “Well, let’s do something on another film.” We didn’t know what that was, but we did know we wanted to do a horror thriller genre piece at this budget level. But other than that, the sky’s the limit. So let’s just pick something cool and do it. So we started working on different concepts and we worked with a gentleman named Russ Lindway to help us with some of those concepts. We had 20-ish concepts that we started with across the board of just weird stuff. It was like, just make really weird things, and then let’s see what we can achieve from that. Then we just picked one of ’em and it ended up being, at the time it was called Harvest. We weren’t calling it Replicator yet.
The story was a lot different from what the final piece was, but a lot of the main characters and elements were in place. Through the scripting process and the development process, it was shaped and molded into what we ultimately ended up shooting, which then goes into what you have access to. You have access to this location, you have access to this city, they’ll close this road for this amount of time. So you used that as your fodder for what your script could be, and we kind of tailored it to the locations.
DC: Oh, that’s awesome. That’s so cool. I love when you talk about approaching screenwriting like that. Interestingly, for a filmmaker though, I feel like that’s such a different approach than you usually do with a script.
MAH: There was a lot of reverse engineering. I mean, even down to the dialogue and the effects and how we’re going to shoot certain people. So we got into casting and we knew that, or I should say, once we knew that Bray and Caitlyn were going to be our leads, then it took even more shape into what that dialogue was going to be. And then when we knew the locations and how much physical space we had to shoot in, it’s like, “OK, how are we going to do those effects? Are we going to have to build a fake wall to put certain effects on?” And if it’s going to be in this room, then that thing has to be so big, and then there’s mapping involved and all that kind of stuff. So it all kind of worked both ways really, from the end to the beginning and everything in between.
DC: Well, Dave Greathouse did your effects. He did the effects for the Fresh Hell films, and he obviously is so good at the goopy and the nasty. What was it like collaborating with him on this and creating all of the nasty things in Replicator? Because boy, oh boy, it’s a gooey, wet movie.
MAH: It is. The funniest thing I can say about working with Dave is he’s an artist, but he’s a true professional, too. So we’re having the most oddball conversations, but it’s all in real normal language. So it’s like, “How is that arm going to fall off? Well, should it be slimy?” But you talk about it with a straight face, right? Because you’re trying to figure out
PG: Yeah. Well, yeah, that opening scene, it was like, well, how can we do this? Well, we can do this with the hot wire and do it through this kind of material or whatever. But then sometimes Greathouse’s suggestions are bringing back old techniques or techniques that aren’t used as much anymore. The opening sequence is gelatin, and that’s why the materials tear and melt the way they do.
MAH: A lot of it went into the schedule too. So that was another thing with working with Dave, you’re like, “How long would it take to create a certain effect?” And he would know, “I need X, Y, and Z to achieve that and pull it off.” So then you put your scheduling hat on and you’re like, “OK, so for us to give you the amount of time that you need, we have to put that somewhere in the schedule to be able to accommodate for that.”
DC: That’s always the most terrifying thing about effects is you don’t really know what’s going to work until you’re doing it. Obviously, he’s a professional, he has a good idea of how it’s going to work, but that still has to be nerve-wracking when so much of your film is practical.
MAH: In fact, Dave would even say when we’re in pre-production planning and how he’s going to do the molds and stuff like that, it was like, “We’re going to have one shot at this the way that it’s built.” You know what I mean? It’s not like you can do multiple takes. So everything has to be planned really well because to redo it would be a big deal. Everything can be redone, but then it’s a huge step backward, especially when you’re trying to hit an indie timeline.
DC: How many days did you have to film Replicator?
PG: We had 13 days of principal. And then two pickup days.
DC: So you were truly on the indie timeline of barely three weeks to get everything shot. With this amount of effects, between Replicator and the Fresh Hell films, it’s so impressive what y’all are able to create. It’s such a testament to indie horror filmmaking and what we’re accomplishing with such little time. I think it’s so impressive, and I just hope people keep banging that drum because I certainly have been.
PG: Well, thanks. One of the reasons it looks the way it looks is Sammy Lahiri, our cinematographer and the gaffer on this was Henry Harding. The key grip was Marvin Watts. But that team together with some additional help really shaped that look. I mean, it looks like a much bigger movie than an indie film made the way it was made. And they’re made that way out of necessity in terms of us as a production company working within budgets that allow us to do this and create a sustainable pipeline over the course of time. This is one of seven films we shot in 22 months.
DC: Oh, wow. Mark, I mean, were you just ready to dive in? There was obviously a little bit of fear, but you felt good about jumping into this process with the indie budget.
MAH: I love it. There are all kinds of problems that you have to solve, and I love the creative process of solving those problems. You can throw money at problems or you can work through ’em. And I have a lot more fun when you work through it. It feels more fun to me. It’s more of a puzzle on how you do that. So I was just totally ready to jump in. In fact, I basically lived at the Cranked Up studio. They have this apartment suite. I used air quotes for that, but literally I stayed there at night in this big building by myself. It just gave me a lot more time to think about what we had to do for the day, reflect on it, and then plan for the next day. So you talk about diving in. Yeah, I loved it.
DC: Hell yeah. So in developing the script, Mark, what were you most excited to see come to fruition?
MAH: This will go back to your previous question, did anything make you nervous? Replicator has a very wide range of emotions in it, from the horror, but then there’s also some drama in it, right?
DC: Yeah, I was going to ask about that. There’s a family undercurrent drama going on as an emotional throughline. It’s not just goop and guts.
MAH: Yeah, exactly. So you have to hit those notes on that and then turn around and then do the growth stuff sometimes in the same day. So to have actors that could do that and be able to pivot, was probably one of the bigger achievements, I think, for them to be able to go from gross to crying. And there’s a lot of crying that happens. [Laughs] So I think that that was it.
DC: Phil, you get killed in this movie, right?
PG: I get killed in almost every movie. Spoiler alert. [Laughs] So in this one, somehow Mark thought that I should be this foreboding dude who is the minion of someone in a position of power. And I guess I probably die off-screen ultimately, but yeah, so two different versions of myself. It’s great fun.
MAH: Sorry, Mark, half-naked and covered in slime. There’s a handful of people that got to do that, and Phil was one of our half-naked slime people.
PG: Well, it is fun to act. I went back to school at 39, 40, and got a theater degree, and I love acting.
DC: Oh, wait, that’s awesome! That’s so cool!
PG: This is a well-kept secret, but I’m half kidding. You’ve seen the movie, you know what we’ve asked people to do in this movie or what they know as an actor they will need to do. If they’re going through all of that, then I should be perfectly willing to do the same thing. So if we need more people in this scenario, in this situation, I will be one of those people. And it was a lot of fun. And I think Caitlin and Bray and everybody who was there and went through this whole experience together, I think people like to see producers getting their hands dirty.
DC: That’s a good producer right there, willing to get covered in slime and be half-naked and cold. You’re ready to do whatever needs to happen for the movie.
PG: Well, it was me. So all of those were scary things anyway, for the audience, probably.
DC: So what’s next from Cranked Up Films?
PG: Well, a lot of things happening right now. A lot of things coming. So like I said, we’ve shot these seven films. Three have been released, well, four now, five now this year. So the Fresh Hell films, our rom-com, The Holiday Club came out two weeks before Replicator, and Replicator is out. Now we’re back into the development cycle we have and setting up our production slate for the second phase. Not like we’re Marvel or anything, but the second phase of Cranked Up Productions
DC: So Mark, what about you? What’s next for you?
MAH: Yeah, so we have a handful of documentaries that are on the tail end of post-production, which will be coming out earlier next year. One of which took Montana of all places. So I got to spend a lot of time in Montana, which was fantastic.
Another one took place completely different in Las Vegas. So you’re off the grid and then you’re really on the grid. Two totally different dichotomies there. And then we kind of flip our hats to that development side as well, once we get those through post-production. And as Phil mentioned, there are scripts that we’re talking with Cranked Up about. We’re hoping that those can fall somewhere into the pipeline, and hopefully, we can get back to making another goopy gross kind of film again.
PG: One thing I forgot to mention! We’ve done a soft launch of an independent horror streaming service called Cranked Up TV. It’s all independent horror and it’s new and contemporary. It’s what I would call modern classics and fan favorites. So we’re very excited to have Replicator be part of that, too.
Replicator and the Fresh Hell films are out now on VOD.
Categorized:Interviews
