RI Horror Director Richard Griffin Keeps Filmmaking Local
Saturday, March 23, 2013
While some filmmakers choose to reside within a certain comfort zone, Providence’s Richard Griffin prefers to think outside the box. Throughout the course of thirteen feature length movies, Griffin has tackled a wide variety of genres ranging from horror to science fiction to drama.
When GoLocal last spoke to Griffin he was promoting Murder University, which paid homage to the slasher films of the 1980s. This time around Griffin is putting his unique spin on the classic B-movies of the ‘60s and ‘70s in his new feature Dr. Frankenstein’s Wax Museum of the Hungry Dead, which centers on a group of unsuspecting teenagers who are subjected to a series of gruesome experiments while spending the night at an eerie wax museum owned by Dr. Frankenstein.
Horror influences
“The influences of this film ran the gamut from the Hammer horror films of the ‘60s and ‘70s, to the freewheeling horror films of Jess Franco,” said Griffin. “There’s also a great deal of absurdist humor in the film, with homage’s to classic B-movies like The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie and even Silent Night Deadly Night III.”
In order to capture a retro aesthetic and feel, Griffin decided to employ a “back to basics” method, which included scaling back production.
“For this film, I decided to go back to my roots – to have some fun and make a movie like I did when I was 15 years old,” Griffin said. “It was just wonderfully spontaneous, with a screenplay being written in a matter of days (by the amazingly talented Seth Chitwood), and the entire production was rolling just 10 days after the final draft was written.”
Local talent featured
As is true with Griffin’s past films, Dr. Frankenstein’s Wax Museum of the Hungry Dead features a wide variety of local talent. For Griffin, the decision to employ Rhode Islanders has always been a no-brainer.
“The New England Yankee work ethic cannot be beat,” said Griffin. “Many of the cast hail from Rhode Island, and my cinematographer Jill Poisson and the screenwriter Seth Chitwood are also Rhode Islanders.”
Aside from producing hard-working talent, Rhode Island and New England as a whole is also noteworthy for its distinct scenery, according to Griffin. “I think it offers so many wonderful locations, especially of a gothic nature."
Opens Sunday, March 24
Check out all that New England has to offer when Griffin’s latest effort Dr. Frankenstein’s Wax Museum of the Hungry Dead premiers on Sunday, March 24 at CinemaWorld in Lincoln, Rhode Island at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Tickets are $10. For more information visit Dr. Frankenstein's Wax Museum of the Hungry Dead on Facebook.
Stay tuned for Griffin’s next project titled Normal, which is tentatively set for a Fall premiere. The prolific director also plans on directing sequels to Nun of That and The Disco Exorcist in the near future. As if that weren’t enough, look for Griffin’s upcoming web series Planet of the Gorilla Suit.
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