As star Ruby Modine reveals why she “almost fainted” filming the remake of the controversial 1984 horror flick, director Mike P. Nelson reveals the one thing he knew they needed to recreate from the original.
Silent Night, Deadly Night director Mike P. Nelson must have done something right on the set of his horror remake — as one of his stars was on the verge of vomiting!
That’s what actress Ruby Modine told TooFab’s Brian Particelli about filming her reimagining of the 1984 holiday slasher of the same name, out this weekend in theaters.
Like the original, the new film also centers around a young man named Billy Chapman, who goes on a killing spree while donning a Santa suit years after a traumatic Christmas as a child. As Billy, played by Halloween Ends star Rohan Campbell, doles out punishments to those who have been very, very naughty — with Modine getting an up close and personal look at his grisly handiwork during production.
“Rohan and I, every once in a while, would be like, ‘Are we on set of a Hallmark film?’ and then somebody’s face would be bashed in and we’d be like, ‘Nope! We’re on Silent Night,'” said Modine, who plays Billy’s love interest Pam in the film, in a role that was fleshed out more for the remake.
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“There was a day on set … I hadn’t seen any of the kills and I was so excited because I was like, ‘Yay, I get to finally see one!’ … and I almost fainted,” Modine continued. “And Mike, he’s so in it and he’s filming it and he’s watching and he kind of like looks over at me but continues to work. Once he yells cut, he goes, ‘Ruby, you alright?’ And I was like, ‘I’m gonna throw up.'”
She added: “I had to walk out and get air, it was so intense on set.”
That, of course, was just what Nelson was hoping for.
“I mean, look, if we’re getting those kinds of visceral reactions on set from people who are there who know it’s fully make believe then that’s great,” he shared, before revealing which kill from the original movie he knew he just had to recreate in his remake.
“The antler thing needed to be in there,” said Nelson, referring to a scene in the OG in which Billy impales a topless woman on deer antlers. He then teased: “I was gonna do it my own way and figure out a way to make it my own, but had to figure out a way to do that. I feel like we achieved it, for sure.”
It wasn’t all blood and guts on set, though, as both Modine and Nelson also spoke about all the holiday cheer they also had during filming — despite the limitations and stresses that come with making an indie movie.
“The most lovely set. I’ve never laughed more in my life … just so much laughter,” Modine told TooFab.
“There were times when it was like, ‘We’re having too much fun right now,'” added Nelson. “There were days where they were very f–king stressful, where you’re like, ‘How are we going to get this done?’ The common problem of any indie movie, not enough time, not enough money and that’s what we were dealing with every single day.”
“You couldn’t help but smile because you realize, first of all, what we’re making and, second of all, all these scenes when you’re in them, you’re having so much fun doing them,” he shared. “That was just part of the process. That, I feel very lucky that we had that.”
See Santa slay when Silent Night, Deadly Night hits theaters Friday, December 12.
