Interview Jeremy Selenfriend Monster In My Closet FX

I recently had the very entertaining and enlightening opportunity to speak with the very fun and friendly Jeremy Selenfriend, the President and Head Monster of the FX outfit, Monster in My Closet, who recently completed the FX for "No One Gets Out", the new horror film by indie director, James Tucker.  To my amazement, it turns out that Jeremy is one of the enfants terribles of the FX world, having freelanced for a number of years after college before starting his own company, the wonderfully named Monster in My Closet in 2003.  Now, at the age of 26, he has at least 10 films to his credit with 4 currently in pre-production or shooting.

E:  Hello Jeremy.  Well, I must say that "No One Gets Out" looks thoroughly gross, which is, of course, high praise for any horror film.  What kind of feedback have you been receiving from horror fans?

Jeremy:  What I’ve enjoyed hearing the most is that this film is making even the most jaded horror fan squirm (NOTE: Our reviewer of the film said the FX made him and his film buddy "flinch", which delighted Jeremy.).

E:  Who or what influenced the design of your creatures?

Jeremy:  Well, the zombies were actually done by two of my makeup artists, Souraya Hamdi and Devon Martin, and we wanted them to look freshly dead.  Not the grey-blue of the traditional Romero zombie.

 And "my" monster, The Son, was actually an accident.  He was something I designed and built as a student project in college and I had him at my studio.  When James (Tucker, the director) saw him, he said we had to put him in the movie somewhere.  He doesn’t exactly "fit" with the rest of the movie but what the director wants… (laughs).

E:  One reviewer of the film has said that the FX in the hotel were "awesome and disturbing".  How did all of that come about, if you can spill any FX secrets?

Jeremy:  We had an adequate budget for the FX in the film, which is sometimes unusual for a low-budget indie, and we did not use any CGI.  For that particular scene, I used a full torso casting of one of the female actors with gel breast implants, some fiberglass inserts and no pig entrails (laughs).

 Too messy in such an enclosed space.  We had our own special blood brew.  The effect obviously worked for viewers.

E:  The same reviewer also compared the FX to anything done by Tom Savini or Vincent Guastini.  How did that make you feel?

Jeremy:  I know it’s not very macho but that brought tears to my eyes.  I sent that review to my parents.  That was the nicest thing anyone has said about my work.  I’ve met Tom Savini, and he’s quite a character, and to be compared to one of the masters…

E:  How did you put Monster in My Closet together?  Great name, by the way.

Jeremy:  (Laughs) Thanks.  I had been doing freelance FX work ever since I graduated from college and I had accumulated enough contacts and enough work that I finally decided to start my own company. 

I wanted a name that told you what the business was all about – so many FX outfits have these high-tech names, you don’t know what they do.  So I decided to name the company after something that scared me as a child – the monster in my closet, because my closet door was very squeaky. (I suggested the alternative, Something Under My Bed, which got a laugh from Jeremy and the admission that that might have been a second choice).

E:  Are there any current FX outfits whose work you admire?

Jeremy:  Wow.  There’s Robert Hall and Almost Human, who did "Dead Birds", which I thought was an amazing film.  Rick Baker, Rob Bottin, Tom Savini, of course and KNB is simply incredible.  They will go from a big budget film to doing a low-budget indie and work just as hard on both.

E:  I take it you are a fan of horror movies.  Which ones have been your favorites?

Jeremy:  My earliest memory is of being scared by the "Nightmare on Elm Street" movies.  It was amazing what was done on those, FX-wise.  See, ever since I was very young, I watched movies differently from all of my friends.  I was the "weird kid" (laughs).  I saw past what was on-screen to try and figure out what and, of course, who brought it there.  I was and still am very imaginative.

I also love the Romero trilogy, soon to be a quadrilogy with "Land of the Dead".  I got to meet George recently and it was great getting to talk with him about all of his movies.

The original "Evil Dead" is awesome but I suppose my all-time favorite is "The Exorcist", not that it’s a great horror film but the slow burn pacing of it as well as the FX are what made it my favorite.  And now, all these studios are remaking all of these great movies!! (Here, Jeremy and I went into a lengthy rant about the lack of imagination in the big studios that is causing them to want to "fix what ain’t broke"). 

At least there is still plenty of imagination in independent movies – again, a great example would be "Dead Birds".  Every person I have talked to lately has mentioned that film and how much they enjoyed it.  How original it is!

E:  Were there any FX on "No One Gets Out" that were difficult for you and your team?

Jeremy:  Not really.  We didn’t do anything that hadn’t been done before although it is fun to find new ways to do the old stuff.

E:  What attracted you to do this film?

Jeremy:  Definitely the effects list first.  That’s what I always look at.  Initially, "No One Gets Out" had 7 or 8 initial FX but as filming went on, we ended up with more like around 9 really eye-grabbing FX (I asked him if he meant that literally and he just laughed and said maybe another film).  I look for the challenge that the film can give me.

E:  So, what’s up next for Monster?

Jeremy:  Well, May through December is our busiest time as everyone films during the summer months.  Right now, I have 4 features in various stages of development and I have been back and forth to Guatemala and Antigua, working on the latest, "Inner Rage", which is a post-Apocalyptic film.  That’s all I can tell you or I’ll have to kill you (laughs).

E:  What has been your favorite FX on a film?

Jeremy:  I would have to say "The Final Patient", as that was the most involved makeup I’ve done.  I had to create this sort of Elephant Man-like head on this actress and it originally took about 5 hours to do but we eventually got it down to a 3 hour session.  That was a challenge!

E:  For those who haven’t seen "No One Gets Out" yet, what "warning" would you give as far as how graphic the FX are?

Jeremy:  I would say this movie is one of those where you don’t really believe what you’re seeing is happening until it’s over.  On a scare scale, that’s hard for me to rate as I see all the things I wish I had done differently but since you are "forcing" me to rate it (laughs), I would have to give it an 8.

E:  You have been a great subject to interview and I really appreciate the time you have given me.  I do have to ask – have you ever checked out our sites?

Jeremy:  Thanks!  You have been fun to be interviewed by and yes, I do read MoviesOnline.ca and Horror-Movies.ca.  My producer sent me the link and I really enjoy checking both sites out now.  Very informative!

For more information on Jeremy’s FX company, go to:
http://www.monsterinmycloset.com

For more information on "No One Gets Out", go to
http://www.noonegetsout.com/

Interview conducted for MoviesOnline By: Elaine Lamkin