Horror Favourites – Caden Douglas

It’s a family affair like no other in the hilariously horrid comedy horror Mother Father Sister Brother Frank written and directed by Caden Douglas, this award-winning, laugh-out-loud darkly comic horror has won numerous awards and is now being served up on digital making it the perfect time to talk to the man behind it all.

The Jennings family look the picture of suburban normalcy as they gather for their weekly Sunday dinner. As usual the table is set for four… mum Joy (Mindy Cohn – Palm Royale, The Facts of Life), dad Jerry (Enrico Colantoni – Galaxy Quest, Veronica Mars), sister Jolene (Melanie Leishman – Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, Below Her Mouth) and brother Jim (Iain Stewart – Star Trek: Strange New Worlds), but this week an uninvited guest arrives… and it’s going to get bloody messy.

When Uncle Frank (Juan Chioran – Dracula: A Chamber Musical, Tracker) turns up out of the blue, it’s clear he’s not here for a cosy family catch up. When Jolene and Jim discover Frank’s been blackmailing their parents, they see red and are prepared to do whatever it takes to protect their perfect little suburbia…

With murder in mind and filled with blood lust and revenge, chaos ensues… but once the fiery haze clears, the Jennings realise they have no idea how to be murderers and better yet, dispose of a body, and a series of hilariously gruesome events follow.

Below Caden Douglas doesn’t just talk about 1 but lists 5 of the scary movies he loves the most:

“So this might be a little bit surprising, given that Mother Father Sister Brother Frank has a ton of blood in it, but… I’m super squeamish when it comes to horror movies. I scare easy, I get grossed out easy and jump scares? – forget about it. I’ve been known to literally jump out of my seat and fall on the floor. So when asked what my favourite horror movies are, I initially thought – oh no! I don’t even know if I have one! But, after a little more reflection I’ve realised that some of my all-time favourite movies are horror films and it turns out that, squeamish or not, I love horror.

It’s impossible to pick just one, so I think it’s best to give you my top 5 (in no particular order)

1) The Shining – Obviously this is on everyone’s list, but it’s on everyone’s list for a reason. Every frame of this movie is perfection and I don’t know any filmmaker who hasn’t been inspired by it in one way or another, myself included. On a side note, I loved The Substance this year for all its camp and comedy and also for the homage it paid to this classic.

2) Alien – When I first saw this movie, I was babysitting my cousin and I was all alone in the house. When the big jump scare happened, I literally threw myself backwards, flipped the chair and fell ass over tea kettle onto the floor. To this day it remains one of my favourites.

3) Hereditary – Continuing the legacy of films like Rosemary’s Baby, this is a masterclass in tension. I also love the fact that not only is it a fantastic horror film, it’s also a perfect family drama. You take out the blood, demons and possession, and you’ve still got a riveting exploration of grief and generational trauma. Plus, I’d watch Toni Colette read the phone book, so having the joy of seeing her give this transcendent performance means I could put this film on any day of the week and continually be inspired by it.

4) Rear Window – Maybe I’m going to get flack for including this on a list of horror films, but for me this is one of the scariest movies of all time. The tension. The fear. The claustrophobic containment. Legends creating legendary work.

5) Scream – As a product of the ‘90s I can’t not include this in a top 5. I mean it’s got everything; a perfect blend of scares and comedy, an opening kill that might be the best first kill of any horror film ever and peak Neve Campbell, a fellow Canadian, giving this young Canuck inspiration to think that if she could make it in Hollywood what’s stopping me? Also, Billy and Stu being queer coded was very titillating for young me who was still closeted and figuring out my own sexuality. Interestingly enough, I recently read an article with an interview from screen writer Kevin Williamson who confessed that the “Scream” movies are “coded in gay survival,” with Sidney being, essentially, a manifestation of his struggles as a gay person. So looking back I think that my love of this film goes beyond just the film itself, but gets at something deeper that comes out in a lot of my work, including Mother Father Sister Brother Frank. It’s the struggle with growing up queer in the conservative part of Canada that I did and having to navigate what that meant.”

Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Frank on Amazon now (Miracle Media)

Mother Father Sister Brother Frank trailer