Five FrightFest Facts with Martijn Smits from ‘Meat Kills’

For many filmmakers, horror is a stepping stone to other genres. For Dutch director Martijn Smits, it’s always been home. From wearing out VHS copies of cult classics as a teenager to directing award-winning horror shorts and internationally successful features, Smits has spent decades pursuing a passion for genre filmmaking. While he has found huge success directing family films in his native Netherlands, his heart has never strayed far from blood, gore and the darker corners of cinema.

His latest film, Meat Kills, sees him return to horror in uncompromising fashion. Set against the backdrop of the livestock industry and the increasingly polarised debate surrounding animal activism, the film delivers a brutal survival nightmare where morality is anything but straightforward. Rather than presenting easy answers, Smits throws his audience into a violent conflict and leaves them to decide for themselves where their sympathies lie.

Shot inside a real slaughterhouse and pig farm, and packed with practical gore effects created on a shoestring budget, Meat Kills has already earned recognition at major genre festivals around the world. Ahead of its UK Premiere at Tubi FrightFest, we caught up with Smits for our latest Five FrightFest Facts.

Martijn Smits, director of Meat Kills

Tell us about your film

Meat Kills is a raw horror film that explores the debate surrounding the meat industry. Given the sensitive nature of the subject, I deliberately chose not to take sides as a filmmaker. I want viewers to decide for themselves who they sympathize with and who they don’t.

But above all, Meat Kills is a brutal horror film made for hardcore horror fans. The film was made on a very limited budget and shot in a real slaughterhouse and pig farm, which greatly contributed to its authenticity and rawness. My goal was to create all of the gore effects practically on set. It took a huge amount of time and effort, but it was absolutely worth it.

I’m still incredibly grateful for the recognition the film has received internationally. It has screened at major festivals around the world, and the response from both the press and audiences has been amazing.

Hopefully, I’ll get the chance to make another horror film soon.

How did you get into making movies?

I was already a huge horror fan as a teenager. I wore out the VHS tapes of films like Evil Dead 2, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, and Braindead from watching them over and over again. Even back then, I knew I wanted to become a film director, and I’ve been pursuing that goal ever since.

After film school, I started working as an editor on music videos and commercials, because I believe a director needs to know how to edit. I also worked on feature films as an assistant director, learning firsthand from the directors I worked with.

After winning several awards for my short horror films, I got the opportunity to direct my first feature, the horror comedy Kill Zombie. Since then, I’ve directed ten feature films, including many family films. But horror is where my heart truly lies, so when I got the opportunity to make Meat Kills, I grabbed it with both hands.

What films would you love to see screened at FrightFest and why?

At film festivals, I’m always looking for films by passionate filmmakers who are trying to do something unique with the horror genre. Films that depend on festivals to find an audience, where they can hopefully get noticed and create new opportunities for the people who made them.

Even though I’ve made many films in the Netherlands, including a lot of family films, I still consider myself one of those filmmakers. Horror isn’t particularly popular in the Netherlands, so I rely on international festivals to showcase my work and hopefully help me take the next step as a filmmaker. That’s why I’m very grateful Meat Kills is shown at FrightFest this year!

If you could create your own award to give at FrightFest, what would it be and why?

I would give out an award for “Best Scream.” Actors often put a lot of effort into making their deaths as convincing as possible, and of course, a great scream is an important part of that.

A good scream shouldn’t be underestimated. Not every actor can pull it off. I think it’s something you naturally have to have in you. And when you hear that one perfect scream on set, you immediately know you’ve got it.

So yes, I definitely think that deserves an award.

If your life was made into a horror film, what would it be called and who would play the starring role?

I think it would be a film about a schizophrenic director who is obsessed with making both sweet family films and brutal horror movies, and gradually starts mixing the two up, with gruesome consequences. Anyone who criticizes him, he kills.

The title: The Dutch Family Friendly Massacre.

And of course, the lead would be played by Kurt Russell. My favorite actor!