Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Jeremy Rudd on 80s Slasher Horror & DIE’CED: Reloaded | What’s Kraken
15 Plays5 days ago
Jeremy Rudd — writer, director, actor, and all-around horror craftsman — joins Jo to talk about his debut feature DIE’CED: Reloaded. What started as a pandemic-fueled love letter to 80s slashers became a viral short, caught the eye of Dread Central & Epic Pictures, and is now a blood-soaked, Seattle-set horror romp hitting theaters August 8th and VOD August 12th.
From building a “final girl” you can root for, to designing Benny the Clown’s creepy scarecrow look, Jeremy shares how he recreated the VHS-era horror feel while adding modern twists. Jo and Jeremy dig into the art of proof-of-concept filmmaking, the thrill of practical effects, and why the 80s were the perfect hunting ground for Benny’s rampage.
There’s talk of sequels, advice to the younger self (“keep the grind alive”), and why a first-time director can still swing an EPIC-level scare.
🎥 Watch DIE’CED: Reloaded in theaters August 8 or on VOD August 12 — and keep your eyes peeled for that sequel.
As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases — if you use an Amazon link from us, we may get a commission.
Key Moments:
- Opening riff: Jo spots the Seattle 80s setting on the poster and is instantly hooked.
- Jeremy’s inspiration: 80s slashers on repeat during the pandemic lead to creating his own throwback killer.
- Proof of concept win: The short film goes viral, catching Dread Central & Epic Pictures’ attention.
- Benny the Clown’s look: A creepy mix of clown face and scarecrow body.
- Filming in the past: Dial phones, vintage Airbnbs, and a no-smartphone rule on set.
- Practical effects love: Makeup over CGI for a grittier, real horror feel.
- The sequel tease: More depth for Benny and the final girl.
- Jeremy’s advice: Keep going, stay focused, and push through the potholes.
Recommended
Transcript
Intro
Introduction of Jeremy Rudd and Diced Reloaded
00:00:06
Speaker
Hey everyone, Joe here, and today on What's Cracking, we've got the master of horror, Jeremy Rudd, with the new film Diced Reloaded. How are you doing today, sir?
00:00:19
Speaker
I'm doing fantastic. Now, trust me, the pleasure is mine. Now, when I got this screener, I saw the poster and I was like, oh, a killer clown.
00:00:32
Speaker
And then I read the little thing about Seattle in the past and you sold me. Why would you put this in the past? I know it came from a short film, but why the past is important for you.
00:00:44
Speaker
it it all came when I was writing the script and, uh, during the pandemic and I was watching, i found myself watching a lot of eighties slasher films and only, I couldn't find any ones, you know, kind of newer ones that kind of touched on that nostalgia that I had watching those films. So was like, you know, I'll,
00:01:04
Speaker
I might as well make my own because there's not a lot. So, and I've seen all the other ones a million times. So I wanted to, you know, make my own within the eighties decade and then also put a new touches on, you know, some, some newer spins on there. So that's why I came up with, with this film.
00:01:23
Speaker
It works really well. And when you're watching the film, I'm not going to give me spoilers away, but when you're saying you saw a lot of the eighties old slashers, that's the vibe you get. Yeah. That really is a vibe.
Inspiration and Concept for Diced Reloaded
00:02:09
Speaker
Um,
00:02:10
Speaker
Because the first one, I originally self-distributed on my own. And a lot of people saw it and it kind of went viral online. But they felt like they could you know put it out there to much more people, which which which is the plan now.
00:02:25
Speaker
it's It's an amazing thing. And I really like that concept where a lot of people think they have to have the budget for a feature. They have to have all this. But you proved you can do a proof of concept short, be successful, and then roll that into a feature.
00:02:40
Speaker
And when when you're doing all of this and the feature comes out on the 8th of August for theatrical and the 12th for video on demand, right? Yep, exactly.
Excitement and Audience Connection
00:02:50
Speaker
How excited are you right now? i'm just curious. Oh yeah. Very, very excited. I'm, you know, want to want everyone to watch this film, fall in love with the characters, um um you know, fall in love with the final girl, Benny, of course, and just kind of, you know, I just wanted to kind of,
00:03:06
Speaker
watch the film be taken back into the 80s and then also get throwing some new concepts in there we we put we put in the film and then know kind of run rid of from there just you know get the word out about this film it's It's an amazing film. If and those of you who have are going to watch this interview, if you haven't seen the film, shut the interview off right now.
00:03:26
Speaker
Go find the film, watch it, then come back to this. Because i had, I'm not going to name the other film, but it was just as a screener, I wish I didn't get.
00:03:37
Speaker
And I had your film second. And it was a perfect palate cleanser. was like, oh my gosh, this is my jam. This is everything. Because you did it all right. You did the casting.
00:03:48
Speaker
Perfect. You do care about these people. You care about them. And it's interesting to see like a cat and mouse game for a bit, right? The writing is on point, especially if you grew up in the VHS land, like I did. When you went to a horror store, like, okay, I'll take this one, just based on cover.
00:04:06
Speaker
If you grew up in the era or watching it, the older movies, it's it's a great homage i could not tell this except what i knew like the the clarity of it all no you hit it you hit it home so you take that aspect of it and the benny the clown how did you get the name benny for the clown benny i was just kind of i don't know i was just kind of just brainstorming different different names and that that kind of sounded great
00:04:37
Speaker
But, uh, but yeah, I mean, Benny, we got his face mask. We wanted to have it like clown-like, but his whole overall body was, like the scarecrow hair, scar like a hat outfit and everything.
00:04:49
Speaker
So we kind of wanted to kind of mesh the two. Um, cause I wanted I wanted to have his facial expressions there. I wanted people to see his eyes, his his smile is and all that type of stuff, you know, but as well as, you know, having a different appearance as far as his, his body or what he's wearing and everything.
00:05:06
Speaker
So it works yeah now when you're talking about the mask and stuff but that, there's a scene. We'll just say when Benny is starting his rampage.
00:05:17
Speaker
I don't think it's a spoiler. You know, like a serial killer might kill people in a horror film. There's this scene where he's putting everything together and it's creepy.
Crafting Characters and 80s Nostalgia
00:05:27
Speaker
It's absolutely creepy because he's in his own little world bopping along and you see the chin, you you see the shape of the face and it's all very cool.
00:05:35
Speaker
How are those effects done? Those are a lot of his done. So that's that's thing you're talking about out there. he He was just let off from the asylum. He's right. He's at his victim's first house. That's where he gets his his scarecrow outfit. But then he's applying his makeup. You don't see his face exactly. See little pieces of it. but hes yeah He's applying his makeup on. And that's where he kind of.
00:05:59
Speaker
So before that, he he kind of gets the idea from the his victim because his victim is is uh dressing up as a scarecrow so he kind of gets that idea you're gonna so he kind of copies that right applies the makeup he steals the guy costume and then he goes on his uh rampage around seattle to to find his victims and it's a great scene and i love how you put it in seattle because last time i was in seattle i remember i remember two things starbucks And the bubblegum wall, like by the wharf. Like, oh, and the bubblegum wall.
00:06:31
Speaker
And so you're bringing us back to a time before the internet. the The time before everyone had a Starbucks. The time before when Seattle was just almost emerging into the music scene, actually. I think yeah?
00:06:43
Speaker
like eighty s Yeah, I think that sounds about right. Yeah. So when you're doing this, what kind of... problems or how cut how did you solve the going back into time while you're filming things we just i mean the a lot of the airbnb are like different places we booked for these shots uh we made sure they were like older older areas older places just made sure there was a lot of dial phones like because there's a couple of scenes where they're like
00:07:15
Speaker
you know, have these like bones with the wires still in them. So we made sure those were around and we just kind of like, but had a a ah a person that on set making sure everything matched up with that time period.
00:07:29
Speaker
but But overall, it was a lot of fun shooting those. and I would definitely do it again for sure. but It came out well. And I'm glad you're saying you definitely do it again for sure. i want the sequel. I love this one then so much. I was like, this needs to be on, I'll name drop, The Shudder, The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs. This is like a perfect movie for them.
00:07:48
Speaker
It's got bite. It's new. And it's something that it falls in line with a lot of horror fans right now. yeah So sequel. We're talking sequel already.
00:07:59
Speaker
yeah Yeah, I mean, i feel like that's what the fans want. And that's what definitely what I want. i definitely want want to expand more on the final girl and the villain. yeah Give a little more context and dialogue with those two. So, you know, our viewers can really fall in love with those characters. And I feel like there's a lot more story to be told there.
00:08:22
Speaker
Absolutely. And for people who are wondering, we can see it. It's going be theatrical on the 8th of August and the 12th of August video on demand. Honestly, on and again, if I don't like something, I don't, I don't even do the interviews anymore.
00:08:36
Speaker
I love this one so much. I had so many questions about just a scene and and how things were pieced together. you You said you got inspiration during the pandemic. You're watching these 80 films and you have your inspiration there.
00:08:53
Speaker
What's your process in writing a script? Are you going linear or do you have your note cards out first scene by scene? How do you write your scripts?
Scriptwriting and Directing Journey
00:09:00
Speaker
I write them by, you know, because, you know, doing a little like a basically like a blueprint. So I'll write beginning. I'll put in like some plots in there and I'll figure out where I want to end it And then I'll kind of that'll be my starting point on how going to write it.
00:09:16
Speaker
Just make sure I'll have all the important things in there you know throughout the throughout the script and I'll start writing from there. That's very cool. Now, how important was it for you as a director and writer and actor to have all those hats on?
00:09:30
Speaker
Because you know what can work and if something's not working in the writing, like, oh, I can fix this. I'm the writer. Yeah, i mean, it was good to be able to... ah ah me probably don't know, but I did some acting, some background roles, a couple roles were a couple liners.
00:09:46
Speaker
So just wanted to take a stab at directing. So it definitely helped in when I was writing the script and then filming it so I can kind of know how I want to kind of coach and, you know, direct my actors in a way. and A lot of it, a lot of the actors kind of put in their own, you know, you know, two cents of their own,
00:10:07
Speaker
you know take on the character. so That was really great. was great working with Jason and then also Cassandra or you know because Eden Campbell as well. so right no I saw the cast and I'm like, oh, they're so good.
00:10:21
Speaker
They're amazing. were amaze there were there were rock stars on on set for sure. ah ah Professionals and like I'm saying, if you can make empathy for both the victim and the killer at the same time,
00:10:33
Speaker
and That works so well with you. So you're saying you were doing the acting to get the the hat on. Is this your first time directing? Is Dice reloaded? Yep. This is my first time directing, first time writing, first time I edited everything. for you edited everything too?
00:10:51
Speaker
The original is short, I edited everything into the color grade, everything. I just kind of figured everything out on like YouTube and it kind of just figured it all out. and then So everything was done for the first time ever, that first original. And then Epic took everything that I did yeah and they remixed it, remastered it, right color graded it, add more music and everything.
00:11:15
Speaker
Basically polished everything that I did. And then and they added an additional 30 minutes to the beginning and then some you know additional, don't like eight minutes at the end and then there's some things throughout the film to make it feel like a full length feature.
00:11:29
Speaker
yeah So it's a much, much better watch from beginning to end. Well, shout out to Epic, but I'm going to say this, you're too humble. You're far too humble.
00:11:41
Speaker
Like, oh, that's my first time, right? You know, I just wrote it hit, you know, directed it. But other than that, like Yeah, just figured it out. Just figured it out. but You did the work. it's It's kind of like you said. like I went, saw on YouTube channels. I did all the work. I did the reps. I learned.
00:11:58
Speaker
Epic helped out and a lot doing it from a short to a feature. Yep. That is a great pairing. And I i asked this of all of my guests.
00:12:10
Speaker
When you... Now, think about your journey from childhood to now. What a advice would you give younger? I mean, like little kid version of you.
00:12:22
Speaker
What advice would you give? Just probably just keep going, stay focused and, you know, keep the grind alive and, you know, never give up.
00:12:33
Speaker
Just keep going. Never give up. I love it. And you said keep the grind alive because things are not going to be easy. Yeah. they But you have to put Yep.
00:12:44
Speaker
You'll face a lot roadblocks and potholes on the way, but you know no no no journey no journey's worth it if there isn't anything kind of yeah you know stopping. you got You got to overcome those.
00:12:59
Speaker
Absolutely. Otherwise, if if it's too easy, no one really appreciates things. Yeah. And and i think I think that's exactly it. And some people stop right before they hit success. Yep.
00:13:10
Speaker
Which is sad. And I'm i'm so glad you went, go kept going because this is an amazing film.
Release Strategy and Future Plans
00:13:16
Speaker
Now, I know we talked maybe about a sequel. What creative work are you doing right now?
00:13:22
Speaker
Creative work, I'm nothing right now. I'm kind of, I did, it I did, I was starting to kind of brainstorm ideas for the part two for the sequel, but I kind of paused that as now we're kind of ramping up into promoting and marketing, you know, rolling out this one. So, but yeah, there's some stuff in the works here.
00:13:42
Speaker
So. Are you excited for 8th of August, which is your theatrical release? Oh yeah, for sure. Yeah. I'm definitely, definitely excited about that. Any type of audience plans? Like gonna go in there and watch it as people watch it with you?
00:13:57
Speaker
Yeah, I got got a small group of people that you know kind of go in there, kind of watch the film with me. I think that's an amazing thing. And for those who who can't make it out for whatever reason, it's gonna go on video on demand.
00:14:13
Speaker
So what do you think, I'll ask this, as ah ah as a filmmaker, as ah as a a person who's making art, Are you making it for the big screen are you making it for more of the home video?
00:14:26
Speaker
For both. i just' want people business I just want people to go out, watch it, enjoy it. know, just tell their friends, tell their family and get everyone out there and, you know, just enjoy the film.
00:14:38
Speaker
I love it. I love it. So I want to say thank you for all your time. And honestly, this movie, it blew me away. Dice Reloaded. Even the name is cool. Even the name is cool. And the poster is an amazing job at a poster.
00:14:55
Speaker
The effects. I've seen so many effects just fall flat. You've got... And for forgive me for saying this. You've got Blumhouse level effects that are actual makeup.
00:15:10
Speaker
Yeah. You know, you're going full out and the acting is spot on for a freshman debut of theatrical feature length film.
00:15:21
Speaker
yeah In a genre we all take sacred and and love, this is going to be, you're you're going to have to get like an orbital thing just to catch the ball. They have a cancer check on the ball.
00:15:33
Speaker
It's going to be a rocket ship ride. And i hope everyone goes to see Dice Reloaded on the 8th. Get it on video on demand. Steal the Blu-ray when it comes out, I believe October 14th. Get it all. yeahp Get it all.
00:15:45
Speaker
And I want to say thank you so much for your time. And I cannot wait. i cannot wait for the sequel. And I want that s sequel, Touchwood. And I hope you enjoyed the ride. Don't forget, you're doing all this press. Enjoy the ride, too.
00:16:00
Speaker
For sure. Thank you Thank you.