Tennessee-based filmmaker Jaron Lockridge brings the terror in his Candyman meets J.D’s Revenge horror, The Reaper Man.
Written and directed by Jaron, the film follows a grieving wife summons a dark spirit with an insatiable desire for revenge. The Reaper Man stars Jessica Jai Johnson (“The Stix”), K.J. Baker (“Nashville”), Kenon Walker (100 Lives), and Jeff Halton (Hongo).
Check out our interview with Jaron:
First off, what inspired this story?
Jaron: I’ve already always had the outline or the idea for the character. I just wanted to have my own unique horror character. And I noticed that, you know, other than Candyman and maybe a few others, that I’m failing to remember, there are not many black horror characters out there. So, I just kind of wanted to have my own unique addition to the genre and hopefully, bring something that could have its own personality and something that I can see making plenty more of.
Kind of building off of that, were there any horror tropes that you wanted to keep or avoid when crafting this film?
Jaron: For the Reaper Man, I didn’t want him to necessarily be just evil, like an anything goes, evil guy who didn’t care about anything. I wanted him to have a method to his madness in a way. A lot of his anger or his vengeance in the movie is built off of a wrongdoing that happened to him and separating him from what he loved most, which is his wife. And one thing I wanted to sit with him is, although he does some things in the film, he never touches pure innocence. That is why he leaves the children alone and stuff like that. So, instead of just making him this ruthless character who just does all these things with no limits, I kind of wanted to make him have a method to his madness for why he’s doing what he’s doing. I wanted to make him a character who has a reason for the things that he’s doing.
At the end of the movie, you have a really sweet and touching dedication to your dad. Can you tell me a little bit about how he made you who you are and how if he influenced this film at all?
Jaron: Yeah, he’s the main reason for my drive and who I am today. He loved horror movies. He was especially into zombie movies and stuff like that. That was one of his favorite genres. And, you know, when I wrote this movie, I knew that there had to be a character that he would love. So, I was kind of looking forward to him seeing this, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen. But, you know, just when I first thought of the idea of the Reaper Man, I was excited knowing that he would love this type of character. So, you know, he was my guiding force. He always supported my creative endeavors whenever I wrote, and whenever I came out with a movie, he was always one of the first to watch it. He was proud of me in that effort, and I think he would have been proud of this film.
In filming this, were there any films that you use as inspiration for the look of the movie?
Jaron: I wouldn’t say necessarily. I almost can’t, because I knew when I wrote this film, that it would automatically probably be compared to Candyman. Although he wasn’t an influence, I could just tell on paper that people will probably think of Candyman when they saw this film. Candyman is one of my favorite films, so when I kind of thought of the presence of the entity, you know, I would say there’s maybe a touch of inspiration from that. You know, a lot of other films with a spiritual basis, I even touched on The Exorcist in different ways. I used maybe some inspiration from those but mostly it just came naturally. The Reaper Man was always an idea that I used to play with even when I was a teenager. I just kept working on that idea and he just came in as I wrote it.
So you’ve been working on this character and this idea for quite some time then?
Jaron: Yes, it was actually one of my first outlines. One thing I do as a writer is I outline a lot. Anytime an idea hits me, I usually just outline it even if I don’t intend to write it. And the Reaper Man was one of my very first ideas. And I just stored it, but I never forgot about it. I used to come back thinking about it and, you know, write away at it and it came to the point when I knew that I was probably going to make it this year so I actually wrote the script for it. But yeah, it’s an idea that has been with me for quite some time.
Was there anything in particular that made you say I’m gonna make this film now?
Jaron: Actually last summer when I produced The Reaper Man, I produced another smaller feature film before it called Succuba that is out currently, and I came up with this idea of having a double feature premiere. I kind of wanted to have like a Halloween double feature premiere, which I did do in Memphis, Tennessee. I just felt that this would be the perfect time to produce the film to have, you know, two horror films themed around Halloween and releasing them at the same time. Up until that point, I haven’t heard of one filmmaker having two films premiere at the same time and also doing it as a double feature. So, that was just kind of the plan. I just felt like it would have been the right time to produce both of those films and then put it out with The Reaper Man being the main headliner and we left that screening with positive reviews, more overwhelmingly for The Reaper Man. And that’s when I felt that I might have something that would be well received.
That’s awesome. Yeah, I definitely haven’t heard of a single filmmaker do a double feature like that.
Jaron: It was ambitious, but I think we pulled it off and it was a successful event.
Do you think you’ll try to do that again?
Jaron: I would never say never, but it was a challenge. I produce films that I know I could do. The Reaper Man took the most time to make. The other horror film [Succuba] was mostly in one location with two actors, so it was something that I knew I could produce. And with the plan in mind of having the double feature, that’s kind of why I went that route, hoping it will kind of help me jumpstart my promotion into the release of The Reaper Man which is coming up here shortly.
What was it like working with your cast?
Jaron: Oh, they were amazing. I’ve worked with both of my leads before. It’d been quite a while, but when I wrote Jessica, I knew I had to have an actress that could show emotion with her eyes without saying a word. And that’s when a Jai Johnson came into mind for Jessica. I approached her about it and she was happy to do it. And then I’m thinking about who can play the Reaper Man for me, and I’ve worked with Kenan sometime before, so I ran it across him and he was happy to jump on the project. And I mean, I knew instantly when I got those two on set, that they were perfect for the roles. You can just see that chemistry on screen between those two. To me, that chemistry is what makes this movie move between the two tones of when they show the natural love between the husband and wife and then why he’s so angry, when all that is ripped away from him. I believe that they were a perfect cast to make this film operate the way it does.
What is something that you are just so excited for people to see when they watch this movie?
Jaron: I just kind of think that they will see something different. I don’t think that they expect the heart behind the film. I guess that’s a good way of putting it. It’s a horror film, but it has more than horror in it. I think it’ll make you attached to the characters. It actually makes you empathize with the Reaper Man. That’s why, you know, it was a big thing for me not to make him just this evil guy that goes around and attacks and kills people, you have to understand why he’s doing what he’s doing. And that was one of the things that I really tried to push for when I wrote the script to kind of, you know, even though he’s doing these horrible things, you understand why he’s doing it and you kind of empathize with him. So, it was kind of based around making you feel for these characters and why what’s happening is kind of understandable in a way.
Are you working on anything else at the moment?
Jaron: Yeah, I’m actually writing the film that was a web series that I had put out prior. It’s kind of going away from the horror genre. It’s called The Stix about a narcotics unit. I’m writing that and looking to produce that this summer.
If people want to stay up to date with you, your work and anything else that you have going on where can we find you?
Jaron: Yeah. Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter is where I mostly do social media with the same handle @gorillafilmer. That’s where I’m mostly active. On YouTube, my page is @misguidedperceptions, which is my film company and I have website, misguidedperceptions.net. That’s where a lot of my stuff is posted as well.
Before I let you go, is there anything else that you’d like to add about The Reaper Man?
Jaron: I believe most people will attach to the story. I think, even if you aren’t a horror fanatic, that you will find something in the film that you love. I believe once you finish watching the movie that you will leave it like, ‘wow, it was something other than what I expected it to be.’ I encourage everybody to give it a chance when it comes out and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
