You may recognize Bryan McClure from Mindhunter, but now you can catch him as Corey Ramage in the horror flick, Blackstock Boneyard.
Before the Candyman arrives back in theaters, treat yourself to a few sweat-inducing nightmares courtesy the Griffin brothers. From director Andre Alfa, Blackstock Boneyard stars Ashley Whelan, Aspen Kennedy, Aubree Storm, Bryan McClure, Laura Flannery and Richie Stephens.
Based on an untold true story, brothers Thomas & Meeks Griffin were prominent black farmers who were forced to sell their land and wrongly executed. 100 years later, they’re back to avenge their deaths by killing the descendants of those responsible.
Check out my Q & A with Bryan!
This film was a lot scarier than I expected and I’m here for it.
Bryan: Oh good! I’m excited to get scared myself even though I know what’s gonna happen.
The film is said to be based on a true story, can you explain that?
Bryan: Basically the ghosts came back. There were some black landowners back in the day that were forced to sell their land. And then after they did and the deed exchanged hands, they were also murdered. So I think that’s really where the basis of the true story comes from and then they ran with the idea from there. I don’t know, 100 percent, but that’s where I think it really stems from, you know, sometimes you get a ‘well what if the real story would have this,’ idea, So I think that’s where they ran with it.
Your character is Corey Ramage, who is this guy?
Bryan: I would describe Corey as a privileged little snot. That’s the simple description of Corey. He’s the son of the judge in a small town, so both me and my sister (Laura Flannery) are kind of untouchable in the town. We kind of do whatever we want.
How’d you prepare to play Corey?
Bryan: We actually filmed it in 2017, so I’m trying to actually think back to what I did to prepare for it. If I recall, it was just, I like to use my imagination for a lot of things so I just really tried to visualize what was going on and tried to understand the script as possible. And then when you get on set, sometimes you just have to be flexible. I know there were some scenes that we ended up doing some improv in, so you can’t really, you know, prepare specifically for what words are going to come out, You just have to have a good understanding of who the individual is. And so, that’s really just what I did to prepare, just trying to understand who Corey is.
The ghosts in this film are super scary. Did they surprise you?
Bryan: I’m trying to think back, if it was something that just, you know just showed up on take one. I feel like we probably did see them before we rolled camera, but I tried not to be around them as much as possible just so that it would be as, I guess, frightening for me in the moment as possible, you know, trying to use my imagination for what the circumstances are dictating.
Since this was filmed quite some time ago, was this supposed to be released before COVID happened or was this always supposed to be a multi-year project?
Bryan: I don’t know that this was necessarily supposed to release at a certain date that COVID interfered with. But I know that just as far as getting the perfect edit that they wanted, I think it took them a little time to get that. I’m not sure because sometimes as an actor, when you’re done with your part, it’s kind of out of your hands and you don’t really know what transpires in post production. I’ve done some films in the past that never actually got made, never got completed. So sometimes it’s just out of your hands and you don’t really know what’s actually going on in post production. I did keep in touch with some of our producers and our writer and director, a little bit here and there, and I knew they were working on it diligently but I don’t think they had it completed the way they were happiest with it yet. And then I don’t think they had found distribution yet. So, it was about, kind of, all those things coming into play while at the same time getting the best possible cut of the film, and then finding a good home for it distribution-wise.
What’s one memory from filming that really stands out for you?
Bryan: I remember I got along super well with the actress that plays my sister, Laura Flannery. She and I’ve actually become really good friends from set, we got to spend a lot of time just hanging around each other and we’ve still stayed in contact. Sometimes when I go down to Louisiana, she’s one of the people that I get to see, probably one of the more frequent people I get to see when I go down there. I remember one time, I guess it’s not necessarily an onset experience, but when we were down there and we had a day off, I remember she and I actually went in and looked at some of the big cemetery graveyards that are there. I remember that being kind of interesting and we were walking around in them and it was kind of creepy. That was a fun experience.
I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to scary movies, do you like watching them?
Bryan: It’s funny because I don’t typically tend to watch a lot of horror films myself. I love comedy. In fact, one of the last films that I did was a romantic comedy that’s out on HBO Max right now. It’s called In Other Words, but comedy is more my jam than horror, as far as watching it, but I’m definitely gonna watch this one. I’m excited about it and I think we got a fun story for people.
Is there anything else that you’d like to add?
Bryan: I’m excited for people to get a chance to check it out. June 8th is the release date and I’m excited to check it out myself. I’m excited and nervous and maybe I’ll get scared, but I’m excited about it all.
