Interview: Tyler MacIntyre, director of edgy teen slasher flick Tragedy Girls

Now that the bloody hilarious new film Tragedy Girls has been released, director Tyler MacIntyre paid us a visit here at 1428 Elm to talk about the flick.

Tragedy Girls puts a unique and fun spin on the slasher movie genre. Via the official synopsis, the film is about two morbid teenage girls who “kidnap a serial killer and force him to be their mentor.” To talk about the edgy flick, we’ve brought in director Tyler MacIntyre.

Read on ahead for the complete interview!

1428 Elm: What makes this movie work so well is the chemistry between Sadie (Brianna Hildebrand) and McKayla (Alexandra Shipp). How did you go about casting those roles? 

Tyler MacIntyre: I don’t think I did any reads for any of the lead parts. It was all straight offers towards young actors I had either heard about, was interested in, or saw in films I really liked. This is only Brianna’s third film, but I had heard a lot of really good things from the producers of First Girl I Loved. She’s also obviously in Deadpool and was very much high on my list of someone who’s interesting and has that natural edgy side to her.

As for Alexandra Shipp, if you ever meet her, she has a very firecracker energy to her that doesn’t really get utilized in a lot of her roles because she’s either in supportive parts or if she does get a lead role they usually tone her down a bit. I wanted to really put the petal to the metal with that so that the girls would have a bit of contrast to each other.

via Gunpowder and Sky

Brianna and Alexandra knew each other a little bit because they did Marvel Fest together and Comic Con so they had a foundation that we could build on. Once we started going through the script together and nailing down the voices, it started to become a lot of fun. I knew if we could get behind that friendship and start to identify with them we could take the narrative to some interesting places.

1428 Elm: Tragedy Girls has a light-hearted tone through most of the film but I noticed there are some underlying themes such as obsession with social media, serial killers and status quo. Are you hoping that audiences will see past just the fun aspects of the film and see some of the deeper meanings underneath the surface? 

TM: Yeah, I do. Primarily I want this to be a fun ride, but there are things that if you think about what’s at play there is more to be said about citizen journalism and how social media distances us from real world conflicts. There’s definitely a little bit of irony in there if you are looking for it.

(L-R) Alexandra Shipp and Brianna Hildebrand (image courtesy of Gunpowder & Sky)

1428 Elm: Gore definitely comes into play in Tragedy Girls and from a viewers standpoint it looked as though it was done with the use of practical effects. Were you able to focus more on the practical effects side as opposed to CGI? 

TM: Yeah, we had a great practical effects from Cody Wilkins at Creature Effects. There is some slight augmentation here and there, but we were trying to do as much practical as possible. I’m a big fan of practical effects and feel like they should be more authentic most of the time which is why we tried to do practical first and foremost. I don’t think we went too over-the-top with the gore but I think there’s enough there for the hardcore fans.

1428 Elm: Last but not least, are there any other projects you are working on that we should be keeping our eyes out for? 

TM: Yeah, I’m working on a movie called Nightlight which is written by Chris Lee Hill for Sony Pictures and is being produced by Robert Shaye.

Next: Interview: Alexandra Shipp on Tragedy Girls and teenage bloodlust

Tragedy Girls is now playing in select theaters.