I recently had the opportunity to speak with rising young Actor Andrew James Allen (The Lovely Bones) about two of his more recent films. Smiley and Hansel & Gretel Get Baked are both two films which didn’t get their moment in the spotlight but they both seem to be getting their fair share of hype on the web. Take a look at the trailers and Andrew’s personal commentary on these films below.
So what can you tell us about Smiley?
Smiley came out last year and it did really well on video on demand and showed in about 20 theaters which is a big deal for a film that cost under $100,000 to make. Now they’re going to do a second one…I don’t know if I can officially confirm that but it’s looking good. So I think that I will be returning to that franchise in a lead/supporting role, so it should be fun and worthwhile and I’m really excited about it. I’m not sure if it will take place next year, but it will be happening.
That genre of horror films seem very fun to work on, how do you feel about working in the horror genre?
Yeah, it is really fun. On ‘Smiley’ I had part of my face cut off and I kinda wanted to walk into a grocery store or 7-11 with the makeup on just to see what people would do, but then you realize it’s for the movie and if someone had that much blood on them they probably would be dead. I’ve acted with so many prosthetics on in the last year.
What would you say is the most identifying factor that makes ‘Smiley’ unique among other horror films?
Probably how it’s geared towards this generation and the internet. The film is about a monster that comes to you through the internet. With social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter, we’re the first generation to have access to everyone and others have access to us. I think that’s freaky on its own and then you add in a monster that can get to you through your computer. It’s kind of interesting and metaphorical in a way dealing with Big Brother watching over you and how easily people can get to us.
Switching gears, you have another film titled “Hansel and Gretel Get Baked.” Anything dealing with marijuana usually provides some laughs but when you make it into the monster of the film, the idea itself is funny.
I would say the movie definitely doesn’t do that, if anything it promotes the use of marijuana, so you don’t have to worry about it demonizing drug use of any kind, especially marijuana. It’s the Hansel and Gretel that we know, updated with a modern twist. You’re not going to lure kids into your house anymore with candy so we used what most teenagers want to get their hands on.
So tell me about your role in the film.
My character Ashton is a dumb stoner type and he has heard about this little woman living in Pasadena with some very unique marijuana, so he decides that he is going to go and get some. Following a similar Hansel and Gretel plot, he decides to indulge in some of the witch’s candy and essentially ends up on the witch’s table watching his own demise.
I think both Smiley and this film have potential to be one of those fan favorites that people love or maybe even love to hate. But with horror films it’s hard to ever get into the spotlight like other genres so it’s more of a niche group.
Exactly and I think that’s why it [Hansel & Gretel Get Baked] is number one over every other movie on Trailer Addict right now, which is insane to me because we’re beating 20-100 million dollar movies. I think it just sparks people’s interest and it’s kind of a taboo topic and then on top of that there’s the other Hansel and Gretel that came out before us. I think ‘Hansel & Gretel Get Baked’ does a really good job with the characters and does a good job of telling the story from what we know of the characters. ‘Smiley’ is an entirely different thing, it’s a small horror movie with a modern day concept and plays into our generation.
So what do you have coming up that we can look forward to seeing you in?
I wish I could tell you but I can’t at this point. I have four films lined up but they all have non-disclosure agreements, so I can’t tell you. I really want to speak on that and tell The Movie Blog, but all I can tell you is that I have four films lined up.
Well we hope to hear back from you Andrew, thanks for your time.
Definitely, thank you.
