Exclusives
Miller Elaborates on ‘Banshee’ Production
Bloody-Disgusting recently caught up with director Steven Miller, who is currently putting the finishing touches on Scream of the Banshee, part of After Dark’s 8-part ORIGINALS series arriving this October. Penned by Anthony C. Ferrante (Boo!), the pic is an “old school” creature feature (more info) that stars both Lance Henriksen and Lauren Holly.
“After Dark called me this past November and said, ‘Hey, we have this movie for you,’” Miller tells BD. “They were a fan of my first movie, which was AUTOMATON TRANSFUSION. It was really quick. They got the script and then they handed it to me. From getting the script to shooting was literally a month or less. We shot in Louisiana in Baton Rouge. They’ve got some crazy stuff going on down south. It’s a great place. Everybody there is really cool and the crews are really nice. We shot this movie in 12-15 days, depending on how you look at it. It’s very quick, very hectic, but a lot of fun.”
To tell his tale about a shrieking Banshee that dooms all who hear her scream, Miller was able to score two impressive leads in Lauren Holly and genre icon Lance Henrickson. “Lauren is one of those actresses that is amazing to work with,” says Miller. “She’s worked in TV before on CIS, which was important when you’re shooting on this tight of a schedule and only doing two or three takes.”
“Lance is rad,” adds Miller. “Any time you get to work with the man, Bishop, he’s awesome. He’s one of those dudes that just comes in and kills it every time. You don’t have to give him much direction at all. I talked to him on the phone before we got there, which was fun, and just kind of went over his character and what we wanted him to be. He got there, put on a wig and just knew what he was doing. He kicks in some doors, tries to blow away some Banshees like they’re aliens. It’s fun.”
Miller hopes banshee will be a return to fun monster movies of the ’80s such as 1985’s FRIGHT NIGHT, which the director says he looked to for inspiration. “I really love Fright Night. We looked at that movie a lot because it’s fun. It’s not crazy scary, but it’s fun. And that’s where we were trying to take BANSHEE. Yeah, it’s going to have its scare moments, but ultimately it’s a monster movie. And so, especially for kids nowadays who’ve seen everything, we really just wanted to make it fun and cool and more of that kind of atmosphere.“
Exclusives
Katharine Isabelle Battles Cosmic Horror in Exclusive ‘Junction Row’ Teaser Trailer [Fantasia 2026]
Among Fantasia 2026‘s massive final wave of programming this morning is Raven Banner’s Lovecraftian creature feature Junction Row, starring Canadian horror icon Katharine Isabelle, and we’re exclusively unveiling the teaser trailer.
Junction Row will celebrate its World Premiere at Fantasia on July 28.
Watch a housing compound fall under siege from Lovecraftian creatures more dangerous than drug dealers in the trailer below.
Junction Row follows “Juno, a recovering addict who leaves a fringe housing compound for a better life, leaving her beloved Ruby behind. When she learns that Ruby has gone missing, Juno returns, only to find Junction Row has become a hotbed of criminal activity, but she encounters much more than menacing drug dealers on her mission to find Ruby.”
Isabelle stars as Juno, with Natalie Brown (FX’s The Strain) as Ruby.
The creature feature marks the feature debut by director Ashlea Wessel, who has directed festival-favorite shorts like 2018’s “Tick” and 2020’s “Weirdo”.
Wessel co-writes Junction Row with Clown in a Cornfield author Adam Cesare and Matt Serafini.
Katharine Isabelle is coming off a brief appearance in Kane Parsons’ Backrooms, and more recently appeared in holiday horror It’s a Wonderful Knife. The horror icon is arguably best known for her turn as the eponymous werewolf in Ginger Snaps and for her roles in American Mary and Freddy vs Jason.
Fantasia teases that Junction Row tells “a story where the fear of the unknown isn’t confined to what lies above, but what waits beneath.”
Stay tuned for more from Fantasia as the festival gets underway later this month.