Original-Cin Q&A: Director Leigh Janiak brings R.L. Stine's Fear Street books to life on Netflix
Who’s ready for not one, not two, but three intertwining R.L. Stine-based horror films from Netflix?
Fear Street debuts on the streaming channel July 2 with Fear Street 1994, wherein a group of teens discover that terrifying events that have haunted their town for generations may all be connected — and they may be the next targets.
Based on R.L. Stine’s best-selling horror series, Fear Street follows Shadyside’s sinister history through a nightmare 300 years in the making.
R.L. Stine’s trilogy of terror, Fear Street, haunts Netflix starting Friday.
The films will follow the same actors playing different roles through the centuries in Fear Street Part 2: 1978 releasing globally on Netflix on July 9 and Fear Street Part 3: 1966 (July 16).
Our Bonnie Laufer spoke with director Leigh Janiak about directing all three films simultaneously and about geeking out on meeting R.L. Stine.
CLICK HERE and HERE to see Bonnie’s video interviews with some of the stars of the Fear Street trilogy, Gillian Jacobs, Ashley Zukerman & Darrell Britt-Gibson and Kiana Madeira, Olivia Scott Welch and Benjamin Flores Jr.
ORIGINAL-CIN: Directing one horror film would be a challenge, but you took on three at the same time all set in different eras. How did you even wrap your mind around all this?
LEIGH JANIAK: I think there was some blissful ignorance going into it. It's funny because we joked a lot when we were shooting that we were in a black hole where there was no past and no future, there was just the work in front of us today.
So, I think it was largely about just being immersed in the work and forging ahead each day. Having great people around me, great cast, great crew, helped so much.
PROUDLY SUPPORTS ORIGINAL-CIN
Every era was exciting in a new way, so it was a lot of work. But it was a unique and awesome experience and really reinvigorating to to jump from the 90’s and then to the 1600’s and then to the ‘70s. It kept me on my toes.
O-C: The casting had to be key because most of this very large ensemble appears in either all three or at least two of the films. How did you even decide that?
JANIAK: It was very interesting getting this all in place and deciding who would be in which films. That was an early idea. And I think that because the movies deal with kind of generational trauma and cycles of things that happen over and over again in history repeating itself, It made sense to try to recycle cast and show them in different eras and as different versions of themselves.
O-C: What did you draw on for inspiration?
JANIAK: I was just always a big fan of Quantum Leap and Back to the Future. Something like the Back to the Future trilogy was what I mainly thought about when we were doing it. I have to say, it was a real testament to how amazing my actors are. They're all so young, and they were all able to really step it up and step in and out of these different eras in these different characters with real authenticity.
O-C. The films are of course based on R.L Stine’s books for young adults. Something tells me that you were a big R.L Stine fan.
JANIAK: Totally, yes!
O-C. What was that like for you to have him around give you his blessing on this project?
JANIAK: To be honest, it was really scary and daunting at first. It's very nerve-wracking to have someone that you're a genuine fan of and then take their work and do something like this.
Before I met him, I had interacted with other people who are part of his world and part of his estate and they were all lovely and very nice.
But when he came to the set when we were filming the 1666 part of the third movie, it was so scary and also amazing. Also, I remember that I looked really gross that day. (Laughs).
I was sweaty and my hair was a mess because we were shooting in this crazy heat. I honestly don't even remember what we said to each other. I just remember being so starry-eyed because I was such a huge fan. It was great.
O-C: So to wrap it up now that you're a horror expert, what do you think is the most important element to making a great horror film?
JANIAK: Lots of blood, lots and lots of blood. And the right music. The music is key.