“Screamboat” received’t set sail on its official theatrical voyage till April 2, however the film’s star skipper is already seeing clear skies.
“I’ve been to 2 of the screenings to date, and the viewers reactions have been improbable. They’ve actually gotten what we’re making an attempt to do,” David Howard Thornton advised IndieWire — forward of the trailer’s unique debut. “I wish to name it ‘splat-stick’ comedy as a result of it’s simply an absurd idea when you concentrate on it. I imply, it’s a mutant mouse going round on a ship killing individuals.”
Directed by Steven LaMorte and co-written with Matthew Garcia-Dunn, “Screamboat” sees Thornton taking off his typical “Terrifier” make-up to vanish into the position of a serial killer Steamboat Willie. The upcoming slasher is the newest in a string of style motion pictures twisting beloved childhood recollections into an indie filmmaking motion. The chance to spin Disney’s black-and-white cartoon from 1928 right into a bloody creature characteristic set on the Staten Island Ferry got here when the IP rights lapsed.
“I’ve been a lifelong fan,” stated Thornton, describing his relationship to Disney. “The primary voice I ever found I may do character-wise was Goofy throughout a narrative time second in first grade. I constructed all my voices off of Goofy and Donald and Mickey over time. My first starring position that I ever actually had exterior of a church theater was in my center faculty manufacturing of ‘Mickey’s Christmas Carol.’ I performed Mickey as Bob Cratchit. So it’s a full circle second for me.”
“Screamboat” reunites Thornton, LaMorte, and far of the group behind 2022’s “The Imply One” — one other horror parody that noticed Thornton enjoying The Grinch. The hours he spent getting fuzzy for that movie helped him spend almost 4 hours every day reworking right into a tiny, razor-teethed terror for “Screamboat.” It additionally put him within the excellent place to land each meta-joke and Easter egg for hardcore followers of each scary motion pictures and sideways variations.
“For Willie, I wished to base numerous his actions and all the pieces off of the unique cartoon, and so I after all went again and rewatched the unique a number of occasions simply to get how he bops round a bit of bit,” stated Thornton. “I additionally found some issues with the prosthetics too, the place I may make my nostril twitch if I wished to, if I breathed a sure means. So there’s a scene within the film the place my nostril is twitching whereas I’m smelling the air, and that was truly me simply figuring that out from the within.”
“Ingenuity” and Thornton have grow to be synonymous, and the characters he performs are symbols of horror’s growing energy throughout the impartial movie market. In the course of the 2025 Indie Spirit Awards, Sean Baker shouted out the “Terrifier” movies in his semi-viral Greatest Director acceptance speech for “Anora.”
“That was form of bonkers,” stated Thornton, when requested for his response. “I assumed it was humorous that they’ve these indie awards and we get title dropped like that, however we weren’t even invited to it. As a result of final yr we broke a world report with the ‘Terrifier’ movies of being the highest-grossing unrated movie of all time. That ought to have gotten us some form of invitation, proper?”
Coming off the success of final fall’s “Terrifier 3” right into a yr that’s already been nice for horror comedies (see “The Monkey” and “Coronary heart Eyes”), “Screamboat” shouldn’t have any drawback discovering its passengers — however Thornton is pleased to assist with recruiting.
“We’re not like one among these greater studios. We’re very indie,” he stated. “So, we’re counting on the followers to get the phrase out. That’s why we’ve been doing these superior screenings. Theaters are doing a special factor now the place motion pictures aren’t getting a run except they get superior ticket gross sales. So, we’re getting the phrase out.”
All aboard! Watch the unique “Screamboat” theatrical trailer beneath:
Distributed by Iconic Occasions Releasing and DeskPop Leisure and, “Screamboat” is in theaters April 2.