Dreams come true for horror aficionado and aspiring influencer, Lead, when she lands a starring role in her first horror movie. Those dreams quickly turn into a nightmare when her film’s crew and costars begin being picked off one by one. Will Lead be next? This is the premise of Dread’s new meta horror film, My First Horror Film, which was just released. My First Horror Film was written and directed by Shihan Van Chief and stars Georgina Navarro, Chauntice Green, Justyn Franco, Stephan O’Shea, Joy Marie Thomas, and Miles Crawford.

When discussing the feature, writer/director Shihan Van Clief says, “As a first-time filmmaker, I wanted My First Horror Film to be a thrilling story that also leaves the audience feeling good. I know this sounds completely out of character for the horror genre, but I think we were successful at this. This project was a total collaborative effort and I’m grateful for the team I had, as well as the incredible cast and distributor. Make sure you stay for the end credits because we have something special waiting there. We can’t wait for you to experience it.”

We spoke to Shihan more about his directorial debut and that special Rosario Dawson cameo below. You can watch the film here. 

My First Horror Film is your feature directorial debut. What made you want to make a film in the horror genre as your first?

One of the first films I can remember going to see in theaters growing up was ‘The Thing’ and after that, it felt like horror seemed to be my father’s go-to genre. We went all the time. I guess it stuck with me. Horror films have been a love of mine for quite a while. I like the thrill of them along with the commentary that can be slipped into them.

How long did it take you to write the script? 

The script took about 3 weeks to complete. But, there were some rewrites made during filming and a couple of scenes were added during reshoots.

Did any obstacles occur once filming began where you had to divert from the script? 

One of the obstacles we faced as a production was our lack of a “real” budget. We were as shoestring as you can get for a feature. The other obstacle we ran into was time. No matter how creative we were being, there was no way to make more time. In saying that, we had to cut a couple of scenes out of the film because we didn’t have the time or the money to make it happen.

In your opinion, what makes a good jump scare? 

A good jump scare is a great ‘bait and switch.’ In essence, you create a distraction interesting enough for the audience to focus on then you hit them with surprise they weren’t expecting.

Were there any scenes that didn’t look complicated in the film, but were actually pretty difficult to shoot?

The closet scene because of the 3-camera aspect of it. So, editing it properly was something that was a concern of mine, especially knowing I was going to have to edit it all together and make it make sense.

My First Horror Film is classified as a horror comedy. Those two genres are very different, was it hard to blend the two?

It can be hard blending the two because in essence they’re both trying to evoke an emotional response. The Horror is the tightening or tensing up of a moment. The Comedy is the release. And finding places to use them as contrasting tools that enhance the effectiveness of both is sometimes difficult. A great laugh can make a jump scare more effective. While a good scare can make a laugh necessary.

Rosario Dawson has a small part in the film. Can you talk about how this came about? 

The Rosario cameo honestly just came about from an ask. I reached out her and mentioned my script and what the idea was, she read the scenes, she said ‘yes.’ But, knowing how busy she is, I was and am still extremely grateful that she did say ‘Yes.’ I guess this is the part where I mention she’s a longtime friend and how that made the ability to ask her in the first-place kind of easy.

My First Horror Film was created through a challenge between you and your mentor after reading Rebel Without a Crew. Can you talk about this?

I have a friend who’s been super supportive of my journey as a filmmaker and we talk a lot about film and process and one day, while we were talking he said ‘You know you’re a snob?’ At first, I acted like I didn’t know what he meant. But, I know I’m opinionated. Especially, when it comes to art. I acted like I didn’t know what he was talking about. He said a person who only critiques other peoples’ works and never creates work for others to judge is just an asshole. That motivated me. Later that day, he brought up Robert Rodriguez’ Rebel Without a Crew. I read it. I was inspired. I realized I had made a lot of excuses as to why I hadn’t created a full-on project. Whether it was budget or time or I didn’t want to ask for help. It was all bullshit. And I wrote My First Horror Film, which could be looked at as the horror comedy version of my journey as well.

Can you tell us something we might not know about My First Horror Film?

From concept to completion of principal filming was 6 weeks. But, at its release through Dread, it was a two-year process to get it from the page to the screen.