Killer Advice: Horror Comedy Tips from a First-Time Director

Who doesn’t love a good horror comedy? You get to laugh one minute and scream the next. When done right, gems such as Young Frankenstein, Scary Movie, or Gremlins can become instant classics for many generations.

More recently, films such as Lisa Frankenstein, Young Monster, and The Monkey have been standouts for fans of the niche subgenre.

Another new mockumentary worth mentioning is For Sale By Exorcist, which was directed by Melissa LaMartina and recently released by Epic Pictures’ horror label, Dread.

The film synopsis reads: After a decade of flipping haunted houses across the country, resourceful realtor and certified exorcist Susan Price is on the hunt for her own forever home. But when the displaced spirits she’s evicted through the years come back to torment her, Susan must banish the dark forces before her forever home becomes her final resting place.

Having co-produced horror comedies such as Out There Halloween Mega Tape and What Happens Next Will Scare You, as well as fronting a monster-obsessed band, Melissa is no stranger to intertwining horror and comedy.

She explains, “The key to the blend is recognizing that they both depend on building tension and then releasing it. Obviously, that tension is released in very different ways (a kill versus a pratfall, for instance), but they’re operating with similar basic mechanisms. So the formula is really similar already, but the tone is typically different. In For Sale By Exorcist, achieving the blend came down to playing the comedy very straight—to the actors not approaching these ridiculous characters like they’re all in on the joke, instead playing each scene in a way that is truthful to their perspective and reality.”

Melissa talks more about the For Sale By Exorcist creative process in the below conversation.

No Film School: First off, what made you want to become a film director?

Melissa LaMartina: I love creating experiences for people, whether it’s through crafting an elaborate themed dinner party, hosting a live Shocktail Hour event (my horror hosting series), or helming an immersive theater production. And I thrive on collaboration with talented people, which Baltimore has in droves. Directing is really the pinnacle of those proclivities, as the role is all about articulating a clear and compelling vision and then executing it through collaboration.

NFS: How did you become involved with For Sale By Exorcist?

ML: My husband Chris (LaMartina, of WNUF Halloween Special fame) and I have been producing movies together for a long while now. This, however, is the first time that he hasn’t directed something he has written. When Dread decided they wanted to make For Sale By Exorcist, we thought my extensive experience as an actor and a theater director would be well-suited for the project, as it’s very performance-driven and I’m very much an actors’ director.

NFS: What did preproduction look like for you on the film?

ML: Once we got the green light, our first step was to go back to the script and analyze it against the parameters of the budget and the production schedule. The model the studio was following was for principal photography to be 15 days (I later decided to do it in 12 because I am a masochist, haha). Chris and I went through the script and slashed scenes, characters, and an entire subplot. It ultimately served us well—having to take a scalpel to the script made for a nice lean romp of a movie.

Director Melissa LaMartina on set for 'For Sale By Exorcist 'CREDIT: Leah Huete

NFS: Can you talk about some of the equipment you used? What sort of cameras did you film with?

ML: We shot on two Sony FS7s, and I can say that with full certainty because I texted my DPs to ask.

NFS: What was the hardest scene to film? Why?

ML: The scene in which I fight off a succubus who has targeted my husband (played by Chris) is definitely up there. We thought those would be good cameos for us because it would save money and because of the, um…stunt work… involved. But it’s also one of the most chaotic scenes of the movie. So here I am, jumping on a bed and punching away, and I’m just thinking “Well, I hope this is working because I have no idea what it looks like!” I had to put a lot of trust in my assistant director that day (trust that was well deserved, mind you!) because we had so much to shoot at that location and only had it for one day, so there was no time to stop and watch takes. So I’d have my actor brain going, participating in the scene, and my director brain sort of sitting on top of that trying to observe everything else, and somehow it worked out. People have told me it’s one of their favorite scenes.

NFS: You have produced the horror comedies Out There Halloween Mega Tape and What Happens Next Will Scare You. How do you think working on those projects prepared you to direct For Sale By Exorcist?

ML: For Sale By Exorcist had the highest budget of any of our projects. Producing Out There Halloween Mega Tape and What Happens Next Will Scare You with far less money taught me a lot about prioritizing what’s onscreen and maximizing resources.

NFS: Horror comedies are a very unique subgenre as they combine two very different formulas and tones. What would you say is key to blending these two genres together?

ML: The key to the blend is recognizing that they both depend on building tension and then releasing it. Obviously, that tension is released in very different ways (a kill versus a pratfall, for instance), but they’re operating with similar basic mechanisms. So the formula is really similar already, but the tone is typically different. In For Sale By Exorcist, achieving the blend came down to playing the comedy very straight—to the actors not approaching these ridiculous characters like they’re all in on the joke, instead playing each scene in a way that is truthful to their perspective and reality.

CREDIT: Epic Pictures

NFS: When Jordan Peele was a guest on The Daily Show he said “The main difference between horror and comedy is the music”. Do you agree with this statement?

ML: Honestly, it’s an astute observation and a good way of articulating how the two genres are closer than you’d think. I talked earlier about the tension and release inherent to both horror and comedy. Both genres directly confront fears and anxieties we all have as humans trying to navigate the world. Saying the difference is in the music is really shorthand for saying the difference is tone, which is established in large part via score and soundtrack choices.

NFS: For Sale By Exorcist is your directorial debut. What advice would you give to first-time directors?

ML: Surround yourself with people you trust. Say thank you as much as possible; tell your cast and crew when they are absolutely killing it. Have someone you can go vent to; keep your game face on when you’re on set because everyone is looking to you as the barometer of how things are going. The most important thing is to be kind to yourself. You will make mistakes. This is a given and THIS IS OK. You will learn from them, and every project will benefit from the mistakes you made on the one before.