Review Fix Exclusive: Jeremiah Kipp Talks ‘THE NAIN ROUGE MURDERS’ And More

Review Fix chats with filmmaker Jeremiah Kipp, who discusses his new flick, “The Nain Rouge Murders.”

The Nain Rouge Murders (2020) from Jeremiah Kipp on Vimeo.

Review Fix: What inspired this film?

Jeremiah Kipp: Our producer Ari Rossen had heard about the legend of the Nain Rouge on an incredibly creepy podcast called LORE.  This evil red dwarf is a part of Detroit’s rich folklore, associated with acts of violence and urban decay.  Our screenwriter Joe Fiorillo found a way to incorporate this monster into a contemporary story, reflecting some of our modern fears.

Review Fix: How it is different from your other flicks?

Kipp: While I’ve previously done found footage in movies like BLACK WAKE, this felt far more like a true crime documentary.  Our editor Katie Dillon made superb use of stock footage and some documentary material shot during the actual Nain Rouge parade held once a year.

Review Fix: What was it like on set?

Kipp: Everyone filmed remotely, and post-production also was done via email and file transfer programs.  Fortunately, we had truly superb actors and most of my films have been edited by Katie, including our upcoming monster movie feature SLAPFACE.

Review Fix: Has COVID affected it in any way?

Kipp: I don’t think we’d have made this film if we hadn’t been in lockdown and trying to figure out how to continue making films, together yet alone.

Review Fix: What was it like to work with Jim True-Frost?

Kipp: I’d previously worked with Jim on a short film called PICKUP.  Having worked with the Chicago theater group Steppenwolf, Jim considers himself part of the ensemble.  Even though he is essentially playing a variation on the mayor in JAWS who is saying we have to keep the beaches open, Jim grounded the character in something honest and truthful.  You don’t see Jim in the character, he just transforms completely.  I love working with him.

Review Fix: What do you think he added that no one else could?

Kipp: He’s a wonderful actor, and invested depth and nuance in a role that could have been campy.  I could say the same for Suzette Gunn who played the reporter, Ari Rossen as the historian, Ashley Noel Jones as the victim’s friend and Silvia Dionicio who is so chilling on that phone call right before her character gets killed.  These actors took the material seriously, and allowed us to feel the fears and doubts.

Review Fix: How do you want it to be remembered?

Kipp: As a scary movie with a hint of social statement, though I especially enjoy when audiences get back to me asking whether this is a documentary…how much of it is real footage?  You always want to do an Orson Welles, WAR OF THE WORLDS, circa 1938.  I lacked the nerve to release the film pretending the whole thing was real, but it might have been plausible.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Kipp: We’re going to do the horror film festival circuit with this film, and are just wrapping post on my latest feature SLAPFACE starring Mike Manning, August Maturo from THE NUN and the superb Dan Hedaya from BLOOD SIMPLE.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add? 

Kipp: If you live in Detroit and go to the Nain Rouge parade, watch your back.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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