Hide Your Crazy Explores Relationship Insecurity with Genre Bending Greatness
FROM INDIE FILM CONCEPT TO SUCCESS
Most people have secrets that they are embarrassed to reveal to a loved one. Whether that is tragedy or comedy is rooted in perspective and how it is communicated. Writer-director Austin Kase walks a precarious line between these approaches with the Horror Rom-Com Hide Your Crazy, easily one of the most unique films you’ll likely ever experience. Produced by the mental health-focused film company Of Substance, Hide Your Crazy uses film as a means of exploring the fear of being truly seen. It features eye-popping visual effects by the legends at Sandbox VFX who contributed to the visual spectacle of films like Creed III, I Tonya, and Gretel & Hansel, and SFX makeup wizard Santino Ferrese known for Star Trek: Discovery.
Love You Rotten
There’s a fine line between love & hate but can the same be said for love and horror? This was the goal of Austin Kase who blended an unintuitive yet highly potent cocktail in Hide Your Crazy. The pairing is not only unintuitive, it’s precarious. If it veered too far into the romantic comedy element, the film would lose its appeal as a fantasy creature horror and potentially lose out on the large audience pool that the horror genre appeals to. Conversely, if horror elements overshadowed the comedic tone, levity would be dispersed and the film would be lost in the deluge of horror genre trifle. By inviting romance into a tale about a lifelong monster who is unable to change, the creative forces of Hide Your Crazy achieved the brass ring of unearthing empathy for a spawn of the devil.
A Frightening Set of Constraints
Producer Irina Slepneva states, “I am a lifelong fantasy enthusiast, and a story about a loveable monster who cannot change their nature, and yet is looking for love just like the rest of us, was just the perfect project for me. I was completely committed to facilitating the creative vision Austin had for the film and helping shape the final product to reflect that vision.” Manifesting this required all the usual elements but also visual effects, top of the line prosthetic makeup, and stunts; all while staying within a moderate budget. One of this film’s defining features is how it shifts between the amorous bond of the characters and the very clear potential for one of them to kill the other. This is only achievable when the professionals behind the scenes have strategized how to provide the opportunity to create this onscreen. The final form of Hide Your Crazy testifies to the skill of those behind the scenes.
Love Can be Scary
When Iris and her boyfriend Dan enjoy a romantic birthday dinner, it also provides the environment for her to reveal her true nature to him; that of a demon existing inside her corporal form. The internal fight that rages on for Iris is never more obvious than in the hallway scene where she locks the door and struggles against her own bloodlust to connect with Dan on a new level. The hyperbolic analogy between a literal demon who wants to kill and any couple in which each partner deals with the baggage the other brings to the relationship; it’s comical and poignant. The visual effects throughout this scene and others attain a frequency that drives home the point.
The Therapy of Cinema
Hide Your Crazy is an example of the variety in film production, not only in terms of genre but also in process. Of Substance, the company that produced the film, and the film’s Executive Producer Alex Kaplan have been doing work in the non-profit sector to support people recovering from substance abuse and mental health issues. Alex’ vision was to use art – the short films they produced – to encourage conversations about difficult subjects, and to tell stories that made people feel seen and heard in some of the most vulnerable moments of their life. Screened at festivals all over the US for almost 2 years, it was picked up by ALTER YouTube channel for a public release where it has received a warm audience response.
Writer : Calvin Hooney
