Squealer 2023: Unveiling the Serial Killer Tale

Real quickly. Hello, everyone. I'm Alison with FlickDirect and I am here with Andy and Danielle and we are talking about Squealer. Danielle, you co-wrote this story. So what was it about the original story that interested you so much that made you think this would really work as a movie? So funny enough, Andy and I have been friends and worked together for long before we became writing partners and he had told me this story, it must have been, I don't know, eight or nine years ago and it really, it stuck with me.

So I think it was like early 2020 when we decided to sit down and write something together and he said, all right, well, what should we write about? And immediately I was like, no, do you remember that story you told me about that pig farmer serial killer? Like I haven't been able to forget about it. I was so fascinated by it. And he was like, oh yeah, that was a great story.

I mean, that was it. I felt like it was just destined to be, it was just that it took us about, you know, however many years it was before it first came up till our schedules both aligned and was sort of meant for us to come together. So it was a no brainer. And Andy, when you were writing and you were talking with Danielle, did you see in your mind how this was going to play out in terms of directing it?

Absolutely. As Danielle said, I knew about the story because a friend of mine did a documentary about Willie Picton. So I knew of the story, but in the documentary, there was one moment that left a lasting impression with me. And it was, it was one of the parents of one of the girls used to unbeknownst that it was anything different. Used to go and buy sausages once, you know, once a week or whenever they were available, squealers, sausages.

And in the interview, he said, it occurred to us that we could have eaten our daughter. And it was that, it was just that one sentence, which really sort of lit the bug with me. And I thought it was a terrible, but tremendous story to make, you know, we, we, we tried to change little bits and pieces. So it's not hopefully not offensive to some of the victims, families and things, but that was, that was really it.

Yeah. Was there any input? I'm sorry, go ahead. No, I just said it sort of took cannibalism to another level altogether. So Danielle, you were going to say something. I was just, yeah, it was such a powerful statement. And I think that really was the, the pivot point for us to say, this is something that it impacted both of us so deeply, just that one aspect of it.

We were like, let's, let's dive in. But again, as Andy said, let's take this story and let's, let's do a blend. It is inspired by true events. It is not a true story. So there was a lot to pull from inspiration, but we did want to be very mindful of the victims and the victims families, because this, the real story didn't take place quite that long ago.

And and it was so horrific and we wanted to also, you know, really pay homage to the genre and the audience. And so it's a bit of a blend of those two worlds. And was there any involvement from any of the people involved, the families of the victims, the police who investigated, or was this just, you did this all without their input and you didn't necessarily want their input.

Tell me a little bit about that. Yeah, precisely. We didn't really, didn't want their input. We didn't want it to be absolutely to the, to the letter of the things that happened because apart from anything else, we both felt it would be pretty disrespectful to the families of, as Danielle said, it's not very long ago. So these families still are still around and, and a lot of families also that don't know whether they're, whether they're their daughter was a victim as well, because there was a, they, I think they charged him for something like 20 or 30 murders, but when they cleared the pig farm away, they, they actually discovered more than 60 different DNA's.

So, he was also vanishing bodies for the hell's angels in return for some of the drugs that he would get to lure the girls. So you'll never really find out how many and who really went missing. Yeah, it's very, very scary. And, and for those people who don't know, thinking out there that maybe their daughter is buried somewhere out there. Absolutely.

Terrible. Yeah. The other interesting thing about this character is, you know, most, most sort of mass murderers tend to, you know, there's the, the two main reasons are obviously financial or sexual. And this guy was a multimillionaire. He didn't, it was not financial and he didn't ever seem to have any sexual relationship with these people. So that was also another oddity that the turn on for him was the killing or whatever he did from then on, you know?

Yes. And that was something definitely that fascinated us that we wanted to dive into. But again, just that we, we really used it for, for inspiration. And while there are lots of little truth bits along the way for any of the true crime fans out there, and they'll be the ones to determine what's truth and what's fiction. You know, from our point of view, we're, we're just storytellers telling a story and we definitely took a lot of liberties.

So you brought up an interesting word there, which is fascinated. I personally am fascinated by serial killers. I know that's just bizarre, but I think a lot of us are. Why do you think that is? Right. Why, why do you think that is? I, I really don't know. I think it's something to do with, is there some of that in us? I think that's the question you're, you're answering whether consciously or subconsciously.

I think there's, I think there's a, cause a lot of these, a lot of them seem so normal, whatever normal is, but they, they, they don't, you know, they're, they're not, they're not that far out there except for the things that they're doing. So I think, I think that's fascinating. I'm completely addicted to, to all the reality detective shows and all those things.

It's fascinating. There's these weird characters out there. And I think they're, I don't know what the real reason is, but, but it's certainly a fascinating piece of sort of human reaction that, that we all have to it. It's weird. Yeah. I think, I know personally, I'm just fascinated with the human psyche. What makes people tick in, in any way, you know, and then when you get somebody on that extreme or in any extreme, in any facet of life, what makes somebody take that extreme or I'm fascinated by the human brain, I'm fascinated by psychology.

So there is something when people are that far outside of the box that lack that, that thing that stops us from, you know, sometimes maybe we want to do something like that. We have a fantasy about something like that on a really bad day, but of course we know we would never do that. So what is it that, what causes somebody to flip that switch? I think it's an interesting.

Absolutely. And, and because we're also fascinated with it, we get books written about it. We get documentaries, you know, these real crime things. And now we get a movie based on some of the aspects of that particular serial killer. But not completely. So I don't know if that in a sense helps drive these types of people to go over that edge or if it's something that we just, they have innate in them and they just don't, they don't have that filter.

You know what I mean? So yeah, I certainly hope we're not contributing to any of that, but I do think there's been going on long before movies were being made. So I think it's something in that. I think there's. All of the characters start off to some degree with animals cruelty starts there, you know, where they are killing cats and dogs or whatever, whatever it is.

And it's that's, you know, now that's a sort of a standard flashpoint, you know, to, to ask, to have people be looked at a bit closer, but almost all of them, you know, have that thing where they sort of build up to, to killing humans. Yeah. And if you grew up on a pig farm, that has a, as a child, if you're exposed to, to that. Yeah. Talk to me a little bit about the, oh, sorry, go ahead.

Talk to me a little bit about the cast and other elements I think could lead to something like this. And hopefully the movie will give a little bit of insight into that. Yeah. And we'll be watching young individuals a little more closely. So tell me a little bit about the cast, getting them together, what they, what input they brought into the film as well.

Danielle, do you want to lead on that one? I'll start with Ronnie who plays squealer, Ronnie, Jean Blevins, because Ronnie and I met years ago on a, on a film called the blackout. We did this movie so many years ago and he was one of those guys. As soon as I met him, I was like, I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed with him. He's so talented. He's so amazing.

And he's like on screen. He's so completely terrifying. And when you meet him in person, he is the biggest teddy bear you'll ever meet. And personally, I feel like he brings so many layers to his work where he can play somebody truly terrifying, but also you get this charm and this sense of why women would go with him. So he was from the second, Andy and I put pen to paper.

He was our squealer. I mentioned him to Andy literally before we started writing. And I said, you've got to, you've got to meet this friend of mine. He's phenomenal. They met, they totally hit it off. So he was our guy from day one. And then the rest of the cast obviously came later in a normal casting process and I'll let Andy talk about them, but our, our cast is phenomenal.

And so I feel like so diverse and well-rounded in who they are and the energy that they have and each and every one of them is spectacular. I'm so happy to have them. Yeah. Yeah. The thing that's lovely about Ronnie is he's he operates on, on sort of lots of levels, you know, he's on screen and in person, he's genuinely a nice kind person, you know, someone that you would, you know, that would help you change a wheel or whatever at the side of the road.

But there's this, there's this odd thing that sort of kicks in and I think he, he got this character perfectly. Cause he's, it is, it's I'm sort of bored with the bad guys that are so obviously bad, you know, they have a scar and they're darkly dressed and the whole, because nobody is ever that one-dimensional. There's always a nice side, even to the most terrible.

And there's always a dark side to the nicest. So I loved the fact that he could, he could spread it out and be, be both ends of that spectrum was fantastic. And he really did have a, bring a lot in terms of, you know, feedback and ideas as they all did, you know, Thea Rossi had so many ideas about Danny and I can just remember him and Andy just talking, talking, talking, talking, same with Kate.

Who plays your lean. And I love her in that role. It's, it's really out of the box from what she normally does. She brought so much to it. She had so many ideas. Wes as well was involved even in, you know, talking out the scenes and what about this? And what about that? And yeah. Well, you know, I think they're all great. And I think, you know, this has the perfect blend of the horror and the fascination of serial killers.

So thank you both so much for your time today. I really appreciate it. Thanks for having us. Thank you, Alison. Thanks.