Sick Puppy is a cool and twisted take on the serial killer genre so we just had to talk to the writer and director Jay Reid.
NYX: Where did the idea for Sick Puppy come from?
JR: I’ve had a fascination with true crime since first reading about Jack the Ripper in fourth grade (Yes, too young, have no idea why that book was in our grade school library). When I was in high school, there was a Canadian serial killer that was featured in the news that had committed a series of brutal crimes. His accomplice was his wife, and though it was clear she was involved in the crimes, it was unclear whether she was another one of his victims, committing the crimes due to fear for her own life, or a willing participant. I’m assuming her lawyer blurred those lines even further. Only a few years later, she was released from prison and moved a couple of towns over from where I grew up in Montreal. I was a bit horrified that she was released so soon, especially with things being so ambiguous regarding her involvement, but at the end of the day, nobody really knows what happened except the two of them. It was only after seeing two films regarding serial killing couples, which were based off real life kil
NYX: Did you write it with a cast in mind?
JR: No, I cast everyone after I’d written the script, which is usually how I like to do it. But honestly, the actors ended up lining up almost exactly with how I had imagined them when I’d written the characters. I think the characters of the cop, Dale, and Charlie’s friend, Devon, are a bit different physically than I had imagined them, but I absolutely loved the actors and felt they captured the spirit of the characters.
NYX: Natasha Calis and Brett Geddes have incredible chemistry; did they have much time to rehearse?
JR: We had a day, but after watching them, I cut the rehearsal at a couple of hours. I’m not a big fan of rehearsal other than to work out things for myself, like dialogue or pacing, or to figure out if there are any issues with their interpretation of the character that we need to address early on rather than on set. It’s mostly about getting on same page. I won’t do a full run through of the script because I feel it kind of sucks the energy out of the thing. It needs to be more spontaneous on set. I think if you cast right, the director has to do very little work, and these were wonderful and very talented actors. I don’t like doing lots of takes, but we didn’t have much of a choice on a low budget film. If they hadn’t been such great actors, I don’t think I could have made the film.
NYX: The violence in the movie is raw and shocking at times, how did the cast prepare to film such intense scenes?
JR: We just did it. I always took care and time with my actors, along with my intimacy coordinator in regards to any actors performing nudity or any sexual scenes, but when it comes to violence, I mean, they read the script. It’s in there. When filming, these scenes are broken up into tiny bits, so really you don’t understand the level of violence until the editing. Though I always felt our film was pretty tame gore-wise, some of the shocking violence came from stuff we don’t see on screen. Like there’s a scene with Brett’s character “John” kicking one of the victims, and even while we were shooting it, I was cringing, even though he was only kicking a bag. I think it helped that most of them had done some sort of horror or violent scenes beforehand, so everyone understood it was a movie. We were so stressed out trying to get all the shots we needed and make our days that I think we didn’t really have a lot of time to process the violence until after we saw the film put together.
NYX: There is also a very dark vein of humour running through it, was that hard to do and keep it from diluting the horror?
JR: Dark comedy is the hardest thing you can do tonally. We had versions that were too funny and did dilute the horror. And considering it’s still a serious subject, I didn’t want this to be a comedy. Our second editor, Mike, really understood my vision of telling a very serious story but having that darkly humorous vein, as you say, running throughout. He removed anything he flagged as too comedic, and kept the more subversive, gallows’ humour. It’s about breaking the intensity of some scenes as a relief for the audience, otherwise it’s quite a depressing story. We walk a tightrope throughout the whole movie, trying to find that balance, and I don’t always know whether we pull it off, but for me, that balance between horror and humour is a closer reflection of life.
NYX: This is your directorial debut, were you nervous the first day on set?
JR: Yeah, I was freaked out. I’ve shot a lot of shorts, and I knew what to do technically, but this is a big project with a lot on the line and a lot of moving parts. I was shooting fight scenes, which I’d never shot before, stunts, hangings, it was a lot. I usually meditate to deal with anxiety, but instead I just ate poorly and smoked cigarettes on set. And I’m not a smoker. I would not recommend this approach.
NYX: What lessons in directing did you learn whilst making Sick Puppy?
JR: How to communicate better with my DP. I’ve worked my director of photography, JP, for years but I find we still have communication problems, which I feel like we started working out throughout this film. After the film, we did a debrief and realized there’s a better and more efficient way of working, and we will try some new things on the next one. You need to incredibly clear with what you want. You may have a clear vision but that needs to be communicated in a way that other people can understand, and that’s tricky and takes time to get right. Other than that, I would say I learned more producing than directing. I was heavily involved in the producing along with three other producers and learned that you really need to hire the right people, who are passionate about the project, otherwise things can go haywire fast. Making movies isn’t always fun, and it’s a lot of hard work, so you got to have everyone on board in order to make a great film, and sometimes that means asking the right questions when you’re
NYX: I noticed a cool reference to Ghost, was that intentional?
JR: Oh yeah, for sure. We even had a more direct reference to “Ghost” in another scene I ended up cutting out of the film. You can’t have a pottery subplot in a movie without referencing “Ghost.”
NYX: How nervous will you be when the movie has its world premiere at FrightFest 2025?
JR: Fairly nervous. I don’t necessarily have anxiety about people not liking the film. I mean, if you make anything, some people won’t get it or will get it and not like it, that’s normal. I’m always worried about technical things going wrong or having an empty screening. But at a certain point, you just kind of have to let it go. I’m very lucky that they decided to screen our film, and I think this is the right audience for it, so I’m just grateful that we get a chance to show the film to people finally. And the fact that’s it’s a World Premiere in London, is just so incredibly exciting, you kind of forget about your anxiety for a minute.
NYX: So, what are you working on at the moment?
JR: I’ve written a few screenplays, which are pretty much ready to go, all of which were written before “Sick Puppy.” I’m going to do one of those next hopefully. One is a dark comedy about friendship and wrestling, and there’s also a cannibal romance I’ve been working on. So slightly lighter fare than this film, haha. While I’m not a fan of sequels, I think if there’s a good response to the film, I’d like to explore some of the surviving characters further in a sequel or two, and have a rough idea for a “Sick Puppy” trilogy. But coming up with original ideas is my main priority.
NYX: Jay Reid, thank you very much.
