Kevin Smith is currently filming horror anthology KillRoy Was Here

This one came out of nowhere. Filmmaker Kevin Smith, who usually shares nearly every detail of his life through his podcasts and social media accounts, was keeping a new film project secret, not announcing that it was happening until he posted a Facebook Live video from the set last night.

The video revealed that Smith is currently filming a horror anthology, said to be in the vein of CREEPSHOW, in Sarasota, Florida, with the assistance of students from the Ringling College of Art and Design.

The anthology is called KILLROY WAS HERE, and it's actually a reworking of a project we first heard about three years ago. Back in 2014, Smith announced that he was going to be making a Christmas-themed horror anthology at first called COMES THE KRAMPUS and then titled ANTI-CLAUS. This is how he described it when he and co-writer Andy McElfresh (with whom he hosts the Edumacation podcast) completed the first draft of the screenplay: 

It’s 99 pulse-pounding pages of what’s essentially SModCo’s CREEPSHOW, with four terrifying tales stitched together by a freaky framing device. It was a blast to write and totally new to me, as I never actually wrote a screenplay WITH someone else before.

And now, to extend the spirit of collaboration even further, I’M GONNA CO-DIRECT THE FLICK WITH THE SMODCO FAMILY! Andy McElfresh will direct the “The Krampus vs. The 3rd Grade” episode (SO f*cked up), Jason Mewes (yes – THAT Jason Mewes) will direct the “Hitler’s Krampus” episode (twisted period piece), I will direct the “Mask Maker” episode (the Gothic horror piece), Carol Banker will direct the “The Proposal” episode (which is f*cking nuts), and Jennifer Schwalbach will direct “The Bad Babysitter” – which is the framing device that holds the whole mess together. Jordan Monsanto will produce for SModcast Pictures and the twin SModCo cherries on the top of this scary sundae? I’m gonna force my Bro Scotty Mo(sier) to act in it and Babble-Meister RALPH GARMAN will feature in every episode!

The cast was later expanded with the additions of Justin Long, Haley Joel Osment, Genesis Rodriguez, and Michael Parks (who has, sadly, passed away since the announcement).

COMES THE KRAMPUS / ANTI-CLAUS was then derailed when Michael Dougherty made his KRAMPUS movie and everyone and their cousin also decided to make their own Krampus-based movies. Suddenly Krampus went from underused to overplayed. So Smith and McElfresh have done a rewrite of the script, removing the Christmas elements and replacing Krampus will a character called KillRoy, a long-nosed fellow whose look has been designed by special effects artist Robert Kurtzman.

The title and the KillRoy design were inspired by the "Kilroy Was Here" graffiti that has been showing up around the world since at least the 1940s. This graffiti features the phrase "Kilroy Was Here", accompanied by a drawing of a "bald-headed man (sometimes depicted as having a few hairs) with a prominent nose peeking over a wall with the fingers of each hand clutching the wall". Thanks to Wikipedia for the description.

It's not clear if the co-directing plans are still in place or if the surviving announced cast for COMES THE KRAMPUS / ANTI-CLAUS are still attached for KILLROY WAS HERE, but we do know that something is finally being filmed for this anthology project. The video embedded below tells us so!

Speaking with Sarasota's Herald-Tribune, Smith described KILLROY WAS HERE as "a monster movie and classic morality tale".

No one wants to see you spill the blood of innocents, but when someone crosses the line and goes bad, you get to make them pay in horrible ways, and the audience cheers. Like ‘The Twilight Zone,’ ‘Killroy’ is full of ironic twists and grisly moments. We wanted to make an anthology film in the vein of ‘Creepshow.’ ‘Killroy’ is like the Golem, the Boogeyman and the Grim Reaper combined."

The Herald-Tribune was able to confirm that Azita Ghanizada and Ryan O'Nan are starring in the film.

We'll keep you updated as Smith reveals more about KILLROY WAS HERE. Krampus or not, I'm glad this one is finally happening.