I don't know much about actor James Roday, I've never seen an episode of PSYCH, the USA Network show he starred on from 2006 to 2014, but I do know that he's a fan of horror, and of the FRIDAY THE 13TH franchise in particular, so much so that he was interviewed for the HIS NAME WAS JASON documentary. So when I saw the news that he had made his feature directorial debut, I wasn't surprised to see that he had made a genre film.
The film is GRAVY, a "demented blend of horror and comedy" that follows
a trio of costumed misfits with very special dietary requirements on Halloween night. The group seizes a Mexican cantina and forces the staff to engage in a late night of gluttony. The only caveat is what’s on the menu — and who will survive til morning.
Roday co-wrote the screenplay with Todd Harthan and assembled a cast that includes Michael Weston, Jimmi Simpson, Sutton Foster, Lily Cole, Molly Ephraim, Paul Rodriguez, Gabriel Luna, Gabourey Sidibe, and Sarah Silverman to bring his story of "cannibals, pop culture, and Mexican food" to life. Special effects artists Greg Nictero and Howard Berger provided the bloodshed.
The North American distribution rights for GRAVY have been picked up by Shout! Factory, with the company planning to give it a rollout release on multiple platforms (theatrical, VOD, home video) through their genre label Scream Factory.
The movie sounds like a lot of fun to me, and its imagery of people in Halloween costumes tormenting each other reminds me of one of my favorite movies to come out in recent years, Jeremy Saulnier's MURDER PARTY. If GRAVY turns out to be as cool as it seems, I could be calling myself a James Roday fan.