Ahead of its screening at the SXSW Film Festival 2023, Bloody Flicks caught up with filmmakers Fidel Ruiz-Healy and Tyler Walker’s brand new short Dead Enders.
What can you tell us about the genesis of Dead Enders?
The movie started as a feature script for a school exercise, about a Wa-Wa in Pennsylvania and the gaggle of goof-offs trying to fend off this alien threat. It sat around for a long time until Fidel wrote this surreal script about a person who thinks they’re lost in a Bo Welch-inspired hellscape, but is actually a zombie hunting their own family members down. We combined the two ideas into one and then moved the location because we have a great relationship with the city of San Antonio and we love the environment. We adjusted the dialogue from a more pissy, fast-talking Yankee patter, to a more laid back south-western flavor. Before long Tyler’s aliens became head-squeezing bugs and Fidel’s depiction of the inner mind of a zombie became that of someone taken over by bugs. And since fracking was an environmental problem in both of our backyards, we decided that would be a good place for the bugs to come from.
From watching the film, I feel like something like Tremors was an inspiration, is that accurate?
Tremors is a split decision in the camp. Tyler loves Tremors from the first one all the way to the ass-blasters; but Fidel prefers Kevin Bacon’s other iconic horror film Friday the 13th. Where we do meet eye to eye is Clerks and The Thing.
Tell us about crafting the character of Maya?
To make sure the movie had the right kind of suspense, we wanted Maya to be someone cool and relatable, someone we’d hang out with, someone with flaws. So we made Maya a composite of a bunch of different kids we knew growing up. In a lot of ways she represents a lot of the insecurities we had during the pandemic. That we would be forever stuck in arrested development, our best years were behind us, and our stagnant lives were here to stay.
What do you feel is the message (if any) in Dead Enders?
Frank Capra said if you wanna send a message, use Western Union. And we kind of agree. Ultimately, Dead Enders was a product of the pandemic and the great resignation that followed. If there is a message to be had, it’s that no job is worth dying for and that we should not settle for the bare minimum for the short time we have here.
After a break from directing, how good was it to step behind the camera again for Dead Enders?
It was great; the pandemic was tough but it gave us time to step back and reassess what we wanted out of film and filmmaking. We brought all of our friends on and we picked a project with the most amount of “back to basics” movie fun.
How excited are you to screen at SXSW?
Beyond excited. We’re ready to rage.
What’s next for you? Do you want to adapt any of your stories to a feature?
We have a feature adaptation of the short ready to go that promises a lot more buggy body horror, lovecraftian terror, and slacker hangout vibes. But while we’re getting that off the ground, we’ll keep plugging away at shorts and music videos. To find more of that stuff as it comes out, follow us on our instagrams @fidel.ruizhealy and @severe_t_storm
Catch Dead Enders at this year’s SXSW Film Festival.
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