April 11, 2026 • 20 mins
The Fisch Bowl Podcast had the pleasure of attending Pittsburgh's 2026 Horror Realm Convention, and interview many actors and filmmakers behind the scenes of your favorite horror and sci-fi films! Today's episode is with actress Christine Elise, known from Child's Play 2 and Bodysnatchers, and Eduardo Sanchez, co-director and writer of The Blair Witch Project.
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SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Attention, all you fishes in the sea.
SPEAKER_02 (00:03):
Welcome to the fishbowl with Sam Fish.
Sam Fish, the Fishbowl here,Horror Realm Con 2026 with the
infamous, fabulous ChristineElise.
unknown (00:16):
Hi.
SPEAKER_02 (00:17):
Thank you for taking the time to swim in the
fishbowl.
No problem.
We're diving in head first.
I hope the temperature is justright.
SPEAKER_03 (00:25):
Let's do it.
SPEAKER_02 (00:25):
Awesome, awesome.
Obviously, number one, Child'sPlay.
SPEAKER_01 (00:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (00:31):
Child's Play 2, Chucky the series.
SPEAKER_03 (00:34):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (00:34):
The infamous Kyle.
SPEAKER_03 (00:36):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (00:36):
What was it like working on the franchise and uh
the return and everything?
SPEAKER_03 (00:41):
It's fantastic.
And uh 1989, when I got Child'sPlay 2, it was a my first really
big job.
We shot up most of it on theuniverse a lot, which is really
exciting to me.
Being around the old studio lotsis really fun.
And yeah, I mean seeing Chuckycome to life in right in front
of you is incredibly convincingand compelling and really fun.
SPEAKER_02 (01:02):
Now, Chucky is one of my all-top he's he's up there
in probably my top favorite like80s slasher franchise.
In my opinion, there is no otherkiller doll besides Brad Doriff
as as Chucky.
Right.
Were there any like specialstories with Don Mancini or
(01:23):
people working on the set?
SPEAKER_03 (01:25):
Anything that was like no, I mean Don Don um
didn't get to spend much time onthe set of the first one because
it was a writer's strike becausehe wasn't allowed to be on the
set, so he was really excited tobe on the set of the second one.
He took tons and tons of likesuper eight movie behind the
scenes footage, which he sort ofuh leaked out little bits and
pieces here and there.
It was really funny to see.
(01:45):
And never everyone asked me whatit was like to work with Brad
Dorf.
I never got to work with Brad.
I did a rehearsal with him withour dialogue together, so he
would know how I was gonna readmy lines because he pre-records
all his stuff before we startshooting, and they play it back
on set for us.
So we have his voice, but he'snever there.
So I never actually got to workwith Brad, which sucks.
SPEAKER_02 (02:02):
But you're gonna you're gonna uh be back uh
distilled Citicon uh actuallynext month with Brad with Don
and I think Fiona has voted out,so it's I think it's Brad and
Don and me.
Okay.
That should be amazing.
I'm very excited for that.
There's gonna be a huge guestlist there.
That's what I hear a lot of alot of fun.
Um what do you think ofPittsburgh so far?
Is this your first time here?
SPEAKER_03 (02:22):
No, I drove through once.
I I was driving across thecountry and we took a big detour
to come through Pittsburgh at uhcity.
My stepfather's a big he's fromDetroit, he's a big fan of
Pittsburgh too.
I'm from Boston, so it's got asimilar energy to the uh to
Boston, sort of working class,industrial sort of city.
You know, it's right, right.
SPEAKER_02 (02:38):
I guess our football teams, though.
SPEAKER_03 (02:40):
Yeah, I don't know.
I'm not a sports person, you'regonna make nothing from me on
that.
SPEAKER_02 (02:43):
No, neither am I, neither am I.
I also want to say I I reallylike the performance and boiling
point.
Oh, thank you.
That's that's that's one of myfavorite, I think, underrated
Wesley Snipes and Dennis Hoppermovies.
Yeah, as well as Vigo Mortensen.
SPEAKER_03 (02:59):
Yeah, Vigo, I'm a huge Vigo fan, yeah.
And I did that with Vigo, theywrote most of my part out, but
that my stuff was going to beshot toward the end of the of
the shooting schedule.
And uh they were, of course,over budget and over, you know,
so they had to cut things andthe stuff they ended up cutting
was most of my stuff.
They wouldn't even shoot it,they just cut it before he even
shot it.
So Vigo requested that I be hiswife in another movie with a
(03:19):
Vanishing Point.
Yes, and so Vigo requested mefor that because he hadn't
gotten a chance to work with meso much in the in Boiling Point.
And I was happy to be on BoilingPoint, not just because of Vigo,
but because I'm I'm forgettinghis name.
Is it James Harris?
I think, who is the producer ofthe Stanley all the Stanley
Kubrick movies?
Yes, yes, and he produced TheKilling, which is one of my
favorite movies of all time.
So to work with a big film noirguy like that and Vigo is like a
(03:42):
dream come true.
SPEAKER_02 (03:43):
Awesome, awesome.
Another favorite of mine, BodySnatchers.
Yeah, it's late, great StuartGordon.
SPEAKER_03 (03:50):
Yeah, um Abel Ferrara?
SPEAKER_02 (03:53):
Yes, yeah, there's so many people in that movie,
and and I think it's one of myfavorite interpretations of the
body.
SPEAKER_03 (04:00):
Yeah, it's a good one.
I think it really holds up well.
It's uh it's got a really,really creepy feel.
We shot it in Alabama, in Selma,Alabama, on an abandoned army
base.
And I think it's the spookinessand the starkness, it was winter
time, it's February, you know,in Alabama, it's totally other
than you think.
And I think it really holds up.
SPEAKER_02 (04:17):
Awesome, awesome.
On the topic of horror moviesand the Chuck E franchise, what
would you say one is yourfavorite horror film, or as the
famous screen movies go?
What's your favorite scarymovie?
And then what would you say isyour favorite or most heartfelt
like child's play installment?
SPEAKER_03 (04:39):
My favorite horror movie of all time is The
Exorcist.
I'm a fan of Kalta Chucky, CaltiChucky's my favorite of the
movies, but I actually think Iprefer the series over the over
the seven films, and the seriesis really solid.
I'm really I'm a huge fan of themultiple Chuckies.
I know that's a controversialtopic.
I really like the fact that hecan possess he possesses Nika,
and I I like those developments.
I think it opens up storypossibility immensely, and I
(05:02):
also really enjoy seeing Chuckyfight with Chucky.
Chucky arguing with Chucky isalways entertaining.
SPEAKER_02 (05:06):
Awesome, awesome.
Christine, thank you so much fortaking the time to dive
headfirst into the fishbowl.
Uh we came up above water andwe're riding the waves.
SPEAKER_03 (05:16):
All right.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Be safe out there.
SPEAKER_02 (05:20):
Thank you.
Samfished the fishbowl here atHorror Realm 2026 with Eduardo
Sanchez, most famous for theBlair Wish Project.
Thank you for taking the time tocome to Pittsburgh and to swim
in the bowl with me.
That's right, man.
That's right.
Let's do it.
Awesome, awesome.
A lot of questions about theBlair Wish Project.
(05:42):
How did that whole idea evencome about?
And what were some of like the Iguess struggles making it?
And then the the end result withit becoming such a cult
phenomenon that it literallyinspired like the whole new
genre.
SPEAKER_01 (06:02):
Yeah, uh, it was, I mean, you know, it was my
partner and I, Dan Meyerick,came up with the idea.
We were just like, we loved theold, like kind of fake
documentaries.
But we loved this movie calledLegend of Boggy Creek, and we
just thought that those kinds ofmovies, uh and especially that
show in search of, were like,it's just so creepy.
(06:23):
The idea of like it being like adocumentary, even if it's not
real, right?
The idea of being a documentarywas really scary for us.
So we came up with the idea oflike the filmmakers
disappearing, and then you know,we uh sat on it for a while.
We were trying to graduate fromfilm school, and we had some
other films that we were doing,and then in like '96 or '96, we
(06:46):
started producing it again.
We got a couple of peopleinvolved that were very integral
to the making of the movie, andstarted rolling.
And the biggest, you know, thebiggest challenge as always is
raising the money.
Right.
Uh, you know, we made the money,the movie for barely anything,
but even even just getting the$20,000 was like, you know,
(07:07):
pulling teeth.
But we got the money, and uh,you know, and and it was, you
know, it was a fairly smoothprocess.
Like, there's a lot of like youknow, preconceptions that we had
to kind of reevaluate as wewent, you know, and kind of
change.
We started off more as like astraight documentary and ended
up as like just this foundfootage movie that you know
(07:29):
nobody we had never seenanything like that before, you
know.
Right.
And we kind of let it guide us,you know, and there's a lot of
you know, there's some timeswhen we were like fighting
against it and it would justkeep pushing us in a direction,
and we kind of just gave in.
And we learned a lot from themovie of as far as like
directing, like sometimes youknow, letting the movie go where
(07:50):
it needs to go is kind of thebest thing you can do as a
director.
And then, you know, we get wegot really lucky.
You know, just the ladies we hadno idea what we actually do, and
we were uh kind of blabbergastedby just the reaction and just uh
how it grew up worldwide, andyou know, kind of had some
(08:11):
complex thing, the classic barmovies, you know.
Um we never thought it would beanything like that.
So, you know, it was cool, andthen the whole idea of like it
being you know one of the firstfilms movies.
You know, it's just it's justreally cool that to be you know
part of an inspiration for otherfrontwriters.
You know, there's so much talentout there, and uh I never
(08:32):
thought I would be like youknow, inspiring anybody.
Right.
So it's awesome to be at thatposition and uh just coming to
places like this, to coconventions, meeting people like
you, you really do get a lot ofthat love, and I just really
appreciate people you knowdigging the work so much.
SPEAKER_02 (08:50):
Absolutely.
And I mean, what whatinvolvement did you have, or
what's your thoughts on like thethe two sequels that kind of the
came out?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (09:01):
Um, you know, Book of Shadows was you know probably
the most difficult one for usbecause it was right after our
movie the company artists andreally wanted another sequel.
We didn't want to do it, wewanted to kind of stay away from
Blair Witch for a little while.
And um they eventually went withJoe Buringer, and you know, we
liked Joe's movies.
(09:21):
He was a documentary filmmaker,like one of the best in that
era, and you know, really greatfilmmaker.
So we were really like kind ofenthusiastic about what he was
gonna do, and it just happened,you know, I think what happened
with Blair's workers showed wasjust that they didn't give him
enough time, they didn't givehim enough creative license.
They were just rushing, they hadlike a release date before they
(09:44):
even had a story.
Oh, okay.
Um and I think that you knowJoe, I think, kind of did his
best.
But I feel like the movie, Imean, it's a it's a cool movie
and I enjoy it, but it has verylittle to do with it's it's kind
of like a cousin of coach.
SPEAKER_02 (09:59):
Yeah, I would say it's like a standalone kind of
song.
It's like it's interesting.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (10:04):
And then the the 2016 one was you know, was
really to me the true, you know,first true sequel in the
timeline of Bear Witch, yeah.
Um and I thought it was you knowharrowing and freaking crazy and
like just a really fun ride, youknow, claustrophobic.
(10:25):
Um and I, you know, really weworked with Simon and Adam uh on
another project.
We were real good friends withthem, so it was very kind of a
very friendly kind of situationwhere we really had a lot of
faith in that one.
I think they delivered a reallycrazy sequel.
And you know, and I think thatthe only thing that that I felt
(10:46):
was lacking from that one was Iwish, and I told them, you know,
I told them this a little bit Iwould, you know, I wish that
that it would have uh gonebeyond the house.
Like I didn't like that it endedup.
I I I wanted to see like a thirdact somewhere else.
Like take it, take, take meelsewhere, you know.
Right, right.
I thought it was very effective,very well done, and um, you
(11:07):
know, unfortunately it didn't douh as well as we wanted it to
do, but uh, you know, it it iswhat it is, and uh it's uh you
know we haven't quite found theright mix you know for a Blair
Witch movie after the first oneyet.
SPEAKER_02 (11:22):
So, you know, we're hoping to get it right one day.
Awesome, awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (11:26):
And how much of like the the witch, like is that all
fictional or was there fictionalokay I mean a lot of it was
taken from you know just the thelocal mythology also I think
like some witch trials rightthat that whole kind of
injustice, the whole idea oflike women being you know
(11:48):
victims of you know malewhatever, you know, just just
manic sh you know we we feltlike the the the the mythology
needed like kind of like aninjustice, you know, to like
kind of swan the the curse.
So, you know, we really reliedheavily on kind of like study
(12:08):
about what would happen to that,and the idea that that that was
probably happening all over theplace, you know.
Right.
And um and then the rest of themythology was just we just
wanted it to feel real, youknow.
We wanted it, we didn't want togo too crazy and wanted to the
stories to be like, okay, thatmight have happened, or it might
have been something else, butyou know, it's creepy that that
happened, but just believableenough to like think that that
(12:31):
maybe it really did exist.
So, you know, that was a lot offun, you know.
Because we, you know, we weneeded Heather to go into the
woods for a certain reason, sowe had to create this book.
Right.
Um, you know, I think we all uha lot of people, you know, uh
you know uh brought in theirtalents and and uh you know
(12:52):
bought in their their skills andyou know writing book mythology,
and it was very much a groupeffort, but uh you know I
thought it was it was just acool exercise, you know.
SPEAKER_02 (13:02):
Awesome, absolutely.
And based on what you just saidwith like the kind of
over-delivery like expectationof it kind of the first one kind
of going above and beyond likewhere you kind of thought it
would it would kind of go justto start with, when you start
seeing you know spoofs of itwith like scary movie, and you
(13:26):
know, like is at that point areyou like thinking I've really
made it like that that's anhonor, or is it like the
opposite?
No, no.
SPEAKER_01 (13:36):
I mean for me the the uh the parody that like
really kind of that's twoparodies that I really like the
Scooby Doo Project and then theMad Magazine.
It's like a little mad, youknow, and like um I never
thought that my birthday wouldbe in Mad Magazine.
(13:57):
And then, you know, the fuck wewere like characters in the you
know in the story.
That was when I was like, oh mygod, this is something this is
something out of the ordinary.
You're right, right.
But no, I mean, you know, I lovethe parodies anyway.
It uh it was uh it was an easymedia parody, and I do love that
(14:18):
people were getting involved andjust uh we we were getting VHS
tapes all the time of like justuh shopping project, you know,
just all the kinds of differentparodies that the fans were
sending us.
One time we had like a hugestuff with VHS tapes, a long
blood parody.
So it was cool.
I mean, look, you know, we wehad this VM next week with me,
(14:42):
and it kind of caught a lot ofpeople's imagination to that,
like you know, so like the factthat people are making fun of it
to me was you know, it's likethe ultimate form of flattery.
SPEAKER_02 (14:52):
So awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (14:53):
It was wide ride, and I didn't expect any of that
shit to happen, so it was reallyattacking.
SPEAKER_02 (14:59):
I I have to say, when I saw Scary Movie One in
theaters and also the Wayansbrothers, what a blessed,
phenomenal family in general.
Oh, yeah writers, directors,performers, comedians.
Shout out to uh Marlon Wayans,who will be here, I believe, in
September, again at the improvdoing a stand-up.
(15:23):
I, for one, am very excited tosee the scary movie movies back
in the right hands for this thisnew one that's they're supposed
to come out.
You know, this the the Wayanshave their own flavor, you know,
and the the the parody scenewith Sherry O'Terry, who also,
(15:44):
you know, it's it's part of herex improvisation and execution
of the scene.
SPEAKER_01 (15:51):
But I a lot of talent, a lot of talent after we
have to show.
SPEAKER_02 (15:55):
Yeah, it was so much fun to see that so far.
Awesome, awesome.
And closer question (15:59):
What are some of your favorite films and
any other upcoming projects?
SPEAKER_01 (16:06):
Favorite films for me, like of all time.
Of all time, yeah.
Um, I mean like Star Wars, yeah,I wouldn't be a filmmaker if it
wasn't for Star Wars.
Late Runner, Blu-ray fan, likereally changed my life.
Um pretty much Eddie's courselazy falls from the 70s, early
80s.
Um Spielberg, of course, and themost high.
(16:33):
Uh, you know, as far as powerfilms, you know, the Exorcist,
the Shining.
Um so yeah, there's uh I mean Ican keep going.
There's so many uh great filmsout there.
I mean, right now I'm working ona movie called Entity that is
about to start shooting sometimethis way in Atlanta, and my
partner Greg Hale wrote it, andwe were very excited about it.
(16:55):
Uh I've been doing televisionfor over 10 years now, and it's
my first feature in a long time.
I've been really excited aboutit, and uh looking forward to
get upset and moving.
SPEAKER_02 (17:06):
Fantastic, or I should say fantastic.
SPEAKER_01 (17:09):
Exactly.
SPEAKER_02 (17:11):
Awesome.
And I just had I this is uhbouncing around in my head uh as
we were talking, and having youbeing like, you know, defining
like a genre.
The other person that I wouldsay has like a signature trope
for action movies that hestarted was Robert Rodriguez
(17:31):
with Desperado with the famouslike explode right and the the
famous you know explosion wherelike Antonio Banderas and and
Selma Hierka walking slowmotion.
You see, like the I I I saw likea behind the scenes where it was
like he just needed like aquick, you know, a little extra
something the pirate tenderscould do, and him being a
(17:53):
filmmaker said, I can slow thatdown and have it be like this
signature scene.
And now like every action moviehas to have like the scene where
like the explosion in thebackground and running, and I
just hope like the comparisons,you know, you were able to, you
know, essentially spawn reallybe like the godfather of like
(18:16):
spawning found footage movies.
You wouldn't have really any anymajor ones without the Blair
Wish Project and just just alittle comparison I I wanted to
throw in there.
SPEAKER_01 (18:27):
Yeah, I mean look, you know, just any any
comparison for the Audrey isawesome.
Um yeah, I mean, you know, it'slike you know, it's it's like
water uh reach's first thingthat showed us that you know you
don't need a big Hollywood crewand we can kind of you know just
be creative through your ownthing.
And uh we definitely like tookuh uh the inspiration from that
(18:50):
to do Larry Rich.
The fact that Larry Rich was thefirst of you know kind of flash
down with five footage movies.
Um you know it was it's likeit's an awful man.
I mean it's like it's um it'scrazy to think that uh you know
the movie that I get you knowinspired uh still inspire people
(19:14):
and everybody has a story aboutit, and you know, again, I was
still blessed that I was a partof it and uh uh happy to be
still kind of uh takingadvantage of the birds' juice,
yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (19:28):
Exactly, exactly.
Well, Lagoro, thank you so muchfor taking the time to swim in
the fishbowl with me.
We we we dove in head first.
SPEAKER_01 (19:39):
We c rose above the water.
Right on the waves, you know.
SPEAKER_02 (19:48):
All right, thank you so much for taking the time to
swim in the bowl with me.
SPEAKER_00 (19:53):
Hey there, all my fishes in the sea.
Thanks for tuning in to today'sepisode and for being a
subscriber.
Your continued listenership andsupport means the most and helps
keep the show going to deeperand deeper depths.
I want to let all my guppies inthe sea know the Fishbowl has
now officially partnered withFastCustom Shirts.com, where
they're now selling customFishbowl t-shirts under their
(20:16):
podcast and website section.
Every t-shirt that's purchasedhelps and goes a long way to
keep the show growing to deeperand deeper in higher, higher
depths.
I also now have custom hats,beanies, handbags, pens, mouse
pads, everything to make youlook like the coolest looking
fish in the sea.
You can DM me directly onInstagram at the Fishbowl88, or
(20:39):
on Facebook at just thefishbowl, or you can friend
request me, Sam Fish, directlyand get yours today.
Your continued listenership andsupport again means the most.
It's the most important fishesthat flock together.
We are a school of fish and wekeep the unit going.
Let's all keep swimmingupstream.
Attention, all you fishes in the sea.
SPEAKER_02 (00:03):
Welcome to the fishbowl with Sam Fish.
Sam Fish, the Fishbowl here,Horror Realm Con 2026 with the
infamous, fabulous ChristineElise.
unknown (00:16):
Hi.
SPEAKER_02 (00:17):
Thank you for taking the time to swim in the
fishbowl.
No problem.
We're diving in head first.
I hope the temperature is justright.
SPEAKER_03 (00:25):
Let's do it.
SPEAKER_02 (00:25):
Awesome, awesome.
Obviously, number one, Child'sPlay.
SPEAKER_01 (00:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (00:31):
Child's Play 2, Chucky the series.
SPEAKER_03 (00:34):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (00:34):
The infamous Kyle.
SPEAKER_03 (00:36):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (00:36):
What was it like working on the franchise and uh
the return and everything?
SPEAKER_03 (00:41):
It's fantastic.
And uh 1989, when I got Child'sPlay 2, it was a my first really
big job.
We shot up most of it on theuniverse a lot, which is really
exciting to me.
Being around the old studio lotsis really fun.
And yeah, I mean seeing Chuckycome to life in right in front
of you is incredibly convincingand compelling and really fun.
SPEAKER_02 (01:02):
Now, Chucky is one of my all-top he's he's up there
in probably my top favorite like80s slasher franchise.
In my opinion, there is no otherkiller doll besides Brad Doriff
as as Chucky.
Right.
Were there any like specialstories with Don Mancini or
(01:23):
people working on the set?
SPEAKER_03 (01:25):
Anything that was like no, I mean Don Don um
didn't get to spend much time onthe set of the first one because
it was a writer's strike becausehe wasn't allowed to be on the
set, so he was really excited tobe on the set of the second one.
He took tons and tons of likesuper eight movie behind the
scenes footage, which he sort ofuh leaked out little bits and
pieces here and there.
It was really funny to see.
(01:45):
And never everyone asked me whatit was like to work with Brad
Dorf.
I never got to work with Brad.
I did a rehearsal with him withour dialogue together, so he
would know how I was gonna readmy lines because he pre-records
all his stuff before we startshooting, and they play it back
on set for us.
So we have his voice, but he'snever there.
So I never actually got to workwith Brad, which sucks.
SPEAKER_02 (02:02):
But you're gonna you're gonna uh be back uh
distilled Citicon uh actuallynext month with Brad with Don
and I think Fiona has voted out,so it's I think it's Brad and
Don and me.
Okay.
That should be amazing.
I'm very excited for that.
There's gonna be a huge guestlist there.
That's what I hear a lot of alot of fun.
Um what do you think ofPittsburgh so far?
Is this your first time here?
SPEAKER_03 (02:22):
No, I drove through once.
I I was driving across thecountry and we took a big detour
to come through Pittsburgh at uhcity.
My stepfather's a big he's fromDetroit, he's a big fan of
Pittsburgh too.
I'm from Boston, so it's got asimilar energy to the uh to
Boston, sort of working class,industrial sort of city.
You know, it's right, right.
SPEAKER_02 (02:38):
I guess our football teams, though.
SPEAKER_03 (02:40):
Yeah, I don't know.
I'm not a sports person, you'regonna make nothing from me on
that.
SPEAKER_02 (02:43):
No, neither am I, neither am I.
I also want to say I I reallylike the performance and boiling
point.
Oh, thank you.
That's that's that's one of myfavorite, I think, underrated
Wesley Snipes and Dennis Hoppermovies.
Yeah, as well as Vigo Mortensen.
SPEAKER_03 (02:59):
Yeah, Vigo, I'm a huge Vigo fan, yeah.
And I did that with Vigo, theywrote most of my part out, but
that my stuff was going to beshot toward the end of the of
the shooting schedule.
And uh they were, of course,over budget and over, you know,
so they had to cut things andthe stuff they ended up cutting
was most of my stuff.
They wouldn't even shoot it,they just cut it before he even
shot it.
So Vigo requested that I be hiswife in another movie with a
(03:19):
Vanishing Point.
Yes, and so Vigo requested mefor that because he hadn't
gotten a chance to work with meso much in the in Boiling Point.
And I was happy to be on BoilingPoint, not just because of Vigo,
but because I'm I'm forgettinghis name.
Is it James Harris?
I think, who is the producer ofthe Stanley all the Stanley
Kubrick movies?
Yes, yes, and he produced TheKilling, which is one of my
favorite movies of all time.
So to work with a big film noirguy like that and Vigo is like a
(03:42):
dream come true.
SPEAKER_02 (03:43):
Awesome, awesome.
Another favorite of mine, BodySnatchers.
Yeah, it's late, great StuartGordon.
SPEAKER_03 (03:50):
Yeah, um Abel Ferrara?
SPEAKER_02 (03:53):
Yes, yeah, there's so many people in that movie,
and and I think it's one of myfavorite interpretations of the
body.
SPEAKER_03 (04:00):
Yeah, it's a good one.
I think it really holds up well.
It's uh it's got a really,really creepy feel.
We shot it in Alabama, in Selma,Alabama, on an abandoned army
base.
And I think it's the spookinessand the starkness, it was winter
time, it's February, you know,in Alabama, it's totally other
than you think.
And I think it really holds up.
SPEAKER_02 (04:17):
Awesome, awesome.
On the topic of horror moviesand the Chuck E franchise, what
would you say one is yourfavorite horror film, or as the
famous screen movies go?
What's your favorite scarymovie?
And then what would you say isyour favorite or most heartfelt
like child's play installment?
SPEAKER_03 (04:39):
My favorite horror movie of all time is The
Exorcist.
I'm a fan of Kalta Chucky, CaltiChucky's my favorite of the
movies, but I actually think Iprefer the series over the over
the seven films, and the seriesis really solid.
I'm really I'm a huge fan of themultiple Chuckies.
I know that's a controversialtopic.
I really like the fact that hecan possess he possesses Nika,
and I I like those developments.
I think it opens up storypossibility immensely, and I
(05:02):
also really enjoy seeing Chuckyfight with Chucky.
Chucky arguing with Chucky isalways entertaining.
SPEAKER_02 (05:06):
Awesome, awesome.
Christine, thank you so much fortaking the time to dive
headfirst into the fishbowl.
Uh we came up above water andwe're riding the waves.
SPEAKER_03 (05:16):
All right.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Be safe out there.
SPEAKER_02 (05:20):
Thank you.
Samfished the fishbowl here atHorror Realm 2026 with Eduardo
Sanchez, most famous for theBlair Wish Project.
Thank you for taking the time tocome to Pittsburgh and to swim
in the bowl with me.
That's right, man.
That's right.
Let's do it.
Awesome, awesome.
A lot of questions about theBlair Wish Project.
(05:42):
How did that whole idea evencome about?
And what were some of like the Iguess struggles making it?
And then the the end result withit becoming such a cult
phenomenon that it literallyinspired like the whole new
genre.
SPEAKER_01 (06:02):
Yeah, uh, it was, I mean, you know, it was my
partner and I, Dan Meyerick,came up with the idea.
We were just like, we loved theold, like kind of fake
documentaries.
But we loved this movie calledLegend of Boggy Creek, and we
just thought that those kinds ofmovies, uh and especially that
show in search of, were like,it's just so creepy.
(06:23):
The idea of like it being like adocumentary, even if it's not
real, right?
The idea of being a documentarywas really scary for us.
So we came up with the idea oflike the filmmakers
disappearing, and then you know,we uh sat on it for a while.
We were trying to graduate fromfilm school, and we had some
other films that we were doing,and then in like '96 or '96, we
(06:46):
started producing it again.
We got a couple of peopleinvolved that were very integral
to the making of the movie, andstarted rolling.
And the biggest, you know, thebiggest challenge as always is
raising the money.
Right.
Uh, you know, we made the money,the movie for barely anything,
but even even just getting the$20,000 was like, you know,
(07:07):
pulling teeth.
But we got the money, and uh,you know, and and it was, you
know, it was a fairly smoothprocess.
Like, there's a lot of like youknow, preconceptions that we had
to kind of reevaluate as wewent, you know, and kind of
change.
We started off more as like astraight documentary and ended
up as like just this foundfootage movie that you know
(07:29):
nobody we had never seenanything like that before, you
know.
Right.
And we kind of let it guide us,you know, and there's a lot of
you know, there's some timeswhen we were like fighting
against it and it would justkeep pushing us in a direction,
and we kind of just gave in.
And we learned a lot from themovie of as far as like
directing, like sometimes youknow, letting the movie go where
(07:50):
it needs to go is kind of thebest thing you can do as a
director.
And then, you know, we get wegot really lucky.
You know, just the ladies we hadno idea what we actually do, and
we were uh kind of blabbergastedby just the reaction and just uh
how it grew up worldwide, andyou know, kind of had some
(08:11):
complex thing, the classic barmovies, you know.
Um we never thought it would beanything like that.
So, you know, it was cool, andthen the whole idea of like it
being you know one of the firstfilms movies.
You know, it's just it's justreally cool that to be you know
part of an inspiration for otherfrontwriters.
You know, there's so much talentout there, and uh I never
(08:32):
thought I would be like youknow, inspiring anybody.
Right.
So it's awesome to be at thatposition and uh just coming to
places like this, to coconventions, meeting people like
you, you really do get a lot ofthat love, and I just really
appreciate people you knowdigging the work so much.
SPEAKER_02 (08:50):
Absolutely.
And I mean, what whatinvolvement did you have, or
what's your thoughts on like thethe two sequels that kind of the
came out?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (09:01):
Um, you know, Book of Shadows was you know probably
the most difficult one for usbecause it was right after our
movie the company artists andreally wanted another sequel.
We didn't want to do it, wewanted to kind of stay away from
Blair Witch for a little while.
And um they eventually went withJoe Buringer, and you know, we
liked Joe's movies.
(09:21):
He was a documentary filmmaker,like one of the best in that
era, and you know, really greatfilmmaker.
So we were really like kind ofenthusiastic about what he was
gonna do, and it just happened,you know, I think what happened
with Blair's workers showed wasjust that they didn't give him
enough time, they didn't givehim enough creative license.
They were just rushing, they hadlike a release date before they
(09:44):
even had a story.
Oh, okay.
Um and I think that you knowJoe, I think, kind of did his
best.
But I feel like the movie, Imean, it's a it's a cool movie
and I enjoy it, but it has verylittle to do with it's it's kind
of like a cousin of coach.
SPEAKER_02 (09:59):
Yeah, I would say it's like a standalone kind of
song.
It's like it's interesting.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (10:04):
And then the the 2016 one was you know, was
really to me the true, you know,first true sequel in the
timeline of Bear Witch, yeah.
Um and I thought it was you knowharrowing and freaking crazy and
like just a really fun ride, youknow, claustrophobic.
(10:25):
Um and I, you know, really weworked with Simon and Adam uh on
another project.
We were real good friends withthem, so it was very kind of a
very friendly kind of situationwhere we really had a lot of
faith in that one.
I think they delivered a reallycrazy sequel.
And you know, and I think thatthe only thing that that I felt
(10:46):
was lacking from that one was Iwish, and I told them, you know,
I told them this a little bit Iwould, you know, I wish that
that it would have uh gonebeyond the house.
Like I didn't like that it endedup.
I I I wanted to see like a thirdact somewhere else.
Like take it, take, take meelsewhere, you know.
Right, right.
I thought it was very effective,very well done, and um, you
(11:07):
know, unfortunately it didn't douh as well as we wanted it to
do, but uh, you know, it it iswhat it is, and uh it's uh you
know we haven't quite found theright mix you know for a Blair
Witch movie after the first oneyet.
SPEAKER_02 (11:22):
So, you know, we're hoping to get it right one day.
Awesome, awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (11:26):
And how much of like the the witch, like is that all
fictional or was there fictionalokay I mean a lot of it was
taken from you know just the thelocal mythology also I think
like some witch trials rightthat that whole kind of
injustice, the whole idea oflike women being you know
(11:48):
victims of you know malewhatever, you know, just just
manic sh you know we we feltlike the the the the mythology
needed like kind of like aninjustice, you know, to like
kind of swan the the curse.
So, you know, we really reliedheavily on kind of like study
(12:08):
about what would happen to that,and the idea that that that was
probably happening all over theplace, you know.
Right.
And um and then the rest of themythology was just we just
wanted it to feel real, youknow.
We wanted it, we didn't want togo too crazy and wanted to the
stories to be like, okay, thatmight have happened, or it might
have been something else, butyou know, it's creepy that that
happened, but just believableenough to like think that that
(12:31):
maybe it really did exist.
So, you know, that was a lot offun, you know.
Because we, you know, we weneeded Heather to go into the
woods for a certain reason, sowe had to create this book.
Right.
Um, you know, I think we all uha lot of people, you know, uh
you know uh brought in theirtalents and and uh you know
(12:52):
bought in their their skills andyou know writing book mythology,
and it was very much a groupeffort, but uh you know I
thought it was it was just acool exercise, you know.
SPEAKER_02 (13:02):
Awesome, absolutely.
And based on what you just saidwith like the kind of
over-delivery like expectationof it kind of the first one kind
of going above and beyond likewhere you kind of thought it
would it would kind of go justto start with, when you start
seeing you know spoofs of itwith like scary movie, and you
(13:26):
know, like is at that point areyou like thinking I've really
made it like that that's anhonor, or is it like the
opposite?
No, no.
SPEAKER_01 (13:36):
I mean for me the the uh the parody that like
really kind of that's twoparodies that I really like the
Scooby Doo Project and then theMad Magazine.
It's like a little mad, youknow, and like um I never
thought that my birthday wouldbe in Mad Magazine.
(13:57):
And then, you know, the fuck wewere like characters in the you
know in the story.
That was when I was like, oh mygod, this is something this is
something out of the ordinary.
You're right, right.
But no, I mean, you know, I lovethe parodies anyway.
It uh it was uh it was an easymedia parody, and I do love that
(14:18):
people were getting involved andjust uh we we were getting VHS
tapes all the time of like justuh shopping project, you know,
just all the kinds of differentparodies that the fans were
sending us.
One time we had like a hugestuff with VHS tapes, a long
blood parody.
So it was cool.
I mean, look, you know, we wehad this VM next week with me,
(14:42):
and it kind of caught a lot ofpeople's imagination to that,
like you know, so like the factthat people are making fun of it
to me was you know, it's likethe ultimate form of flattery.
SPEAKER_02 (14:52):
So awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (14:53):
It was wide ride, and I didn't expect any of that
shit to happen, so it was reallyattacking.
SPEAKER_02 (14:59):
I I have to say, when I saw Scary Movie One in
theaters and also the Wayansbrothers, what a blessed,
phenomenal family in general.
Oh, yeah writers, directors,performers, comedians.
Shout out to uh Marlon Wayans,who will be here, I believe, in
September, again at the improvdoing a stand-up.
(15:23):
I, for one, am very excited tosee the scary movie movies back
in the right hands for this thisnew one that's they're supposed
to come out.
You know, this the the Wayanshave their own flavor, you know,
and the the the parody scenewith Sherry O'Terry, who also,
(15:44):
you know, it's it's part of herex improvisation and execution
of the scene.
SPEAKER_01 (15:51):
But I a lot of talent, a lot of talent after we
have to show.
SPEAKER_02 (15:55):
Yeah, it was so much fun to see that so far.
Awesome, awesome.
And closer question (15:59):
What are some of your favorite films and
any other upcoming projects?
SPEAKER_01 (16:06):
Favorite films for me, like of all time.
Of all time, yeah.
Um, I mean like Star Wars, yeah,I wouldn't be a filmmaker if it
wasn't for Star Wars.
Late Runner, Blu-ray fan, likereally changed my life.
Um pretty much Eddie's courselazy falls from the 70s, early
80s.
Um Spielberg, of course, and themost high.
(16:33):
Uh, you know, as far as powerfilms, you know, the Exorcist,
the Shining.
Um so yeah, there's uh I mean Ican keep going.
There's so many uh great filmsout there.
I mean, right now I'm working ona movie called Entity that is
about to start shooting sometimethis way in Atlanta, and my
partner Greg Hale wrote it, andwe were very excited about it.
(16:55):
Uh I've been doing televisionfor over 10 years now, and it's
my first feature in a long time.
I've been really excited aboutit, and uh looking forward to
get upset and moving.
SPEAKER_02 (17:06):
Fantastic, or I should say fantastic.
SPEAKER_01 (17:09):
Exactly.
SPEAKER_02 (17:11):
Awesome.
And I just had I this is uhbouncing around in my head uh as
we were talking, and having youbeing like, you know, defining
like a genre.
The other person that I wouldsay has like a signature trope
for action movies that hestarted was Robert Rodriguez
(17:31):
with Desperado with the famouslike explode right and the the
famous you know explosion wherelike Antonio Banderas and and
Selma Hierka walking slowmotion.
You see, like the I I I saw likea behind the scenes where it was
like he just needed like aquick, you know, a little extra
something the pirate tenderscould do, and him being a
(17:53):
filmmaker said, I can slow thatdown and have it be like this
signature scene.
And now like every action moviehas to have like the scene where
like the explosion in thebackground and running, and I
just hope like the comparisons,you know, you were able to, you
know, essentially spawn reallybe like the godfather of like
(18:16):
spawning found footage movies.
You wouldn't have really any anymajor ones without the Blair
Wish Project and just just alittle comparison I I wanted to
throw in there.
SPEAKER_01 (18:27):
Yeah, I mean look, you know, just any any
comparison for the Audrey isawesome.
Um yeah, I mean, you know, it'slike you know, it's it's like
water uh reach's first thingthat showed us that you know you
don't need a big Hollywood crewand we can kind of you know just
be creative through your ownthing.
And uh we definitely like tookuh uh the inspiration from that
(18:50):
to do Larry Rich.
The fact that Larry Rich was thefirst of you know kind of flash
down with five footage movies.
Um you know it was it's likeit's an awful man.
I mean it's like it's um it'scrazy to think that uh you know
the movie that I get you knowinspired uh still inspire people
(19:14):
and everybody has a story aboutit, and you know, again, I was
still blessed that I was a partof it and uh uh happy to be
still kind of uh takingadvantage of the birds' juice,
yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (19:28):
Exactly, exactly.
Well, Lagoro, thank you so muchfor taking the time to swim in
the fishbowl with me.
We we we dove in head first.
SPEAKER_01 (19:39):
We c rose above the water.
Right on the waves, you know.
SPEAKER_02 (19:48):
All right, thank you so much for taking the time to
swim in the bowl with me.
SPEAKER_00 (19:53):
Hey there, all my fishes in the sea.
Thanks for tuning in to today'sepisode and for being a
subscriber.
Your continued listenership andsupport means the most and helps
keep the show going to deeperand deeper depths.
I want to let all my guppies inthe sea know the Fishbowl has
now officially partnered withFastCustom Shirts.com, where
they're now selling customFishbowl t-shirts under their
(20:16):
podcast and website section.
Every t-shirt that's purchasedhelps and goes a long way to
keep the show growing to deeperand deeper in higher, higher
depths.
I also now have custom hats,beanies, handbags, pens, mouse
pads, everything to make youlook like the coolest looking
fish in the sea.
You can DM me directly onInstagram at the Fishbowl88, or
(20:39):
on Facebook at just thefishbowl, or you can friend
request me, Sam Fish, directlyand get yours today.
Your continued listenership andsupport again means the most.
It's the most important fishesthat flock together.
We are a school of fish and wekeep the unit going.
Let's all keep swimmingupstream.
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