There’s no better defense against the forces of evil than you and your best friend, armed with only your wits and your connection to each other — at least, that’s how Joe Begos’ new film Jimmy & Stiggs sees it. Now that the film is available on digital, FANGORIA is excited to premiere a new interview with producers Matt Mercer and Josh Ethier, discussing the gory new film distributed by Eli Roth’s new company The Horror Section.
Written, directed, and produced by Begos alongside Mercer and Ethier, Jimmy & Stiggs follows an out of work filmmaker (also played by Begos), who spirals into a bender and claims to have been abducted by aliens. When he fears they’ll return to take him once more, he recruits his old friends Stiggs (Mercer) to help him gear up for war against the little grey men.
Mercer cites filmmakers like Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson and the splatterific films they made in the ‘80s as inspiration for the film, developed over the pandemic and shot entirely in Begos’ apartment. Practical effects were incredibly important to the making of the film, and Ethier says that having a crew that was so willing to get their hands dirty and blow up alien bodies is part of the reason the film works, in addition to its unique look produced by shooting on 16mm film.
“It was the biggest expense of the movie, but you cannot replicate the authenticity,” Mercer says of the experience. “As an actor, it keeps you on your toes because when you’re rolling, you have to be ready, and you have to nail it.”
According to Mercer, the film was shot over nights and weekends for three years in order to complete it — which forced him to keep Stiggs’ long hair and scraggly beard for longer than expected. Shooting with a crew of five to seven people, the film was a labor of love, with crew members often undertaking multiple roles at once, and now, with the help of Eli Roth’s The Horror Section, the team’s smallest film is getting their biggest theatrical release yet.
Jimmy & Stiggs is available now on digital and on demand, with physical preorders available through Vinegar Syndrome. Check out the interview with Ethier and Mercer below:
