Mr. Crocketis a horror movie set in 1993 that follows a creepy children’s TV show host. He climbs out of television sets murdering parents and kidnapping children, until one day, a mother fights back. Escaping death, she decides to hunt down her son and try to stop Mr. Crocket - for good.
Director Brandon Espy co-writes the film as well, as he does with most of his projects. He is no stranger to the horror genre, and has long-term plans for the character of Mr. Crocket, comparing him toFreddy Krueger. Cinematographer Powell Robinson has nearly one hundred projects under his belt, including shorts and music videos.Mr. Crocketpremieres on Hulu on October 11, just in time for spooky season.
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Screen RantinterviewedMr. Crocketwriter and director Brandon Espy and cinematographer Powell Robinson during Fantastic Fest 2024. Espy discusses his horror inspirations for the character of Mr. Crocket, while Robinson reveals what it was like working with actor Elvis Nolasco. The two explain the decision to use mostly practical effects, as well as adding in animated sequences at times. Espy also confesses that he hasplans for a sequel.
Mr. Crocket Was Inspired By Blippi, Surprisingly Enough
“My oldest son was obsessed with this show called Blippi. I couldn’t get him off the screen at all.”
Screen Rant: Where did you get the inspiration for this film?
Brandon Espy: It was inspired by my oldest son. He was obsessed with this show called Blippi. I couldn’t get him off the screen at all. I couldn’t break his stare or anything. It was like he’s in a different world. Once I yelled at him about it and I had a dream that night, like, what if Blippi came out of the TV for me? And then I came up with Crocket.
Crocket is a little different than Blippi, though. But I always thought shows from that era were already creepy. He has similar mustache and hair as my dad during that time, so that was inspired by that, and a few other things as well. I just formed this character, I always wanted to have some type of Freddy Krueger villain. So I thought I could build him through Mr. Crocket.
I was a big Nightmare on Elm Street fan. So heavy inspiration from that too. Mr. Rogers, different shows that I may have seen when I was young. Something where you have a trusting figure, but then something’s a little off. That’s Mr. Crockett.
But it was like, those are the two, and we’re going to turn those into a horror movie. I would say the tone of the film is more like an ’80s style horror movie, but it happens to be set in the 90s, so trying to find a cool balance for those two. There wasn’t really a direct reference to actually draw from any movie. You couldn’t pinpoint those two specific things in the last few years. So we’ll come up with something new.
Screen Rant: Can you talk about the decision to use a lot of practical effects and puppetry?
Brandon Espy: I’m a huge fan of practical effects, so when we got Master FX interested, I was super down. I wanted to keep that whole 90s feel, and I didn’t want to go heavy on the VFX. I just really wanted to show any kind of gore, any type of kills that kind of leaned into that practical effects. It is just always a lot more fulfilling for me. I feel like the horror audience would always appreciate it more, and since we are tapped into this era, it just seemed a lot more appropriate.
Powell Robinson: It always works better, I think, having a practical base and then adding the effects on top. Even if the practical needs a lot of augmentation. Starting from scratch just never feels quite as tactile as having at least something there to work from. We do have actually a pretty decent amount of VFX cleanups here and there, but the puppets, they’re all people in suits. Everything about it, it just helps out on set a lot. Because lighting to a tennis ball versus lighting to an actual eight-foot tall blue puppet monster really helps put you in the right mindset for it.
Elvis Nolasco Remained In Character As Mr. Crocket On Set
“I didn’t really get to meet Elvis until the movie was over. And I still don’t know if I’ve actually met Elvis himself.”
Screen Rant: What about Elvis Nolasco makes him the perfect Mr. Crocket?
Brandon Espy: I went through an extensive process of looking at different actors within that age range. When Elvis came across my desk, I’d already known him from American Crime and respected his work from that series, and seeing some slight stints of his one-man theater play and all different characters that he played. When I met him we basically had this whole interview of seeing if it would work or not.
He had a very deep desire to play this character, felt that he was called to play this character. And I think for me, I was very fortunate to have an actor of his caliber to be down to really get dirty and deep with this character and not really just take it for granted. Because at the end of the day, it’s a lower budget film, not some big budget blockbuster. But to really be able to own this character and really willing to take it there, I felt very lucky to have my team. So I didn’t take any other interviews after him because I was like, this guy wants his job and if I chose someone else, he might kill that person. And that’s the guy I want on my team, is that type of dude.
Powell Robinson: He was in it the whole time. I didn’t really get to meet Elvis till the movie was over. And I still don’t know if I’ve actually met Elvis himself. He came on to set as Crocket from day one, full wardrobe, introduced himself as Mr. Crocket. And that’s who we were working with. So it added so much reverence and focus to every time he came on screen. We knew he was bringing this one hundred and fifty percent, and so we had to as well.
He had a very signature thing he did when he would come on set. We would hear this, and you hear it in the movie a few times, he made this very high-pitched noise. And that was literally the first way we heard him as well. He came out making that sound across the entire soundstage until he walked in front of the camera and said, where do I stand? And we were like, this is going to be a whole new experience for everybody here. It was incredible.
Fantastic Fest Is The Perfect Place To Introduce Mr. Crocket
“I couldn’t think of a better Fest to introduce him.”
Screen Rant: What does it mean to you for Mr. Crocket to play at Fantastic Fest?
Brandon Espy: I’ve always seen Fantastic Fest on social media and always wanted to go just from seeing all the activities that are going on, and seeing the hardcore audience. So, I thought it was a perfect audience to introduce Mr. Crocket. There are some very hardcore genre fans who would really appreciate everything that went into making this film and all the madness of it. I couldn’t think of a better Fest to introduce him.
Powell Robinson: It’s the right place for the movie. Even spending the days leading up to it, watching movies with everyone here, the reactions to everything else, even somewhat similar to ours or not at all. It’s just like, I can’t wait to see what this whole theater is going to feel like once we’re in there with them. It can’t be more exciting.
Fusing Animation & Live Action Is Something Brandon Espy Has Always Wanted To Do
“This is a cool way to unveil this whole backstory and really go dark and deep while still creeping people out.”
Screen Rant: There are some animated scenes in the film, can you talk about the decision to include them?
Brandon Espy: One of my references was a movie, Cool World, that has animation mixed with live action. I’ve always been interested in fusing that into it, especially the fact that, inspo comes from these kids shows, and they’re always having some type of animated intro. I thought it’d be kind of cool to tell his backstory through that. I think in general, also, you could also stretch reality within animation because to really shoot that live action. First of all, the schedule was not going to allow it.
This is a cool way to unveil this whole backstory and really go dark and deep while still creeping people out. It’s like you’re telling a children’s story, but a really messed up one. So I thought it was a nice little touch to it. And I just loved creating that Mr. Crocket’s World intro to the show. That was everything to me.
Powell Robinson: Everyone along the way to want to do that, keep it as authentic as we could. When we shot the Crocket show stuff on set, we knew it was going to be tied in with this Schoolhouse Rock-esque animation. And we knew that to sell the difference in time period, we’re already set back in the 90s, we really have to sell it. The show itself is even further back. We tried to shoot the actual Crocket Show authentically.
We took so many lighting references from early kids shows where the whole ceiling was lit in that big ring of fire traditional way of doing it. It was lit, for the cinematography nerds out there, it’s lit to an 11 as if we were on older film stock doing one of those shows. Then when we got to post, we actually ran it all through not only a VHS player, we then filmed the CRT TV screen. So it looked like you were watching it for real on one of those TVs.
When we took that animation, and you took our really authentically filmed style show, it all blends together into something that almost feels like it’s just a pre-existing piece of some weird TV history. Like we could have easily ripped that exact quality off of an old VHS tape. I think every step along the way, how seriously everyone wanted to feel as real as possible, just made every choice far more important.
The Strike Was A Blessing In Disguise For Mr. Crocket
“We got to edit the film and rethink about things and go back to the drawing board and see what worked and see what didn’t and see what we may need to pick up.”
Screen Rant: Speaking of the schedule, how long did you have to film?
Brandon Espy: Like day 17, we had to stop. We ended up having probably 24 days, around that, total, but spread out over six and a half months. So it was definitely a stretch. You’re trying to get as much as you can within those last few days leading up to the strike. The good thing is, though, we got to edit the film and rethink about things and go back to the drawing board and see what worked and see what didn’t and see what we may need to pick up. So in a way, it was a little blessing to where we had a really tight, nice plan going back into finishing this film.
Brandon Espy Has Ideas For A Crocket Sequel
The story could really go places seeing as “Crocket, he’s immortal.”
Screen Rant: Could we see Mr. Crocket return? Do you have ideas for a sequel?
Brandon Espy:Nightmare on Elm Streetis one of my favorite films. They got a lot of films. That’s all I’m saying. Crocket, he’s immortal.
Powell Robinson: [I would come back] in a heartbeat. Everyone, the crew on this movie, so believed in it. I’ve never actually really experienced so many people who haven’t met before coming together and having such a belief in a character like that. It was just crazy to see, crazy to watch it in real time. People are so attached to it. Our crew was making their own merch as we went. My electric team made “A friend like me” shirts. And the art team made extra VHS tapes and gave them out to the crew because they just loved it. The whole crew was just so in it the whole time. It was crazy.
More About Mr. Crocket (2024)
In 1993, a mysterious children’s show host, Mr. Crocket, magically emerges from television sets to kidnap young children, brutally slaying their parents in the process. After Mr. Crocket snatches her son, one determined mother embarks on a perilous quest to track down the demonic entertainer and rescue her boy.
Mr. Crocket
Cast
In 1993, a sinister children’s show host, Mr. Crocket, emerges from TV sets to kidnap children and murder their parents. When her son is taken, a determined mother embarks on a perilous journey to find and stop the demonic entertainer, risking everything to rescue her boy.
