Film Name: Ancient Evil: FrankenCock
Director: Ryan McDonald
Writer: Ryan McDonald
Starring: Heather Hyer Hailes, Ryan McDonald, James D. Ortega, Dennis Record
A wild, crazy, and fast paced short film about a Doctor that rebuilds a part of himself, only to quickly lose control of the deadly Creature that he erected.
In a new exclusive interview on Blazing Minds, I got a chance to ask Writer-Director Ryan McDonald a few questions about his film ‘Ancient Evil: FrankenCock‘, which has been selected to play Horror-on-Sea on Friday, January at 10:00hrs.
Q. Your film Ancient Evil: FrankenCock has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect?
A. Wild, crazy, zany, funny – but for the most part, even though the title gives away what the character might be, but how we execute it and how we get there I think is something that no one will expect.
Q. What were your inspirations when writing the script?
A. My filmmaking team have a series of short films we call, “Ancient Evil” films. Each of us have directed at least one (Jason White, Matt Johnson, and Madison Easley) and in 2022 I put together my first one called, Ancient Evil: Moons Blood (2022), starring BJ Whimpey. We had some great success that with that film. Especially with our award-winning Special FX artist, Shawn Gordon for his work on creating the werewolf monster. Another year had gone by and when looking to add an instalment into the Ancient Evil series. I was discussing Tim Burton with my collaborators about his film, FrankenWeenie (2012), to which I jokingly said, “FrankenCock” and then the idea was born. I knew I had to do it.
Q. Did you have any of the cast in mind for the characters when writing the script?
A. Denis Record, who plays the lead character, and I have worked before briefly on a different short film. Over the years we have stayed connected and we have coming together again for another project. Once I committed to the idea of doing FrankenCock, I thought immediately of Denis and a chance at getting back in the ring together. It was my first time working with Heather Hyer Hailes and James D. Ortega, but we had a great time and I look forward to working with them more.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. Many influences, but certainly the slap stick comedy of Evil Dead 2 (1987). Denis, Dr Frank Stein, is wearing the same colour pallet as Ash from the Evil Dead series. The slap stick nature of the fight with The Monster is inspired by how Bruce Campbell fights himself in Evil Dead 2. There is a shot of The Monster staring down Denis right next his face, and that directly comes from that famous image from Alien 3 (1992). And the overall way James Cameron or George Melies would use different magic tricks in each shot to create the illusion needed was certainly something that was leaned on.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. This is the first project where I really felt that the script continued to be fluid throughout the process. The overall concept and the fight with The Monster is there in the first draft. Originally, the opening scene and the final were located in a Police Station. We filmed more voice over with Dr. Frank Stein that was to cover more footage of the fight between him and his girlfriend. Ultimately, we couldn’t secure a Police Station, so we moved the to the concept of placing that scene in the garage. The additional voice over was cut for pacing purposes.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. Aside from the obviously gas it was to film with a full, arm sized, penis and all the jokes that come with that, my more favourite moments are what I think of a magic tricks in cinema. When you do a Texas Switch or a film something in reverse. Our make-up artist, Shawn Gordon, designed and built The Monster, but due to time constraints we never design would to attach it to the actor. So each shot in the film has a different way that The Monster is working. Between Shawn puppeteering it off screen, or puppeteering it between Denis’s legs, and also Denis holding the puppet erect by using a golf club between his legs. In the sideview shot, when The Monster first appears, Denis is laying across two tables with a gap between them. Under the table is where I am, and I have my arm reaching up between the tables with The Monster and I’m pushing The Monster up. Then we cut to bird’s eye view of Denis laying on cement with The Monster in full view to the camera, but Denis is holding The Monster up on his own with a golf club. Those type of tricks between each shot, and the magic of making it all come together is the best part.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. For the most part, the filming went smoothly. There was little bit of rain that we had to fight with, and in Utah at that time of year it gets pretty cold. With the amount of blood….and other fluids, I didn’t want to film indoors where we would have a ton of cleaning to do. Shawn Gordon, probably had the bigger headache of creating The Monster and the different molds it takes to get it just right. My wife, and producing partner, Brandie Lee McDonald had knee surgery two days before filming. She pushed through and put together our craft foods for both days. In the scene when Frank Stein wakes up dismembered, Denis screams so loud that soon after a squad of police cars where driving around out neighbourhood looking for a victim to a crime.
Q. What makes Ancient Evil: FrankenCock stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. Probably the absurd nature of the concept, and horror comedy is not done often, or often enough. A lot of films have jump scares, and other defining horror genre characteristics. Our film rides the line of only being horror because we have a re-imaging of a horror monster….and then comedy chaos ensues. What I love is taking characters who have zero morality and then finding obscure and horrific ways to kill them. It seems fitting to me.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. Haha, um….what the hell did I just watch?
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. Not in the horror comedy genre. Earlier this year I wrote a feature length screenplay, Left for Dead, about a Drifter fighting to survive in the post-apocalyptic word. My producing partners, BJ Whimpey, Danielle Bendinelli, and Brandie Lee McDonald ran a grass roots funding campaign and raised just under $10,000. We shot the film over the course of seventeen days from August into October of 2025. We used the landscape of Utah as our backdrop and filmed most of the movie outdoors, in the heat, in the dirt. It’s been a lot of fun, and we’re in post-production now.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. Certainly to watch a lot of different movies, watch the greats, watch films in other languages. Especially here in America, it’s harder to get people to watch films that are imported instead of exported to the world. Listen to interviews by the artist and filmmakers that you admire and look up to. Take note. Learn. And set a goal for how and when you want to get your movie made. Don’t worry about money, don’t worry about asking your friends to be actors, don’t worry about if it’s going to be great or not. Make a goal, put a date on it, use your phone to film it, and then repeat the process so you can get better and better each time.
Ancient Evil: FrankenCock will be playing at Horror-on-Sea on Friday January at 10:00hrs.
You can find out more about Horror-on-Sea and purchase tickets for Ancient Evil: FrankenCock here
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
