WiHM Special - Hope Madden

Credit Erica Peerenboom

An accomplished writer moving into the realm of film production for the first time, writer/director Hope Madden has utilized her writing career to focus on her feature-length directorial debut "Obstacle Corpse." Now, in honor of Women in Horror Month, I talk with her about her early career in writing, the filming of the movie, and her upcoming projects.

Me: Hello and thank you for taking the time to do this. First off, when did you get into horror in general? What films specifically got you into watching horror movies?

Hope Madden: I was a tremendous scaredy cat as a kid, afraid of everything. My sister and I went to a slumber party in the 3rd grade, and they turned on Motel Hell on Cinemax. The sound of those head bags!! I tried to hide in the bathroom but they had Guinea pigs that made a sound too similar to that headbag gurgle, so I gave up and just watched it. I was horrified and hooked. Forever hooked.

Me: What was the starting point of becoming a writer? Were you always into writing growing up?

HM: I’ve always written. I have a twin sister who was always good at everything artistic, so she would draw and I would write. We did it long before I could even spell, making little books. And then in the 4th grade, each class had to write a skit for PTO and I wrote one based on commercials for a movie I was afraid to watch: When a Stranger Calls. No one noticed us all rehearsing this and we did put it on for all the parents and nuns at St. Mary’s Catholic Elementary School in Tiffin, Ohio one year. I was in a lot of trouble.

Me: Who were some of your favorite writers growing up? Do you try to take influences from their style with your own voice in your work?

HM: My favorites growing up were always Flannery O’Connor, Charles Bukowski, Shirley Jackson, Cormac McCarthy, and Toni Morrison. I do think elements of each kind of worked their way into my writing style–especially O’Connor–but it’s not intentional. I could never begin to match anything she did. It’s just from repetition of reading, from soaking things in.

Me: When you entered the Ohio State University for your studies, was there any kind of push towards a specific style or format?

HM: Not at all, actually. My degree is in creative writing, so I took tons of short fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction—really, all the instructors wanted was something different. Screw the three-act structure. Do not save the cat. Trash the pyramid. What was genius about that was that we had to actually know what those were, really know them in our bones, to be able to intentionally create something different. And, of course, it taught us that we were not constrained by the age-old rules of structure, either.

Me: With several short films early in your career, what tools and skills do you acquire working on those that transferred to feature-film projects?

HM: Oh God, I had no idea what I was doing. Here’s what it really taught me: people want to help you.

On our first shoot, my friend Alberto Viglietta helped me figure out everything. He shot it, and put the crew together. It seems like a simple film—one woman drives a car toward murderous destiny—but in terms of shooting, it was more complicated, not that I had any idea it would be.

Cat McAlpine, who is the sole star of Godspeed, is the first actor I ever worked with. And I think my only real direction was to “be more dead inside.” But she was incredibly collaborative and amazing and taught me to cast well and trust actors to bring my characters to life. Don’t be too stifling or precious about it.

And my husband George Wolf did—for Godspeed and everything else we’ve filmed—literally anything and everything that needed to be done to get the shoot accomplished. Big decisions? On it. Need an ice cream truck? Found it! Need a tow truck because I got the ice cream truck stuck in the mud? Got it. So, everything is easier with him on the team.

This has been the glorious case with everything I’ve ever made. A pack of talented friends—and, in every case, at least a handful of people I didn’t know and hadn’t worked with before—helped me figure things out. Brooklyn Ewing, Jason Tostevin, Tyrone Russell, Brant Jones, our son Donovan Riley Wolfington and so many more people brought their tools and skills. Hopefully, I’ve learned from them.

Me: When writing a new project, what's the one fall-back tactic that you're always able to draw inspiration from?

HM: I keep a little notebook with me all the time and I write down funny things people say. Just one sentence at a time, out of context. And when I need somewhere to start, or I need good dialog to make a character come to life, I pull from that for a first sentence:

The bartender was lightly toothed.

Wild Turkey tastes like 7th grade.

She paid him with a cat and a bag of peacock feathers.

These are things people have actually said, and there’s no end to the directions you can take these things! So, if nothing else is coming to me, I always have that little notebook to kickstart something.

Credit Eric Boso

Me: That brings us to your latest project, "Obstacle Corpse." What can you tell us about the film?

HM: It’s a fun, very bloody horror comedy—sort of Battle Royale meets Caddyshack. Two best friends are invited to attempt an obstacle course race, not knowing one of the obstacles is to kill someone.

Me: Where did the inspiration for the film come from? Were there any unique stories about its conception coming from your original short?

HM: My husband runs Tough Mudders and those kinds of races. I was supposed to run one, but an injury kept me from participating, but I went along to take pictures. Tons of people show up in costumes. The obstacles tend to be idiotic—like army crawling through the water with live wires hanging above you. They are always way out of town, deep in the woods, and I just kept thinking how easy it would be to die on the obstacles. Or kill someone.

The short film was drawn directly from that. These races often end with runners jumping over a big fire and it just seemed obvious to me.

Me: With a cast of experienced and talented indie actors, how’d you settle on the cast getting involved in the film? What characteristics did you look for with each performer that they brought to the table that helped bring the production to light?

HM: Sunny and Ezra were both based on people I know and love, so I was looking for something specific. I’d seen Sylvie Mix’s film Double Walker (she stars and also co-writes and produces) and talked with her about making that film. She’s such a rare combination of down-to-earth and whimsical, and though I’d originally approached her to play a villain, she just fit Sunny perfectly.

Ezra took me forever to cast because I was really protective of that character. This had to be someone everyone wanted to see survive, no matter what happened to anyone else. I wanted the idea of his jeopardy to cause anxiety in the viewer. He’s the one pure soul in the race. Alan Tyson was so perfect, just a bright light of an actor, and he and Sylvie had an immediate rapport. They balanced each other in style and their friendship felt lived-in.

And I wrote the film for Donovan Riley Wolfington (who starred in the short in a different role altogether). His character is my favorite character I have ever written, and I knew he’d be amazing—comedic, alarming, plus he can sing! His cartoon-like portrayal was even better than I’d hoped, he was so great.

Jason Tostevin and George Wolf both got roped into the film when two actors were unable to make the shoot. George got a great kill, and he did such a great job with like the meanest character. And that 5-minute soliloquy Jason delivers at the start of the race—he had to memorize that overnight! And I can’t say enough about how grateful I am for what Jason brought to that role. The “you two dumbasses” scene toward the end of the film is one of my favorite moments.

With everybody else, the actors and I spent time talking about what they thought brought their character to the race. It was super enlightening and a lot of fun, and I think it gave them permission to generate a whole person, even if the character isn’t onscreen for very long. It was amazing to me to see how that blossomed.

Me: What was the set like while shooting the film? How did the cast and crew react to the type of film being made?

HM: We shot for 12 days, all of it outdoors, in Ohio in May. The first few days, it was freezing. Then it poured rain on us for two days, sinking everything in mud. Then, blazing sunshine, and we all got burnt. Plus, ticks! But we had such great people. The crew—especially during the rainy days (because we had no choice but to shoot through it)—were astounding. Everybody was all in. I could not love them more. And I think people had fun. It’s a funny movie and the actors all had the chance to be funny. Plus, David Henson Greathouse, an amazing makeup effects artist who did all our big gags, was so fun to work with and we all got to watch or participate in some amazing bloody whatnot, which I think people enjoyed.

Me: Do you recall having any odd or funny on-set stories about yourself or any of the other cast/crew members?

HM: A favorite has to do with Tony White, who played Sad Clown. He couldn’t get dirty. We only had one costume for him, and we were afraid to wash it in case the red ran through the white polka dots. Plus, we wanted the clown to sort of look spotless. But at a certain point, we all had to walk through tons and tons of mud. So, George would give him piggyback rides through the mud to make sure he stayed clean. They were both great sports about it.

Me: With its release on VOD and various streaming sites, what has been the most memorable experience you’ve had surrounding it?

HM: We played Nightmares Film Festival, which is in Columbus, Ohio, where George and I live and where we filmed. Nightmares is at Gateway Film Center, a place where we spend an inordinate amount of time. We sold out the big house there, and a ton of my family came in for it. It was a really special moment.

Me: How do you do to keep your creative energy flowing?

HM: I find other people fascinating. I often sort of take a bunch of different people I know or have known—sisters, elementary school teachers, people I used to work with—and put them in a terrible situation and see what they do. In my head, I do this. Mainly they bleed out.

Me: What else are you working on that you’d like to share with our readers?

HM: I’m in post-production on a new short film called Basement Buddy. I also have a couple of short stories featured in different anthologies— “Meat” in Wicked Shadow Press’s Flash of the Dead: Requiem, and “Aggrieved” in the Speculation Publications book Incubate. Plus, my novel Roost is available on Amazon.

Me: Lastly, being that this is our Women in Horror Movement, what special message do you have for any women out there looking to join in the industry in any capacity as you are one yourself? Thank you again for your time!

HM: I don’t think there’s any genre of film more accepting and embracing of women than independent horror. Most of the Obstacle Corpse crew were women. Every year there’s a steady stream of indie horror filmmakers who are women, and that’s really nothing new. That’s because, in indie films, you’re investing in yourself. There are no gatekeepers. And you will be surprised how many people will want to help you succeed.

This interview ran as part of our 2024 Women in Horror Movement celebrations! Click the banner below to check out our complete coverage: