Skeet Ulrich and Alicia Witt Slash Their Way Back in The Big Kill
Skeet Ulrich and Alicia Witt are slicing their way back into familiar territory for The Big Kill, returning to the genre that made them horror royalty in the 1990s. The two stars of Scream and Urban Legend are teaming up for The Big Kill, a new slasher film described as a love letter to Generation X, complete with a soundtrack of 90s classics, ironic humour, and plenty of bloodshed.
Reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the film is already in production with Todd Berger directing from a script by Emmy winning Daily Show writer Daniel Radosh. Berger, clearly a child of the VHS and flannel generation, says the idea came from wondering what happens when the knife wielding survivors of 90s horror actually grow up. “When I saw Scream in the theater as a teenager, it blew me away because it was a slasher movie filled with people my own age, talking the way we actually talked,” Berger said. “But then, over the years, I noticed something about the protagonists of slashers. They weren’t aging like the rest of us. So now, to make a horror comedy about fellow Gen Xers with kids, mortgages, and existential dread is a dream come true.”
The plot takes inspiration from The Big Chill, only this time, the chill comes with a knife in the back. A group of old friends reunite at a remote cabin following a funeral, hoping to reconnect and reminisce about the good old days. Unfortunately for them, a masked killer crashes the reunion, forcing everyone to confront their darkest secrets and probably regret leaving the city.
Ulrich and Witt are joined by a cast that mixes cult favourites and comedians including Jolene (Star Trek Enterprise), Megan Suri (Companion), Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite), Pete Holmes (Woman of the Hour), Natasha Leggero (The Do Over), Morgan Jay (St Denis Medical), Trevor Wallace (Drugstore June), and Steph Tolev (Tires). Jolene, formerly credited as Jolene Blalock, is also married to Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino and, fittingly, Live Nation Studios is one of the companies producing the movie.
Mason Novick is producing for MXN Entertainment alongside Live Nation Studios, and the project has already generated buzz. Ryan Kroft of Live Nation said, “Horror plus comedy set to 90s music equals instant nostalgia. With this cast and creative team, The Big Kill is destined to be a hit.”
Novick added that finding the right tone was essential. “Horror comedies are tough. You have to nail both the laughs and the scares. We’re lucky to have a cast that blends legacy horror stars with genuinely funny performers. We’ll have great jokes and great kills, what more do you need?”
As for the tone, The Big Kill looks set to mix nostalgia, humour, and plenty of self aware bloodshed. Expect middle aged Gen Xers swapping stories about student loans and bad backs while dodging blades to the sound of Alanis Morissette. It might even do what Scream did for teens in 1996, only this time, for the grown ups who survived that decade’s slashers the first time around.
It is also poetic seeing Ulrich and Witt back together in the genre that defined their early careers. Ulrich’s smirking menace in Scream made him an icon, while Witt brought toughness and wit to Urban Legend. Decades later, both return with a few wrinkles and a lot more self awareness, a fitting metaphor for a film that looks to poke fun at nostalgia while celebrating it.
With production underway and 90s anthems guaranteed to set the tone, The Big Kill could be the slasher comeback Gen X did not know it needed. If The Big Chill had blood on the dance floor and a killer in the kitchen, this would be it.
