It’s been six years since Kevin Smith took his first stab at making a horror film. The 2014 film Tusk was met with mixed reviews (I enjoyed it), but that didn’t stop him from giving it another go with his latest film Killroy Was Here.
Based on the World War II drawing known by the same name, Killroy Was Here is the evolution of Smith’s horror anthology that was initially conceptualized with his Edumacation Podcast co-host Andy McElfresh as a Krampus film. The film revolves around the character Killroy and tells different stories that happen around the character. “He’s kind of like a kid avenger,” explained Smith during his Comic-Con@Home appearance. “You know, if you fuck with kids, Killroy will show up.”
The film features some of Smith’s goto cast members, including Jason Mewes, Ralph Garman, and daughter Harley Quinn Smith, as well as professional wrestler Chris Jericho as The Gator Chaser.
Smith turned to makeup effects artist Robert Kurtzman to design a Killroy character that was scary, but also true to the original Killroy drawing. Kurtzman previously worked with Smith to turn Justin Long into a human walrus in Tusk and turned Smith into Iron Bob for Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.
“I need our bad guy to be burned and melty and shit like that, but he’s gotta ultimately kinda look like that Killroy drawing with bald head and a nose that hangs over the fence,” explained Smith. In the end, Smith says Kurtzman delivered with a character that Smith calls “fucking horrifying, but it’s also horrifying and goofy at the same time.”
Made in association with students from the Ringling College of Art & Design, Smith started production Killroy Was Here back in 2017 but stopped work on the film after suffering a massive heart attack in 2018. After his recovery, Smith and the students from the college completed the project but shelved any promotion or release as Smith worked on his 2019 film Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. Now Smith hopes to release the movie by early 2021.
