We hear all the time that stress kills. While as you can see in the trailer for the outrageous horror-comedy Bad Milo, it’s not always the stress sufferer who gets killed. Sometimes it’s the person who caused the stress, killed by a razor fanged demon.
In Bad Milo, Party Down’s Ken Marino stars as Duncan, a guy who just can’t catch a break. His boss (Patrick Warburton) is manipulative, cruel and crooked. His nagging mother (Mary Kay Place), burnout dad (Stephen Root), and pregnant wife (Gillian Jacobs) make demands on him left and right. And the pressure is building to be a real pain in the ass. Like literally, all this stress has created a demon in his gut that emerges from Duncan’s ass to wreak vengeance on those who cross him.
Of course, if you had a monster crawling out of you and killing those who annoy you, you’d do your damnedest to make sense of the strange scenario. So, Duncan seeks help from his hypnotherapist (Peter Stormare, because of course), who urges him to befriend the pint-sized monster to better manage it. Duncan names him Milo, and so begins a bizarre buddy adventure of man and colon demon.
It’s a wild premise and a promising comedy cast. But what sets this horror-comedy apart from the likes of Haunted House, Scary Movie 5, and the forthcoming Hellbaby in our estimation is its ties to the producing Duplass Bros and Magnet Releasing. Having produced a string of celebrated indie features including their breakthrough dramedy The Puffy Chair and the time travel centered rom-com Safety Not Guaranteed, Mark and Jay Duplass’s names alone suggests this will be a smarter—and thereby more engaging—take on terror and comedy. And that’s bolstered by Magnet signing on to distribute. Having brought us such enthralling genre features as The House of the Devil, Trollhunter, I Saw the Devil, and V/H/S/2, Magnet’s logo should raise hopes and expectations for Bad Milo. Now here’s hoping it lives up to them!
The horror-comedy penned by video editor turned director Jacob Vaughan and up and coming scribe Benjamin Hayes made its world premiere at SXSW earlier this year. You can see what Vaughan and his leading lady Jacobs have to say in the film’s panel presentation below. In the clip, Vaughan speaks to his inspirations and why he chose puppetry over CGI for his creature feature. For him, having a physical Milo there on set was crucial to create the connection he felt his actors would need to make the demon character, plus it allowed his cast of compelling comedians to explore more freely on set and in character. He also talks about how he knows the Duplass Bros, and how they came to be involved with his Bad Milo.
Magnet releasing will make Bad Milo available on iTunes and On Demand starting August 29th. A theatrical release will follow on October 4th. In the meantime, check out the film’s latest poster release, which shows Duncan cuddling with Milo. It’s almost cute, but mostly creepy.
