‘Killroy Was Here’ Trailer: Kevin Smith’s Comedy-Horror Anthology Hits Comic-Con
Though this year’s Comic-Con didn’t happen in person, Kevin Smith still delivered his usual wide-ranging presentation — only this time it was him offering a pre-recorded rundown of his current and future projects to an at-home audience. Among the meatiest developments he shared was releasing the first trailer for his upcoming comedy-horror anthology “Killrory Was Here.”
Smith likened the film to the 1982 George A. Romero anthology “Creepshow” or Brad Miska’s 2012 “V/H/S.”
“It’s got a theme that runs through it, in as much as our monster Killroy, and all these little stories that happen around him. He’s kind of like a kid-avenger — if you fuck with kids, Killroy will show up,” he said.
The titular character is based on the “Kilroy was here” graffiti phenomena that’s been around since the 1940s: A doodle of a bald-headed man peeking over a wall with his enormous nose most prominently extended over the wall.
For the film, Smith tapped makeup artist Bob Kurtzman to create a character that honored the original graffiti while also being suitable for a horror movie. “It’s fucking horrifying but it’s also like horrifying and goofy at the same time. I mean if you look real close when you see Killroy, it looks like he’s got a giant dick for a nose,” Smith said. “It’s supposed to be his features are melted because — well, I don’t want to spoil it.”
The trailer didn’t offer insight into Killroy’s appearance, but it did preview plenty of goofy horror, with gore, children saying cursed chants, an alligator hunter, an old woman with a weed-grow operation, and even a pedophile priest
“Killrory Was Here” already has a long and storied history. Co-written by Andrew McElfresh to originally center around the activities of Krampus, the pair tweaked the script after Michael Dougherty made a movie about the folklore character.
Smith started working on “Killroy” in Florida with students from Ringling College of Art and Design before he had a heart attack in 2018. He went back to work in Florida as one of his first projects after recovering, but shelved the film as he made and released “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” in 2019.
“We’re working on this flick with the kids and the kids were absolutely lovely, we got some crew from down right there in Florida, and it was so good for the soul, man, because they’ve got the spirit that makes making movies fun,” he said.
Smith said he’s putting the finishing touches on “Killroy” and will release it by early 2021.
Smith also revealed that he’s in talks with Universal about releasing a “Mallrats” sequel. He announced in April that he had written a script in quarantine for “Twilight of the Mallrats.”
