Talking Spirit Halloween: The Movie with Its Director and Cast

Spirit Halloween: The Movie is a family-friendly scary movie with a lot of heart. Which, as I learned when talking with director David Poag and cast members Jaiden J. Smith (Bo) and Donovan Colan (Jake), is exactly what they were aiming for. Mission accomplished.

As usual, I had so many questions but not enough time. Here are some highlights from the questions I did get to ask, though. But there’s more fun stuff in the whole chat, which is also embedded below.

1. What did you find appealing about this project, and why did you take it?

Donovan went first and explained how he’d “never been in a full movie before.” As in the lead. So for him, it was cool to see everything come together and see himself in a “full movie.”

Which really is a pretty cool thing. Not a lot of people can say they had a chance to play the lead in a movie, much less at such a young age!

Jaiden went next and explained that he got the callback and did a chemistry read. It was the first time he had a chance to meet the cast, and after that he knew he wanted the role of Bo. He also loved the age range it was designed to appeal to. (10-12-year-olds, and to inner pre-teens at heart.)

David said this project “came out of left field.” He explained he has a long relationship with Hideout Pictures, who he’d “worked at in a music video capacity and commercial capacity,” but this was his first feature film too. They approached him with the script and asked if he’d be interested.

As he put it, “It’s not like I was looking for a PG Halloween movie. Of course, I love those types of movies, but I spent a few days with the script and thinking about this project, and I got more and more excited about it because it is like…even though it’s a present-day film, I think it’s unique in that it certainly feels classic and throwback. And it appealed to me to try and make a movie that was scary or thrilling for, like Jaiden was saying, kids of that age. I feel like the PG adventure thriller, there hasn’t been a lot of those lately.”

No, there has not. Spirit Halloween: The Movie is a good addition.

David also mentioned how Stranger Things has brought back that throwback horror feel, which appeals to modern-day kids as well as adults. So he was inspired by that but was also trying to channel some other throwback classic horror/adventure/thriller movies too. Which led to my next question.

2. Was Goonies by any chance one of the movies you tried to channel?

This question was obviously for David. “For sure. I love Goonies,” he said. Then he listed other movies that really left a mark on him as a kid, including Willow, Flight of the Navigator, and The NeverEnding Story.

“I tried to channel at least the vibe of those, or how they made you feel, or the ride they took you on. Whatever it was because there’s just something about the experience of it, watching a movie at that age, if it’s a movie for you, you kind of feel it.”

Yep. Some movies sure do have a funny way of leaving a mark, don’t they?

3. Speaking of where it was filmed, you actually filmed in a building that’s used as an actual Spirit Halloween store in real life, right?

David confirmed that, yes, it was a real Spirit Halloween store in a small town in Georgia where they filmed the movie. He then went on to explain how the project got greenlit before they knew if Spirit Halloween would participate or not.

But then they did, and he said, “They came on board and really helped us, but without being heavy-handed or saying, ‘Oh we want this and this to happen.’ They were just really happy to see it come to life.”

They even helped them stock the store!

4. What was your favorite scene to act in/direct?

David said he was proud of two things. “I’m proud that we were able to stitch together this underground adventure that the boys take. That’s four of five real locations. It’s a real cave. There was no soundstages or anything. But I feel like that was a lot of fun. That kind of came together based on location opportunities we found.”

So if anyone was wondering if they filmed in a real cave, sure enough!

He said the second thing he was proud of was the finale. As he explained, “We had to shoot the entire ending in sequence in a day and a half.”

That’s a lot of work packed into a short time span!

Donovan said, “For me, my favorite scene was definitely the montage scene. ‘Cause there’s a scene where we’re all playing with the merchandise in the store and it was so fun to film because we had the swords that we were doing slow motion sword fights, and running around in shopping carts, and that was just really fun.”

Jaiden’s favorite moment was at the end of the movie and he didn’t want to give away any spoilers so he agreed with Donovan and said, “Montage scene. Definitely the montage scene.”

But what I found fun was when David added, “I think there’s this fantasy, I mean I certainly shared it channeling my 10-year-old self, to be in a store like that with no parents, no grown-ups, of course, you want to, like, you know, you’ve got all this crazy stuff you can take off the walls. You could run through the backrooms of the store. I think that is kind of just a universal fun idea, and that’s the montage they keep talking about.”

Which happens early on in the film, and yes. I do believe David is right. It is a universal fantasy and one they brought to life in the movie so we could experience it vicariously.

5. Which prop would you absolutely not want to come alive in real life?

I didn’t get to ask this question. Maybe if I hadn’t flubbed at the beginning of the interview and forgot to hit record, I would’ve had time. But I had to semi-start over, and I knew they were trying to keep to their press day schedule, so I cut the interview off when my allotted 15 minutes was up. But I would’ve loved to hear their answers to this! Instead, I’ll make it my check-in question.

Video of the Spirt Halloween Movie Chat

Check-In

What Halloween prop, be it one from a Spirit Halloween store, the movie, or even one you have in your house, would you absolutely not want getting possessed by a restless spirit and coming alive in real life?

My answer will always, always, always be Laughing Sal! Although, as far as Spirit Halloween: The Movie goes, that Nightcrawler animatronic? Nope. Uh uh. It’s not so scary as an animatronic, but crawling down in the cave after the kids?

Again. Nope. Uh uh. As a kid that would’ve haunted my dreams.