GUTS director Chris McInroy talks practical effects, office culture, and finding inspiration in Freaked

GUTS is the short story of Horace (Kirk C. Johnson), a guy at his office trying to fit in with his coworkers and get a promotion from his boss. Oh, and Horace's intestines are on the outside of his body. The film’s director, Chris McInroy, recently sat down with Hyperreal Film Club to share all of the bloody, gooey details of his off-kilter office comedy.

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Hyperreal Film Club (HFC): What corporate overlord hurt you in such a way to make you want to make a film like this? 

Chris McInroy (CM): Yeah, I have never really had an office job like that, in the cubicle world. But  I wrote it right when COVID hit and people were losing their jobs and getting pay cuts, but all the higher up people seem to be doing okay. I thought, I need to write something that really sticks it to that type of company culture. So, I ended up making the bosses bullies and other employees bullies to try to just get some revenge, I guess, for the little guy.

HFC: I remember during the pandemic just feeling awful for my friends in corporate jobs getting furloughed without notice and they were not told if they still had a job. The companies wouldn’t care and just keep you on the hook and then drop you. 

CM: You gotta rise up and take control. The whole thing (in GUTS) about wanting a promotion is just silly. I just wanted some kind of goal, for him to be able to become himself and figure out who he was. He almost becomes kind of like a weird superhero by the end.

HFC: I'd watch a whole film about this. This is kind of his origin story. Do you have any plans to make this into a feature?

CM: I think a feature version is possible. We thought about pitching it as a TV show for some kind of network where he goes on different adventures each week. Like, can you imagine him going on a beach vacation?

HFC: (Laughs) Yes, I love that idea.

CM: I think just to explore more adventures he could get in and problems he would run into. Having his guts on the outside can cause lots of issues. It's also funny when people don't really talk about it around him. He just exists in this world. I feel like he still has to be the only one. It's like a very, very, very, very rare disease.

HFC: He’s got this pretty obvious thing about him and it's pretty comical because he's also a pretty witty and fun guy. 

CM: Yeah, he's definitely an underdog that, you know, I think wants to be more normal. And that's why he does what he does. But then it ends up giving him all the confidence of somebody that he wasn't before.

HFC: He even says “I’m just like you!”

CM: Yeah, everything's on the inside now, except for this piece that's hanging out of my mouth.

HFC: The look of the film is a pretty glossy, polished and brightly lit film for such a dark subject matter. Can you talk a little bit about that?

CM: I like to play the horror comedies I make  more as dramas, or as things that are taken more seriously. I feel like most office themed movies are kind of lit pretty flatly and evenly and not very moody—unless it's like a night scene—and there's one little desk lamp. I just wanted to place it in that world where the things that are going on around them are so ridiculous. So we can really see the guts, you know, the red and all the blood and the goo really sticks out in those drab bluish tones.

HFC: With the way it’s lit, it feels like you're not really hiding much of anything as far as practical effects go. Can you tell me a little bit more about the practical effects that you used?

CM: We had a great special effects team that really nailed it. There was one issue: We were in this building that was normally used as a church. We took out all the pews and brought in our own cubicles, and they said, “Don't get anything on the carpet because they're carpet squares. And if you mess up one, they don't sell these anymore.” So we're like, oh my gosh, there's blood in like every scene of this movie. So in between takes we would have a piece of cardboard under his guts to just catch any drips. And when there was blood spraying or blood shooting in scenes, we ended up doing that in a studio and just kept it below the cubicles so you couldn't tell where we were. But all the wide shots were in the actual building. The break room was in a different area too. 

I think one of the ones (practical effects) that gets the biggest impact is when Sydney turns into his guts and then pulls her face away. That's the one that starts off the movie where it's like okay, this is going to be pretty fun. 

HCF: So in our email correspondence you said, “I'm sorry”, and you just kind of left it like that. What have the reactions been to this film so far to make you feel like: “Here's the film. I'm sorry.”

CM: I just want to say I'm sorry, in case you're eating lunch or whatever. There's some gross parts. I thought I should maybe give you more of a disclaimer. I just feel like I have to apologize sometimes. I don't know what their tastes are, how they're gonna take it. People are like, “Oh my god, this is the grossest thing ever.” Like shocked. Or like, “Oh my god, this is the grossest thing ever!” and excited. 

HCF: Do you have any, like body horror or practical effect heroes that kind of helped guide you along with this film? 

CM: I've always liked the practical effects of 80s movies, just because that's when I grew up like Evil Dead 2 and the transformation in American Werewolf in London. Freaked of course, you can see the poster behind me here. I love Freaked. The Fly has some great stuff, too. I'm into anything that's kind of over the top gross.

HFC: Do you have any advice for other creative people who are looking to make work along the vein of something like GUTS? 

CM: I think the biggest thing is you have to have time to prepare. Because you never know, really, if an effect will work on the day. You can test as much as you want in the studio and then show up to set and something could go wrong. So, you have to make sure you're prepared to pivot to a different way of shooting or having a plan if you need to cut it. 

Also, I think just watching tons of movies with practical effects. There's so many good accounts on Instagram, too. They have behind the scenes stuff. It's super inspiring just to see what people do. And there's a lot of good effects people in town and surrounding areas like San Antonio. A lot of them have been on that show, Face Off on SyFy. Like, “Oh, you were on that show, you're awesome. Let's work together.”

HFC: Can you tell me more about your team? Have you been working together for a while?

CM: It's interesting, it’s usually a whole new team because either they just aren't available, or I can't afford them anymore, or they've moved away. So this one, the main special effects artist, her name was Nora, and she was living in Waco at the time, and she was on Face Off as well. I met her through a different movie that I went on set to visit. Some friends of mine are making a movie. I just wanted to hang out for a bit and she was on the effects team and I talked to her and pitched it to her and then another effects person on that movie was overhearing us and was like, “Oh, I have a perfect mold I can make for guts.” So then those two kind of started to work together. And then a guy from San Antonio who was also on Face Off named Sergio came to help on the third day when there were a lot of effects. We needed more hands. But yeah, it was mostly Nora and I then Sergio, they came together like a huge, awesome team. It was great.

HFC: So you're opening for Blade this Friday, how did that come about?

CM: They scheduled it and sent me congratulations, “You're gonna play before Blade.”  And I was like, hell yes! People who are going to see Blade, you know, are okay with blood. So I feel like GUTS is going to be an okay pairing with Blade. And I think it's very smart by the Hyperreal Film Club to pair them together. I am a huge fan of The Gate, which Steven Dorff was a kid in that movie. So, I'm excited. There's a lot of blood and fun in Blade. And, you know, there's a lot of blood and fun in GUTS, so I feel like it'll play well. Also there’s a blood rave in both movies.

HFC: Both superheros could just pair up and get a condo in Florida together. There’s the sequel. Like Golden Girls, though. 

CM: Yeah, they're just watching TV. And we just watch them watch TV for two hours. And they go out on dates. Double dates.

HFC: Is there anything about this film that you wish people would notice or understand? 

CM: I don't usually have anything that I want people to take away from my stuff. I'm just here to have fun, entertain, and hopefully make people laugh and cringe. And I mean, it is kind of cool that a lot of the stuff I make is about an underdog overcoming obstacles and and you know, being all they can be. I just hope people enjoy what I make.

HFC: What did you want to be when you grew up? Were you very creative when you were younger? Is this very much like a streamline to where you want to be?

CM: I was pretty scared of horror movies until maybe like I was a teen, because I would always see the VHS covers and be like, “Man, that looks cool, but I'm too scared to watch it.” Back in the day with little video cameras, I would make stop motion videos by myself with little Star Wars guys and whatever kind of toys I had. I was always making stuff, and so far it's been pretty fun. I'm not getting paid to do it yet, but you know, that'll come maybe.

HFC: I hope that you continue to make more films like this or just more films that fulfill you creatively. Speaking of VHS covers, I have a film that I haven’t seen yet because the cover scares the shit out of me. Have you seen Dr. Giggles? 

CM: I can picture that one. That was a good one. The one that always got me was Monkey Shines. It was just one of those monkey toys but it looks so evil and dark everywhere. Yeah, that's a toy for kids. Why is it so scary?

HFC: So where’s this film going next?

CM: So GUTS finished its festival run. And it's just kind of having screenings here and there like this one. But we have a film on the festival circuit right now called We Forgot About the Zombies that played at Hotel Vegas a few months ago with Hyperreal Film Club. And then I just shot a new one a few weeks ago called We Joined a Cult. So that one is in post production right now. I also made a movie called We Summoned a Demon. I felt like I had to make a third one that had the “We” in the title. It's kind of like a quasi trilogy of “We” movies.

HFC: I’m excited to look back at your other work,  get grossed out, and laugh my ass off at the same time.