Come to Daddy marks the highly-anticipated directorial debut of one Ant Timpson, the Kiwi super-producer responsible for some of our favorite horror movies, from The Greasy Strangler to Turbo Kid and Deathgasm. To say there’s a lot of pressure for Timpson to deliver would be a massive understatement but thankfully Come to Daddy is as wonderfully weird as everything he’s put his stamp on thus far.
Gifting Elijah Wood one of the slimy weirdo roles he should really get to play more often, the flick sees his L.A. hipster, Norval, reuniting with his estranged father in an idyllic, yet frighteningly isolated, seaside home. Dripping with dread and unease, the film seems to be heading in one very specific direction before taking a sharp left and becoming something entirely different. Also, the incomparable Michael Smiley shows up as a bewigged crim named Jethro.
Related: Come to Daddy [Frightfest 2019 Review]
Come to Daddy is anchored by Wood’s solidly terrified performance as Norval, a man who probably should’ve given up his dreams of being a DJ and having a mustache long ago. It’s a well-considered study of entitlement, arrested development, and strained familial bonds that’s loaded with twists, turns, and surprisingly dark laughs. Come to Daddy is a major calling card for Timpson as a filmmaker in his own right.
The Frightfest synopsis for the flick emphasizes why it was chosen to open the festival this year:
An urban hipster faces major daddy issues in a coastal Oregon town in a deliciously edgy stunner. 30-something Norval (a career best performance by Elijah Wood) receives a surprise invitation to visit his estranged father’s remote cliff house. Nervous and desperate to impress his uncaring dad, Norval stretches the truth about his life until finally his father’s growing animosity reaches a dark fever pitch. From here on, all genre-blending bets are off as this downright hilarious, inventively gross, shocking-to-the-extreme adventure with plenty of twists, turns and lots of creative weaponry moves smartly towards its most uncompromising and unexpected finale.
Come to Daddy is the directorial debut of Timpson, who co-wrote the script with Toby Harvard, who also co-wrote Strangler. Wood stars alongside Smiley, Stephen McHattie, and Martin Donovan.
See Also: Actor Michael Smiley Talks Come to Daddy [Frightfest 2019 Interview]
Wicked Horror caught up with Timpson at Frightfest 2019 to discuss his unsurprisingly brilliant directorial debut. Check it out below.
Interview conducted by: Joey Keogh
Camera: Richard Waters
Editing: Richard Waters
