Cineverse's Portal to Hell revolves around a portal that appears inside a laundromat, pushing the man who discovers it into a high-stakes scheme to save his neighbour from eternal damnation.
Trey Holland (Battleship) leads a cast that includes Romina D'ugo (12 Monkeys), Keith David (The Thing), Richard Kind (Only Murders in the Building), and Michael McDonald (Scrubs). The film is written and directed by Woody Bess, and it currently holds a 90% score on Rotten Tomatoes (the movie is now available on Digital and Video on Demand and in select theaters).
What do you get when you combine an ambitious indie filmmaker, a script about a portal to Hell, a couple of legendary actors, and a demon that's almost entirely practical? The answer is Portal to Hell, a horror-comedy that proves you don't need a massive Hollywood budget to have plenty of fun with the genre.
For Holland, the movie was about much more than simply stepping in front of the camera. For McDonald, meanwhile, the project offered a chance to return to a genre he's loved since the beginning of his career while playing a character audiences aren't necessarily used to seeing him portray.
We caught up with Holland and McDonald to discuss the making of Portal to Hell, bringing its practical demon to life, the realities of independent filmmaking, working with Richard Kind and Keith David, finding the balance between scares and laughs, and why sometimes the best horror comes with a healthy dose of comedy. McDonald also ponders the possibility of returning to Scrubs.
Check out both interviews in full below.
As well as starring in this one, you’re producing it as well. So I’d love to know what it was that drew you to the project and how involved you were in just bringing it to the screen as we see it.
Yeah, Woody sent me the first draft of this script, I think in 2021 actually, so it’s been a process for a long time from page to screen. He sent it to me and was like, 'Hey, I think we can production design the hell out of my apartment and just start shooting,' and that’s kind of what we did. And we shot a bunch of stuff in the apartment for like a teaser and we would take that out to other talent and just kind of shoot in blocks until we got it done. So from finding the cast to securing dates and rentals and all that kind of stuff, it was kind of just like… we both wore so many hats.
I think you're playing one of those great characters who’s just so in over his head in the situation he finds himself in. How much fun is it for you as an actor to tackle a role like this one?
Oh, it’s a ton of fun. To be honest, Woody is such a good writer, and the blueprint is right there on the page for him. But it is pretty fun. I think horror kind of lends itself to the absurdity of all this kind of crazy stuff happening around, which is fun, but it can also be challenging because every scene is like massive stakes—what you’re talking about, you know, death and, in Dunn’s case, no spoilers, but maybe the end of the world, who knows. So it’s kind of like… but that’s so funny to just try to play it as straight as possible. I imagine that there are these portals that pop up all over the place, kind of thing. Because the portal is kind of like a symbol of all this stuff that we’re all dealing with in our lives on a day-to-day basis.
One of the most surreal moments I would imagine for you on set is when you were sharing the screen with a demon singing together, you know, obviously voiced by Richard Kind as well. What was that like for you?
I love that day. That day was so fun because obviously that’s not Richard in the suit. That’s a fantastic creature actor but also a fantastic actor. His name is Trevor Newlin. He was the Xenomorph in Alien: Romulus; he was the creature in Smile 2; he was Mr. Handsome in Superman. So it’s one of those things where in my head it’s kind of like, okay, we’ve got to do this scene and I know eventually Rich is going to voice the demon, so what does that allow Trevor to do? But Trevor just absolutely crushed that scene because it’s stuff you don’t really think about, but the movement of the demon lends life to the suit. And then later, to be in New York while Rich was voicing that scene and him using Trevor’s movement to act the scene and voice the character… Trevor gave him this amazing work that he could use. So just to see Rich in the booth moving around as Trevor was on the day, it was really cool. And then because that was our VFX supervisor… that was one of the only days they were there, and they were like, 'Do you want him to piss fire?' And we were like, 'Yeah, we do. Absolutely.'
It is such an awesome creature design. I can only imagine how blown away you were seeing that go from maybe concept art to standing there on set with your co-star.
Yeah, it was cool because the alley goes this way, but then there’s the reverse… you can see it around the other way and there’s this building back there and behind there is where we had our little… we didn’t have all the trailers. We had one little camper RV. So that’s where Trevor got ready, and I remember him coming around the corner and just seeing that in full form. It was pretty awesome. And the creature is like 95% practical. It’s just seams and stuff like that, which is VFX. The mask moved a little bit, but Woody actually carved the mask. He moulded that because we got absurd quotes back for that, and he just set out to do it on his own based on the concept art and just absolutely crushed it.
Talking about Richard, obviously Keith David as well—you’ve got a couple of pretty iconic actors there you’re working with. What did it mean to you to get to work with them?
They’re both at the top top level and just to be able to share the screen and even just the moments in between… just absorb everything. Those guys have such a wealth of knowledge and experience and Woody and I both were just soaking that up. Just being able to be in a scene with both of those guys was an incredible experience. And it all happened so fast and then you’re just kind of trying to be the character as well, but every now and then after a take you pinch yourself and you’re like, 'Damn, that’s crazy.' So I was so fortunate and we were so fortunate too because not only are those guys amazing talents, but they’re such good people. They really care and they just brought such an awesome energy to the days that they were there and it was incredible.
We made do with what we… we still tried to give them the best that we could. For most of Keith’s stuff he was in an apartment complex where we were at. And so we worked with the manager of the apartments and there was a vacant one so we kind of decked it all out so it was like his trailer. And then at the laundromat we rented this same long RV which became like our production vehicle slash trailer if we needed it. But with Richard we didn’t have any of that. We were shooting in this diner-bar thing and during lunch he was just curled up in a booth passed out. He’s a funny one too because we wanted to get him a car and everything. He was like, 'I’m going to take the train.' We tried to make him as comfortable as possible, but he’s so used to theater and just being there. Once he’s there, he’s like, 'I’m here. I’m ready to have fun.'
When you’re working obviously with a lower budget and this kind of indie level, was there anything particularly challenging for you or maybe more memorable to film by having to get creative and do something you can’t do when you’ve got a massive superhero movie budget?
Yeah. Sometimes that can be a deterrent because I never thought about like, 'Man, this would be so much better if we had more money.' The only time I really had that inclination was in post really, where you’re like, 'I’d like more VFX or whatever it is.' But on the day, Woody was so meticulous with the shot list and everything. So everything was very calculated down to just getting everything we needed. When we had Keith or Richard or even McDonald or Casey or Ryan, we shot all their stuff first and then made sure we had their stuff. It’s just working strategically like that. So I never really had the thought of… I mean obviously in the back of your mind it’d be a lot cooler if I wasn’t handling this right now, but at the same time it was like I don’t think I’ll ever be able to be that involved again in every single aspect from the ground up. So it’s one of those things where you just have to enjoy the experience and you learn so much from doing different things. But yeah, it was a challenge, but it was also super rewarding.
I know you’ve done horror movies before, but I’d love to know what it was about Portal to Hell that brought you back to the genre for this very fun role that you have in the film.
You’re right. I’ve always… I started in horror, actually, in old Roger Corman movies. So I’ve always had an affinity for it. I just thought the script was really funny and weird and original.
It’s a small role, but I think it’s a very pivotal role, particularly for Trey Holland’s character. So how did they sell you on coming on board to star in the film?
It happened so fast. My agent said, 'Would you be interested in doing this thing? It looks kind of interesting.' And I read it. It was… I think it all took place in about a day of like, 'Yeah, definitely I’ll do this.' And then I didn’t hear from them for a while. And it was shot… I think due to the independent nature of the movie, it was shot… I think they can answer this probably better than I… but it sort of… I almost forgot about it. I had a really good time shooting it, and then I just forgot about it, and I think it took them a while to get it all done for all the reasons that independent movies are so challenging to make. And now here we are. Hopefully now people get to see it.
This is a very important film for Trey as well. He’s a producer on the movie, and he’s got a few acting credits to his name compared to your very long list in comparison, but how did you like working with him? Did you mentor him a little bit?
They didn’t ask for any advice, and I didn’t need to give him any. I was not holding my tongue. It’s a bunch of young people that were doing it but they also… me and Richard Kind and Keith David were obviously all a little older and a little more experienced, but it was a very seamless melding of newbies and vets.
David is a very intimidating character. So what did you enjoy about inhabiting him for those couple of scenes and kind of having this presence of this nasty kind of guy?
Well, that was the other reason why I took the project on. Nobody thinks of me in that way, really. Although I guess a couple of times, like in The Heat, that was another movie where I got to play like the bad guy. I don’t know… most people, I think, think of me as sort of the weird goofball comedy guy. So anytime you get to… any actor will tell you the same thing, which is if you get to do something different you got to jump at it.
You have done a lot of comedy where timing is obviously so important. Do you find that that translates into horror, getting that timing right just in a different way?
I completely think that horror and comedy are like a sliver away from each other. And I also find that most horror fans also really like comedy. And it seems like… well, you know, like I was in Halloween Kills as well, and it was sort of the same thing in that the people that make horror are often quite funny people, and I found the guys on this movie to be in that stripe.
What was the atmosphere like on set? Were you able to, with the cast and crew, keep it light between takes given that your scene in particular gets pretty dark and pretty violent?
Yeah. You have to, at least for me… my personal… not like I have a big process, but I kind of feel like when you’re doing something that’s intense… well, for starters, when it’s violent, and there’s a lot of physical violence between the actors, you have to have trust. And so for me that also means having a rapport as professionals.
Going back to your background in comedy, do you think that maybe makes you a little bit more comfortable when a horror scene like this one calls for you to do something a little bit more absurd or unexpected? You’re not maybe as conscious as some actors might be to, you know, be thrown into a portal to hell as we see in this film.
Yeah. I think you just have to be. I mean, I think most actors are game to do things, but I certainly don’t have any sense of shame or limits really when it comes to something on camera. So I liked that my particular scenes went in the direction that they were written to go into because… yeah, I guess a lifetime of shamelessness.
David has a real issue with the main character and the fact he’s chasing him for this medical debt. So having that almost little bit of topical side to it, was that something that kind of interested you and to get into the head of this character and why he comes for that confrontation in the laundromat?
I mean I just liked that… I like the pivotal… and you’re right. It’s a very small part, but it does have a weird turn to it, and that’s the part I liked about it. I suppose yes, medical debt is an issue for people in the world, but I think that’s just a sign of some perceptive writing. It didn’t really matter to me as much as the pivotal nature of the part for what comes before and after.
When you saw the portal to hell for the first time, what was that like on set? Obviously, there's the movie magic afterwards with the VFX, but what was it like for you to see that on set in that laundromat setting?
Honestly, there’s not that much of fancy CGI, you know, whatever you’re calling these things these days. It was kind of a little old school, a little practical and… there was a little bit of camera work obviously and editorial stuff, but it was kind of old school, which I liked. Frankly, the whole movie… I mean, it doesn’t have a billion special effects, which I think is… what makes a lot of horror movies with bigger budgets and all this stuff sometimes feel a little flat to me. And that’s what I liked about this is it’s very low-fi.
I know you had a few roles in Scrubs back in the day, one of my favourite shows, and it’s come back now for a revival. So could we ever see you back in the series?
It was one of my favourite jobs. We’ll see. I don’t know. I’m still in touch with all of them, but they’ve got a lot of mouths to feed whenever you’re booting up a new… because it’s sort of a mixture of an old show and a new show. But if they called, I would say yes.
Portal to Hell is now available on Digital and Video on Demand and in select theaters.