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(Oh, and Haley Joel Osment plays a townie who kisses their mother.)
Yet its not technically what I would call a horror-comedy.
Its almost like a Surrealist tragedy that just happens to be funny.
What were the influences for that tone?Bridey:I was just taking a gamble.
I knew it wasnt a horror-comedy,What We Do in the Shadowsor something.
Its not this big comedy thats also scary.
Bridey:The comedy is seeded in darkness and thats what makes it … [laughs] sad!
Its a lot of ego poking and prodding, especially for our dad.
Which I think is also indicative of our own relationships with comedy.
Dad does it; our grandfather did it.
Theres this sense that we really couldnt do anything else with our lives.
Abby:Not that were not allowed to.
Thats a kind of horror movie.Abby:Its a nightmare.
Bridey:And we cant wake up.
Abby:This morning.
And shes a circle!
And,Oooooh, I can play squee!
Their house is very cool and haunted in Connecticut.
Once it was set in the house, it was clear it was aLong Days Journey Into Night.
But with the Elliotts.
Abby:Yeah, Bridey came to us with the idea.
And we said, Okay, okay, well believe it when we see the script in our hands.
Bridey:Nobody believed it was gonna happen.
I didnt even believe it was, until the Kickstarter worked out.
Abby:We did a table read in our house with Bloody Marys.
It was,Oh, shit, I guess its gonna happen.
We know each others darkness because were a family.
Abby:That was a little insensitive at first.
She calls out, like, my getting lip injections, which Iveexperimentedwith in the past.
But for the most part, our family is self-aware, and we dont take ourselves that seriously.
Thats what my dad has been doing his whole career, making fun of himself.
Was making the film like family therapy for you guys?Bridey:Definitely.
Abby:Oh, yes.
It was very therapeutic.
The questions we get now are, So are you guys really like this?
I never even considered people would think this.
It can get dark.
And I think that regression occurs because none of us are distracted by a baby or something.
Abby:We use a six-pound Yorkie-poo for that.
Bridey:We use our pets.
It resonates with me, though.
Shes always been the caretaker, always been the butt of our jokes.
Bridey:I feel like thats universal.
Abby:Its pretty universal with moms around the globe.
Bridey:Other planets as well, Im sure.
Abby:Its an inebriated game we play.
Its the least complicated game you could imagine.
His first meeting with my parents was them shoving his head into an ice bucket.
Bridey:Ice bowl.
We should be clear.
Its not for a good cause.
Abby:Yeah, its just to sober us up.
And gives you a nice little face-lift.
I think parts of our relationship have been colored by the business.
It can warp friendships and your sense of self.
Do you feel that tension in real life?Abby:We all do different things, really.
Bridey and I do something different from my dad.
That became apparent when I started onSNL.
When we were little, wed put on plays and dress up in different characters.
There was no you play the girl kind of talk.
Our dad just told us we were funny.
Bridey:Growing up, I played hooky a lot from school.
So I really did become kind of friends with my parent at a certain age.
That lent to this.
The house was actually the Nut Museum.
Abby: Its likeGrey Gardens.
Abby:ItwaslikeGrey Gardens.
Bridey:You feel stuff, but its never aggressive.
Everything is haunted in Connecticut.
Did you find any nuts left over?Bridey:Oh, yeah.
When we first came in, there was an old coconut in the doorway.
Shes incredibly funny, but this is her first acting role on IMDb.
Was her skill a surprise to you?
What did surprise you about your family?Abby:I already knew mom had it in her.
Weve always known shes had this passion for acting.
She acted in plays in school.
[To Bridey] Your revealing yourself as a director was an awesome thing.
Taking control and having a vision.
Bridey:Aw, thanks.
Hes worked with Abby and her husband.
Abby:He did a movie with my husband Billy [Kennedy] calledSex Ed.
I asked him, and he said, I wanna do it.
This thing needs to happen, Lets do it.
It gave her a swagger after it happened.
Abby:I couldnt seeKingpineither.
Essentially the Farrelly brothers were banned for the children in your home.Bridey and Abby:Yes.
Bridey:I just realized something as I was talking.
I was really scared of movie theaters growing up, so much anxiety.
Being in a roomful of strangers terrified me.
To compensate, I would rent and watch a lot of horror movies.
And I think that kind of played into our education.
Abby:You have always been super into film.
Working with your dad has to be really … weird?
And there wasnt any tension with me directing him.
All of us have similar buttons.
House Hunters International?Abby:Alotof Chip and Joanna.
This movie is all about getting stuck and regressing into the familial roles that you were born into.
If you dont become conscious of them, they kind of run your life.
Maybe people dont see that.
Maybe they just see that I put my famous family into a movie I made.
Abby:[To Bridey] Well, those people dont matter.
Because they dont get it.
Bridey:Thank you.
