BEHIND THE LENS #512: Featuring Paul Boyd

BEHIND THE LENS #512: Featuring Paul Boyd

From Behind The Lens by debbie lynn elias

March 9, 2026 · 1h 12m

About this episode

Debbie Lynn Elias interviews writer/director Paul Boyd about his new film SCARED TO DEATH.

I love this week's BEHIND THE LENS, and my interview with writer/director PAUL BOYD talking about his new film SCARED TO DEATH. In this exclusive conversation, Paul dives deep into the making of his horror-comedy SCARED TO DEATH, a self-described "love letter to horror movies" that blends satire, absurdity, and genuine genre reverence. We explore the film's genesis and how the film uses a haunted-house movie-within-a-movie setup to examine belief, fear, masks people wear, and the absurdities of Hollywood itself. Paul details the personal inspirations behind the story (including buying a supposedly haunted house once owned by Charlie Chaplin), the joyful collaboration with his cast and crew, and the deliberate balance of scares, humor, and emotional undercurrents. As you'll hear, we break down the visual grammar and Paul's work with cinematographer Steven Poster, whose work all of you are well familiar with – DONNIE DARKO, SOUTHLAND TALES, LIFE STINKS, ROCKY V, NEXT OF KIN, REVENGE OF KITTY GALORE, and more, and how they developed a color palette, lenses used, dutching, angles, POV, etc. And how about Paul's work with editor Ed Shiers who just…

People in this episode

Guest: Paul Boyd

Topics covered

  • horror-comedy
  • film making
  • cinematography
  • editing
  • music scoring

Keywords

  • SCARED TO DEATH
  • Charlie Chaplin
  • Steven Poster
  • Ed Shiers
  • Misha Segal

Mentioned in this episode

Products: SCARED TO DEATH

Books & works: BEHIND THE LENS #, SCARED TO DEATH, NEXT OF KIN

Places: Hollywood, Altadena

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