Movies & TV / Columns

Jeff Daniel Phillips On Writing, Directing & Starring In New Film Cursed in Baja

October 19, 2024 | Posted by Bryan Kristopowitz

Image Credit: Anchor Bay Entertainment

The 411 Interview: Jeff Daniel Phillips

Image Credit: Jeff Daniel Phillips

Jeff Daniel Phillips is an actor, writer, and director who, according to his IMDB page, has been in the entertainment business since at least 1991. Phillips has appeared in such TV shows as Profiler (1997), Standoff (2006), Cavemen (2007), CSI: Miami (2010), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2015), and Westworld (2016), and in such movies as Elsewhere (2009), Convict (2009), Satanic Panic (2019) and the Rob Zombie movies Halloween II (2009), The Lords of Salem (2012), 31 (2016), 3 from Hell (2019), and The Munsters (2022). Phillips’ latest movie is the crime horror flick Cursed in Baja (Phillips also write the screenplay and directed), which is set to hit Video On Demand and select theaters October 29th, 2024. In this interview, Phillips talks with this writer about making Cursed in Baja, working as both director and star, and more.

Image Credit: Anchor Bay Entertainment

Bryan Kristopowitz: Why did you want Cursed in Baja to be your next feature film as a director?

Jeff Daniel Phillips: I was inspired after I spoke to a group of young filmmakers on how to go about making low-budget indie films. One thing I brought up was using the assets you already have; locations, actors, props, vehicles, etc. After this event I described to my producer friend how inspiring it was fielding questions and giving advice to the group, we both decided to make something ourselves centered on a farm in Baja we knew we could use and filming began a month later.

BK: How difficult was it to both star in and direct Cursed in Baja? Did you always intend to both direct and star in Cursed in Baja?

JDP: I’ve done it a lot over the years, mostly out of necessity. I know I’ll always show up to my sets (ha). Making the main character a “detective-type” makes it important for him to be reacting and listening to the situations he’s in with the others he’s with. I designed it to be more doable in filmmaking.

BK: How did you approach your character Pirelli?

JDP: He’s a collage of a few characters I’ve worked on in other scripts over the years. I wrote the script quickly because of the window of availability I had and the upcoming strike at the time. I had many of the character’s traits figured out to begin the process. Pirelli is an ex-soldier, ex-lawman, ex-junkie, and ex-con. He’s out in the real world trying to follow the straight and narrow but is lured back into a harmful cycle in trying to redeem himself and fix his past, his mistakes. A true tragic anti-hero.

Image Credit: Jeff Daniel Phillips

BK: Where was Cursed in Baja filmed?

JDP: Baja Mexico, the streets of Tijuana, Death Valley, homes and a ranch in the Los Angeles area. Again, I designed and wrote the script around locations I had access to because of our limited budget. We had to shoot locations in LA that would double for the existing Mexican footage we shot because it wasn’t possible to use certain actors in Baja. We needed to be clever and efficient with the budget we had.

BK: How did you cast Cursed in Baja?

JDP: Ninety percent of the actors I worked with I’ve been in productions with both on stage and on screen for the last three decades. Two of the actors were friends with people involved in the production. It was a true friends and family production.

BK: What was it like working with Barbara Crampton?

JDP: Barbara is a dear, sweet friend who is extremely supportive to the indie filmmaker and horror community. She’s a total pro and came in and nailed her performance knowing we only had the prison set for a very short time. It was so cool that she came onboard.

BK: How long did it take to make Cursed in Baja, from finishing the script to completing post-production?

JDP: We shot it in bits and pieces over 5 months whenever the availably of the cinematographer, actors and locations synched up; a day here, a couple days here, a few hours here. The same with the editing but more days in a row over six months.

BK: What was the hardest part of making Cursed in Baja for you as a director? As an actor? What was the easiest?

JDP: Sometimes the wait was the hardest but, all in all, I was extremely grateful for both my cast and crew’s generosity with their time and talent. I can never really complain about this aspect. I’m a very lucky filmmaker.

BK: How did you decide on the look of the creature? Is the creature a puppet or a “man-in-suit”?

JDP: I met Ted Haines our Monster designer on a commercial fifteen years ago where he put me in a block of ice, then later he designed my “Herman Munster” muscle suit for Rob Zombie’s The Munsters. I did his podcast and learned of his passion and knowledge for the classic horror monsters. He dug the idea of making a Chupacabra and jumped right in.

BK: What is your favorite scene in Cursed in Baja?

JDP: It would be unfair to pinpoint one scene. There are too many that I love and were surprised how cool they came together in the final edit; shots stolen on the streets of TJ, ad-libbed dialogue by the actual Mexican restaurant manager, Sasha’s monologue performance. Between the many happy accidents and the talent the cast and crew brought very day, there are just too many to choose from.

BK: Is directing something you intend to pursue more in the future?

JDP: I’ve been directing onstage, short films, music videos and another feature for decades. Whatever fall s into place I shift focus to. I just want to continue to create and, hopefully, the number of streaming platforms allows for more films in the future.

BK: What’s it like working with Rob Zombie, who you’ve worked with at least six times?

JDP: He’s the best. He’s a very inspiring, focused artist and has been a good friend to me in trusting and including me in his projects. He has a hand in every aspect of his films; the look, music, a design on a character’s t-shirt, everything. Most importantly for me is he knows the importance of an actor’s performance in his films and respects the actors in their efforts to deliver. I have been very fortunate to work on so many of his projects.

BK: Any moviemaking heroes?

JDP: As a kid it was Lon Chaney. I loved how he’d transform himself into each character, doing the FX make up himself. I even had a fishing tackle box my parents bought me to store all my FX make up, mustaches, scars, skin caps, to emulate my screen Idol’s FX box that I read he carried with him.

BK: Any upcoming projects you can tell us about?

JDP: I’ve been working on an upcoming series, Dexter: Original Sin, that I’m excited about but I cannot speak about my role.

BK: What do you hope audiences get out of Cursed in Baja?

JDP: Seeing how a group of friends pooled their talent together to make an ode to the B-Movie, Horror/Noir that’s entertaining and unpredictable.

BK: Any chance of further adventures of Pirelli in a Cursed in Baja 2?

JDP: Who knows? Let’s see where this film lands. There’s always ideas brewing in my head for more insane situations with Pirelli. Hope audiences enjoy the ride.