{"id":2127086,"date":"2025-10-31T15:11:55","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T15:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2127086"},"modified":"2025-10-31T15:11:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T15:11:55","slug":"napoleon-dynamite-star-jon-heder-really-loves-horror-movies-now-hes-starring-in-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/napoleon-dynamite-star-jon-heder-really-loves-horror-movies-now-hes-starring-in-them\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Napoleon Dynamite\u2019 star Jon Heder really loves horror movies. Now he\u2019s starring in them"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Jon Heder<\/a> is a horror buff.<\/p>\n

This becomes apparent just a few minutes into a Zoom call, when he cites the sixth film in the massive \u201cFriday the 13th\u201d franchise as his favorite.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a big fan of 1980s classics like \u201cThe Shining\u201d and \u201cThe Thing.\u201d He loves the \u201cchill factor\u201d of \u201cRosemary\u2019s Baby.\u201d And while he doesn\u2019t consider the 1993 film \u201cFire in the Sky\u201d to be horror, it\u2019s one he\u2019ll often recommend to people for a Halloween night watch.<\/p>\n

Over the years, he\u2019s watched a lot of horror movies. A few have really stuck with him. A lot more have wasted his time.<\/p>\n

But in pretty much all of them, the \u201cNapoleon Dynamite\u201d star known for his offbeat brand of comedy has had a similar mindset.<\/p>\n

\u201cRarely do I sit there thinking, \u2018Gosh, I gotta be in one of these.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, on this Wednesday morning, just a couple of days before Halloween, the actor is a little groggy because he\u2019s just woken up after doing a night shoot in Toronto, Canada, for an upcoming horror-comedy film called \u201cThe Big Kill.\u201d<\/p>\n

And this isn\u2019t even his first horror film.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s dabbled in scares on the big screen throughout his career. There\u2019s the character he voiced in the 2006 animated film \u201cMonster House,\u201d and the 2016 movie \u201cGhost Team\u201d \u2014 which he actually described as more of a \u201cbizarro\u201d genre than horror.<\/p>\n

But categorically, the movie he considers to be his first true horror effort is an indie film that was shot over 10 days in Provo, Utah, in a house just north of his alma mater, BYU.<\/p>\n

That film, \u201cI See the Demon,\u201d has been generating buzz this year. In March, it premiered at San Jose\u2019s Cinequest Film Festival; it won best screenplay and best feature film at Grimmfest in Manchester, England; and it was most recently an opening night feature at Provo\u2019s FilmQuest.<\/p>\n

The film will likely have a PG-13 rating and a domestic release in the near future, according to Salt Lake City-based director Jacob Lees Johnson.<\/p>\n

For Utah viewers, Heder probably won\u2019t be the only familiar face: \u201cI See the Demon\u201d also stars Mallory Everton<\/a>, an original member of the BYUtv sketch comedy show \u201cStudio C.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heder and Everton, who are both deeply entrenched in the world of comedy, chatted with the Deseret News about working on \u201cI See the Demon\u201d \u2014 and if the sci-fi\/horror\/psychological thriller marks a new direction in their careers.<\/p>\n

\u2018Napoleon Dynamite,\u2019 \u2018Studio C\u2019 stars team up for horror film<\/h3>\n

Everton\u2019s last two films were comedies \u2014 including a Monthy Python-esque Oregon Trail <\/a>adventure where her character had dysentery.<\/p>\n

So when she got the script for \u201cI See the Demon,\u201d the initial horror stemmed more from the idea of doing the film than the storyline itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, \u2018Are you aware that I have only done pretty much pretty zany comedy?\u2019\u201d she said with a laugh. \u201cI was really flattered, but also immediately scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Johnson, the director who studied film at BYU and had come to know Everton through the program, didn\u2019t hesitate in his decision \u2014 and actually believed Everton\u2019s comedy chops were crucial for the film.<\/p>\n

At the start of \u201cI See the Demon,\u201d a woman named Lucy (Alexis Zollicoffer, \u201cFreaky Tales\u201d) sees a strange object floating in the sky right before coming home to a surprise birthday party with her friends.<\/p>\n

As the party carries on, Lucy realizes she doesn\u2019t remember details about her day. Around her, unsettling moments unfold that only she seems to notice \u2014 and her friends are disarmingly quick to tell her there\u2019s nothing to worry about.<\/p>\n

The idea in bringing Everton and Heder onto this film, Johnson said, was to create a \u201cnatural believability between comedic and serious.\u201d The bulk of the film\u2019s 82-minute runtime centers on ensemble scenes at the birthday party, and to make that work \u2014 to make it seem like a real group of friends \u2014 Johnson needed some levity.<\/p>\n

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