The Wizard of Oz will stand as one of the greatest, beloved, and most iconic movies ever made. A movie watched by millions, loved by all ages and a necessary staple for all childhood and personal cinema histories. Telling one of the greatest, most beloved stories ever told on camera. A fantasy based battle of good and evil with witches, munchkins and falling houses and by logical standards, stationary objects and creatures that shouldn’t talk.
A film regarded as a family classic though many have acknowledged its darker elements, broad-base regarded as a kid’s movie and all-age appropriate. Though some have said the flying monkees and witch scared them and/or scarred their childhood.
The tale of Dorothy Gale was retold in even darker fashion many decades later with a noticeably younger actress returning to Oz for a more haunting adventure and battle with a seriously creepy princess, wheelers and the Nome King. Whether you saw it in the theater or on TV/VHS/DVD/ETC, a headless Mombi and her collection of cranial curiosities scared and/or traumatized a few young innocent minds.
British filmmaker Daniel Alexander remembers both films avidly, enjoying the original while remembering the return. He wants to bring both experiences to the indie screen with his version of the next chapter.
He originally released Gale: Stay Away From Oz, a creepy trailer giving Oz a more horror movie vibe showing a twilight years Dorothy warning her granddaughter not to travel down the golden path. The most chilling part of the preview shows the elderly Dorothy repeating “stay away from us” morphing into a possessed “Stay away from Oz!” Recently he released a cinematic short, almost 30 minutes long, on the Chilling App, adding to the story giving plot elements and showcasing Mombi modern day. He will follow it with a feature film, bringing a different kind of horror and haunt to viewers.
According to Alexander, he’s a hardcore ‘80s style, nostalgia, fantasy film guy. “There are so many films I bundled into the nostalgic memories I have. The Wizard of Oz is definitely one of those things.” It left a lifetime impression.
The books gave him the inspiration for the films. “I’m not super well-versed in the books but there are definitely elements that started the inspiration. It’s what I’m delving into for the feature film.”
In the books Dorothy goes back several times, treating it more like home, not just cinematically once. There are more characters in the books, whether Alexander introduces movie viewers only to new characters readers already know will be determined. For those who’ve only seen the movies he’d describe his vision as, “I would say someone taking the journey who suffered a lot of childhood trauma.“ He’s showing a much older, broken down Dorothy shell-shocked by her supernatural experiences but told they weren’t real. “It was all in your head. Your reality isn’t real.”
The books are darker for anyone curious after watching the trailer and short.
The story tells what that looks like later in life, making it identifiable. “What does the trauma look like in our twilight years? That’s what I wanted to delve into, the horror, not just in the context of the movies and books but the horror of a life trapped where you believe everything is real and told it isn’t.”
It’s already being called an indie sequel to Return to Oz. “Even with the short film, people feel it’s a natural progression from Return to Oz.” Maybe not totally intentional but he’d be happy if people identified it as that.
For the first time on camera he’s merged characters of both films into one place, with a senior Dorothy and villains from the sequel. “That’s how I think Dorothy experienced Oz.” Things lapsed over in the books. “It’s a case especially when you’re not sure what’s real and what’s not. Like a dream.”
Alexander says Return to Oz was super dark, “It’s weird; it still stands up today.” He like many others thought it was too dark for its target audience. “Yeah, this is not for kids. Maybe we were made of different stuff back in the day.”
The Nome King is mentioned in the short but Alexander won’t budge on plot details. “Oh that’s a secret. It’s gonna be a very interesting approach.” Though he does say he wants the effect to be real, practical and grounded but with fantastical elements. An actor will be used, though it’d be cool to see some vintage Claymation. Whether we see the relic gallery again is another question to be answered.
The short films out now on the Chilling APP, to introduce people into the world they’re delivering. Preproduction is starting and they’re getting the ‘Wheeler’ wheels in motion.
Everyone favorite multi-minded witch, Mombi has a large presence in the short. “A lot has happened since the last movie. She’s been trying to break free of her earthbound bondage and return to The Emerald City she remembers. She’s been trapped here without the means to go back and forth to Oz like she’s done before. The short looks at the pursuit of what will happen when she’s set free and able to go back to her reign of terror and how that looks modern day. She has years and years of pent up rage and anger to get out.”
In the short she’s young, looking younger than her appearance in the last movie. “There’s a lot of things that will be answered in the feature film. In the short it’s easy to say let me throw in every detail and answer every question.” He wants people to ask questions that will be answered in the movie. “I wanted to give people a taste of this world and an idea of the tone of the movie.” A lot of timeline questions will be answered pretty quickly in the movie.
He uses silver slippers in the short as there might be copyright issues with the red ones. “I believe it’s an MGM thing, I want to use silver slippers and be authentic to the books. That was very conscious and specific from the beginning. Even before filming, I said this is where I want to go with it.”
The short shows a different version of the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Lion. “I don’t want to go down a typical horror route with loads of jump scares and slasher gore. I don’t want to stray too far from the source as we know them but they will appear in different states due to lifestyle and conditions they’ve been subjected to for a long period of time.”
There’s also a chance the Deadly Desert will make a cameo.
Dorothy’s diary is a cool, unique prop that might be the closest Oz and The Evil Dead have come together on screen. “We wanted the book to feel like it’s a central device in the film. I wanted it to feel like there are so many secrets inside it that we’re not even privy too. I want the audience to have hints. If you saw it in real life, it feels even better than it looks on screen.”
It’s filled with gems and hidden secrets to story aspects and where the film goes. It’s very cryptic. I can’t wait to show people more.” Then again, we all know what happens when someone finds, opens, reads aloud something from a mysterious book on screen.
This Oz will be more explored, with areas never seen before. “I’m trying to do something new but not trying to create a world that didn’t exist prior.”
He wants to show different sides of familiar places. “I want to explore more, push beyond some things we’ve already seen. Not necessarily change them but reveal new areas. A different side to some of the places we’ve seen before.” We might get an idea of how big Oz is or if and in what condition the Emerald City is in.
He had major spell-casting inspiration, “Witchcraft was one of the big inspirations of the story I want to tell. I felt like with Oz , the witchcraft element was not always pressed upon. The deeper darker side of witchcraft can be in various forms. There should be some cool surprises for people.”
He wants to see Wicked and see the difference in perspective and storytelling. “I want to see it in all its glory.” He tried to stay away from as much influence as possible while in the creation stage. Now that it’s ready to go, he’s open to all inspiration.
When he first heard the urban myth of the munchkin hanging from the tree he was curious to know the truth. YouTube has several videos showing the scene on numerous released versions, debunked as a crane spreading its wings, though other arguments, conspiracy theories say it really happened and the original footage was altered. “It’s just another element of the lore and fascination the movie still carries.”
He’s exploring new territory while being faithful to the original narrative. “It’s always a bit scary. People don’t like it when you’re messing with a classic. The classics can’t be messed with.” He wants the story to continue living and experiencing another Return to Oz as an adult. “That’s the story I want to tell.”
On Dorothy’s age difference in both movies, and being younger in the sequel. “I guess that’s the beauty of film, you get poetic license to ask people to forget things that are obviously correct essentially.”
He says, for a large part of the movie, Mombi keeps her head. “The scene with the heads was horrible, just seeing that kind of horror, knowing the storyline. These are people that have been decapitated and she’s got a collection going. That was quite creepy. I wanna recreate that feeling as well.”
He was a ‘80s baby and has definitely put in massive screen time watching the original. The reveal of the Wizard was his favorite part. “It was one of the early times I started to understand the message in a film, you had these things all along. For me it was a clever way to give a message for life.”
He says his favorite scene from the sequel was the appearance of The Wheelers. “That was creepy. I love horror in that way. I’m not trying to jump out and scare you. I’m presenting something off, a bit different. It’s reality but it’s not. It’s warping the way you see the world.”
There’s a lot of explaining to do with Mombi, given the name reeks of creepiness, but that’s the beauty of witchcraft, Alexander says. Many films exploring witchcraft address aging, de-aging and disguise as a common topic.
In the short we’re told Mombi has two ways back to Oz, the slippers and another. “I can’t tell you that! I will say in the short film I’ve laid a few clues that are so hidden I don’t know if people will see them, find them or make sense of them. A lot to what direction will happen.”
Preproduction is imminent. There’s a few people they really want to be involved. They’re crossing T’s trying to make things work. He hopes the film will entertain, excite and thrill everyone from hardcore fans to casual. “It would be an absolute dream to work with Fairuza Balk, fingers crossed, we’ll see what happens?” It would be a career full circle as Oz was one of her earliest roles.
There’s gonna be wheelers, will there be munchkins? “Not at the moment,” he says grinning, “But who knows by the time we start filming.”
He won’t rule out a movie novelization but right now he just wants to make the movie he envisions continuing Oz in an authentic pleasing and enjoyable way while staying faithful to source material.
There’s always gonna be a retelling, re-spins and remakes but he wants to show the Land of Oz in a new way that makes people appreciate it in new ways.
Alexander refers to Dorothy’s experiences as super natural trauma. “When you break it down, what she’s experiencing isn’t natural, it’s supernatural. Its witchcraft, dark spells and crazy creatures from another place. It would have its effects on anyone especially a young child.”
It will be the opening of a much wider world but contained in one movie. “Reintroducing the Oz I remember and the books with the scope for so many stories to happen. It’s the universe of Oz.”
Return to Oz was largely filmed in the UK as well. Alexander says it would be nice to pay homage to that.” He also has some locations in America he’d like to use.
While not publically released yet, the feature will have a different title. The movie will explore the effects of physiological horror and things that worked in the teaser, though he won’t rule out a jump scare or two. “The horror is more reminiscent in the way delivered in Return to Oz and what we’re experiencing is quite dark and very off key. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
For the short film, people can download the Chilling app. Personally I’m all over Instagram on Daniel Alexander films.
Alexander started the Ozmosis with the Gale trailer, followed by the Chilling cinema short. In due time we’ll find out where he takes the yellow brick road; maybe the dark side of the moon.
