[screams]
[laughs]
[screams]
[cackles]
[growls]
[screams]
As a researcher and collector of haunted artifacts,
I have encountered all different kinds of vintage automatons,
dolls, puppets,
but none more dark and powerful that this pair of antique marionettes.
During an investigation in California,
I was invited to a very prim and proper shop
specializing in vintage dolls.
Definitely not the kind of place
you would expect to find evil lurking behind a mask.
But a very malevolent force had taken root in this doll shop,
and it was spreading fear among the people who were working there.
The owner of this shop told me he was pushed down a flight of stairs
and after he was thrown down the stairs,
his body was lifted up as he was in pain on the floor
and carried and placed into the center of a different room.
There was another staff member
that told us that something was trying to push over a dresser on top of her,
and that something was trying to seriously hurt or even kill these people.
Now, they were sure that the darkness that pervaded the building
originated from these wooden marionettes.
I don't know if it's because they were used in puppet shows
and they were the villains in the puppet shows.
Within that, what was the experience that that puppet had?
-[man] Are you ... me right now? -[Zak] Are these the puppets?
And when I offered to take them back to my museum to study them,
they were very happy to see them go.
Uh, the first time that I physically touched these puppets,
I knew immediately
that they were not just inanimate blocks of carved wood.
They contain a very bad, very dark energy,
and people who make the mistake of looking into their eyes
often say they feel physically ill.
Now, I consulted a psychic who knew nothing of these reported effects,
and she gave me a dire warning.
"Do not look at them directly in the eyes."
That is how they draw energy from their victims.
And because these puppets date back to the 19th century,
it made me wonder how many people have been affected
by their dark energy over the years.
And what would happen if they were to truly gain a life of their own?
Now, these thoughts inspired the film you are about to see.
Tomato soup again.
I demand to speak to the chef.
Come on, Grandpa. It's time to eat.
[coughs]
[groans]
How are you feeling today, Grandpa?
I've had better days.
Go on, show me your stuff.
Very good, my boy.
You're getting better every day.
Well, I learned everything from you, Grandpa.
How's school?
Fine.
And that boy, Donny?
-Derek. -Derek, Derek.
Is he still bothering you?
Listen, Arthur.
You've got to fight back.
You've got to fight your own battles.
I hope that's what your mother and father
would say to you if they were here.
[machine beeping]
Ladies and gentlemen.
The most famous puppeteer alive,
Sigmund Werner and his marvelous marionettes.
The king will never submit to the threat.
You'll never control me.
I never agreed to this.
It's me you want, not him.
Leave him alone!
You can't make me do this.
You were sleepwalking, Grandpa.
Was I?
Arthur,
you must never go into the attic.
Never!
-[machine beeping] -[machine ventilating]
[woman] How are his vitals?
[man] No changes.
We've made your grandfather comfortable.
Is anyone else helping you with him?
We know this is a difficult time.
But you should call the hospice
and find out what arrangements have been made.
I'll come back tomorrow morning to check up on him.
Sigmund?
About 15, maybe 20 minutes ago.
[man on phone] Okay, your grandfather has a do not resuscitate order.
And we've been instructed by him to call your Aunt Lorraine.
We've left her a message, and we'll let you know the moment we hear from her.
Well...
What will I do until then?
You don't need to do anything. We don't need to remove the body immediately.
Spend time with your grandfather if you'd like.
It's going to be okay, Arthur.
We'll handle everything.
Okay.
Thank you.
[hangs up]
[distant laughter]
[laughing]
[electricity buzzing]
[buzzing intensifies]
[Arthur speaking] Arthur, you must go.
This place isn't safe.
Run. Run away.
Don't leave me, Grandpa.
You're the only one I have.
[grunts]
I'm all alone now.
Everyone is gone.
[thud]
[creaking]
[thud]
[soft clanging]
[male voice] Ladies and gentlemen.
The most famous puppeteer alive,
Sigmund Werner and his marvelous marionettes.
Below the neck...
They're all dead.
We're coming for you, Arthur.
[voice deepens] We're coming for you, Arthur.
[screams]
[panting]
What's the word, Arthur?
Not today, Derek.
Where are you going?
Hey, loser.
Gramps give you some cash?
How much?
-I've got nothing, man. -Empty your pockets,
or Toby here will do it for you.
Oh, are you going to cry?
You gonna run home to your mommy?
Oh, right.
Art can't even do that.
His old man went and killed her, didn't he?
Maybe if Daddy was a better driver, huh?
[shouts] Huh?
Now...
How about we empty those pockets?
Argh!
I'm going to get you, Arthur!
Let's get him.
[panting]
[thud]
[Arthur speaking] Empty your pockets, Arthur.
How about a taste of your own medicine, Derek?
Ow!
Stop it, Arthur!
Stop it!
Stop!
[laughing]
[screaming]
-[doorbell rings] -[knocking at door]
I'm coming.
[knocking at door]
[Derek] Arthur, where you at?
-Arthur! -[Toby] Let us in, Arthur.
[banging at door]
We know you're in there.
[Derek] Arthur!
Arthur!
I know you're in here.
We just want to finish what we started.
Yeah, man. We just want to have a little chat.
Dude, check this out.
Dude, this guy's a freak.
Look at this.
What's with all the dolls?
Maybe that's why Arthur's so messed up.
Yeah.
Oh, dude.
-Looks like we interrupted play time, huh? -[laughs]
You guys see Arthur anywhere?
-Oh. Hiding like a little baby? -[Toby laughs]
And he's looking for a beating.
What else are they saying, huh?
They say Arthur's too old to be playing with dolls.
Yeah, he is.
Maybe we should help him grow up a bit, huh?
-Yeah, come on. -[both laughing]
Come on!
-Stupid puppets. -Break my ...
You go get that puppet-loving freak.
Come out, come out wherever you are.
What the hell?
[grunts]
[groans]
Argh!
[groaning]
[screams]
[Toby] Found him!
-[laughing] -You're not gonna find your mommy down there.
Open up, Arthur!
That's not fair.
This is no way to treat your guests, Arthur.
Open up.
[voice laughing]
[voice cackles]
[distant laughter]
Holy ...
[laughing]
Dude, there's a dead guy in here.
We've been forced...
...to endure torture...
...from evil men.
What are you talking about?
Now...
[laughs maniacally]
It's our turn to inflict the same suffering!
[exclaiming in horror]
[laughing]
[both screaming]
[laughing]
[door opens]
[roars]
Come here!
[screaming]
Oh my God. [gasps]
[screams]
Fight back, Arthur.
Sigmund died trying to keep us hidden from the world!
We made him famous, and he locked us away!
[roars]
[breath trembling]
[Derek groans]
Argh!
[screams]
Please, please, please. I'm sorry. [groans] I'm sorry.
[glass jingling]
Help. Help me, help me!
[screaming]
[Arthur panting]
[wind blowing]
-[electrical buzzing] -[glass jingling]
[Derek screaming]
[straining]
[screaming continues]
-[electrical buzzing] -[wind blowing]
[ringing]
-[high-pitched ringing] -[electricity buzzing]
[wind blowing]
[screams]
[buzzing stops]
[panting slowly]
[doorbell rings]
Hello?
Arthur?
[Arthur humming]
[humming continues]
[breath trembling]
[hums shakily]
[screams]
[knocking]
[knocking quickens]
Hi, I'm Eli Roth.
Welcome to "Filmmaker 2 Filmmaker: The Haunted Museum."
I am here with the amazing director Roxy Shih.
Roxy, thank you so much for joining.
You know, you did some incredible episodes
from the last season of "Haunted Museum."
Very thankful and lucky that you came back to grace us with
your presence again.
It's an honor.
Let's talk about the, you know,
the horror last year was, was a different type of horror
that you directed in your other episodes.
Let's talk about these creepy, creepy puppets.
Ah, I loved, I loved
shooting this episode, it was so much fun,
like, literally, I just loved how everybody came to play ball.
What was it about this story, these puppets
this, this strange, strange story that you said,
"Oh my god. I'm really excited to tell this story"?
[sighs]
So the main character, Arthur is going through a very
momentous time of
grief and he's extremely isolated in a space that
doesn't feel like home.
So for me the space represents safety, right?
When you're growing up,
you're always looking for someplace safe and his
grandfather dies,
and that is his last tether to safety,
and the only thing that his grandfather really loves
was puppeteering and these puppets,
these iconic puppets that gave him his fame,
and so even though strange things were happening,
when you're in grief,
you're clinging onto something that reminds you of a place
you once felt safe in.
So, coming in from this perspective,
yeah, sure, you could say that puppets are creepy.
I don't see it that way.
I see it -- of them as an extension
of something you once loved.
So coming from that angle,
It really gave the character a lot of emotional depth
and stakes as well as to why he continues
to keep them around,
but in a way, Arthur's whole arc was
about reclaiming his power and not being weak.
Fight back, Arthur.
So you see that coming through and how he fights against it
and reclaims it.
The puppets had a lot to do with it as well.
I never think everything is black and white, even things
of great evil had an origin of love.
-Yes, someone, yeah. -You know?
Someone thinks they're right.
-Exactly. -Someone genuinely believed
-they were doing something good when they were doing it, yeah. -Absolutely.
-They're driven by their own sense of justice, -Yeah.
and so I feel like as filmmakers we have to honor that.
Of course. Well, then you're not being true
to the character or, or to the objects.
Exactly.
Talk about Arthur and casting.
What did you look for in that actor?
Because obviously, you know, we're shooting low budget,
we're shooting fast, we're shooting non-union,
and you still --
you're hinging the whole episode on this one actor.
What do you look for in an actor and,
and talk about getting the performance you got,
which was pretty incredible.
I think nowadays
I'm not looking for perfection at all.
I'm looking for a part of it, or even a part
of something that I truly believe.
Like do I believe that
he's somebody that's bullied a lot?
Hey loser.
Gramps give you some cash?
How much?
I got nothing, I --
Empty your pockets, or Toby here will do it for you.
He doesn't have to be perfect.
He doesn't have to know all his lines, right,
but as long as he's coming to me with an energy
that I'm just like he's tapping into something that's very real.
Even if it's just a sliver of that,
I know I can work with it.
In terms of directing,
I'm extremely straightforward.
I don't parent anybody.
I'm not soft with anybody.
I'm soft sometimes, depending on who it is.
Oh, you're a softy.
You're so sweet.
-Am I? -Yes, you are.
-You haven't seen me on -- -I haven't seen it,
but I guess there's another side of it, too?
Oh yeah, I'm ... crazy, yeah.
[laughing]
You are, too, though,
we're all kind of, kind of, you know.
Yeah, I have a rule
that on a movie you get to lose it once on set,
-because if you're too nice, -Oh, yes.
everyone starts to take advantage,
-Right. -and then I have one blow-up
for out of the eight or ten weeks.
Oh, you budget your blow-up?
I budget my blow-up,
-because if you scream every minute, -Yeah.
then no one's going to listen to you and it's exhausting,
-you gotta -- -You gotta BYB, you gotta budget your blow-up.
Yeah, you budget your blow-up,
-but you get one moment where you lose it, -Yeah.
but, you know, on a five or six to --
on a short shooting schedule, you ca -- you kind of can't.
-You just gotta -No.
you gotta keep your focus and keep everyone motivated.
Exactly, like, for me,
I feel like I am everyone, like I'm nobody without my people
and so I always appreciate different points of views
different perspectives as a filmmaker, yeah.
But you also have
to be the filter, going "bad idea." -I do, I do.
This is it, not personal this is --
-and this is what I want to do. -Yes.
That's why I'm doing it.
Your gut is everything, your gut, your intuition.
I used to deny it for so long and then,
now that I'm in my mid-30s,
I'm like, oh what's the point if I'm not listening to it?
Right.
'Cause I'm coming in with my experience
and what I love and what I connect with,
it doesn't --
you don't have to have superfluous direction,
be like, "Hey, go to the door faster."
-Yeah. -You know, "Oh, no, stop, do that again.
"One more time, softer. Let's do it serious, softer.
Okay, faster, a little bit louder."
Do I believe it? Do I believe it?
It doesn't matter unless you're watching the screen
and you're like I could work with that, I believe it.
Yes, and you have to sort of edit in real time as
-Edit in real time, oh yes. -you're doing it, in your head.
So let's talk about the scares and the gore.
Yes.
[moaning]
Dad.
We're coming for you, Arthur.
[squelching]
I'm a big fan of under the skin horror.
I don't like anything that's too in your face.
I think of everything as like an orgasm like, you know,
as a filmmaker you're bringing your audience to orgasm. -Yes, yes.
But, but it's like do you earn it, you know?
-Sometimes it's you don't, you don't get there, right? -Yes.
And then the audience was like, "Oh my god."
Body horror, right? -Yeah.
You're just like -- the audience is reacting to something,
you were leading them somewhere.
You don't give it to them, right?
So for me, it's always about --
What I love about horror is that it's a sensationalism.
It's an experience,
you actually have a hard time breathing,
you want to avert your eyes, you have a physical reaction.
So talk about filming, specifically, the puppet kills.
[screaming]
[laughing]
How was it?
What did you find?
-What was the most exciting, do you have a favorite death? -It was, ah!
-We had puppeteers. -Mm-hmm.
So getting to learn how they do their craft was also
very rewarding for me and seeing their capabilities,
how far they can go,
what they can do, how they can emulate emotion.
Ow, stop it, Arthur! Stop it! Stop!
I know we saw in Prague on "House the Marionette"
the other day, actually Barbara from Hostel worked in
the marionette theater.
It was like amazing the emotion that
they could get out of a marionette
-But they're wooden faces, -Yeah.
but the the emotion that comes through in there
and how they puppeteer,
it's amazing, and then so for me
a lot of the people who get possessed by the energy of
the puppets in the episode have to emulate the marionette,
you know, but -- and so, my --
When I was auditioning, I said,
"Do you have experience with body movement?
"Have you taken body movement training?
Are you comfortable?"
You know, like let me see what that looks like.
-Did you see them do it in the audition? -Yes.
So in the audition, I asked them I'm like,
"Hey, I'm going to ask you to do something crazy,
"and I just need you to lean in and trust yourself.
"Don't think about how goofy you're looking,
"it's not about that.
"Go as far as you can for me,
'cause I want to see how far you're willing to go,"
and, and the kids did it.
So in terms of like the puppets and the characters
and actors that get
possessed by that energy, it's being mirrored by that, which
elevates the scary factor.
Well, thank you so much Roxy.
-It's really really an amazing episode. -Thanks.
-I love your energy and creativity. -Thank you.
and just your passion that you bring to everything. -Thanks.
It really comes through in the work,
-Thank you, Eli. -So, thank you.
Where else can people find other work of yours?
Is there a website or Instagram, or what's
the one place people should look for anything Roxy Shih?
You can follow me on Instagram, instagram.com/roxishih
I have lots of stuff everywhere,
so you could go into the dark hole
of that and see what tickles your fancy.
-Awesome, thanks so much. -Yeah, thank you.