The Big Picture

“Krazy House” is described as a ’90s sitcom that goes mental. The cast members were drawn to the unpredictable and strange nature of the script. The script of the film closely resembles the finished product, but seeing it come to life on set was a mind-blowing experience.

Celebrating the world premiere of his new horror comedy, Krazy House, at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, writer and director Steffen Haars dropped by the Collider Studio, sponsored by Film.io, to talk with Editor-in-Chief Steve Weintraub about the unhinged premise of his fifth feature film with co-writer and director, Flip Van der Kuil. The Dutch duo were inspired by the idyllic family units on shows like Full House and Family Ties, with their bite-size, easy-to-solve dilemmas, but they wondered what would happen if you threw a violent, bloody wrench into that beloved formula.

Starting out just like one of those happy-go-lucky ‘90s sitcoms, with a live audience laugh track and all, Krazy House eases viewers into the zany home of the Christian family. Devout housemaker, Bernie Christan (Nick Frost) is a clumsy goofball who means well, but when he’s prepping to celebrate Easter with his wife, Eva (Alicia Silverstone), and their two kids, Sarah (Gaite Jansen) and Adam (Walt Klink), he somehow manages to break the faucet off the sink. (Oh, Bernie!) To get the house back in tip-top shape, Bernie enlists the help of a trio of Russian handymen. When the handymen turn out to be wanted criminals with nefarious intentions, Bernie must snap out of his safe headspace to save his loved ones, but will Bernie snap for good?

Check out the full conversation with the Krazy House crew in the video above to find out how the cast got involved with this wild script, how they designed the Krazy House theme song, and what scenes they were most anticipating filming. Silverstone shares which scandalous scene from the directing duo’s previous film, Ron Goossens, Low Budget Stuntman, was just off the wall enough to convince her to FaceTime for the part, which of her films she wants more people to check out, what it was like reuniting with Benicio Del Toro for Netflix’s Reptile, and more. You can also read the full transcript below.

Krazy House Set in the 1990s, Krazy House follows religious homemaker Bernie and his sitcom family. When Russian workers in Bernie’s house turn out to be wanted criminals, Bernie has to man up and save his imprisoned family, while slowly going crazy. Release Date February 29, 2024 Director Steffen Haars , Flip van der Kuil Runtime 90 minutes Main Genre Comedy Writers Steffen Haars , Flip van der Kuil

COLLIDER: Your film is pretty crazy. I’m gonna start with that, and I’m gonna say I love watching things where I really don’t know what is gonna happen in the next scene. How have you actually been describing this to people?

STEFFEN HAARS: I just keep it really simple: it’s a ‘90s sitcom that really just goes mental.

That’s 100% true. It’s like you threw a bomb on the set of Full House.

SAARS: Yeah, literally.

WALT KLINK: They literally did that, yeah.

The ‘Krazy House’ Crew Destroyed Their Entire Set
Image via Sundance 

The film starts like a sitcom, but by the end, and I’m not spoiling when I say this, the sets get pretty messed up. Did you film this in order?

HAARS: Yes. We shot in sequence, and it was because of that, because we built the whole sitcom set, and slowly it gets destroyed. So it was really sad when the set was torn down. It was like losing a house. It was really really hard for us. [Laughs]

I definitely wanna ask the cast, I’m sure you guys have read a bunch of scripts. What was it actually like reading this script? How much did your agent or someone tell you about it and how much were you discovering on the page, “What the hell is this movie and where is it going?”

ALICIA SILVERSTONE: Well, my agent called and said, “You’ve got to read this script. It’s crazy.” I think he said, “It’s fucking crazy, and you’re going to love it.” And so I read it really fast and I really enjoyed the script. I mean, you just can’t stop turning the page and you have no idea what’s going to happen, and it’s just so weird and so interesting. I loved the part. Then I saw their film. Flip [Van der Kuil] and Steffen made a film called Ron Goossens, Low Budget Stuntman, which I thought was really good, and his brother is fantastic in it. It was just really interesting, and so warped, their brains. There’s this one part of that movie where — this is my favorite part, but it’s really bad — the guy, he catches his wife having sex with some stranger or some guy from the bar…

Image via Photagonist at the Collider Media Studio

HAARS: A friend.

SILVERSTONE: A friend, and he’s taking her from behind, and then he stops for a second and then he just slowly continues as he’s standing there. [Laughs] He has no respect for him at all. And that was very interesting. So, I’m like, “Who are these people?” Then I met them on FaceTime and they were so cute and so adorable and lovely, and I just wanted to come play with them. So, here we are.

That is so not the answer I expected in any way, shape, or form, and I love it. I absolutely love it because that’s also so representative of this film. I watch a lot of movies and I truly didn’t know what the next scene was gonna be when I was watching this, which is great. So for the two of you, what was it like reading the script and your reaction to it?

GAITE JENSEN: It’s such a trip. It’s such a cool trip, and knowing Steffen and Flip’s prior work that they did before this, I have a lot of respect and happiness for them, meaning like I just think the shit they make is so cool. So I was reading it with them in mind and thinking, “Whoa, I don’t get it. I want to do it!” [Laughs]

HAARS: There were lots of questions, huh?

JENSEN: Yes, lots of questions.

HAARS: But we discussed it right away, and it was good.

JENSEN: We discussed and not everything had an answer and it was fine. I was like, “So how…?” And it was like, “Yeah, it’s just…” “Okay, cool!”

SILVERSTONE: Exactly.

JENSEN: A lot of that. “But does it have to make sense?” “I mean, psychologically, where…?” “No, don’t even go there.” “Okay, cool. Let’s go!” [Laughs]

KLINK: I remember reading it and then not fully understanding it, but then I was like, “Okay, I’m just going to prepare for the role itself and let the script be whatever.” Then I came on set and I started reading, like I had to learn the lines, and then I figured out how actually it was the craziest thing I’ve ever shot, I think. And so many weird things, as well. You see grown people doing so many weird things on a weird movie.

JENSEN: Grown people doing weird things?

KLINK: You know what I mean? Like, you don’t see stuff like that every day. You never do, actually. [Laughs]

Also, I enjoyed seeing Nick Frost basically covered in blood for a lot of that movie.

HAARS: He didn’t. He didn’t enjoy that, being covered in blood. He loved the idea, of course, but practically it’s sticky.

Image via Sundance 

Oh, it’s terrible, and you have to be in it all the time. Oh my god, it’s a whole other thing.

KLINK: But he didn’t complain once.

Oh, come on. That’s not true.

SILVERSTONE: [Laughs] That’s not true at all!

KLINK: Well I didn’t hear it, anyway.

SILVERSTONE: We always complained. It’s so fun.

I am so curious, though, from what you guys wrote when you first were writing this idea down, you do the script, how much is it exactly what you envisioned on screen and how much changed along the way due to the shit that happens on set or that you couldn’t do? From inception to finished product?

HAARS: I mean, inception to when we start writing, it sort of evolves and escalates. So it’s not like we have the complete thing in our minds, we just start the process and then all ideas add up. Flip and I, together we are like a different entity in a way. It’s not a Steffen film, it’s not a Flip film, it’s really a Steffen and Flip film. So, that’s in the writing process. But when we have the script, the finished script, that’s almost exactly like the finished product. That’s always with our things because we really want it a certain way or we need it a certain way, and we just make what we love and there’s no censorship, or something like that. But always, when you have something in mind, it is kind of crazy but you get used to it, of course, because you’re working on the script, and then you see it for the first time in the scene with the actors. Then you’re like, “Holy shit. This is what we wrote. Oh, fuck, okay. This is beautiful.” And it’s even more efficient in a way. That’s one of the most fun parts, to see the scenes or to hear the lines for the first time with the actors. That’s the extra layer that makes it totally bonkers.

Alicia Silverstone’s Improv Was Too Much for ‘Krazy House’
Image via Photagonist at the Collider Media Studio

For the cast, you saw the shooting schedule, you knew what you had to do; what was the day that you had circled in your brain in terms of, “I cannot wait to film this,” or “Oh my god, I don’t wanna film this?”

JENSEN: Well, the wink that happens to my character, which is quite obvious. Once you see the movie, you’ll know what I mean. I was like, “What? Oh, okay, cool! That’s weird. Let’s do it.” You’ll definitely know.

You’ll definitely know when you see the movie.

KLINK: All the amounts of drugs that I had to do as the character. That was really fun.

SILVERSTONE: You have a very special moment at the end. At the end, when the credits roll, there’s a very special moment with his character, and that’s where they drew a line for us. We were doing this improv bit and we were all just doing crazy things and assumed that everything was up for grabs given the state of the film we’d just made. Apparently incest wasn’t okay, so he drew the line.

HAARS: In this movie, in our story world, it didn’t fit. It didn’t work.

This was the line in the sand.

HAARS: This was it, yeah.

SILVERSTONE: This was the line. One of the lines.

HAARS: It’s interesting that it was found, but yeah. Thanks for that.

So let’s talk about the fact that because this is a ‘90s sitcom, it has a theme song. Let’s talk about writing a theme song, or how did you discover what you wanted?

HAARS: It needed to be something with the words Krazy House in it. And we, of course, were inspired by all the Family Matters, Cheers, Full House with the drums. There’s always these special drums in there. So our composer, Michiel Marsman, just started to go for it. It was sort of a carte blanche in a way. I mean, we had all these sitcom intros that we sent him, like, “Alright, this is the sound, this is the vibe,” and he totally nailed it. First we had an electronic version that was just for on the set because we needed the song on the set, and then he started getting these saxophone players, and making it just really over the top.

Image via Photagonist at the Collider Media Studio

So, I love throwing a curveball sometimes during an interview, and this is my curveball for you guys. You’ve all done other projects besides this one. If someone has never seen anything you’ve done before, what is the first thing you’d like them watching and why?

HAARS: It’s Krazy House. It’s Krazy House tonight because it premieres. Yeah, fuck, it’s the last film. It’s our magnum opus. I’m really proud. It’s great. Everyone should see it.

SILVERSTONE: Well, I have something that I really like that nobody saw, so that makes me sad. The Requin. I mean, some people saw it. It’s a little genre movie that the effects are a little funny, but it’s such a good movie otherwise.

But that’s actually what I like, is that when people can mention something and if someone’s watching this interview, they might be like, “Let me go check that out.”

SILVERSTONE: We should probably ask our reps. What do we all think that we should say?

[Laughs] So I’m working this in because we’re only here because of Film.io, and I think it’s a really great question. Film.io is all about putting the power to green light films in the hands of creators, and to lean into that a little bit, can each of you name someone who empowered you on a past project, someone who believed in you and put the creative power in your hands when you didn’t expect it? And it could have been on this.

KLINK: Good question.

HAARS: “When you didn’t expect it,” because I must say that…

JENSEN: When you direct something you expect to be in power.

SILVERSTONE: You always expect it.

HAARS: Yes, but we got this trust from our producer, Maarten Swart, and he was always on our side. So this is Flip and my fifth film together, and he was with all of these projects and he was always like, “Okay, guys, let’s go all in. It’s your thing. We’re gonna do it.” And he totally believed in us always, and it paid off. I’m really thankful for that. That’s an awesome way to work together, so yeah, he’s pretty important.

For sure.

JENSEN: Yeah, I have someone — Tim Mielants. He cast me for Peaky Blinders, and that was a huge leap for him because that was a big show in England, and I’m Dutch. So he’s the first one who tried to do something English with me, and I’m very grateful for that because that pushed me in a whole new country direction. So, he’s cool. He’s really freaking cool.

KLINK: I think Sophie Holland. She’s a casting director, and she never actually cast me in anything, but she always pushes me. Someday I’ll get a part, hopefully, from that. But no, I like her. She always keeps, like, she has a lot of love for me, which is like, “Oh, okay. Thank you.”

SILVERSTONE: I think that there’s been a lot of those moments, but the most recent one is when Benicio Del Toro wanted me to be his wife in Reptile. I didn’t see that coming. I hired him 27 years ago to be in Excess Baggage with me and then he hired me just recently to do this, so it was a real surprise. It just never even occurred to me that we would work together again.

Related ‘Reptile’ Director Breaks Down the Ending and Having the #1 Movie on Netflix for Three Weeks The director joins our hosts Perri and Steve to talk about his directorial debut and how come David Fincher hasn’t won an Oscar yet.

I don’t mean to dive into this, but I thought Grant did such a great job with the material and I thought you and Benicio were fantastic together. I so believed in your relationship.

SILVERSTONE: Thank you.

And if you haven’t seen Reptile, just throwing that out there. It streams on some Netflix thing. I think people have heard of it. I love talking about the editing process because it’s where it all comes together. Talk a little bit about editing this film and maybe how it possibly changed in the editing room. Or does it not change with you guys at all?

HAARS: It’s nuanced, mostly, in the end. In a way, we’re really predictable. We write something and then we shoot it, and then we edit it like that. And because we do so much preparation, making shortlists and knowing exactly what we need, it is sort of exactly what we envisioned Flip is the editor, as well, which makes it really easy for me because if Flip makes a cut, it is already, like, 99% of the film that it should be. Then it’s tweaking, and nuance, and sometimes playing around with it. It was all so pretty clear in a way. Boring, huh?

Alicia Silverstone Teases a “Very Interesting” Relationship on Kyle Mooney’s ‘Y2K’
Image from Saturday Night Live via NBC

[To Alicia Silverstone] I do have to ask you an individual question. I’m a big fan of Kyle Mooney and I believe you did Y2K, and I just have to ask what can you tease about the project, and what was it like making it?

SILVERSTONE: Tim Heidecker and I play husband and wife in this, and he is so funny. It was just so much fun. Him and Kyle Mooney have a very interesting relationship on set, and Tim torments him. They’re back and forth. I just laughed all day long. It was really fun.

And you got paid to be there.

SILVERSTONE: And paid to be there. It was easy, and everyone in it is so lovely. But mostly my stuff was with Tim, and Kyle was there. They do a bit of it on something online where it’s sort of like Tim’s abusing him and Kyle takes it. This is this skit they’re constantly doing, of him being abused, and it’s so funny. So, anyway, the behind-the-scenes were real fun.

Related Why Rachel Zegler Couldn’t Keep a Straight Face Filming ‘Y2K’ Kyle Mooney makes his directorial debut with the upcoming end of world comedy.

I’m a big fan. Is Krazy House for sale here?

HAARS: It is, yeah. If you’re interested…

My bank account can’t support that, but I do really hope that it sells quickly and that people can see it.

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