Moving to a new place always comes with unexpected challenges. But a Black family gets way more than they bargained for in the “safest town in the U.S.” as they are taken on a frightening adventure in Netflix’s The Curse of Bridge Hollow. Starring Marlon Wayans, Priah Richardson and Kelly Rowland, the film is a thrilling adventure filled with laughter and screams.
Directed by Jeff Wadlow, the film follows Sydney (Ferguson) who has to live her big-city life in Brooklyn for the small-town of Bridge Hollow. Sydney isn't exactly thrilled with the new nail she realizes that Halloween is a big deal in her new hometown. Unlike her father (Wayans), an a science teacher and Halloween-skeptic, Sydney is a big fan of the holiday. While poking around her new house, Sydney accidentally releases a menacing ancient spirit named Stingy Jack who causes Halloween decorations to come to life and terrorize their town. With the support of her mother (Rowland) and her friends at the Bridge Hollow Paranormal Society, Sydney and her father join forces to take on the supernatural.
EBONY spoke with Wayans and Ferguson about the making of the film, their love of horror comedies and asked them to recount some of their favorite Halloween memories.
The Curse of Bridge Hollow has all the elements needed to become a go-to favorite for Halloween-themed movies for years to come. With sharp humor, stunning visual effects, and great storytelling, the film will have the entire family on the edge of their seats.
With an extensive track record at the box office, Wayans is no stranger to making successful horror comedies. He's the creator of the Scary Movie and Haunted House film franchises which have grossed over $900 million to date. As the star and executive producer of the film, he shared his excitement about making a family-friendly horror comedy for the first time.
“I’m glad to be able to do a Halloween-themed move for the entire family," shared Wayans. “Most of my horror movies are rated-R hard comedies like the Scary Movie and Haunted House films. They are horror comedies with outrageous humor. The Curse of Bridge Hollow is great because it’s for the entire family and coming from a big family and having kids and nephews and nieces, I've always aspired to do a family-friendly horror comedy. I think this one encapsulates everything that I've been trying to do with horror, adventure, action and, most of all, comedy. And I get to be a science teacher. I failed science five times so take that, you teachers who said I wouldn’t be nothing.”
Ferguson, who currently stars as Erica Sinclair in the Netflix hit thriller Stranger Things, spoke about landing her first lead role and how she seamlessly transitioned from working on a series to making a feature film.
“I’ve been wanting to do a film for a while so I was always preparing. It wasn’t that hard,” Ferguson said. “Not to give myself too much credit, but I can cut it on and cut it off whether it's a drama, theatrical or a comedy role. I know how to switch back and forth pretty easily.”
Both Wayans and Ferguson shared how they loved working with Rowland on the film. The Grammy-award-winning singer plays Emily, a no-nonsense wife, mother, and lawyer who is trying to win over her Halloween-obsessed neighbors by launching her all-natural bakery business (Emily's family is not too fond of her baking skills).
“Kelly was so sweet and fun to work with! She was so bubbly and happy on set. I really loved working with her. I also am a big fan of her music,” shared Ferguson.
“She's a hard worker," added Wayans. "She actually wants to rehearse and do scenes over again. She's a perfectionist. It’s been a blast working with her.”
In the spirit of the season, Wayans and Ferguson also shared some of their favorite Halloween memories.
“I remember watching a lot of scary movies around Halloween time growing up and also going trick or treating,” said Ferguson. “We would get all kinds of good candy and then would sort through them. After we picked out all the candy we wanted, we would give the candy we didn’t want to my mom,”
“My favorite Halloween moment was when my friends used to come to my house for Trick-or-Treat. It was so many of us that we couldn't afford costumes and my dad wasn't playing that anyway because he was a Jehovah’s Witness,” recalled Wayans. “So whenever my friends would come to the door, we'd exclaim, "Trick!" and open the door and hit them with socks that we had dipped in powder or eggs. We were just bad but those are my favorite Halloween memories. I was the first Halloween Grinch."
The Curse of Bridge Hollow is currently streaming on Netflix.
