Travis Legge - Raymond Did It

What do you wear to meet a writer/director of a horror film? Yes, I actually thought about it and decided a scary theme would be appropriate. If I would have known about the Kaotic Krew of Rockford then, I would have honestly considered asking Tony Grimmet, Joey Grimmet, or Mikey Hallgren to pimp me out...indie horror film style. Joey and Mikey worked as the special fx make up artists on Travis' film and Tony, the head freak maker at the Freakiest Haunt around, I met when I did the article on Karnival of Karnage. Damn! I would have loved to be a wicked 30 Days of Night vamp monster with blood running down my face and neck. That would be so awesome! That might be taking it a little to the extreme no? I have a feeling nothing is really that scary to Travis Legge, but maybe he would have taken one look at me at thought "PSYCHO" and ditch me at Octane Interlounge, which is by the way, Travis' home away form home. So, I settle on a little military green jacket that I made a couple years ago. I love that jacket but Tim Mulhall my sweet husband thinks its ridiculous that I actually wear it. Sorry Yobo, that's how I roll when I meet a horror film maker.

We meet at Octane over coffee for him and a very interesting, strong, Oil Slick for me. Holy Crap! I can't read my notes! Sorry. Anyway...Travis tells me that he first saw Poltergeist when he was like five. That is pretty young and that movie is still pretty scary. Ya know what? My husband just let my five year old watch Poltergeist a couple of weeks ago. Not so sure that it was a good idea. Oh well, no nightmares so it's cool. Travis had short films under his belt before tackling his full length feature.Take a look at the trailer of Kept one of Travis' horror shorts. Travis doesn't only do horror though, he is quite accomplished as a comedy film writer also! Check out Travis' youtube channel to see much more! Having the short film experience did prepare him somewhat for making a full length feature film, but this is big time, and big time can mean big stress.

Watch the trailer!



Shooting took place in Rockford, and Travis had to fight the "powers that be" in this city to get it accomplished. He fought tooth and nail to keep the film in Rockford. Travis is passionate about keeping it local. Lucky for Rockford he did. I think it's frickin' awesome that a horror movie was made in our city, written and directed by a Rockford guy, how sweet is that? The 14 day shooting schedule was brutal. 16- 18 hour days were the norm. Without a huge budget they had to stick to the schedule and get it done! Like any movie Travis ran into road blocks. He got the kaibosh on several locations he wanted to shoot at, an actor that quit at the beginning of the film, not enough$$$$, and don't even mention the hell he is going through now with the MPAA regarding his rating! But, this talkative, friendly, honest guy seems to be handling it well. Yeah that kind of crap pisses him off, but it sure as hell doesn't stop him. I think he is so frickin' determined that those kind of hang ups actually fuel his desire. It's gotta take a toll on you when you put your heart and soul, your reputation, and every last penny into a film that you love but aren't sure that it will return your investment. I am betting that it does.

Raymond Did It movie poster
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After our long discussion of everything horror, including me quizzing him on the movies I like- I just wanted to see if my horror film tastes matched that of an "expert", and they do I am proud to say, Travis invited me to watch a few pre-production scenes. Hell yeah I am all over that! Somewhat amusing story. We were outside of Octane taking a "fresh air break" yeah, smoking, gasp!, and Travis asked if I still had time. In my mind I am thinking that it's getting close to lunch maybe he wants to order some food, I was excited at the prospect of having lunch with Travis and picking his brain a little more. Nope way off. He asked if I wanted to see some clips of the film! I was all like sure, why not? That's cool. Very non-chalant like. Inside I was dancin' an Irish jig screamin' Oh yeah! This is frickin' awesome! I was secretly hoping that I would get some "inside information", and that I did! I will just say this: I do not recommend drinking an Oil Slick from Octane before watching this movie. Unless of course you like to be totally jacked up on pepsi and espresso mixed together, and you like that completely wired feeling. Maybe it is a good idea, I am convinced being that jacked up made me jumpier and a little queasier watching the horror before my eyes! OMG even without sound editing the clips that Travis showed me were awesome. The lawn mower scene? Holy Crap. Yeah, when you think you might need a barf bag, that means that Travis is doing his job well. I am pretty sure that Travis told me his sister Phyllis, had to run off the set in a hurry when they were shooting that part. Pig intestines and pig blood were the culprit so I hear. I am not even going to mention that I learned the secret of how they filmed the "washing machine" shot. Did I say that out loud?

Aside from the extremely difficult, yet masterly produced special effects, this film has a lot more going for it too. The cast. Now I am not into telling you info that you can find on other websites, but I do want to mention a few of the actors on this film. Travis' son Trent, was cast as Bryce. Wonder how that convo went. " Hey son, you wanna get murdered?" Lovely. Raymond is played by Kyle Hoskins of Belvidere. Woot Woot for the Belvidere native! Holla if you think it's cool that Travis got veteran VH1 Scream Queens Lindsay Felton and Jessica Palette to play Tammy and Jayme. Holla! The talented Elissa Dowling of Clive Barker's Dread plays Paige. Please take a look at the rest of the cast and crew of Raymond Did It, you just might know some Rockford movie stars!



Lindsay Felton plays Tammy in Raymond Did It

 Who wouldn't want to see a movie shot in Rockford written buy a guy in Rockford with a cast from Rockford in a Rockford Theatre? Let's flood AMC Theatres with emails requesting Raymond Did It at our local theatre! Raymond is scheduled for release on February 11th of next year. Get the red carpet ready Travis I have a feeling you will have a ton of fans waiting to see this movie no matter where it is shown! C'mon everybody get behind this local guy and make a difference! I promise you it will be worth it!