The Boy from Below takes place in Carpenter Falls is your typical quiet New England town on the coast. Well… with one exception. The town is home to B movie Scream Queen, Marilyn Leigh Miller.
Miller enjoyed an early horror career on the Silver Screen in a handful of B rated horror movies. However, later in life she faced opposition from those critiquing her work as the tide of horror began to change. Opposing views criticizing her work were winning out against those who used to celebrate it. This led the actress into a downward spiral of depression, motivating her to take her own life.
After Marilyn’s death her 15 year old son Collin was taken in by his mother’s sister and family.
Small Time Story, Big Time Kills
The suicide of Collin’s mother left the boy alone and lost in a world he didn’t fit into. He was raised in the bubble created by a Scream Queen, filled with horror, blood, fiction and film. All he had left were the movies she had left behind on magnetic tape wearing thinner with each repeated viewing.
His loneliness sent him into a rage and initiated his killing spree. He murdered his aunt and her family, with the exception of her youngest son Logan. The teen vowed to return for the child to finish what he started, and then disappeared into the night. After the night’s slaughter he wasn’t to be seen for almost a decade. Now The Boy has come home.
Stepping Backwards into the 1990’s
The Boy from Below is an independent horror film that brings back the retro feel of 1990’s horror.
It delivers a world made up of the slasher films many of us grew up with. Furthermore, there are many nods to the movies of the era. One of the main Easter eggs are the character names corresponding with actors and characters in the genre.
Additionally, a large part of The Boy from Below takes place in Video Vortex, a small independently run video store. It is owned and operated by grandmother Sybil (Dee Wallace) and her horror loving grandchild Quinn (Spooky Spring).
Inside these poster lined walls and fully stocked aisles, director and writer Tory Jones creates a world that is just as much of a character as the rest of the cast. You can nearly smell the microwave popcorn and the warm plastic of the VHS tape heating up as it rolls on in the player. This world is ripe for the killing as The Boy prowls for his next victim.
Who is The Boy from Below?
Tory Jones brings Jack Norman to the screen as the man behind the mask. Norman first portrayed the role in Jones’ 2017 horror The Wicked One, the director/writer’s first stab at bringing this story to life. With a larger budget he told JoBlo The Boy from Below is;
“…the Wicked One movie fans deserve and I’ve always wanted to make.”
Standing at 6’ 5.5” it comes with no surprise that Norman’s stature imposes fear as he towers over his victims. His muscular frame and choices in how he holds himself and moves are reminiscent of the decisions Kane Hodder made as he portrayed Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th VII-X. Hodder has spoken frequently on how his decisions of body language set him apart from the other actors who played Jason over the years.
Ironically, Norman portrayed Voorhees as well in his 2014 fan film Friday the 13th: The Curse of Jason. He additionally wrote and directed the film with Brandon Prewitt (The Woods Within).
A Worthy Adversay
Spooky Spring plays Quinn Curtis. She is a worthy opponent for The Boy as they go toe to toe in a bloody final showdown. Quinn’s quick thinking and knowledge of horror films are the main weapons of defense in her arsenal.
Spring is not a newcomer to the genre. They are not just a talented actor, but a skilled artist behind the camera as well. Spring is an award winning writer, editor, and actor in the film industry.
Spring owns FinalGhoul Films, and has become a rising name in the queer filmmaking community. Some of their films include Cold Feet (2024), Choke Hold (2026) and What’s Wrong with Wendy (2026).
In front of the camera, as seen in The Boy from Below, Spring is a very strong on screen warrior. We at iHorror cannot wait to see what they continue to bring to filmmaking with the blend of queer storytelling, horror themes, and the supernatural.
You can watch The Boy from Below on Amazon Prime, AppleTv, Fandango, Google Play, and YouTube.
