Mop Monster!

Dad said not to mop up any toxic waste — but children never listen.

Mop Monster! is a sci-fi/horror comedy micro short that I co-wrote and co-directed with my daughter Ryan when she was four years old.

The project started out as an attempt to nurture the interest in practical effects that Ryan developed after watching Thriller. Minus the score and most of the VHS effects, every aspect of this film — from the script to the stop-motion effects — was either equally ours or mostly hers. I couldn’t be more proud of her.

The film is intended as a homage to the scrappy shot-on-VHS genre flicks that thrived on video store shelves in the 80s and 90s and thrive on my video shelves today. Imagine Troma, Full Moon Pictures, and the American Genre Film Archive as seen through the lens of a four-year-old and you’ve just about got the right idea.

A screener is available upon request.