The Long "Danse"....

I have a secret:

For a moment, right before we were about to shoot "Danse Macabre", I thought about doing a feature-length version of the story instead of having it be a short film.

It would have involved Count Dracula, The Blue Bride, The Red Bride, and The Gold Bride staying at some presidential suite in a hotel while they're in town for the masquerade ball and for Dracula's business meeting. Was it a business meeting that he was actually going to or was he trying not to worry the girls and actually about to sign a secret truce with the Vatican in a neutral city?

Was the whole kidnapping/assassination attempt a way of the Vatican trying to avoid the meeting and simply eliminating their enemy altogether?

Hmmm....

Maybe so;)

In the longer version, we would have learned much more about the fiasco that the characters endure.

I know that we definitely would have seen much more of the over-the-top decadent undeathstyle of the vampires (their rooms, multiple costume changes, their thoughts, intents, regrets, and how you spend your freetime when you're 800 years old)......

Maybe....there would have been a situation in which the young nun tries to ransom Dracula's release in exchange for turing her into a vampire and having him all to herself.....

.....maybe we would have seen the bits of chaos that break out in the hotel when the Transylvanians have some hotel employee snacks before the Halloween party.....

....maybe we would have learned about the contention between the 3 vampiresses.....

....maybe (certainly) we would have learned more about the Vatican agents, the cruelty of the main priest, and how deeply unprepared they were for their mission......

.....and maybe Dracula, himself, would reveal more of his motives. Has he really softened so much over the years or is he more ruthless than ever but just hiding behind a more pleasant form? Was he truly helpless within that chained-up box or was he using this absurd situation as an opportunity to test his three wives?
Maybe this film, as much of a ridiculous comedic romp as it is, contains a deeper, not-so-dark allegory wrapped in its stale candy shell?

Well, some of those things are hinted at with the 11 minutes and it gives the fans of this short film some thoughts to chew on while watching it so watch closely and you'll see glimmers of those submerged plot points.

Also, before we filmed, I thought to myself: "You know, this will have to stay a very quick short because we don't have the time or the money right now to do this as a feature-length."

And I was right. Because, yeah, we didn't have the time or money to expand the project. Too late now.

But.....it's fun to think about the larger story that was possibly maybe meant to be folded within the short film "Danse Macabre". So, the next time you want to see these goofey characters running around Chicago, try watching the film with these thoughts and possibilities in mind.