HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYONE!!! Usually, I conclude Spooky Season with a video compilation. Unfortunately, I no longer have the proper video editing program I used to. Luckily, Halloween fell on a Saturday this year, so I’m able to provide you guys with one last Behind The Scenes Saturday to close out the season! I’ve been wanting to wait for a special occasion to do a tribute to Sinners, and I figured I’d do a post on one of my favorite movies on my favorite holiday! Sinners is so much more than a horror film. With its many layers, it provided a story so culturally significant. So, grab your guitar, grab your garlic, enjoy these fun pictures and bits of trivia, and have a fun and safe Halloween celebration!!

(Trivia provided by IMDb.com)

(Pictures provided by google.com, facebook.com, instagram.com, and IMDb.com)

(SPOILER ALERT!!!)

• Many of the musical performances were recorded live on set. The cast members performed alongside real blues musicians.
• It was very significant that the first time we see Remmick (Jack O’Connell), he’s fleeing from the Choctaw hunters. The film is set in the historic Choctaw homeland, and there is a long history of cooperation between the Choctaw Natives and the Irish. The Irish potato famine occurred 16 years after the Choctaw, Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, and Chickasaw Natives were forced to walk the Trail of Tears. Knowing tragedy and hunger themselves, the Choctaw and Cherokee survivors donated hundreds of dollars to support famine relief. In 2017, Ireland erected the Kindred Spirits sculpture in honor of their friendship. A companion sculpture called Eternal Heart was installed on Choctaw land in 2024. When Covid hit in 2020, the Navajo and Hopi nations were hit especially hard, and Ireland sent a $2,000,000 donation, accrediting it to Choctaw kindness in their time of need.

• The film’s director, Ryan Coogler was immediately impressed with Miles Caton’s (Sam) audition tape. Coogler stated, “He was just in the dark, like he didn’t turn his lights on. Something about that was, like, so intriguing. This kid looked like he was in his basement, like in between homework assignments. But he had this voice, a once-in-a-lifetime voice.”
• Jack O’Connell read the script just once before signing on. He said that when he got to the point in the script where Remmick sings and jigs to Rocky Road To Dublin, he knew he wanted the role. The song was a childhood favorite of his and he always wanted to jig in a film.

• Dolly Li is an Asian-American journalist and documentary filmmaker. She was listed in this film’s end credits as a consultant on Mississippi Delta Chinese history. In 2017, she produced a documentary segment for the series, Untold America, on the generations of Chinese-Americans who have lived in the Mississippi Delta for over a century. Li’s narration in the segment stated, “The Chinese originally came here to work in the cotton fields. With the end of slavery, plantation owners could no longer depend on the free labor of slaves, so they looked to the Chinese, who were cheap, disposable, and politically voiceless. But with harsh conditions and little pay, working in the fields didn’t last long. They soon started opening grocery stores in small towns up and down the Delta. These stores played a uniquely important role in the segregated South, serving the black community when the white community wouldn’t. And this is significant because it meant more than 70% of the population got their groceries and everyday goods from a tiny Chinese community. Freida Quon’s family store and Min Sang started out in the 1930s as 2 different buildings across the street from each other: one serving black people, the other serving white people. Neither black nor white, the Chinese community found themselves in the middle.” These two segregated stores across from each other were faithfully restored depicted in this film in the form of the Chow family’s businesses.
• The Smokestack Twins are named after the Howlin’ Wolf hit, Smokestack Lightnin.

• Michael B. Jordan (Smoke/Stack) admitted that he was never a horror movie fan, and that motivated him to dive into this film. He said, “I wanted to do this partially trying to help take the edge off a little bit. I was like, maybe if I know how it’s done and I’m in it, I might like horror movies a bit more. I do like them a lot more, I just want to say that.”
• Filming mostly took place in New Orleans and the surrounding areas of Louisiana, and the heat was VERY high at the time. Wunmi Mosaku (Annie) said that they learned fast to follow Michael B. Jordan’s lead and not complain… but maybe still vent. She stated, “What I learned from Michael was he doesn’t complain. He would just kind of be very still in his very thick suits – very thick, very hot. He would be like ‘There’s nothing we could do to change it, so let’s just kind of push through.’ because the complaining brings you down a little bit. Except for the bugs. The bugs were hard to not complain about.”

• Christopher Nolan and his wife, Emma Thomas assisted Ryan Coogler in shooting with 65mm film.
• In order to successfully use one actor to play twin characters, a twin double named Percy Bell was cast because he was physically similar to Michael B. Jordan. He was used to stand in for all of the doubled scenes. The production also hired twin consultants and twin brothers, Noah and Logan Miller to advise Jordan on his performance and help him understand the experience of being an identical twin.

• Ryan Coogler admitted in an interview that Remmick was partially inspired by the character, Death in Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, noting both his eyes and demeanor.
• Yao suggested that his character, Bo, should wear a gold Taoist amulet for good luck. He does wear it in the film, but it can only be seen partially.

• Miles Caton confirmed that he learned to play the resonator blues guitar for this role. He spent about 2 months learning the guitar before filming began. He rode the Amtrak train between New York and Philadelphia to get lessons from Randy Bowland, a Philadelphia-based guitarist.
• Delroy Lindo (Delta Slim) didn’t see the film as a horror film. When he first read the script, he interpreted the story to be about what happens when a community is infiltrated and turns on itself. He told Ryan Coogler what he felt, and he also told him that the script needed work. From day one, they were on the same page in terms of the direction that they wanted to take the work.

• Sammie’s guitar was said to have belonged to blues legend, Charley Patton. Patton was often said to be of Irish, Choctaw, and African-American descent, the three ethnic groups mentioned at the beginning of the film.
• According to the film’s producer, Sev Ohanian, many of the extras’ costumes were repurposed from Marvel Studio’s Blade, a film that was eventually canceled.

• During shooting of one of his outdoors scene, Jack O’Connell was interrupted when an alligator wandered into the shot behind him. He joked that he wish they’d cut the scene and go somewhere else.
• Sammie’s music-hating preacher father, Jedidiah was played by Saul Williams, a musician and poet.

• When Remmick dropped his Southern accent, he spoke with a Kerry accent. Jack O’Connell’s father was from Ballyheigue.
• Smoke and Stack’s car was a C.R. Patterson & Sons’ PG Automobile, the first automobile built and manufactured by black people in the U.S. in 1915.

• Hailee Steinfeld (Mary) wrote and recorded an original song for the film, called Dangerous.
• The working title for this film was Grilled Cheese. Ryan Coogler explained that while his previous films are comparable to cooking complicated dishes, this film is more of a simple, enjoyable dish that anyone can enjoy.

• According to the film’s production designer, Hannah Beachler, the X-shaped cross in the rafters of the church was an homage to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Chadwick Boseman because it was doing the Wakanda gesture in the beams, and the cross followed certain characters around.
• When Sammie started singing Travelin’ in the car with Stack, Michael B. Jordan’s shocked reaction was genuine. Jordan had no idea of the power of Miles Caton’s voice.

• The musical montage in the film was inspired by Lovers Rock (Small Axe). Ryan Coogler stated that he was impressed with how Sir Steve McQueen showed how the whole world can be contained in these four walls.
• Wunmi Mosaku described Annie as being Smoke’s protector, teacher, lover, friend, and mother.

• Ryan Coogler cited the movie, The Luck Of The Irish as one of the influences for the film. He stated, “That was our first introduction to some of the similarities in Irish folk music to, basically, our music. There was a small Irish community in The Bay, and we would talk about it. That movie was kind of a touchpoint for us to jump off of, crazy enough. We’ve been fascinated with that culture in my family.”
• Ryan Coogler hired intimacy coordinator, Amanda Peek, and emotional wellness coordinator, Kim Whyte to help assess the film’s sex scenes and other intimate scenes, and make the actors feel comfortable and safe.

• Although it’s implied that Stack and Mary were around the same age, Michael B. Jordan is 10 years older than Hailee Steinfeld in real life.
• The budget for the film was about $90,000,000.

• On Delroy Lindo’s final day of shooting, Ryan Coogler and his co-stars spoke to him about what his work had meant to them. Lindo was so moved that he could only say a few words through blubbering tears. He later said, “That was special, and it felt special in the moment – a deep, deep-seated feeling of appreciation”.
• Halsey auditioned for the part of Mary.

• When filming finished, Hailee Steinfeld was one month pregnant.
• Remmick’s Irish roots are also a possible nod to Bram Stoker, who was also Irish.

• Filming had to work around Wunmi Mosaku’s pumping schedule because she had her daughter just seven months prior.
• Ryan Coogler knew he had found the perfect actress to play Annie after he watched Wunmi Mosaku in the trailer for the mini-series, We Own This City.

• Colson Baker, also known as Machine Gun Kelly, turned down an audition to play Bert (Peter Dreimanis), because he was uncomfortable using racial slurs.
• Ryan Coogler was unaware of Jack O’Connell’s experience with song and dance when he cast him.

• In the film, Sammie’s father was a preacher. In real life, Miles Caton’s grandfather is a preacher.
• They filmed the Rocky Road To Dublin scene on the anniversary of the death of Jack O’Connell’s father. When they were filming, O’Connell happened to notice a single star in the night sky, which he felt was a sign that his father was watching over him. He channeled this feeling while filming the scene, wherein Remmick is attempting to summon the spirits of his long-gone loved ones, because it matched what Remmick was feeling at the exact same time.

• Jack O’Connell did the majority of his own stunts, even when he got smacked by Sammie’s guitar.
• In the end, Remmick mentioned how Christians took his father’s land. Given that he was Irish, this meant he was alive before the island was fully converted to Christianity, putting his mortal life between the 5th and 7th centuries, making him at least 1300 years old.

• When we first see the Smokestack Twins, Smoke is wearing a tweed suit with a flat cap that’s typical of an Irishman. Stack is wearing a fedora with a pinstripe suit accessorized with gold bits that leaned into a more Italian style. This was a hint that the brothers dressed appropriately to blend in with both the North Side Gang and the Chicago Outfit back in the city.
• When buying the mill from Hogwood (Dave Maldonado), the brothers noticed that the floor had been cleaned recently and asked about it. It was later revealed that Hogwood planned to sell them the mill, then he and the other klansmen would trap and kill all of the black people there. The recently cleaned floors imply that this isn’t the first time that they’ve pulled this scam.

• Ryan Coogler stated that 2 of the biggest influences for this film were From Dusk Till Dawn and The Faculty. Ironically, both films were directed by Robert Rodriguez.
• One of the spirits summoned by Sammie is a Peking opera dancer dressed as Sun Wukong. Yao was the one who suggested it when he was asked about which Asian characters to include.

• When Buddy Guy (Old Sammie) was brought in for a facial scanning, the film’s visual effects artist, James Alexander had nothing but nice things to say about him. Alexander stated, “He’s a born entertainer and he told me a bunch of stories. He’s just mesmerizing, because he’s got one of those faces where you can tell he’s just got a million stories behind those eyes. And he started telling me about Aretha Franklin and stories from New York in the sixties and the seventies”.
• According to Peter Dreimanis, there’s a cut scene where Bert and Joan (Lola Kirke) talked about wanting to have a baby and their inability to have one before Remmick showed up at their house. That’s why there’s a crib in their house in the scene where Joan discovered Bert’s dead body.

• When Remmick arrived at Bert and Joan’s house, black vultures can be seen circling over the house. They don’t land until after the Choctaw hunters leave, indicating that the couple’s fate is sealed. A black vulture can also be seen flying around when Smoke and Stack are driving around.
• Old Sammie named his blues bar Pearline’s in honor of Pearline (Jayme Lawson), the woman he loved and lost.

• Jack O’Connell was the one who suggested that the vampires sing Wild Mountain Thyme when Mary approaches them.
• In close-ups of Stack’s vampiric teeth, his gold tooth is shown to have elongated into a fang.

• Buddy Guy was delighted to join the film for the sheer joy of getting to be in a movie for once, especially one he considered important to the Blues culture he’d dedicated his life to.
• The Smokestack Twins and Remmick were polar opposites when it comes to bargaining. The Twins are characterized by their willingness to bargain, even down to Smoke actively teaching a young girl how to haggle with him. Remmick, on the other hand, does not accept rejection, and he does not alter his terms. This is how we know Stack is still himself after being turned. When he approaches Old Sammie, he offers to turn him and he accepts Sammie’s refusal instead of pushing it.

• Sammie learned a lot of things from those around him. He learned how to please women from Stack, how to stand up for himself from Smoke, and how cruel the world can be from Delta Slim. Remmick ended up teaching him what he needed to hear the most. He talked about how just because someone was religious, it didn’t mean they were automatically a good person. It was confirmed for him when he went back to his family and his father chose to use him to preach instead of consoling him when he almost died. Sammie sees the real truth there and he leaves to live his own life.
• The film has a few references to The Thing. 1.) The garlic eating test is very similar to MacReady’s blood test. 2.) Remmick arriving at Joan and Bert’s house is similar to the husky running to the American base. 3.) The Norwegians try to warn the main characters that the husky wasn’t a real dog, just like the Choctaw Natives try to warn Joan that Remmick wasn’t really human.

• Buddy Guy’s scene as Old Sammie was the first scene shot.
• In order to prepare for his role, Jack O’Connell watched 1992’s Dracula and Interview With The Vampire.

• Stack actively enjoying Remmick’s song foreshadows that he’s the twin who will be turned into a vampire.
• Remmick’s demise occurs through the three methods of harming and killing a vampire. First, he was pierced with silver. Then, he was staked through the heart. Finally, he burned in the sunlight.

• Ryan Coogler originally wrote the film to be about werewolves. He later switched it to vampires due to their seductive nature.
• Michael B. Jordan has appeared in all of Ryan Coogler’s films since his first, Fruitvale Station.