Luke Paron Previews New Horror Short 'Arachnid,' Starring The 'Dangerously Seductive' Killer Kelly

Tis the season of spook, and “Arachnid.”

Filmed in and around the city of Toronto, Arachnid is an upcoming horror short written and directed by Luke Paron. Many wrestling fans might also recognize Paron as a digital producer for TNA Wrestling. Fans will also recognize some other names in the chilling film, as several in-ring performers and personalities have been cast as characters.

In anticipation of the film’s forthcoming release, WrestleZone’s Ella Jay recently sat down with Paron to preview its cast. The official description of “Arachnid,” per IMDB, is as follows:

“After witnessing an entrancing dance performance, the psyche of a young man begins to fall apart through a series of strange encounters, thus leading to a body horror nightmare.”

The Young Man

In his screen debut, David Svoboda portrays the protagonist of Arachnid, also known as The Young Man. According to Paron, Svoboda was a later, but key addition to the film, and came about after a chance encounter at a local stage play, written by his good friend Mars Russell.

“I went to Guelph, Ontario to see this brilliant stage play, which is about a three-hour drive from my house. When I got there, I was the only person in the audience. And the cast of this play was just Mars and David. They called them dinner table dramas, where it’s just one setting evolving with the characters, and this piece was so emotional. David performed such a full range of emotions,” Paron said. “David and Mars performed to an empty room of just me and Mars’ mother was actually there as well. They gave their all. And David’s character goes from the highest highs to the lowest lows. I saw such a range in him.”

After witnessing Svoboda’s incredible performance on stage, Paron marked him as the first potential candidate for the role of The Young Man. After sorting through 20 other potential candidates, Paron ultimately went back and booked Svoboda for the role.

The Arachnid

Across from The Young Man stands a “dangerously seductive” woman known as the Arachnid. Played by former TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion Killer Kelly, the Arachnid is a unique creature, as it pairs an enchanting woman with a grotesque series of appendages similar to that of a spider.

“When Kelly’s in the ring and she looks at her opponent and she crawls through the ropes, everyone’s like ‘I don’t know if I should be falling in love or if I should be running for my life right now.’ That is kind of the essence of the character, and she nailed that,” Paron said.

For a long time, Kelly has proclaimed a desire to take part in a horror film. In April 2024, that dream became a reality as Kelly stepped onto the set of Arachnid. And despite having no prior movie experience, Paron says Kelly embraced her role with much ease, and a dance sequence.

“She almost just plays a heightened version of herself, because the character is kind of everything that makes up Kelly,” Paron added. “She has that kind of seductive charisma, that look in her face where she’s like, I could bring you in with my beauty, but behind her eyes, in that smile, she’s got that killer edge. We lean into so much of that in the film.”

“Also, she’s so expressive with her face. That is the driving force behind her character and she really stepped outside of her comfort zone for this as well. She does a dance number in the film, and she does so much more than she does. She doesn’t wrestle anybody in the film, but she just did so much character work and was so delicate, and she stepped right into the role.”

Group Leader

Aside from Killer Kelly, the wrestling allegiant will also see a familiar face in the form of Matthew Rehwoldt, who typically provides commentary alongside Tom Hannifan on TNA programming. In Arachnid, however, Rehwoldt takes on a new role as the Group Leader.

“When I knew I would need someone to lead a group therapy session, I thought, ‘Who do I know who has a comforting voice, who sounds like a man who has lived a full life and can also reassure someone, but has a grizzled tone where he sounds like he’s been through hardships himself?’ Then I hit up Matthew Rehwoldt,” Paron recalled.

“Had never spoken to Matthew before, but I just sent Matthew a message. I said, ‘Hey, here’s what we’re doing. I would love if you could do this for me,’ and he did it. He recorded it at home, and it was tremendous.”

Nightwalker

While a more ambiguous character, Lacey Creighton has taken up the role of Nightwalker in Arachnid. Creighton, a native of Ontario, is heavily involved in the professional wrestling scene as a ring announcer, interviewer, and manager. Creighton is also credited for eight episodes of Dark Side of the Ring, which includes a notable portrayal as Tammy “Sunny” Sytch.

“We needed someone who was creepy and had this look ambiguity to who they were,” Paron said, ” because her character has a very kind of aggressive makeup look. We needed someone who could portray a different vibe of maturity, where it’s kind of ambiguous like how old they are, what mood they’re in, what their motives are. So we wanted someone who could morph her look. And you’ve seen if you’ve seen Lacey on ‘Dark Side of the Ring,’ sometimes she’s playing one total vibe; then the next episode, she plays a completely different vibe.”

The dialogue for the Nightwalker had been in place for a while. The character description, though, emerged through a collaborative effort between Paron and Creighton.

“Lacey had a big input on who Nightwalker was through her alternative wardrobe, through her look, because I didn’t describe anything about her other than she had blonde hair,” Paron said.

Creighton filmed her scenes under the darkness of night (midnight to 4AM) in one of Ontario’s public streets.

The Date

One of the film’s earliest casting locks was Holly Melsom, also known as The Date. According to Paron, Melsom herself was the inspiration for the character.

“Holly is as a person, not her character, just as a person, is kind of the embodiment in my life of purity and good heartedness and kindness,” Paron said. “And you see it in the film and you see it in her headshot. She has this just look of such peacefulness to her. And Holly and I have known each other since we were 13, 14, and I had seen her act many, many times, but she didn’t even need to act in this film. She just was herself. And because this film is so kind of grimy and gross feeling, there’s so much darkness in it. We needed a scene to break up this energy and darkness in the film.”

After locking in Melsom as The Date, Paron learned that she’d be unable to make her respective filming dates. As such, Paron then sought out other potential candidates for the role. Ultimately, Paron felt that only Melsom could truly bring The Date to life.

“Unfortunately, when you have a crew of like 35 people, you can’t move that for one person, right?” Paron said. “So then I tried some other actors and I realized I am going to move 35 people for one person, and we’re going to change the shooting day to something Holly can do. She just plays herself.”

“We did no script for that scene as well. I said, ‘Holly, just talk and be a kind woman and hear this guy out.’ And I told David (aka The Young Man) his lines what to say. Holly had one sentence, but I gave her no script because she didn’t need a script. She was just being herself, and she was absolutely brilliant.”

“Speedball” Mike Bailey Almost Had A Part

Another notable character in Arachnid is the brother of The Young Man. Per IMDB, this role has been taken on by Samy Peeters. As Paron reveals though, it was almost filled by former TNA X-Division Champion “Speedball” Mike Bailey.

“We offered it the role Mike Bailey, and he said he would have loved to, but he was booked on the date. Who is booking wrestling shows on a Wednesday night is what I want to know. But if you’re Mike Bailey, you’re booked seven days a week. So when we did do an open casting call for this, we were looking for someone mid-to-late 20s, muscular, and tall. We did offer a part to Bailey, who said he would have loved to, but he couldn’t make it work. That would have been quite fun to have a Bailey cameo in there.”

In addition to the principal cast, Arachnid also brings forth cameos from several professional wrestlers local to the Toronto area. Additional film credits include Michael Cao, who serves as the Director of Photography, as well as Cody Bowles and Kevin Comeau, who provided the musical compositions. Props and special effects were designed by Emily Jo Mahu and Jake Gunhouse of Gunhouse Props.

As of this writing, Arachnid does not have a definitive release date. Paron assures, however, that it will be screening at festivals in both Canada and the United States.