THE DIRECTOR'S CUT >>>

"I was supposed to be done with this thing already," Tchinski tells me. "Of course, you know how things go."

Let me break it down for you: "this thing" refers to Grimises Rising, the new feature-length horror-thriller from director Harry Tchinski of Graham. After the splashes his previous film, Spaceship Terror, made in 2011 at Seattle's True Independent Film Festival (STIFF) and Tacoma Film Festival, Tchinski began shooting Grimises last October.

Then "things" happened, causing delays in production. Sometimes it's beyond even the director's control, like coordinating the schedules of over a dozen cast and crew members. But Tchinski admits to a perfectionist streak that occasionally comes alive on set.

"I'm always changing stuff, because it's never the way I like it. I'm pretty picky!" he laughs.

At least Tacoma's Freighthouse Square helped lighten his workload. Since the bulk of Grimises takes place within a haunted house, Tchinski made good use of the Square's annual Halloween attraction, Black Lake Asylum, instead of building all new sets from scratch. Five months after he began, Tchinski shot his final scene this past weekend.

Now he trades in his director's hat for another - editor - since he will personally assemble the majority of the footage, as well as design the special effects. Tchinski says he prefers doing color correction in Avid, while using Adobe Premiere Pro for the director's cut.

With the hard part over, Tchinski can look back at his progress with relief and a bit of awe. "I'm always surprised when I finish one of these things," he says. ("Things" again - he talks so casually, you would think he just completed a birdhouse rather than a feature film.) "You know what you want in your head, but the thing has a life of its own."

Hopefully we can see this Frankenstein's monster of local entertainment soon. Follow Grimises Rising on Facebook here.