An exclusive look at Heidi Klum’s delightfully grotesque new Halloween movie

Heidi Klum hasn’t earned the nickname “The Queen of Halloween” for nothing. Every year, the German-American model typically hosts a big, blowout Halloween bash, and sports an over-the-top costume to go along with it. In past years she’s transformed herself into Jessica Rabbit, Fiona from Shrek, and even an elderly version of herself—all with the help of extreme prosthetics and makeup, of course. “I love dressing up, and giving a reason for people to dress up,” Klum says of her ongoing love of the creepy holiday. “It’s a form of expression—playing a part that you normally wouldn’t. [Halloween] gives you permission to be who you want to be, and lets you put your guard down.”

Last year, however, while we were in lockdown, Klum couldn’t host her star-studded affair as usual. But that didn’t stop her from doing the spooky season justice. Klum released a short film on Instagram, where she and her entire family become possessed by evil spirits. “We were all in lockdown, so it only made sense to do something with the whole gang at home,” says Klum. In honor of this year’s Halloween, she’s also releasing a follow-up sequel to it that’s equally as grotesque. And Vogue has an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at how she made it happen.

Klum’s new Halloween film picks up where last year’s project left off. After she's murdered by her possessed husband, musician Tom Kaulitz, and their four children—Leni, Henry, Johan, and Lou—the sequel opens with Klum buried in a coffin, where she proceeds to rise from the dead. Klum then reunites with her no-longer-possessed family, and resumes her duties as a busy mom—even though undead, decaying, and losing limbs by the day. Working with her children once again, Klum says, made for a fun day at the office. “They’re obviously not as excited as I am to do all of this,” she says, laughing. “But even though it’s a scary film, we were laughing the whole time. We were just goofing around and being silly.”

Filming the sequel was no thrown-together feat, either. To shoot it, Klum rented a spooky house in the Hollywood Hills—the same place she shot her first film in—and worked with professional prop designers to make it feel truly haunted. “It took two days to do these eight minutes,” Klum says. “It takes a really, you know, good team of people who can bring an idea into reality.” Klum also worked with pro makeup artists and special effects artists to transform herself into a terrifying zombie mommy. “I always get professionals for the makeup and prosthetics,” she says. “I’m always amazed at what they can do.” In one scene, for instance, she projectile vomits across the dinner table, a moment that required a team of professionals to pull off. “We actually used pea soup, which came out of a tube in my mouth,” Klum says. “My kids were so grossed out by that.”

Cleverly, Klum also incorporated many different nods to horror movies throughout her film (the vomiting scene, for instance, is an homage to The Exorcist). “I probably have 10 different nods to various horror scenes,” she says. Easter eggs include a nod to Carrie when she crawls out of her grave; Psycho when she’s stabbed in the shower; and The Shining when she peeks her head through an axed door. “Instead of saying ‘Here’s Johnny,’” says Klum, “I say, ‘Here’s mommy!’” While she’s clearly a horror fanatic, Klum argues everyone has a little bit of thrill-seeking energy in them. “People genuinely love being scared,” Klum says. “There’s a certain thrill that overcomes your body.  You don't want to look, but you can't stop looking.”  

The frights don't stop with Klum's film, either. This coming Halloween weekend, she’ll be celebrating the holiday at home. “I’m going to have a small party for all of us,” Klum says. “I wanted to make sure that the kids can invite their friends and have a good, safe environment where they can hang out on Halloween. I’ll also invite some of our closest friends.” What she’s going to wear is, of course, still a secret—but it may be less elaborate than what we’ve seen from her in previous years (or, she could be using that as a decoy). “I’m going to throw something together that’s easy,” Klum says. “There are so many amazing, fun things in the basement and in the attic. I'm a little bit of a hoarder when it comes to [Halloween.]” It seems, then, that Klum’s home also doubles as a year-round Halloween store. “We have thousands of wigs and pieces of costumes,” she says. “For any type of theme, I could throw something together without ever going shopping.” 

This article first appeared on Vogue.com.