The horror movies It is one of the favorite genres of viewers, but in which fewer quality stories are found. The truth is that to scare you only need a victim, a villain, screams and prop blood; but “Barbarian” I take this concept a little further with a pretty simple but effective story and full of nods to horror classics.
The film follows a Tess (Georgina Campbell), who travels to Detroit for a job interview and books lodging in the city. When she arrives late at night, she discovers that the house has been reserved for two people. simultaneously and that there is a stranger staying there (Bill Skarsgård). Against her own common sense, she decides to stay the night, soon discovering that there is much more to fear than the presence of an unexpected guest.
Box office success and with the approval of the referents of the genrehere, six curiosities behind the tape of the moment.
The director comes from the world of comedy
The new film marks the directorial debut of Zach Creggera young actor known for his participation in the sketch group “The Whitest Kids U’Know”. Their incursion into terror comes, paradoxically, after having traveled his artistic path within comedy.
The director, however, does not hesitate to point out the meeting points between two apparently different genres: “In both comedy and horror, it is about being one step ahead of the public and doing one thing when another is expected, and the anatomy of a joke is not very different from the anatomy of a scare. They both have to do with timing and tone, so it was good for me to have had that gymnastics when I got into the horror genre.
The movie was on the verge of being cancelled.
Cregger account that the way to get financing to make your movie it wasn’t easy to transit, but when fortunately everything seemed lined up to start filming with the support of a Bulgarian producer, tragic news arrived: “I received a call informing me that our financier had passed away. This was a Friday, and before our Bulgarian team disbanded, we asked them for the weekend to try to find alternative financing.”
Roy Leeproducer of the film, took the script to the New Regency company and asked them to read it urgently. The New Regency team not only greenlit the project, but also got involved in the creative process. and was present daily on set. “It was one of those miraculous things that happen, we were saved by a hair when the good people of New Regency came and rescued us from disaster”, recalls the director.
It takes place in Detroit, but was shot in Bulgaria
“Barbarian” takes place in a specific neighborhood of the American city of Detroit, but the film was recorded in Bulgaria. The team, then, faced the great challenge of recreating in that European country the street in which the story takes place, since the architecture of the place differs enormously from the urban landscape of Detroit.
Production designers created thirteen facades to set the street where the movie takes place, and they were built to look dilapidated, then pristine and pristine for a flashback to the 1980s. “I can’t believe how well they rose to that challenge and what they accomplished,” says Cregger.
A security expert inspired the story
The idea that triggered the story of “Barbarian” came to Cregger from reading a non-fiction book by security expert Gavin de Becker. In the text, the author advises women to listen to that inner voice that allows them to identify in interactions with men those “alarm signals” that society has encouraged them not to listen.
The expert’s warning led the filmmaker to imagine a situation starring a woman, in which several of these warning signs are concentrated and the plot will play with the possibility of creepy things happening from there.
The director plays two roles in the story
Cregger not only was he placed behind the camera, but he also had the pleasure of playing two secondary roles in the film. Fans will be able to spot him as AJ’s manager (Justin Long), the owner of the house for rent. There, Cregger only appears as a voice on the phone, but the filmmaker also has an on-camera part as AJ’s best friend in a bar scene.
The tribute to the horror genre is present in various ways
Self-confessed fan of the horror genre, Cregger ensures that “Barbarian” bears the imprint of all those iconic stories that marked him over the years. Says the filmmaker: “I have a deep love for horror. I always had it. I’m a big fan of the genre. So it was easy for me to feed off of all the horror movies I’d ever seen.”
The character of Tess, for example, is reminiscent of Janet Leigh’s character in “Psychosis”, whereas you never know what awaits you when you are going to spend the night in a new place. The director also maintains that Bill Skarsgård is reminiscent of Anthony Perkinsthe iconic actor who brought Norman Bates to life in “Psychosis”.
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Six curiosities about Bárbaro, the horror thriller that is revolutionizing cinema