Connect with us

News

Horror Pride Month: Writer/Director Chris Peckover

Published

on

Chris Peckover Horror Pride Month

For out gay writer and director Chris Peckover, his relationship with horror began with a bit of unintentional trauma as a child. The man behind 2016’s Better Watch Out recalls his mom and dad going out to dinner and leaving him home with his younger brother without a sitter.

“My mom rentedĀ Child’s Play for us thinking it was a kid’s movie,” he explained, laughing, during our recent interview. “They went out to dinner, and we watched the movie and I was afraid of the dark until I was in the seventh grade!”

He wasn’t one of those people who loved being scared. Rather, he approached horror as a way of facing the fears that the movies brought out in him.

It was a few years later, when he was around 13 years old, that he saw the film that would inspire him toĀ makeĀ horror movies. That film was Poltergeist, and specifically the scene where the lights came floating down the staircase late at night.

As one moved through JoBeth Williams, she burst into tears saying that her daughter had moved through her soul. The entire family gathered around her and it was a genuinely moving moment for Peckover.

“I remember seeing it and tears streaming down my face and I was a bit confused,” he said. “I was just deathly afraid of a clown like minutes before that and now I’m crying! What was going on here?”

The moment stuck with him, and he began his journey to filmmaking that day noting that it was that mixture of emotions that really spoke to him.

“Jump scares are fine as a tool; gore is fine as a tool,” he explained, “but what I love about horror is the vulnerability. Horror is a communal experience for me. When I walk out of the theater after a great horror film, I feel like we, the audience, have survived something together. That’s what inspires me.”

Chris Peckover Better Watch Out

Peckover carried that inspiration with him, eventually making his first feature, 2010’sĀ Undocumented. The film was a learning experience for him, but one of his biggest takeaways surprised him.

“It was way more graphic thanĀ Better Watch Out,” Peckover pointed out. “I learned with that film that you can’t please gorehounds. They will never get enough. I thought I wanted to chase that, but I think I’ve decided they should just watchĀ Faces of Death on repeat.”

A couple of years later, he was approached by Zack Kahn with a script forĀ Better Watch Out, and he saw an opportunity to make something different that could incorporate some of those lessons he’d learned along the way.

He liked Kahn’s story, but he wanted to shift its tone.

“I thought Zack had written a million dollar twist” the director said. “We talked about where it could go, and I kept thinking about Home Alone. I was a big fan of that film, and I was really in the mood for a good Christmas-themed horror-comedy.”

With that in mind, he set out to rework the script, lightening up some of the hardcore elements of Kahn’s version and concentrating on making the tone a bit more fun in the process.

Before long, they were elbows deep in casting, and Peckover admits he struck gold with his entire cast.

“I read about 200 twelve year olds for the role of Luke,” he explained. “I call that role a ‘motherfucker’ role because it’s really a wide spectrum for someone that age to be able to pull off. It was easy for all of them to get the meanness or the comedy or the cleverness or the warmth that the role needed, but it was nearly impossible to find one that could doĀ all of those things.”

Eventually, however, he met with the Levi Miller who not only knocked the audition out of the park, but also made Peckover take a step back in the process.

“Levi added a sexuality to the character that I had not written into it, really,” he pointed out. “He has a background in modeling and he was exposed to that kind of thing earlier in life. He would pout his lips and he had this almost snake-like way of moving. He was doing things in that audition that creeped me out so much that I ended up adding them to the movie.”

Everything fell into place with Miller on board, and the film has been a success online with distribution on various streaming services. Still, Peckover feels a little bit of guilt about one particular bit of character development that he did not include.

“With the best friend character inĀ Better Watch Out played by Ed Oxenbould,” he explained. “Even while I was writing it, I had in mind that he was in the closet. It was why he followed along with everything that Levi’s character does in the film. There was more there, for him, than just friendship, but I feel like it’s a copout to say that now. I feel a bit like J.K. Rowling saying of course there was a gay character in the film…I just never said it.”

Peckover never even discussed that particular character point with Oxenbould during filming, and it’s something that the regrets while admitting he’s still trying to figure out how to walk that line and make that statement.

“I kept wondering what would be my first film where I actually stare the gay identity in the face and actually say something about it,” he said. “Up until now, I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to say so I’ve danced around the issue. I’m happy, now, to say that I think I’ve finally cracked it, and I’m finally developing a film where the two main characters will be gay.”

On the set of Better Watch Out

He calls the project hisĀ gayĀ Get Out, and he says he admires what Jordan Peele was able to do with that film. He also says that the story doesn’t come from the place a lot of filmmakers are trying to place it, specifically in gay conversion therapy camps.

That’s too on the nose for Peckover, and he says that type of premise would have killed Peele’s film, as well.

“If Peele had writtenĀ Get Out and had the character saying, ‘I don’t know if I want to meet your family because they’re conservatives in southern Missouri and they have pitchforks’ it would have beenĀ way to obvious,” Peckover pointed out. “Instead of putting his character in an obvious racist setting, he instead went for the heart of that wheedling, insidious type of racism who insist that they are not actually racist. That’s what is scary!”

“It’s the same thing with what I’m trying to do with this new project,” he continued. “I’m sad and angry that conversion therapy camps exist, but I’m not afraid of them. Real fear comes from that place that we know exists but we can’t quite put our finger on where it’s coming from.”

As he continues working on writing the film, he knows that, much likeĀ Get OutĀ and other films of its ilk, there will be push-back from “horror fans.”

“People still insistĀ Get Out wasn’t a horror movie, and I’m like yeah it is,” he said. “They say the same thing aboutĀ Silence of the Lambs. They try to write them off as psychological thrillers and put distance between themselves and those movies. Good horror is still good horror and those movies are horror movies.”

That tactic, oddly enough has been used on both sides of the aisle. Non-horror fans, and especially critics it seems, want to label those films as something other than horror so they keep their supposed “credibility” while more traditional horror fans have done the same and oddly for the same reason.

For my part, I agree with Peckover, and as we finished up our conversation, I couldn’t help but ask if he’d experienced any trepidation in the possibility of being labeled a “gay filmmaker.”

“I’m gay and I’m a filmmaker, but I think the only time that label really gets thrown at you is when you make bad gay movies,” he said. “If you make something incredible, no one is going to care if you’re gay. Either way, I’m at the place in my life where I’d wear that mantle with pride.”

If you haven’t seenĀ Better Watch Out, it’s currently available on Shudder as part of its Queer Horror collection for Pride month, and keep your eyes peeled for Chris Peckover and his future projects.

'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' Popcorn Bucket

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

News

New Poster Reveal For Nicolas Cage’s Survival Creature Feature ‘Arcadian’ [Trailer]

Published

on

Nicolas Cage Arcadian

In the latest cinematic venture featuring Nicolas Cage, Arcadian emerges as a compelling creature feature, teeming with suspense, horror, and emotional depth. RLJE Films has recently released a series of new images and a captivating poster, offering audiences a glimpse into the eerie and thrilling world of “Arcadian”. Scheduled to hit theaters on April 12, 2024, the film will later be available on Shudder and AMC+, ensuring a wide audience can experience its gripping narrative.

Arcadian Movie Trailer

The Motion Picture Association (MPA) has given this film an “R” rating for its “bloody images,” hinting at the visceral and intense experience awaiting viewers. The film draws inspiration from acclaimed horror benchmarks like “A Quiet Place,” weaving a post-apocalyptic tale of a father and his two sons navigating a desolate world. Following a catastrophic event that depopulates the planet, the family faces the dual challenge of surviving their dystopian environment and eluding mysterious nocturnal creatures.

Joining Nicolas Cage in this harrowing journey are Jaeden Martell, known for his role in “IT” (2017), Maxwell Jenkins from “Lost in Space,” and Sadie Soverall, featured in “Fate: The Winx Saga.” Directed by Ben Brewer (“The Trust”) and penned by Mike Nilon (“Braven”), “Arcadian” promises a unique blend of poignant storytelling and electrifying survival horror.

Maxwell Jenkins, Nicolas Cage, and Jaeden MartellĀ 

Critics have already begun to praise “Arcadian” for its imaginative monster designs and exhilarating action sequences, with one review from Bloody Disgusting highlighting the film’s balance between emotional coming-of-age elements and heart-pounding horror. Despite sharing thematic elements with similar genre films, “Arcadian” sets itself apart through its creative approach and action-driven plot, promising a cinematic experience filled with mystery, suspense, and relentless thrills.

Arcadian Official Movie Poster

'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' Popcorn Bucket

Continue Reading

News

‘Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 3’ Is a Go with Enhanced Budget and New Characters

Published

on

Winnie the Pooh 3

Wow, they’re churning things out fast! The upcoming sequel “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 3” is officially moving forward, promising an expanded narrative with a larger budget and the introduction of beloved characters from A.A. Milne’s original tales. As confirmed by Variety, the third installment in the horror franchise will welcome Rabbit, the heffalumps, and the woozles into its dark and twisted narrative.

This sequel is a part of an ambitious cinematic universe that reimagines childrenā€™s stories as horror tales. Alongside “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” and its first sequel, the universe includes films such as “Peter Panā€™s Neverland Nightmare”, “Bambi: The Reckoning,” and “Pinocchio Unstrung”. These movies are set to converge in the crossover event “Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble,” slated for a 2025 release.

Winnie the Pooh Poohniverse

The creation of these films was made possible when A.A. Milneā€™s 1926 childrenā€™s book “Winnie-the-Pooh” entered the public domain last year, allowing filmmakers to explore these cherished characters in unprecedented ways. Director Rhys Frake-Waterfield and producer Scott Jeffrey Chambers, of Jagged Edge Productions, have led the charge in this innovative endeavor.

The inclusion of Rabbit, heffalumps, and woozles in the upcoming sequel introduces a new layer to the franchise. In Milne’s original stories, heffalumps are imagined creatures resembling elephants, while woozles are known for their weasel-like characteristics and a penchant for stealing honey. Their roles in the narrative remain to be seen, but their addition promises to enrich the horror universe with deeper connections to the source material.

'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' Popcorn Bucket

Continue Reading

News

How to Watch ‘Late Night with the Devil’ from Home: Dates and Platforms

Published

on

Late Night With The Devil

For fans eager to dive into one of this year’s most talked-about horror films from the comfort of their own home, “Late Night with the Devil” will be available for streaming exclusively on Shudder starting April 19, 2024. This announcement has been highly anticipated following the film’s successful theatrical release by IFC Films, which saw it earning rave reviews and a record-breaking opening weekend for the distributor.

“Late Night with the Devil” emerges as a standout horror film, captivating audiences and critics alike, with Stephen King himself offering high praise for the 1977-set film. Starring David Dastmalchian, the movie unfolds on Halloween night during a live late-night talk show broadcast that disastrously unleashes evil across the nation. This found footage-style film not only delivers scares but also authentically captures the aesthetic of the 1970s, drawing viewers into its nightmarish scenario.

David Dastmalchian in Late Night with the Devil

The film’s initial box office success, opening to $2.8 million in 1,034 theaters, underscores its wide appeal and marks the highest opening weekend for an IFC Films release. Critically acclaimed, “Late Night with the Devil” boasts a 96% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 135 reviews, with the consensus praising it for rejuvenating the possession horror genre and showcasing David Dastmalchian’s exceptional performance.

Rotten Tomatoes score as of 3/28/2024

Simon Rother of iHorror.com encapsulates the film’s allure, emphasizing its immersive quality that transports viewers back to the 1970s, making them feel as if they are part of the eerie “Night Owls” Halloween broadcast. Rother lauds the film for its meticulously crafted script and the emotional and shocking journey it takes viewers on, stating, “This whole experience will have viewers of the Cairnes brothersā€™ film glued to their screen… The script, from beginning to end, is neatly sewn together with an ending thatā€™ll have jaws on the floor.” You can read the full review here.

Rother further encourages audiences to watch the film, highlighting its multifaceted appeal: “Whenever it is made available to you, you must attempt to view the Cairnes Brothersā€™ latest project as it will make you laugh, it will creep you out, it will amaze you, and it might even strike an emotional cord.”

Set to stream on Shudder on April 19, 2024, “Late Night with the Devil” offers a compelling blend of horror, history, and heart. This film is not just a must-watch for horror aficionados but for anyone looking to be thoroughly entertained and moved by a cinematic experience that redefines the boundaries of its genre.

'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' Popcorn Bucket

Continue Reading

Embed Gif with Clickable Title