“Barbarian” stars Justin Long and Georgina Campbell along with Writer and Director Zach Cregger join CinemaBlend to discuss their buzz-worthy new horror film. Learn why the cast trusted Cregger’s vision for the story, working with Bill Skarsgård, how audience feedback shaped the film, and much more!
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00:00 You know, when I watch horror movies where the scares are CG,
00:03 it just takes me right out of it.
00:05 It just doesn't feel real.
00:06 And I'm trying to create a visceral experience.
00:10 So it was very important to me to do
00:12 everything practical in camera.
00:13 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:17 The trailer just did not prepare me at all.
00:28 Good.
00:28 I just appreciated it so much.
00:31 And I want to know how involved you
00:32 were with making the trailer.
00:34 I was invited to participate in making the trailer.
00:37 I was very relieved that from the get-go,
00:39 Disney was on the same page as me,
00:41 that they did not want to put any spoilers in the trailer.
00:46 Now, they cut the trailer that is out there in the world.
00:49 And I think it is fantastic.
00:51 If I had been left to my own devices,
00:52 I would not have made a trailer that good.
00:55 So thank God they're pros at what they do.
00:57 They know how to market this movie.
00:59 And my hat is off to them.
01:02 And I think they crushed it.
01:03 So yeah, it's pretty spoiler-free.
01:06 It's funny, because a lot of people
01:07 will leave comments on the trailer saying, well,
01:09 this--
01:10 I know what happens.
01:11 I promise you, you don't know what happens.
01:14 How much fun is it to look at internet theories
01:16 before this comes out?
01:17 Because I had my own, just like even re-watching the trailer
01:20 today and hearing how the audio was used, I was like--
01:24 I had a completely different idea of what the movie was.
01:26 Sure.
01:27 How much are you really engaging with the internet about this?
01:29 I read a lot of the comments.
01:32 So far, they've been positive.
01:33 So I haven't really had my feelings hurt that much.
01:35 As soon as my feelings get hurt, I'm out.
01:37 But no, I do keep an eye on them.
01:40 And it's fun.
01:41 Some people have brought up some really amazing points
01:43 that I've never even realized.
01:45 People pointed out that "Barbarian"
01:46 is an anagram of Airbnb.
01:48 And I did not realize that until way too late.
01:51 Somebody pointed out that 476 Barbary,
01:53 the address of the house, that 476 is the year
01:56 that Rome fell to the barbarians.
01:58 I didn't know that.
01:59 You know, it's fun.
02:00 It's fun to, like, watch these sleuths kind of do
02:03 their thing and pick it apart.
02:04 We're asking so many questions.
02:06 We're kind of yelling at the screen for you guys.
02:08 Are you kind of trying to answer questions for your own
02:10 characters when you're on set?
02:12 Well, I think the script was so well-written by Zach
02:17 that it makes sense.
02:20 He really kind of fills in those kind of, like, loopholes
02:23 and makes sure that there's proper diversions.
02:27 It makes sense why, you know, Tess,
02:30 she tries to get out of these scenarios
02:33 again and again and again,
02:34 and she keeps kind of getting pushed back.
02:38 And also, you know, Zach is a really fantastic director,
02:42 so he was always there to kind of talk things through
02:44 and make sense of anything
02:46 that maybe was confusing at the time.
02:48 I trusted Zach as well.
02:50 I mean, he crafted, yeah,
02:52 it was such a tight script.
02:54 It was such a thoughtful script that anything
02:59 that I questioned were usually just very minor word choices.
03:05 And Zach has such a great ear for dialogue.
03:08 You know, he's got such an ear for realism
03:11 that he was so supportive of any kind of, like,
03:15 minor tweaks that maybe made it sound
03:18 a little bit more realistic or natural.
03:21 But, no, I never -- I didn't question him at all.
03:25 He was such a thoughtful, creative leader.
03:31 -They're kind of like two different sides
03:33 of the same coin, you know?
03:34 Like, Tess is a woman who goes into this deadly situation,
03:39 identifying threat, and her brain is working overtime
03:41 trying to determine if she's in danger or not.
03:44 AJ is a man going into the same situation.
03:47 He's in danger.
03:48 He's caused wreckage, and he's oblivious to it,
03:51 and he's just kind of blindly cruising through.
03:53 So it's a comment on the mental energy
03:57 that women have to exert to protect themselves
04:00 that men don't.
04:01 And so that was just a way to kind of riff
04:03 on the disparity of those two attitudes.
04:07 -Tess's introduction is kind of really introducing the film
04:12 and where we are.
04:13 We're at this Airbnb in this strange situation
04:17 with Keith, Bill Skarsgård's character,
04:21 which then leads to going down into the basement.
04:24 I think the kind of --
04:27 What's interesting about the film is there's shifts in tone,
04:29 and at the beginning of the film,
04:31 it kind of feels like there is more of a romantic vibe to it.
04:36 You know, they kind of start clicking.
04:38 It kind of feels very soft and nice,
04:41 and then suddenly, you know, we go down to the basement,
04:44 and suddenly there's another complete tonal change
04:47 as we find out that there's, you know,
04:49 there's something bad lurking down there.
04:51 -What are we supposed to do?
04:53 -I don't know. I don't know.
04:56 Why don't you come inside, and we'll call these idiots.
05:00 -How intentional is Bill Skarsgård in that role?
05:06 Because there was a point where he said, like,
05:08 "I'm not a monster," and just knowing it, I was like, "Uh-huh."
05:11 -Yeah, he says, "What do I look like, a monster?"
05:13 And everyone's like, "Uh..."
05:16 I actually didn't think of that as a joke
05:17 until the first time we screened it for an audience,
05:19 and everyone laughed. I was like, "Oh, yeah.
05:20 I guess that is pretty fun."
05:22 Yeah, I mean, Bill was perfect casting for this
05:24 because he has such a history with the audience.
05:27 Horror audiences know him, you know,
05:30 and they expect something from him.
05:32 So as soon as he opens that door,
05:33 everyone's like, "Oh!"
05:34 You know, and that's just what you want.
05:37 -Being with an audience watching this was so effective,
05:40 and I was wondering before, you know,
05:43 being ready with your final cut, did you --
05:45 Who did you show it to, and did you have to show it
05:48 to an audience before being like,
05:49 "Okay, I'm ready. I'm ready for this to be out"?
05:51 -Yeah, so there's a testing process that you go through
05:54 when you make a movie with a studio.
05:56 So, you know, you go, and you go to a big theater
05:59 packed with, you know, regular folks and --
06:03 who hopefully have some interest in horror,
06:05 and then they watch the movie, and then they, like, grade you.
06:07 You know, they, like, fill out a thing,
06:09 and you get a number grade,
06:11 and it's really, really stressful.
06:14 And then you take that feedback, and you make some changes
06:17 that you hope are gonna bring your score up,
06:19 and we did another one, and we brought our score up,
06:22 and, you know, then you learn more.
06:25 And it's a process that I think is actually really valuable.
06:28 I'm certainly not one of those filmmakers who's like,
06:30 "I don't care what anybody says."
06:31 Like, I care. I want the audience to have fun.
06:33 This is a movie for, like, the general audience.
06:36 I'm not making, um, whatever.
06:39 I'm not making an arty-farty sort of a thing.
06:41 I'm trying to make a big, crowd-pleasing popcorn movie.
06:44 Like, that's -- I want it to be a roller coaster.
06:46 So I really want to incorporate the feedback.
06:48 -Well, this one's pretty memorable.
06:50 I think this might be my favorite.
06:53 I guess getting turned into a walrus
06:54 is sort of tough to beat.
06:57 That's -- That old chestnut.
07:01 But, yeah, I mean, it's fun to --
07:04 I like -- I loved horror movies growing up.
07:08 I didn't really get to watch them,
07:09 so they were always, like, forbidden fruit, you know?
07:11 And so now -- So, like, the more gruesome
07:14 the cover of a movie was, like, the more I wanted to see it,
07:17 you know, the more graphic and gory.
07:19 So now getting to do some of this stuff,
07:21 it's kind of like I'm living out some childhood fantasies.
07:26 -This process might seem overwhelming.
07:34 But with a little practice,
07:38 it can soon become a pleasurable experience.
07:43 This is perfectly natural.
07:49 [Growling]
07:53 [BLANK_AUDIO]