50 years ago this December, the most terrifying horror film in history landed on screens, shocking audiences around the world. Now, a new chapter begins. From Blumhouse and director David Gordon Green, who shattered the status quo with their resurrection of the Halloween franchise, comes The Exorcist: Believer.
Ahead of the film's much discussed release this week, Peter Gray spoke with the filmmaker about the pressure he felt in taking on another genre classic, how he convinced Ellen Burstyn to say yes to reprising her Oscar-nominated role from half a century prior, and what we can expect from him next.
Ahead of the film's much discussed release this week, Peter Gray spoke with the filmmaker about the pressure he felt in taking on another genre classic, how he convinced Ellen Burstyn to say yes to reprising her Oscar-nominated role from half a century prior, and what we can expect from him next.
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00:00 Aggie Review in Australia.
00:01 Hello, Jamie. - What's up?
00:02 Hey, man.
00:03 - How are you?
00:04 - Doing great.
00:05 - I'm first of all, gonna give you a shout out
00:07 for "Bones and All" 'cause that was unnerving.
00:11 (laughing)
00:13 - I love that.
00:13 That was a very, that was a trippy experience.
00:15 It's not often that I could be convinced
00:17 to stand in front of a camera,
00:18 but if it's Luca, I'll do anything.
00:21 - Yeah, no, I understand that.
00:23 And like after the Halloween trilogy,
00:26 we'll, I mean, we'll call them horror fans,
00:29 but they were quite vocal about certain things.
00:33 And then going into "The Exorcist,"
00:36 like was there a certain pressure taken off
00:39 because you sort of weathered the storm with Halloween?
00:43 - I mean, I put a lot of pressure on myself
00:47 and I surround myself with kind of a circle of trust
00:50 of creative collaborators I've been working with
00:51 for 20 years.
00:52 So, you know, I'm always gonna make things
00:54 that are divisive, I know that.
00:56 I guess my own criteria is make it as personal as possible,
01:00 make what I really wanna make.
01:02 Don't let it be engineered by the system or institution
01:05 or just a fan base.
01:07 It's good to acknowledge that that exists.
01:09 And for me, it's a great opportunity to make a movie
01:11 that people will open their eyes or turn their heads
01:13 and maybe buy a ticket to.
01:15 So I get excited about that,
01:16 but I'm always gonna be there to push buttons
01:20 and challenge myself and challenge an audience.
01:23 - Yeah, no, 'cause I spoke to Andy Matichak
01:26 for "Halloween Ends" and she was just like,
01:29 basically the line was like,
01:30 just don't be precious about it.
01:31 I'm like, that's what we need to take away.
01:33 Horror fans, don't be precious about stuff,
01:35 just go into it and enjoy it for what it is.
01:38 - I remember just being a kid
01:39 and playing with my "Star Wars" action figures
01:41 and creating stories and doing things.
01:43 And I feel like I'm just a grownup version
01:46 of that same playful kid that I get to play
01:48 in these sandboxes, whether it's Michael Myers
01:50 or Chris McNeil, and to be able to have
01:53 these iconic franchises and get in that playground
01:57 is an incredible opportunity
01:59 and I'm trying to maximise what I wanna do in there.
02:02 - Yeah, and on the topic of Chris McNeil,
02:04 I mean, when yourself and Scott and Danny and Peter
02:07 are sort of creating this story,
02:10 was the narrative always there for Ellen Burstyn to return
02:14 or did you have other things in place
02:17 in case you couldn't get her to say yes?
02:20 - Yeah, we're not idiots.
02:21 We were protecting ourselves,
02:23 much like on Halloween with Laurie.
02:26 You kinda hope there's these ingredients,
02:29 you hope that you can include them
02:31 in what you're trying to do,
02:32 particularly when it's a legacy that means a lot to me,
02:34 it means a lot to so many people,
02:37 if you could convince them to do that.
02:38 And getting to know Ellen was amazing
02:41 and I can't say it wasn't challenging to get her there.
02:43 You're very sceptical of what we're trying to do.
02:45 A lot of people had come to her in the past
02:47 and so her immediate answer was no.
02:50 But we worked together, we sculpted a character together
02:52 that I think was meaningful to her
02:54 and in a lot of ways mirrored
02:56 some of her real life experience in the 50 years
02:59 after the success of the "Exorcist" film.
03:02 And then we became great collaborators
03:04 and formed a great partnership and are really good friends.
03:07 So that's a thrill for me as a young movie junkie
03:10 to be hanging out with Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.
03:13 - And on the subject of Ellen,
03:16 like obviously casting the young children in this
03:20 is so crucial to the film's success.
03:22 And Lydia and Olivia, insane performances.
03:26 Like how was that casting process
03:28 when you sort of realised,
03:29 I'm gonna be making these kids say and do certain things?
03:34 - Yeah, well, you know, we had a script
03:36 that was a blueprint of where we would go.
03:38 And I looked to them for the early stage of the film,
03:40 I looked to them for the authenticity
03:41 of what these young vivacious young ladies would be saying
03:46 and how they would be interacting.
03:48 And so most of that's not even scripted.
03:49 They just would say things and do things
03:51 and we'd do a series and leave the camera rolling
03:53 and see what happened and then edit it together.
03:56 And then the emotional attributes of the possession
04:00 as that started to, and under the heavy duress
04:03 of such, of the makeup and the demonic look
04:08 that Christopher Nelson and his makeup team created for them,
04:11 it was amazing to see them turn it on and turn it off.
04:13 The makeup really, it just turned into
04:16 an interpretive dance kind of thing.
04:18 And when we'd be dark, they'd be dark.
04:20 And when we'd say cut, they would just joke around
04:23 and play Taylor Swift songs
04:24 and it became really light on the set.
04:26 So they were really the grounding for the entire crew.
04:30 - Yeah, well, I'm just excited to see how people respond
04:33 to this one because like, I think when you take on horror,
04:36 it's always an experience.
04:37 And as I said, I spoke to you for Halloween kills
04:41 and like, I love, I mentioned like your Highness.
04:43 So whenever you wanna go back
04:44 to doing ridiculous comedy, I'm all for it.
04:47 - I'm ready, I'm ready, I love it.
04:48 I love it, just making it all a beautiful world
04:51 and I'm always trying to explore
04:52 and push myself in new directions.
04:54 So we'll see.
04:55 - Yeah, awesome.
04:56 Now, thank you so much, David.
04:57 - Good talking to you.
04:58 - Cheers.
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