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