I had an hour-long conversation with screenwriter and director Scott Derrickson yesterday, whose new film The Exorcism of Emily Rose looks like the most promising … and troubling… horror film of the last few years. Derrickson has passionate opinions about the genre, and about filmmaking in general. I’ll be publishing excerpts from the interview as an online exclusive for Seattle Pacific’s Response magazine soon. Stay tuned…
And go see The Exorcism of Emily Rose, if you have the stomach for horror films that are about true and troubling subjects. This one’s going to give us a lot of things to discuss. The film stars the great Tom Wilkinson (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Batman Begins, In the Bedroom) and the great Laura Linney (You Can Count On Me, Kinsey).
Jeff, have you actually seen this film? I interviewed Scott a week ago, but I am told I won’t be able to see the film for myself for at least another week (after which, who knows, we might do a supplementary interview…).
Did Scott have his “talking points” yet? When I interviewed him, the studio had not yet told him what he could and could not say about certain things, so, combined with the fact that I had not yet seen the film, it was a pretty strange interview — there were questions I couldn’t ask, and answers he couldn’t give! But we somehow found more than an hour’s worth of things to talk about anyway!
Definitely a very passionate and articulate person.
This is one film that has definately been catching my eye. I have heard of several events where someone trying to either over zealously fast, exorcize demons, or whatever. I had an uncle who only ate oranges for like a year and refused to see doctors. Some strange ideas out there.
We didn’t get very specific about the film, and no, I haven’t seen it. Next week, I’m told. But I’m confident it will be worth seeing. Worst case scenario: Stimulating conversation fodder. Best case scenario: The first powerfully acted, challenging horror film in a long time.
I am so looking forward to this one! I love a good cerebral horror movie. Some notable ones in the last few years have been:
Se7en
Session 9
Blair Witch
Ring
Havent seen session 9 yet. just saw Devil’s Rejects. Sick. The movies that scare me are not the ones with aliens or monsters, but the ones that are possible and believable.
Hey Jeff, did you at least see Hellraiser: Inferno — Scott’s other directorial effort — before interviewing him? 🙂
Hey, I’ve seen “Land of Plenty,” so I’m ahead of most folks. 🙂 But no, I haven’t suffered the Inferno yet. After talking with him, though, I gotta say, I’m intrigued…