It's like a chamber piece, |
It's obviously not buckets of blood; it's a psychological thriller, ... For me, it was kind of an announcement that I can step out of the horror context and hold my own with the best of them. |
My whole family still lives there, ... I mean, where is Cleveland anymore? They're in Cleveland Heights, Burton, Willoughby, places like that. Mostly all over the eastern suburbs. |
Rachel was one of the early names that came up. As soon as we started thinking about her, we really got excited. She has a quality that is missing in a lot of American girls now. You know, just a sense of wholesomeness. And I had seen her movies and I thought they showed such range. At one moment, she's doing 'Mean Girls,' which is sort of high-level comedy, in a way, and then she's doing this really beautiful love story. |
Right now (movie horror is) in a holding pattern, |
She has a quality that is missing in a lot of American girls now ... |
She's a legend in her own time. |
So then it's a matter of, do you want to make movies? Yeah. Then you're going to make scary movies. So it was like, how do I make the best scary movies I can, movies I would like to see? I never went out of my way to make a single one. I don't particularly like them. My conviction is that I can do any kind of film. |
That day changed my life, |
That's how this (movie) felt to me, a real director- actors' piece, with two people just sitting in airplane seats. It's gripping. |
That's more subtle, and a lot more complicated, character-wise, ... The easiest way to do it is with bigger explosions, lots of gunfire, that sort of thing. That's one reason why horror is where it's at. Even making a horror film like A Nightmare on Elm Street; it's what's going on between personalities that's really most interesting. |
The audience that would see that movie, by and large, doesn't go to see horror films, ... It was a great pleasure to make, and to see Meryl (Streep) nominated (for a best actress Oscar) for it. But most of the people I run into who loved it are surprised that I made it. When you have a name that means scares, you have to live with that. |
The first monster you have to scare the audience with is yourself. |
The monsters are a little silly because they had no money, so obviously they can't show them for very long, ... But the film itself is a romp; a very bloody, goofy, scary one. |
There is an emotionality and vulnerability. She knows what is of value and what is not. And for another thing, she's a legend in her own time. I think everyone in Hollywood takes her very seriously. |