Filmmakers in genre spotlight
Female and nonwhite directors talk about chance to make genre films for an Amazon anthology series.
Grab a seat for a Q& A on diversity in horror, featuring directors involved in Blumhouse series for Amazon.
Just in time for Halloween, Blumhouse TV and Amazon are unveiling four psychological thrillers under the umbrella “Welcome to the Blumhouse.”
The anthology series, united by shared themes of family, love and betrayal, premiered Tuesday with features “The Lie” from veteran TV showrunner Veena Sud and “Black Box” from upand- comer Emmanuel OseiKuffour Jr. “Nocturne,” from British first- time feature director Zu Quirke, and “Evil Eye,” from “Jinn” cocreators Rajeev and Elan Dassani, will follow Oct. 13. The collection will be rounded out by four more films to be released sometime in 2021.
The series continues a busy year for Blumhouse Productions, which has emerged as a dominant force in the genre space. Earlier this year, prior to COVID- 19 shutting down movie theaters, the company had already released controversial satire “The Hunt,” TV adaptation “Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island” and the hit reimagining of “The Invisible Man.” And it has continued to debut new films, including the Kevin Bacon thriller “You Should Have Left” on VOD and comedic slasher “Freaky,” with Vince Vaughn, planned for theaters.
But what’s particularly notable about “Welcome to the Blumhouse” is the talent assembled behind the camera. Each film comes from an emerging filmmaker of color or female filmmaker, making the series a showcase for fresh talent ready to take genre films in new directions.
“Black Box,” co- written by Osei- Kuffour, stars Phylicia Rashad as a doctor who offers to help her amnesiac patient ( Mamoudou Athie) regain his memory using the titular “Black Mirror"- like experimental treatment. “The Lie,” based on the German film “We Monsters,” follows a divorced couple desperate to help their teenage daughter get away with murder.
“Nocturne,” which was inspired by Quirke’s experience playing violin competitively, stars Sydney Sweeney as a young pianist willing to make a deal with the devil to become a virtuoso. And “Evil Eye,” adapted from the Audible Original by Madhuri Shekar, follows an Indian mother who grows convinced that her daughter’s new paramour is connected to a dark memory from her past.
The Times caught up with all five directors to discuss genre influences and diversity in the horror space.
What do you think about the status of horror today and how the genre is perceived?
Elan Dassani: In the last few years, especially with films like “Get Out,” “The
Invisible Man” and “Paranormal Activity,” the horror genre has begun to take on a more direct social context that it hasn’t always had in the past, at least not as directly. I think it’s become more of a mirror to our society and a way to really speak to things especially as society has become more divisive. Genre is a way to talk about these things without directly talking about them.
Emmanuel Osei- Kuffour Jr.: Genre has freed me up to actually talk about things that I’ve always wanted to talk about and use horror tropes to comment on issues. “Black Box,” at the end of the day, is really a story about a deeply flawed man that gets a second chance to be a better father. I used the black box and amnesia to comment on fatherhood.
Zu Quirke: It’s interesting how the idea of talking about social issues used to be the preserve of elevated sci- fi, social sci- fi in particular. And now it’s really spread across genre, particularly into horror and psychological thrillers. People are looking for more comment to be made than what was made with horror maybe 30 years ago. I think horror has been an amazing vehicle for exploring human truths. And a lot of human truths come from fear.
Veena Sud: Horror has evolved into a subversive genre in a way that we have not seen before, but genre’s always allowed for subversion. When I was a kid, I loved horror, and I think part of the reason is because the unexpected hero at the center was usually a woman. The woman was chased by her attacker but more often than not, she turned and faced the attacker and defeated him. It was the first time I saw a powerful woman hero who was not just hanging out in her bikini as a sidekick like a blow- up doll. I think horror has always allowed for a lot of play that’s not expected.
Rajeev Dassani: I think that the internet has had a profound effect on genre. Horror 30 years ago was sort of a cult phenomenon. A lot of horror wasn’t respected as an elevated genre. Whereas today, people can experience and comment and recommend [ movies] in a much more profound way than they used to. And that’s affected what kinds of horror are successful and why things like “Get Out” break so hard, because everyone’s talking about it around the world. The world is more connected so people can watch it in different places and understand what horrifies people from other countries more easily.
How is the process of an adaptation different from working on an original script? Is there pressure to deliver for the audience that already exists?
Sud: For me, adaptation is actually not that different than original. I just have a spinal cord on this sculpture versus nothing. It’s always [ about] trying to respect and honor the original intention of the creator but it’s also like jazz: There’s a beginning note, and as a musician I have to add to it, not replicate it and repeat.
Elan Dassani: For us, it was nice to identify what we liked about the original script, the themes of obsession, self- doubt and victimhood, see how they played out in the audio- play format and figure out how to make that into a movie. We had the advantage that those two mediums are very different. It was nice to take something that was in this other context and figure out how to make it visual andell the story with as little dialogue as possible and have those themes still come through.
Emmanuel and Zu, where did you get the idea to write “Black Box” and “Nocturne,” respectively?
Osei- Kuffour: I got the original draft from Stephen Herman, and I remember when I first came on board for the rewrite being drawn to ... the whole amnesia element of it. Whenever I do a project, I need to have a very personal connection to it, and so I was trying to find my way in. I started thinking about, “What if the story was about a deeply flawed man or father forced to confront the mistakes he made in his life? What if he gets a second chance to be a good father for the first time?” It’s something that I’ve seen happen to friends and family that I could really connect to.
Quirke: I always wanted to do something with music because it’s been such a huge
part of my life. And a few years ago, I came up with this idea of writing this murder mystery set in a British music school. They’re very small, there’s only about 100 kids in any one of them, so that’s about 10 kids your own age in any one year. That environment kind of fascinates me. But as I was writing, I realized I was being drawn more toward the uncertain and the supernatural than the certaintybased principles of a murder mystery. I realized that this was actually a movie about artistic ambition. Not the artistic ambition of a great musician but that of a very normal 17- year- old who probably doesn’t have what it takes and is realizing that. And the deal- with- the- devil narrative naturally superimposed itself onto that.
Why do you think it’s taken so long for horror representation to be more inclusive?
Rajeev Dassani: Prior to the streaming age, there’s always been this pressure on cast- ability. There’s this pressure on name [ recognition], someone who can bring in box- office numbers. And there’s been a real struggle for Hollywood to perceive people of color or women as real box- office draws. I think streaming has allowed us to see more than ever before that people are craving more interesting stories, stories that are both universal and specific to a certain culture. I credit the Amazons and Netflixs of the world for us being able to tell more specifically targeted narratives.
Sud: I’ve been around for a while and thank God there was “Get Out,” “Black Panther” and “Crazy Rich Asians.” But our industry actually looks more like the Trump administration than it really looks like America. Unless the people who actually greenlight things are true allies, like Jason [ Blum], or they represent us, it’s not going to change. So my challenge to the industry is to be rigorous in looking at the executive branch and if you want change. Change the composition to represent this country. Because I have pitched from here to forever stories that never get greenlit. I can say I want this story with a person of color or a woman as the lead but unless it gets a greenlight, it’s irrelevant.
Osei- Kuffour: It’s really about the gatekeepers. And speaking personally, I think it’s really, really rare for a black director to get his first feature just off of a short film, which was the case for me. I’m hoping that the success of this film will give other studios the confidence to just give directors of color a shot because it happens all the time with white directors. And that plays a huge role in representation onscreen.
Quirke: That’s definitely true. It’s about representation in the public eye as well. When you’re talking about trying to represent diversity, the most important categories are the heads of departments and crews. You can put people of color and women in front of the camera but the people making these movies are the people who have creative control over what goes on in them.
Rajeev Dassani: There’s a perception that a Black director has to do a Black story, an Indian director has to do an Indian story and a woman director has to do a soft story, which I think is completely unfair because all of us are capable of doing a very wide range of things. But a big part of [ being able to do so] is walking into a room and that assumption not being made immediately.
Sud: We are at such a turning point in our industry and in our country. Let us not just put the burden on the artists to represent but put the burden on the industry to change. One of the gatekeepers I want to mention is the critics. Far too often white male critics are filling the ranks of entertainment journalism and not seeing the value of our work because the work does not speak to them. The press is the link between the hard work that we do and our audiences. If we are not covered or if our work is disparaged or not given credence, it dies. There is a whole ecosystem here that is not just about artists working really hard and trying to prove ourselves. We’ve done it and the rest of the industry needs to stand up now [ too].
Rajeev Dassani: Most of our success has involved bringing a social or diverse element to genre, and we’ve seen a real hunger for it. We made Netflix’s first Middle Eastern series, “Jinn,” which is a supernatural teen show with entirely brown faces, entirely in Arabic, and it was a real joy to see how many people embraced it. I think ultimately our goal as filmmakers is looking for something authentic and unique to give to an audience. All the challenges that everyone’s talked about are there, but I think there’s also an opportunity to use genre to tell these stories in a new way than before.
What was it like collaborating with Blumhouse?
Osei- Kuffour: We had a limited amount of time to produce but I would have to say that Blumhouse is an artist- first company. When they gave notes, they weren’t mandates. They were like, “We think this might help you tell your story even better.” And if it worked I included them, but if it didn’t, I didn’t. I think they really valued my vision.
Quirke: It’s the same issues on every movie, right? You never have enough time or quite enough money. And Blumhouse is amazing at making everything count. [“Nocturne”] was never billed to me as a YA movie or a woman’s movie or a movie aimed at girls. It was just treated as a story, which was the way I always treated it in my head, and I’m grateful for that.
Sud: Jason gives us final cut, which is unheard of. It means he trusts the artist 100%. And when you trust us, you teach us to not work in fear.