Exclusives
[Video Interview] Emile Hirsch On Working With William Friedkin And What Scene Scared Him Most In ‘Killer Joe’
LD Entertainment will soon release Killer Joe, which is directed by the man behind The Exorcist and To Live And Die In LA – William Friedkin. This may not sound like a horror film to you – but it is indeed bloody and disgusting. It’s also very entertaining. One of the ways in which the film is at its pitch black (and hilarious) best is when it’s detailing the increasingly giant clusterf*ck Emile Hirsch’s Chris Smith digs himself into. He’s in trouble from frame one and can’t keep from sinking deeper.
I recently spoke with Hirsch about what it was like to inhabit a character whose physicality kept changing with every beating he received. We also talked about what it was like to work with William Friedkin and which material in the script freaked him out the most.
“When 22-year-old Chris (Emile Hirsch) finds himself in debt to a drug lord, he hires a hit man to dispatch his mother, whose $50,000 life insurance policy benefits his sister Dottie (Juno Temple). Chris finds Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a creepy, crazy Dallas cop who moonlights as a contract killer. When Chris can’t pay Joe upfront, Joe sets his sight on Dottie as collateral for the job. The contract killer and his hostage develop an unusual bond. Like from a modern-day, twisted fairy tale, “Killer Joe” Cooper becomes the prince to Dottie’s Cinderella.” The film also stars Matthew McConaughey, Juno Temple, Thomas Haden Church and Gina Gershon. It’s based on the play by Pulitzer and Tony Award winner Tracy Letts.
Killer Joe opens in NY on July 27th and in Los Angeles on August 3rd. Head inside for the interview.
Exclusives
Exclusive ‘Black Box’ Clip Unleashes Supernatural Terror Aboard Flight 298
What happened to Flight 298? Our exclusive clip from supernatural thriller Black Box suggests a hostile takeover by an inhuman threat.
Black Box arrives on VOD today, July 7, 2026, via distributor Aura Entertainment.
In the horror movie, “A routine domestic flight turns into the flight from hell through a series of inexplicable phenomena and raw terror. Surreal encounters blur the boundaries between reality and nightmare. Passengers fight against all the odds in an attempt to survive while combating bizarre technological malfunctions, accelerating supernatural events, and alien influences.”
The film is based on the short film The Vessel, and an original screenplay from horror writer Stephen Susco (The Grudge, The Grudge 2, Texas Chainsaw 3D, Hell Fest).
Steven Quale (Into the Storm, Final Destination 5) directs.
Tom Brittney, Holly Leena White, Betsy Blue English, Dane Whyte O’Hara, Kaja Chan, Asa Ali, Boadicea Ricketts, Ceallach Spellman, Georgina Leonidas, Molly Belle Wright, Hanneke Talbot, Danny Mack, and Weronika Rosati star in Black Box.
Hammerstone Studios’ Alex Lebovici (Barbarian, Boy Kills World) and Jon Oakes (Drive, The Guilty) will produce alongside Capstone’s Christian Mercuri and David Haring (Bill & Ted Face the Music), Warren Zide (The Final Destination, American Pie), and Susco. Ruzanna Kegeyan and Roman Viaris of Capstone, and Clark Baker (Vessel) will executive produce.
Watch the clip below that sees a creepy crawling invasion aboard Flight 298, signalling supernatural turbulence ahead.