Director Talks On-Screen Violence in ‘Rampage’; “A Couple Guys Get Ripped in Half”
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It’s a fact of Hollywood life that most big expensive blockbuster movies have to be PG-13 to appeal to families. Even a giant monster movie like Rampage. When a giant wolf, crocodile, and gorilla go on a rampage, they leave a trail of bloody victims in their path… but don’t expect too much in the gore department from this one.
“I’m not really into gore,” director Brad Peyton told Bloody Disgusting.
“That’s not really my thing. I like squirminess, like in an Indiana Jones movie. I don’t necessarily love gore. What I like doing is kind of undercutting it. When a certain person dies and blood splatters over the glass, it’s kind of for comedic purposes. It just wasn’t a factor for me. I think that I make adventure films. The gore thing never really crossed my mind.”
Spielberg is a good reference, since the gore in his movies actually led to the creation of PG-13. There are no melting Nazis or ripping people’s beating hearts out in Rampage, but there are in spirit.
“[Rampage goes] much more towards Nazi face melt off than pure Hostel gore,” Peyton said.
“I definitely try to scare the hell out of you every now and then. If you look closely, a couple guys get ripped in half in Wyoming. I try to do it in a way that you have that moment where you’re like, ‘Oh, damn’ but it’s not so gruesome you’re scaring the hell out of your kids or your girlfriend’s turning away. It’s meant to startle you but not gross you out.”
Peyton had no issues getting all of these kills through the MPAA.
“We went in front of the ratings board once and I didn’t get any notes,” Peyton said. “I’m assuming they weren’t offended by it.”
Perhaps it helps that The Rock is there to save the day. No one is too afraid when they smell what The Rock is cooking. Dwayne Johnson is back in badass mode, but even he wanted to show that these giant monsters were a bit much even for him to handle.
“It’s fun and cool to be a badass and it’s awesome, but I find it more interesting and funnier and more entertaining when something kind of undercuts the badassness,” Johnson said in a press conference. “A scene that I love is when George comes back and I’m like, ‘All right, buddy. Let’s go kick some ass.’ He pounds his chest and he poses and screams, the alligator screams back at us and I’m like holy shit, and I start running away. I love little moments like that where we’re undercutting the badassery, if you will.”
For the first time, Johnson is not the biggest character in the movie.
“I think there’s something inherently interesting to me when you can play a badass but also the foe you’re looking at, the antagonist, you’re looking up at them,” Johnson said. “You’re running from them. I love that so any time I can put myself in a position like that is great. Especially for a movie like this where you have the latitude to just have so much fun.”
Rampage opens April 13.
As the inaugural season of Apple TV+’s stellar new series “Widow’s Bay” barrels toward its finale in two weeks, the latest episode gives Kate O’Flynn the spotlight as her character revisits her trauma with the Boogeyman.
“Your Baggage“, directed by Andrew DeYoung (Friendship), sees O’Flynn’s scene-stealing Patricia once again renew her fight with the Michael Myers-like stalker that slaughtered her peers during her adolescence. Thrillingly, it makes for one extended chase sequence that sees Patricia trying to warn others, while evading the undead killer.
In short, this episode’s incredible riff on Halloween and the slasher subgenre transformed Patricia into a fierce Final Girl.
“Well, that felt like a bucket list that I didn’t know was on my bucket list until I did it, but when I did it, I just lapped up every minute,” O’Flynn tells Bloody Disgusting of her triumphant turn this episode. “It felt fantastic for her to get that moment where she is becoming a badass. That was amazing.”
The actress turned to a few notable references for her performance. “Horror-wise, I go back to my youth, which was referenced in some of the episodes: Wicker Man, Carrie, and Rosemary’s Baby, that sort of thing is my kind of vibe.”
O’Flynn also notes how the series’ unique tone allows for so much creative freedom to make bold swings. “There’s something very freeing about it. Every moment is up for grabs, so it’s like we don’t have to totally land in one direction or another. It keeps it alive.“
Patricia is the eccentric assistant to Matthew Rhys‘ Mayor Tom Loftis, who’s at the forefront of trying to solve the island’s pesky curse predicament. Rhys felt the same about “Widow’s Bay” and its rare ability to make you laugh and scream in equal measure, stemming from series creator Katie Dippold.
“The mandate was, ‘It’s a real world with real people. You play for real.’ There’s no playing for comedy or horror,” Rhys echoes O’Flynn’s sentiments on how freeing the series’ tone has been.
New episodes will release every Wednesday through June 17 only on Apple TV+.
Kate O’Flynn in “Widow’s Bay,” now streaming on Apple TV.
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