Interviews
Director Lars Klevberg Talks About the Gore in His ‘Child’s Play’ [Interview]
If this summer is any indication, the studio-mandated PG-13 horror movie may have finally come to an end. Brightburn was an ultraviolent film about an evil Superman (kinda), and now the Child’s Play remake is coming out with gloriously disgusting violence aplenty.
It would have been easy to turn a movie about a killer doll – who can also control various Bluetooth devices, like cars and drones and light switches – into a PG-13 thriller that, more or less, everyone could enjoy, but when Bloody-Disgusting spoke to director Lars Klevberg, he explained that that was not case.
Child’s Play‘s exceptional amount of gore, Klevberg said, “was part of the plan.”
“The studio told us very early on that it was going to be a Rated-R movie, and we said that’s good, based on many things,” Klevberg explained.
“But it was never an uphill battle, actually. We tested a lot of different things and we kind of ended up in a spot where I think that was a great spot for us.”
In fact, when it comes to the gore, Klevberg says that “we kind of put more on it as we worked more on it, if you know what I mean.”
“A little bit,” he added. “To change something.”
Although Klevberg wouldn’t elaborate further on which of the film’s many gross deaths got even grosser over time, he did explain that, to him, the violence is an important part of the Child’s Play franchise.
“Because there are certain iconic characters in movies, in the history of cinema, that you should be able walk in the same footsteps,” Klevberg said. “You have the Child’s Play/Chucky universe, also Alien and Jaws and all those. There’s violence and gore there for a reason. It’s not just added there to create something.”
“And for us, this movie’s the same way, how I see it,” he continued. “It’s just being part of that universe.”
That doesn’t mean Klevberg was allowed to put just any act of violence in the new Child’s Play. To find out which audacious murder the studio wouldn’t allow him to film, come back to Bloody Disgusting after Child’s Play hits theaters this weekend, because that one’s a spoiler!
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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