Interviews
Alexandre Aja Recalls the Time He Had to Choose Between Working With Raimi or Craven [Interview]
You probably can’t find a man-eating alligator movie with a more impressive pedigree than Crawl, the new thriller starring Kaya Scodelario as a college student who gets trapped in a crawlspace with her father during a hurricane, and gets attacked by gators while the whole house floods. That’s because Crawl comes courtesy of acclaimed horror director Alexandre Aja (High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes, Piranha, Mirrors, Horns), and influential horror director/producer Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead).
But did you know that Alexandre Aja and Sam Raimi came incredibly close to working together 15 years ago, only to have that opportunity taken away when Aja got an even more tempting offer from Wes Craven?
In a new interview with Bloody-Disgusting, Aja and Raimi talked about their working relationship today, and that first, missed opportunity to collaborate on the supernatural thriller The Messengers.
“Sam is really the producer that every filmmaker dreams to have,” Alexandre Aja says. “Someone who is here to help you defend your vision and who helps you be sure that the movie you’re making is your movie. He was not here to just force his vision on you. He was really, really helpful.”
“It was also amazing because back in 2003 or 2004, after High Tension, when we came to the U.S. for the first time and we met with Wes Craven to do The Hills Have Eyes, we also had an offer from Sam to make another movie.
“It was The Messengers. And we had to choose between going with Wes Craven or Sam Raimi, and it was a very tough decision as you can imagine,” Aja explains.
“I loved his work,” Sam Raimi remembers. “I’d seen only Haute Tension and it kind of blew my mind. I thought, he’s a master manipulator, creating suspense that really put the audience at the edge of their seat. And I thought, this is the guy I need to direct this movie I was producing for Columbia Pictures called The Messengers.”
“Alex said he was thinking about it but he had a job offer from Wes Craven at the time, and so he took that other job. So I missed my opportunity to work with him,” Raimi explained. “I never imagined 15 years later, 14 years later, I’d have another chance to work with him on this! This was fantastic for me.”
“I wrote a little letter to Sam explaining that one day I wish that one day we will find another one to do together,” Aja laughed. “It took a lot of time but we did it! And we finally worked together. I’m not only a big fan, he’s a genuinely amazing human being as well.”
Alexandre Aja’s remake of Wes Craven’s horror classic The Hills Have Eyes, starring Emilie de Ravin and Kathleen Quinlan, came out in 2006 to mixed reviews and a successful box office run. The Messengers would be released in 2007, directed by The Pang Brothers (The Eye) and starring Kristen Stewart. The film, about a rural family that rips itself apart, opened to unenthusiastic reviews but it, too, made a profit. Both films were popular enough to earn a sequel (or, in the case of Raimi’s production, a prequel).
We’ll finally get to see what a Sam Raimi/Alexandre Aja team-up looks like this weekend, when Crawl slithers into theaters!
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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