Interviews
Elisha Cuthbert on Her Return to Horror With ‘The Cellar’ [Interview]
Hitting theaters and Shudder this Friday is Brendan Muldowney‘s The Cellar (review), an expansion of his 2004 short film “The Ten Steps” (watch here). For the film’s lead actress Elisha Cuthbert (House of Wax), The Cellar marks her return to horror after a 15-year absence.
We had the opportunity to speak with Elisha Cuthbert about the large gap between her horror projects, as well as what drew her back into the genre.
2007’s critically-panned Captivity was the last time Cuthbert graced us with her presence in a genre film. She’s spent much of her time since then acting in television comedies like ABC’s Happy Endings and Netflix’s The Ranch, on top of raising her two children with husband and hockey player Dion Phaneuf.
After discussing how the also-critically-panned House of Wax has undergone a reappraisal in recent years, Cuthbert elaborated on why she had left the genre for so long: “I needed to take substantial breaks in between [horror] films,” she said. “Sometimes you get a horror project and then you get offered a boatload of them. After House of Wax, there was a huge onslaught of material that was coming to me that was all genre-based and, frankly, I think the genre can be so great if it’s done really well” (see: House of Wax), “but it can get ugly too” (see: Captivity).
What was so bad about Captivity? Well, that film “went through a 45-page script rewrite after we filmed it,” Cuthbert said. “So the movie I signed on to do is not the one that got released.”
So what was it about The Cellar that drew her back in? “Honestly I just got excited reading it,” she said. “I thought there was a maturity, or a sophistication, to the writing. But I had also had my own daughter and could relate to where my character was at her life with her children. I understood the feeling of wanting to go to the depths of the world to find your child, so that’s what connected me to the script.“
In the film, Cuthbert plays a mother whose daughter mysteriously vanishes in the cellar of their new house. She soon discovers there is an ancient and powerful entity controlling their home that she will have to face or risk losing her family’s souls forever.
Eoin Macken, Abby Fitz and Dylan Fitzmaurice-Brady also star.
The Cellar will be in theaters and will stream on Shudder April 15.
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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