Post a Comment On: Horrorthon

[Image]From AICN, Now, I've read the script for Richard Kelly's THE BOX and it's strong. Really strong. If you're not familiar with the project, it's based on a Richard Matheson scripted episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE about a box concealing a button [JPX, "What's in the Box", 1964, season 5, episode 24). It is given to a couple that is told they will be paid life-changing money if they press the button, but with the knowledge that if the button is pressed then someone will die. The presser of the button will not know the person killed, but by pressing the button they are in fact killing someone.

Cameron Diaz has just joined the project, playing the wife of the couple given the box.
Kelly originally wrote it for Eli Roth to direct, but then Roth got caught up with HOSTEL 2 and CELL and left it for Kelly to direct once SOUTHLAND TALES was finally finished.

We're starting to see some press now talking about how audiences don't want R-rated horror anymore [JPX, wait, what?] because 1408 did well and HOSTEL 2 didn't and I'd like to address this now. In the trade story announcing Diaz, they talk about how Kelly is aiming for a PG-13...

Having read the script, it's pretty obvious that a PG-13 is the way to go. This story isn't dependent on gore or sex or language. I don't believe for a second that Kelly is afraid of the R, but I do think he sees that this story can be told PG-13 without losing any of the suspense he wants.

I think the rating has nothing or almost nothing to do with the recent performance of horror. I liked HOSTEL 2 and I liked 1408, but we haven't seen a horror movie like 1408 in a long while whereas the type of horror HOSTEL 2 is has been dominant in the genre for the last few years.
I don't think the horror audience wants tame horror, I think they want a better variety. I don't think I've ever met a horror fan that said, "Man... I'm tired of R-rated horror movies. Why can't we get more PG-13 stuff?"

All the press will just go away whenever the next R-rated horror movie comes out and sweeps up. Every time something fails it's always the death of whatever type of film that was and whenever something succeeds, it's always the beginning of a new trend. That's just how things are reported. Maybe you'll disagree, but I don't believe the audience only wants PG-13 horror.
But like I said above about Richard Kelly's script, I think he's making the movie he wants, a movie that can fit in a PG-13 rating, not paring it down because he's afraid of a harsher rating. On the whole, THE BOX is Kelly's most mainstream script. It still has his quirks, of course. His voice is clearly there, but I think it has a wider appeal than his previous work. Now if he can just get the final cut of SOUTHLAND TALES to come out...