“Barbarian” writer-director Zach Cregger says it’s clear that “original horror is working right now.” His solo directorial debut was lauded as a late-summer sleeper hit, making more than $42 million worldwide on a modest production budget of $4.5 million.
As he was considering selling his house and going into debt to pay for the film himself, Cregger found BoulderLight Pictures, a small production company based in Los Angeles. “They were the first people that read it that were not daunted by the shift in tone,” he said.
Another horror directorial debut, “Smile,” topped the box office for two weeks after its release in September and has made more than $169 million worldwide. It examines the ripple effects of trauma. Cregger is optimistic about audiences’ growing appetite for horror films that aspire to deliver more than jump scares and gore, a trend he thinks is indebted to films like Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” and Ari Aster’s “Hereditary.”
“You feed somebody Doritos, but then you slip some broccoli in there,” Cregger said. “‘Barbarian’ does not have a social agenda. It really doesn’t. But there is stuff in there that I think can start conversations.”. And even as an actor, he said the director’s themes were woven cleanly into the story.
“There were moments where I felt like, ‘Oh, yeah, wait a minute, I think I just ate some broccoli,’” Long said.
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