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Interview: Betty Buckley talks M. Night Shyamalan’s “Split”

Published

7 years ago

November 30, 2016

Betty Buckley will do anything to work with M. Night Shyamalan. “I love working with the best people, and Night is a master filmmaker,” says the actress, who is best known for her performance as gym teacher Miss Collins in the classic 1976 horror film Carrie. “He’s a uniquely gifted filmmaker, and I love watching him work.”

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Buckley proved her dedication when she was cast in Shyamalan’s 2008 film The Happening. “I’d been up for roles in two or three of Night’s previous films, and I really wanted to work with him,” says Buckley. “I got to know Douglas Aibel, Night’s longtime casting director, and he sent me sides, scenes from the script, and he wanted me to record the audition and then download it to a Mac system, so they could look at my audition within twenty-four hours and make a decision.

“I was at my ranch in Texas, and I went to this camera store in Fort Worth and bought an expensive camera for the audition,” Buckley continues. “The guy at the store told me we could use it to download the audition. We did the audition in my kitchen, at my ranch, with my assistant holding the camera. I was outside with my horses when Cathy, my assistant, called me and said she couldn’t download it.

“We took the camera back to the store and asked them to download it. They couldn’t do it. I said to Cathy, ‘Okay, let’s pack up the camera and take it to the nearest Federal Express location.’ I sent the camera to Douglas, who called me the next day and said he’d only been joking. He thought it was so funny that I would do something like that, and when I met with Night, he also thought it was hilarious that I mailed the camera to them. I asked them to return the camera, which they did, and I had a great time working with Night and Mark Wahlberg on that film.”

In Shyamalan’s latest film, Split, Buckley plays Dr. Fletcher, a psychologist who specializes in split personality disorders. Fletcher’s most challenging patient is Kevin, played by James McAvoy, a man whose fractured psyche holds more than twenty different personalities. “I try to help Kevin manage his various personalities and integrate them into one being,” says Buckley. “I try to help Kevin figure out who he really is.”

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Buckley did intense research for her role in the $5 million film, which was produced by low budget horror specialist Jason Blum. “I met with a psychologist and did research about this, because I wanted to get everything right,” says Buckley. “I wanted to research the complexity of multiple personalities. Fletcher believes that severe DID [Dissociative Identity Disorder] patients like Kevin have the ability to change their body chemistry through their thoughts. She’s written papers on this, which her colleagues have dismissed. Fletcher knows that Kevin is in trouble in the film, but she has a willful apprehension about Kevin, in terms of how dangerous he really is. She doesn’t see the Def-Con stage that he’s really in.”

Although Split was filmed in Shyamalan’s native Pennsylvania in the fall of 2015, the end of filming wasn’t the end for Buckley. “Night has been continually tinkering with the film since we finished filming,” says Buckley. “Throughout 2016, I’d be traveling, I’d be in New York, and Night would call me and tell me he wanted me to record some new dialogue. He’s a perfectionist, which I really admire.”

Between the big budget The Happening and the contained Split, Buckley doesn’t believe that Shyamalan has changed as a filmmaker. “I think he’s as good as he’s ever been,” says Buckley. “We shot The Happening in Philadelphia, mostly at a studio, and it was the same with Split. When I arrived, we had a script reading, one week of rehearsals, and I met James, who was very humble and down to earth, which is refreshing to see from such a big star.

“I think Night has thrived with these low budget films because he hasn’t changed his approach to filmmaking,” continues Buckley. “He keeps most of the same crew with him, so there’s a lot of consistency. I loved his last film, The Visit, which I thought was a master example of filmmaking. I saw The Visit in a theater, and I was amazed by how he was able to maintain suspense and tension while interjecting humor. I think The Visit is one of the great scary movies of recent years.”

Buckley has similar expectations for Split. “I think James is absolutely amazing in the film, in terms of all the different personalities he portrays in the film,” says Buckley. “We have several therapy scenes in the film, and those were some of the most exciting, intense scenes I’ve ever been part of in a film.”

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Movies

‘The Strangers’ Invaded Coachella in Instagramable PR Stunt

Published

14 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Renny Harlin’s reboot of The Strangers isn’t coming out until May 17, but those murderous home invaders are making a pit stop at Coachella first.

In the latest Instagramable PR stunt, the studio behind the film decided to have the trio of masked intruders crash Coachella, a music festival that takes place for two weekends in Southern California.

This type of publicity began when Paramount did the same thing with their horror movie Smile in 2022. Their version had seemingly ordinary people in populated places look directly into a camera with an evil grin.

Harlin’s reboot is actually a trilogy with a more expansive world than that of the original.

“When setting out to remake The Strangers, we felt there was a bigger story to be told, which could be as powerful, chilling, and terrifying as the original and could really expand that world,” said producer Courtney Solomon. “Shooting this story as a trilogy allows us to create a hyperreal and terrifying character study. We’re fortunate to be joining forces with Madelaine Petsch, an amazing talent whose character is the driving force of this story.”

The movie follows a young couple (Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez) who “after their car breaks down in an eerie small town, are forced to spend the night in a remote cabin. Panic ensues as they are terrorized by three masked strangers who strike with no mercy and seemingly no motive in The Strangers: Chapter 1 the chilling first entry of this upcoming horror feature film series.”

The Strangers: Chapter 1 opens in theaters on May 17.

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Movies

‘Alien’ Returning to Theaters For a Limited Time

Published

16 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Timothy Rawles

It’s been 45 years since Ridley Scott’s Alien hit theaters and in celebration of that milestone, it is headed back to the big screen for a limited time. And what better day to do that than Alien Day on April 26?

It also works as a primer for the upcoming Fede Alvarez sequel Alien: Romulus opening on August 16. A special feature in which both Alvarez and Scott discuss the original sci-fi classic will be shown as a part of your theater admission. Take a look at the preview of that conversation below.

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Back in 1979, the original trailer for Alien was kind of terrifying. Imagine sitting in front of a CRT TV (Cathode Ray Tube) at night and suddenly Jerry Goldsmith’s haunting score begins to play as a giant chicken egg starts to crack with beams of light bursting through the shell and the word “Alien” slowly forms in slanted all caps across the screen. To a twelve-year-old, it was a scary pre-bedtime experience, especially Goldsmith’s screaming electronic musical flourishes playing over scenes of the actual movie. Let the “Is it horror or sci-fi?” debate begin.

Alien became a pop culture phenomenon, complete with kid’s toys, a graphic novel, and an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. It also inspired dioramas in wax museums and even a frightening setpiece at Walt Disney World in the now-defunct Great Movie Ride attraction.

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The film stars Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, and John Hurt. It tells the tale of a futuristic crew of blue-collar workers suddenly awakened out of stasis to investigate an undecipherable distress signal coming from a nearby moon. They investigate the source of the signal and discover it’s a warning and not a cry for help. Unbeknownst to the crew, they have brought a giant space creature back on board which they find out in one of the most iconic scenes in cinema history.

It is said that Alvarez’s sequel will pay homage to the original film’s storytelling and set design.

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The Alien theatrical re-release will take place on April 26. Pre-order your tickets and find out where Alien will screen at a theater near you.

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Home Depot’s 12-Foot Skeleton Returns with a New Friend, Plus New Life-Size Prop from Spirit Halloween

Published

17 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Cameron McFarland

Halloween is the greatest holiday of them all. However, every great holiday needs amazing props to go with it. Luckily for you, there are two new amazing props that have been released, which are sure to impress your neighbors and frighten any neighborhood children who are unfortunate enough to wander past your yard.

The first entry is the return of the Home Depot 12-foot skeleton prop. Home Depot has outdone themselves in the past. But this year the company is bringing bigger and better things to their Halloween prop lineup.

This year, the company unveiled its new and improved Skelly. But what is a giant skeleton without a loyal friend? Home Depot has also announced that they will release a five-foot tall skeleton dog prop to eternally keep Skelly company as he haunts your yard this spooky season.

This bony pooch will be five feet tall and seven feet long. The prop will also feature a posable mouth and LCD eyes with eight variable settings. Lance Allen, Home Depot’s merchant of decorative Holliday gear, had the following to say about this year’s lineup.

“This year we increased our realism within the animatronics category, created some impressive, licensed characters and even brought back some fan favorites. Overall, we are most proud of the quality and value we are able to bring to our customers with these pieces so they can continue to grow their collections.”

But what if giant skeletons just aren’t your thing? Well, Spirit Halloween has you covered with their giant life size Terror Dog replica. This massive prop has been ripped out of your nightmares to appear frighteningly on your lawn.

This prop weighs in at almost fifty pounds and features glowing red eyes that are sure to keep your yard safe from any toilet paper throwing hooligans. This iconic Ghostbusters nightmare is a must have for any fan of 80s horror. Or, anyone who loves all things spooky.