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Tate Taylor Talks ‘Ma’ and the Joy of Working with Octavia Spencer

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Tate Taylor Ma

Tate Taylor isn’t exactly the guy you’d expect to direct a psychological horror thriller like Ma, which makes its debut on digital streaming and VOD platforms today.

The director is probably most associated with films like The Help starring Emma Stone (Zombieland) and for which Octavia Spencer won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Honestly, though, that’s exactly why he wanted to take on the challenge of Ma, and he sat down with iHorror to chat about the journey from script to screen.

***This interview contains some spoilers for the film. You have been warned!***

Taylor had been hearing from Spencer that she was being offered the same type of roles over and over again, and he admits he was feeling a bit boxed in himself when he found himself chatting with Jason Blum aka the man who built Blumhouse.

“Jason and I are friends and we were talking about what we could possibly work on together,” the director recalled. “He likes to dip his toes into dramatic waters from time to time and he was trying to get a feel for what I wanted to do. So I told him I wanted to do something really, really fucked up. I want to play in that sandbox with all that craziness.”

Blum was surprised but immediately thought of script he had just gotten from Scotty Landes (Workaholics) and he gave it to Taylor to read.

By the time the director had finished reading the script, he was on the phone with his old friend Octavia.

“I told her I’ve got a script and you would be the lead,” he said. “I told her it needed work and then I told her about the story. She said she didn’t even need to read the script. She would do it. So I called Jason and told him I would do it and Octavia was on board.”

Taylor admitted he was ready to “let the wheels come off” and play within the space of the film. He also said that having known Spencer for so long made creating her character so much easier when it came time to roll cameras.

“We were roommates for six years so to call what we have a shorthand is really an understatement,” he said. “What is really comes down to is trust. An actor, even though they have that script, they have to trust the director. We have that.”

What he loved most about Ma was the emotional connection he found with the material, an element that he was grateful did not end up in the trailers for the film.

In Ma, Spencer’s character Sue Ann was mercilessly bullied as a child and in high school and those emotional scars never quite healed. When she makes a connection with some of her bullies’ children years later, something inside her snaps, and she begins doing terrible things.

“This couldn’t just be a slasher with a crazy lady and I decided to really lean into that bullying and the marginalization of certain people and certain cultures,” Taylor explained. “I think a fun tagline for this film would be ‘Be careful who you bully.’ Sadly that’s reflected in society today…Ma is a cautionary tale.”

Taylor also says it was important to him to infuse some humor into the film. The director spent time in the famous Groundlings in Los Angeles when he was first forging his career and he wanted nothing more than to become a cast regular on Saturday Night Live.

It was during this time that he really learned how laughter and humor can amplify even the horror space and as we talked I mentioned that John Carpenter himself had said something the effect of “No wants to laugh more than a horror audience. They need that break in tension to breathe.”

“I think bringing laughter into anything heightens the drama,” he said. “It makes it real and accessible to the audience. Not only was he [Carpenter] right about people needing to laugh, but that laughter becomes an emotion that can heighten the horror.”

Ultimately, Tate Taylor had a great time directing Ma and after seeing the film, I can’t help but hope that he makes his way into the genre more often.

Ma is available today, August 20, 2019, on digital streaming platforms and VOD. Check it out and see if you don’t agree.

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Childhood Memories Collide in New Horror Film ‘Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble’

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It looks like ITN Studious and Jagged Edge Productions are going the Avengers: Infinity War route with their upcoming film Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble. From the deranged mind of Rhys Frake-Waterfield (Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey) comes this belligerent mash up of beloved childhood icons.

According to an article out of Variety today, Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble will consist of Winnie the Pooh, Bambi, Tinkerbell, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Tigger, Piglet, The Mad Hatter, and Sleeping Beauty. All of these iconic figured will be warped into nightmarish versions of their former selves. Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble is set to be released upon the world sometime in 2025.

Poohniverse

Actor-producer Scott Chambers (Malevolent) had the following to say about Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble. “As horror fans, we would love an Avengers that is all villains. It’d have Freddy Krueger, Jason, ‘Halloween,’ ‘Scream,’ all of those. Obviously that will never happen, but we can make it happen in our own little way, and that’s where this film has been born.”

Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble will be a part of The Twisted Childhood Universe. Just like the MCU, each character will first get a standalone film. After introductions are made, they will be reunited in an Avengers style film. Although they will be killing off the survivors from the previous films, they won’t be working together.

Chambers describes this as an “epic sequences of monster vs. monster.” And I don’t know what more fans could ask of the studio. This fantastical idea is a huge risk but Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble sounds amazing.

That’s all the information we have at this time. Check back here for more updates on Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble. If you haven’t already, check out the trailer for Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 below.

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Blumhouse’s ‘The Wolf Man’ Reboot Kicks Off Production with Leigh Whannell at the Helm

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Blumhouse Productions has officially commenced filming its reboot of the Universal Monsters legend, “Wolf Man”. Under the direction of Leigh Whannell, known for his acclaimed work on “The Invisible Man” (2020), the project promises to breathe new life into the iconic tale. The film is slated for a theatrical release on October 25th, marking a new chapter in the storied franchise.

Wolf Man

The journey of a “Wolf Man” reboot began in 2020 when actor Ryan Gosling presented a fresh take on the classic story to Universal. This concept quickly evolved into a screenplay crafted by the talented duo Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, who are known for their work on “Orange Is the New Black,” alongside contributions from Whannell and Corbett Tuck. The narrative is set in contemporary times, drawing inspiration from the atmospheric tension of Jake Gyllenhaal’s “Nightcrawler,” albeit with a distinct supernatural twist.

The film has seen its share of directorial and casting shifts, with Whannell initially signing on to direct in 2020, only to step away and then return to the project after Ryan Gosling and director Derek Cianfrance exited. The lead roles have been filled by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, both of whom bring significant talent to the screen. Abbott portrays a man whose family faces the terror of a lethal predator, with Garner likely playing his wife, sharing in the familial peril. The storyline also hints at a daughter named Ginger, adding a layer of depth to the family’s harrowing experience.

Julia Garner and Christopher Abbott

This reboot represents a collaboration between Blumhouse and Motel Movies, with Jason Blum producing. Ryan Gosling remains involved as an executive producer, alongside Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira, Mel Turner, and Whannell himself. The announcement of the film’s production start was made by Jason Blum, who shared an exciting glimpse of Whannell on set, signaling the beginning of what is hoped to be a memorable addition to the horror genre.

As the “Wolf Man” reboot moves forward, fans and newcomers alike are eager to see how this modern interpretation will pay homage to its roots while offering a fresh and thrilling experience. With a talented cast and crew at the helm, the film is poised to reintroduce the timeless tale of transformation and terror to a new generation.

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‘Immaculate’ Stars Reveal Which Horror Villains They Would “F, Marry, Kill”

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Sydney Sweeney is just coming off the success of her rom-com Anyone But You, but she’s ditching the love story for a horror story in her latest film Immaculate.

Sweeney is taking Hollywood by storm, portraying everything from a love-lusting teenager in Euphoria to an accidental superhero in Madame Web. Although the latter got a lot of hate among theater-goers, Immaculate is getting the polar opposite.

The film was screened at SXSW this past week and was well-received. It also gained a reputation for being extremely gory. Derek Smith of Slant says the, “final act contains some of the most twisted, gory violence this particular subgenre of horror has seen in years…”

Thankfully curious horror movie fans won’t have to wait long to see for themselves what Smith is talking about as Immaculate will hit theaters across the United States on March, 22.

Bloody Disgusting says that the movie’s distributor NEON, in a bit of marketing smarts, had stars Sydney Sweeney and Simona Tabasco play a game of “F, Marry, Kill” in which all their choices had to be horror movie villains.

It’s an interesting question, and you might be surprised at their answers. So colorful are their responses that YouTube slapped an age-restricted rating on the video.

Immaculate is a religious horror movie that NEON says stars Sweeney, “as Cecilia, an American nun of devout faith, embarking on a new journey in a remote convent in the picturesque Italian countryside. Cecilia’s warm welcome quickly devolves into a nightmare as it becomes clear her new home harbors a sinister secret and unspeakable horrors.”

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