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In a Valley of Violence: Here’s What We Know About Ti West’s Next Movie

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There are certain filmmakers whose projects are going to be of interest to horror fans regardless of what genre they might fall into. John Carpenter comes to mind. Carpenter has often ventured into action territory, but we still consider him one of our own – one of our forefathers really. If John Carpenter makes a romantic comedy, you can bet that we’re still going to talk about it (he kind of has, by the way, and it was still awesome).

The point is, there are just some people that fans of the horror genre will always consider their kindred even if they venture into different territory. While he may have a ways to go to reach Carpenter-like status (though he’s gotten off to a pretty solid start), Ti West is one of those people from a more modern era. It’s hard not to associate West with horror after gems like The Roost, House of the Devil, The Innkeepers, and The Sacrament. Whether or not his film Trigger Man should be considered horror is debatable, I suppose, but either way, the man knows how to make a good horror movie.

If you disagree, carry on.

If you haven’t heard, West’s next film, In a Valley of Violence, is a western, and I for one, couldn’t be more excited about it. It may not be horror, but I’ll be shocked if it doesn’t whet our appetite for screen violence.

https://twitter.com/Ti_West/status/446042082142998528

https://twitter.com/Ti_West/status/521932848274477058

Now that we got that out of the way, let’s piece together what we know about this film, and get it moved up on our anticipation charts.

The film does include some genre vets, such as John Travolta (Carrie), Ethan Hawke (Sinister, The Purge), Karen Gillan (Oculus), Taissa Farmiga (American Horror Story), and Larry Fessenden (more genre films than I care to count, but including Session 9, You’re Next and Stake Land). Other cast member include: Burn Gorman, James Ransone, Toby Huss, James Lane, K. Harrison Sweeney, Tommy Nohilly, and Jeff Bairstow.

Fessenden, by the way, has been involved in one way or another (usually producer) with most of West’s films.

Back in June, ProjectCasting shared some details about a casting call, which included a character named Dollar Bill, a one-armed man extra. The Dollar Bill role call was for someone described as “over 50, skinny, not bald, gaunt, and can play the role of an easily intimidated individual.”

The movie was filmed in Santa Fe, New Mexico on 35mm, and wrapped in late July.

https://twitter.com/ti_west/status/492964152034349056

In a Valley of Violence is currently slated for a December 4, 2015 release.  It’s a Blumhouse Production. Producers include West himself, Peter Phok, Jason Blum, and Jacob Jaffke. Executive producers are Jeanette Brill, Phillip Dawe, and Alix Taylor. John Ward is credited as line producer.

The film has been said to be a “revenge western” set in the 1890s in which a drifter named Paul (Hawke) arrives in a small town, seeking revenge on thugs who murdered his friend. Sisters Mary Anne (Taissa Farmiga) and Ellen (Karen Gillan), who run the town’s hotel, help Paul in his quest for vengeance. Travolta reportedly plays a marshall. Ransone reportedly plays Gilly, the husband of Ellen and son of the marshall.

Here’s what Jason Blum had to say about it in an interview with Collider earlier this year:

And yesterday I was in Santa Fe on the set of a Western and never in a million years did I think I was going to produce a Western.  After Ethan [Hawke] and I did Sinister and The Purge he really really wanted to do a Western.  He said, “I think together we could make it.”  My barrier to entry is, of course, the price and he said “I really think we could do one inexpensively if we found the right script and found the right story.  There’s no reason it should be expensive to make.”  It took about a year to find In a Valley of Violence, which we’re shooting right now, which is Ti West’s movie.  But I was there with [Ethan] and John Travolta, they had guns on their hips shooting at each other in an old crazy western town and it would be impossible not to be excited about that.  I would not be – no human being should be in this business if you don’t get excited to be on a set with those two guys.  I took a picture and put it on my private little Instagram page.  I was like a little kid yesterday.

His [West’s] approach to filmmaking, I love.  He pitched me this idea and I thought it was really cool and I said, “I’m flying you to New York.  You’re going to go sit with Ethan and see if he likes the idea.”  He pitched Ethan the idea and Ethan called me and said, “This is our Western.”  We read about eight scripts, one of which we liked but couldn’t get our hands on, the other seven we didn’t really like.  He just said, “This is it.”  So I called up Ti and said, “Ti if we can have a script in six weeks-” And Ti said to me, this was November right before Christmas time I think, Ti said to me, “If you guarantee that I start this movie at the end of June, I will get you a finished script by January 15th.”  [Laughs] I said, “Well, if I like the script I guarantee we’ll make the movie, you have to write the script first, but if I like it I guarantee you we’ll do it.”  There are many of those deals made like that in Hollywood and they very rarely happen, but this one happened.

Following are some tweets and Instagram content from West from the time of production, which give us a little bit of a sense of his mindset during that time.

https://twitter.com/Ti_West/status/476030439799676929

https://twitter.com/Ti_West/status/482339849865662464

https://twitter.com/Ti_West/status/482700363514912768

https://twitter.com/Ti_West/status/483397685131501569

https://twitter.com/Ti_West/status/483817339646124032

https://twitter.com/Ti_West/status/484898178450219008

https://twitter.com/Ti_West/status/486352417605185537

https://twitter.com/Ti_West/status/489610832306012160

https://twitter.com/Ti_West/status/490180544609943552

https://twitter.com/Ti_West/status/490396708916846594

https://twitter.com/Ti_West/status/490913021527465985

https://twitter.com/Ti_West/status/491415813308416000

https://instagram.com/p/q05AbDCAYg/?modal=true

Caption: “Western Diamondback”

https://instagram.com/p/qroWnBCASs/?modal=true

Caption: “Leftover Explosives”

https://instagram.com/p/qp5wiLiAdW/?modal=true

Caption: “#Siouxelfie”

https://instagram.com/p/qXTZ-oCAVG/?modal=true

Caption: “This is the gist of what directing a western looks like.”

And here’s this one from Farmiga:

As we referenced in an article about Cabin Fever 2, West appeared on the Bret Easton Ellis podcast a few months ago. While the two talked about a variety of topics, the conversation eventually turned to In a Valley of Violence and West’s departure from horror. If you’re a fan, I’d recommend listening to the whole episode, but this part happens near the end.

“I’m definitely horrored out,” West told Ellis. “It’s been ten years of like a great time making horror movies and having a career because of horror movies because…I’m very fortunate because of it, and I’m very proud of all of the movies that I’ve made, but I don’t at this time know how to make another horror movie that doesn’t feel like a horror movie I’ve already made. And Sacrament, I think, doesn’t, and that was like the last one I could figure out like a new way to do it…[With] that movie, I was very interested in realism and trying to create some kind of confronting realism. Now I have zero interest in realism whatsoever. I couldn’t be more bored by realism. So what I realized that I’m now interested in, and probably will be for a while, is what I’ve always been interesed in, but that I got away from a little bit, which is just like pure cinema.”

“Pure cinema to me is to see some sort of visual art from a voice that is so unique, and it has nothing to do with realism, but it is just pure cinema in a way it is what it is,” he continued. “You know, like a movie like Beetlejuice is pure cinema, where I don’t know what this is, but this is kind of incredible to see from like all sorts of visual…and the writing is great…not that my movie is anything like Beetlejuice, but I was like, ‘I want to do that. I want to do pure…that’s what I want to get back to is just doing that.’ And I think from a filmmaker’s standpoint, the western genre is in a way pure cinema, but I wasn’t planning on doing that. I was planning on doing a weird romantic comedy, and that’s what I wanted to be doing, and then I met Ethan Hawke, and I knew he wanted to do a western, and I’m a fan of Ethan Hawke, and I pitched him a western that I never thought I would make, and he liked it. And because he liked it, he was like doing Macbeth in New York, and he had like three weeks left of Macbeth and I was like, ‘I’m going to go write this script, and the day you wrap Macbeth, I’ll send it to you, and if you like it let’s make it. And if you don’t like it, no hard feelings. I’ll take the risk to write a script, and I’ll put all my eggs in a basket, and if it happens, cool, and if it doesn’t, eh, I’ll live.'”

So West wrote the script, and Hawke liked it. That was enough to get Blum interested, and they got the other actors and set out to make the movie.

West noted that it wasn’t like he wanted to “get away from horror,” but he felt like he didn’t have anything left to say in horror, but he thought he had something to say in a western or in a romantic comedy.

“I don’t think of it as like stepping away from the genre,” he said. “I feel like I just happened to make a lot of horror movies in a row. It wasn’t really a plan. It just happened that way.”

If you ask me, the genre will miss West, because his films have been some of the better entries in recent memory, but that doesn’t mean he won’t make equally pleasing films going forward, and it doesn’t mean that he won’t return to horror down the road. In fact, he appears to be such a fan of the genre, it’s kind of hard to imagine that he wouldn’t. Even if he never returns to horror, he’s already made a significant contribution which fans will be grateful for for a long time.

Featured Image: Ti West (Instagram)

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‘Strange Darling’ Featuring Kyle Gallner and Willa Fitzgerald Lands Nationwide Release [Watch Clip]

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Strange Darling Kyle Gallner

‘Strange Darling,’ a standout film featuring Kyle Gallner, who is nominated for an iHorror award for his performance in ‘The Passenger,’ and Willa Fitzgerald, has been acquired for a wide theatrical release in the United States by Magenta Light Studios, a new enterprise from veteran producer Bob Yari. This announcement, brought to us by Variety, follows the film’s successful premiere at Fantastic Fest in 2023, where it was universally praised for its creative storytelling and compelling performances, achieving a perfect score of 100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes from 14 reviews.

Strange Darling – Movie Clip

Directed by JT Mollner, ‘Strange Darling‘ is a thrilling narrative of a spontaneous hookup that takes an unexpected and terrifying turn. The film is notable for its innovative narrative structure and the exceptional acting of its leads. Mollner, known for his 2016 Sundance entry “Outlaws and Angels,” has once again employed 35mm for this project, cementing his reputation as a filmmaker with a distinct visual and narrative style. He is currently involved in adapting Stephen King’s novel “The Long Walk” in collaboration with director Francis Lawrence.

Bob Yari expressed his enthusiasm for the film’s upcoming release, scheduled for August 23rd, highlighting the unique qualities that make ‘Strange Darling’ a significant addition to the horror genre. “We are thrilled to be bringing nationwide theatrical audiences this unique and exceptional film with terrific performances by Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner. This second feature from talented writer-director JT Mollner is destined to become a cult classic that defies conventional storytelling,” Yari told Variety.

Variety’s review of the film from Fantastic Fest lauds Mollner’s approach, saying, “Mollner shows himself to be more forward-thinking than most of his genre peers. He’s clearly a student of the game, one who studied his forebears’ lessons with adroitness to better prepare himself to put his own mark on them.” This praise underlines Mollner’s deliberate and thoughtful engagement with the genre, promising audiences a film that is both reflective and innovative.

Strange Darling

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Sydney Sweeney’s ‘Barbarella’ Revival Forges Ahead

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Sydney Sweeney Barbarella

Sydney Sweeney has confirmed the ongoing progress of the much-anticipated reboot of Barbarella. The project, which sees Sweeney not only starring but also executive producing, aims to breathe new life into the iconic character that first captured audiences’ imaginations in the 1960s. However, amid speculation, Sweeney remains tight-lipped about the possible involvement of celebrated director Edgar Wright in the project.

During her appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Sweeney shared her enthusiasm for the project and the character of Barbarella, stating, “It is. I mean, Barbarella is just such a fun character to explore. She really just embraces her femininity and her sexuality, and I love that. She uses sex as a weapon and I think it’s such an interesting way into a sci-fi world. I’ve always wanted to do sci-fi. So we’ll see what happens.“

Sydney Sweeney confirms her Barbarella reboot is still in the works

Barbarella, originally a creation of Jean-Claude Forest for V Magazine in 1962, was transformed into a cinematic icon by Jane Fonda under the direction of Roger Vardim in 1968. Despite a sequel, Barbarella Goes Down, never seeing the light of day, the character has remained a symbol of sci-fi allure and adventurous spirit.

Over the decades, several high-profile names including Rose McGowan, Halle Berry, and Kate Beckinsale were floated as potential leads for a reboot, with directors Robert Rodriguez and Robert Luketic, and writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade previously attached to revive the franchise. Unfortunately, none of these iterations made it past the conceptual stage.

Barbarella

The film’s progress took a promising turn approximately eighteen months ago when Sony Pictures announced its decision to cast Sydney Sweeney in the titular role, a move that Sweeney herself has suggested was facilitated by her involvement in Madame Web, also under Sony’s banner. This strategic decision was aimed at fostering a beneficial relationship with the studio, specifically with the Barbarella reboot in mind.

When probed about Edgar Wright’s potential directorial role, Sweeney adeptly sidestepped, merely noting that Wright has become an acquaintance. This has left fans and industry watchers speculating about the extent of his involvement, if any, in the project.

Barbarella is known for its adventurous tales of a young woman traversing the galaxy, engaging in escapades that often incorporate elements of sexuality—a theme Sweeney seems eager to explore. Her commitment to reimagining Barbarella for a new generation, while staying true to the character’s original essence, sounds like the making of a great reboot.

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‘The First Omen’ Almost Received an NC-17 Rating

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the first omen trailer

Set for an April 5 theater release, ‘The First Omen’ carries an R-rating, a classification that was almost not achieved. Arkasha Stevenson, in her inaugural feature film directorial role, faced a formidable challenge in securing this rating for the prequel to the esteemed franchise. It seems the filmmakers had to contend with the ratings board to prevent the film from being saddled with an NC-17 rating. In a revealing conversation with Fangoria, Stevenson described the ordeal as ‘a long battle’, one not waged over traditional concerns such as gore. Instead, the crux of the controversy centered around the depiction of the female anatomy.

Stevenson’s vision for “The First Omen” delves deep into the theme of dehumanization, particularly through the lens of forced birthing. “The horror in that situation is how dehumanized that woman is”, Stevenson explains, emphasizing the significance of presenting the female body in a non-sexualized light to address themes of forced reproduction authentically. This commitment to realism nearly landed the film an NC-17 rating, sparking a prolonged negotiation with the MPA. “This has been my life for a year and a half, fighting for the shot. It’s the theme of our film. It’s the female body being violated from the inside outwards”, she states, highlighting the importance of the scene to the film’s core message.

The First Omen Movie Poster – by Creepy Duck Design

Producers David Goyer and Keith Levine supported Stevenson’s battle, encountering what they perceived as a double standard in the ratings process. Levine reveals, “We had to go back and forth with the ratings board five times. Weirdly, avoiding the NC-17 made it more intense”, pointing out how the struggle with the ratings board inadvertently intensified the final product. Goyer adds, “There is more permissiveness when dealing with male protagonists, particularly in body horror”, suggesting a gender bias in how body horror is evaluated.

The film’s bold approach to challenging viewers’ perceptions extends beyond the ratings controversy. Co-writer Tim Smith notes the intention to subvert expectations traditionally associated with The Omen franchise, aiming to surprise audiences with a fresh narrative focus. “One of the big things we were excited to do was to kind of pull the rug out from under people’s expectations”, Smith says, underscoring the creative team’s desire to explore new thematic ground.

Nell Tiger Free, known for her role in “Servant”, leads the cast of “The First Omen”, set for release by 20th Century Studios on April 5. The movie follows a young American woman dispatched to Rome for church service, where she stumbles upon a sinister force that shakes her faith to its core and reveals a chilling plot aimed at summoning evil incarnate.

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