Typically, horror filmmakers are fans of horror films. That’s just the reality of the situation. If you spend so much time thinking about how to scare people, you tend to enjoy films that do the same. However, that’s not the case with “Longlegs” filmmaker Osgood Perkins.
In a new interview with THR, Osgood Perkins, the filmmaker behind the massive hit, “Longlegs,” talked about his “distaste” for the horror genre. According to the director, he respects the genre (his dad, Anthony Perkins, is one of the most iconic horror actors of all time), but he doesn’t enjoy watching it.
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“On the one hand, I want to identify or atone with the father by going down the same path and representing the good name in the genre in question, but then I also have a sort of a distaste for it,” Perkins explained. “I wouldn’t say I’m someone who likes or dislikes horror movies. I don’t see new ones. I have no interest.”
He continued, “I’ll never see ‘MaXXXine,’ I’ll never see ‘Pearl.’ I saw ‘X’ for reasons; it wasn’t on purpose. I don’t see contemporary things. They don’t interest me at all, and that’s not to say that they aren’t great. I’m sure they are great and make a lot of people happy, which is all that really matters. But I like the horror genre because it’s the genre that permits the most invention and it encourages the most poetry. It’s all guessing and grasping at what is essentially unknowable.”
As mentioned, when you talk to horror filmmakers, most of them play in that sandbox because they love the genre. It’s interesting to see Perkins talk about all the wonderful things it can do, but also say that he has “no interest” in seeing modern horror films.
Now, to be fair, quite a few modern horror films really are terrible, so the cynic might say that Perkins isn’t missing much. However, bringing up the “X” trilogy is interesting, as that tends to be the high water mark for modern horror for most people nowadays.
It’ll be interesting to see where Osgood Perkins goes from here. He already has more horror coming up fairly soon, but will he eventually transition to another genre? Obviously, with how big of a hit “Longlegs” is already (after only one weekend), Perkins would be able to make whatever horror film he wants to make next. We shall see.