Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson raves about “the best, most intense horror film” he’s seen in years
Peter Jackson raves about the “best, most intense” horror movie he’s seen in years.
Jackson, 61, is best known for directing the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy – both adaptations of JRR Tolkien’s novels of the same name.
Given the massive box office success and overwhelmingly positive response to Jackson’s own films, it’s safe to say that the director’s opinion is valued in the industry.
Debut directors Danny and Micahel Philippou will then be pleased to learn that Jackson is a huge fan of their debut film, which hits theaters July 28.
Jackson made a statement about the film through Ahi, one of the film’s distributors in Aotearoa and Australia.
“It’s unrelentingly scary and disturbing — in the best sense,” he said (via total movie). “Talk to me is not just good – it is very, very good.”
Jackson went so far as to call the Australian feature film “the best, most intense horror film I’ve enjoyed in years”.
His comments echo those of fellow Oscar-winning 2017 writer-director Jordan Peele Exitand Ari Aster, the director of critically acclaimed films including Hereditary (2018) and midsummer (2019).
Both Peele and Aster reached out to the Philippou twins to share their praise for their new film, which has been taken on by indie production company A24 after it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
The film stars Sophie Wilde as Mia, a teenage girl who deals with the death of her mother and befriends a group of her peers who regularly conduct séances with the embalmed hand.
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The story takes a turn when Mia’s late mother rises from the dead.
So far, at the time of writing Talk to me grossed $31 million (£24 million) at the US box office. Accordingly diversitythe film is guaranteed to end its box office success as one of A24’s top five domestic grossing films.
A sequel has already been announced, with the Philippou siblings returning to direct.
In a four star rating The IndependentFilm critic Clarisse Loughrey wrote, “This is a low-budget horror directed by two young loners.” It is based on a phenomenal central twist from Wilde’s eye-twitching and haunting empathy.
“Its practical action is effective, leaving its dead in bloated, blotchy, dripping flesh. And when the spirits manifest more demonic, subversive desires, the tricks they play on the living are met with derision and giggles.”
Loughrey suggests fans of Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead franchise will rejoice Talk to me.