Barbarian Trailer: IT Star Bill Skarsgård Leads Horror Film From Whitest Kids U’Know Star

20th Century Studios has released the new trailer for Barbarian, an upcoming horror film that stars Pennywise himself Bill Skarsgård and Broadchurch star Georgina Campbell. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the movie however is that it’s written and directed by Zach Cregger, one of the founding members of the Whitest Kids U’Know comedy troupe  whose credits are mostly based in the realm of laughter rather than scares. Justin Long, Matthew Patrick Davis, Richard Brake, Kurt Braunohler and Jaymes Butler also star. You can watch the official trailer and peep the poster below, look for Barbarian to arrive in theaters on August 31.

20th Century’s official synopsis for the film reads as follows: “In Barbarian, a young woman traveling to Detroit for a job interview books a rental home. But when she arrives late at night, she discovers that the house is double booked, and a strange man is already staying there. Against her better judgement, she decides to spend the evening, but soon discovers that there’s a lot more to fear than just an unexpected house guest.”

From 20th Century Studios and New Regency, Barbarian is written and directed by Zach Cregger. The producers are Arnon Milchan, Roy Lee, Raphael Margules and J.D. Lifshitz. Yariv Milchan, Michael Schaefer, Natalie Lehmann, Danny Chan, Alex Lebovici and Bill Skarsgård are the film’s executive producers.

Though Cregger isn’t known for working in the horror genre, the fact that Jordan Peele made the leap so seamlessly with Get Out, Us, and the upcoming Nope, should have fans excited. In a previous interview with The New York Times, Peele denoted what thinks makes the two genres work at their best, saying: 

“The best comedy and horror feel like they take place in reality. You have a rule or two you are bending or heightening, but the world around it is real. I felt like everything I learned in comedy I could apply to this movie….In horror, the second you have people doing something you know they wouldn’t do, you lose the audience. With Get Out, what needed to be believable was the protagonist’s intentions. Why he’s there. I followed the Rosemary’s Baby–Stepford Wives model of inching into this crazy situation and alongside, justifying how the character is rationalizing staying.”

Are you looking forward to Barbarian? Is there anything scarier than someone already being inside an Air BNB that you already booked? Have you made it this far? Sound off in the comments below.