Peter Jackson Praises New Film as "Best, Most Intense, Horror Movie" in Years

Peter Jackson is calling the new horror film Talk to Me "the best, most intense horror movie in years." 

The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit Trilogies director was giving his opinion of the film to one of Talk to Me's distributors across Aotearoa and Australia, Ahi Films, and he had nothing but praise to shower upon it:

"Talk To Me isn't just good – it's very very good. The best, most intense, horror movie I've enjoyed in years," Jackson said in his statement, adding that the film is "relentlessly scary and disturbing – in the best possible way".

Synopsis: When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and opens the door to the spirit world forcing them to choose who to trust: the dead or the living.

Peter Jackson is no stranger to horror, having gotten his breakout with films like the horror-comedies Bad Taste, Dead Alive, and The Frighteners. Even his puppet movie Meet the Feebles was a satirical black comedy about the dark side of Hollywood fame, and Lord of the Rings was particularly good at balancing adventure and scares. That said, the New Zealand filmmaker praising Australian directors' (Danny and Michael Phillippou) work is not surprising in its 'home team' energy. 

Meanwhile, ComicBook.com critic and horror fan Patrick Cavanaugh certainly didn't agree with Jackson's assessment in his two-star review of Talk to Me, stating that: 

The inherent problem with Talk to Me and all other films of its kind is that these targets all opt into the experience, essentially volunteering themselves to get in over their heads. They're all chasing a high of being possessed by who knows what, so when they themselves fall victim to what they're willingly asking for, it's hard to have much sympathy for anyone. Various films in this subgenre have been able to evoke compassion from the audience thanks to compelling performers with charm and chemistry, though Talk to Me comes up short. While the leads are competent enough, much of the supporting cast ranges from somewhat tolerable to outright irritating. There's also a history of horror movies that intentionally offer grating characters to allow viewers to revel in their demise, but Talk to Me doesn't seem to intentionally be going that route. The overall effect is witnessing multiple characters who volunteered for a bad thing experiencing bad things, while also denying viewers much reason to empathize with them, other than because they are the focal point of the story.

Talk to Me is now in theaters. A sequel film is already in development.