The Boogeyman Director Rob Savage Talks the Importance of PG-13 Horror (Exclusive)

The Boogeyman was released in theaters today, and it was helmed by Host and Dashcam director Rob Savage. The movie is an adaptation of Stephen King's short story of the same name and follows a family who struggles to accept there's a monster roaming in the shadows of their house. Recently, ComicBook.com spoke with Savage about bringing the boogeyman to life, and the importance of PG-13 horror. 

"Well, definitely," Savage replied when asked if he wanted to make a horror movie that could reach a wider audience. "Especially a movie called The Boogeyman, it's got to be a movie that's accessible to a wide range. And I think those gateway horror movies are so important. The Ring was a big one for me. And I mean, all of those original J-Horror movies, and then, the actually much-better-than-they-deserved-to-be remakes, were all huge movies for me."

He continued, "But then I remember watching A Quiet Place a few years ago, and I wasn't in the PG-13 bracket, but I was so happy that a movie as classy and scary and well-made as that, didn't need to rely on gore, or swearing or anything like that, that would put it into, you'd put it into a more restrictive category. And there was some future horror fans being made right there in the audience, and you could kind of feel it." He added, "And there's nothing to say that PG-13 horror movies can't f*ck you up." 

During the chat, Savage also talked about some of the other horror movies that have been released in 2023. 

"Oh, there's been some incredible ones ... I'm so jet-lagged right now, I can only think of Evil Dead Rise, because I saw it a couple of weeks ago, which was fantastic," Savage shared. "They've all been killing it ... Evil Dead Rise was such a joy. I mean, the nice thing is, as you get more entrenched in the horror crowd and the horror community, you start to... I can put faces to all of these movies. I've been working with the [Sam] Raimi guys for so long, and it's such a beautiful thing to see something as f*cked up and niche as Evil Dead Rise just completely dominate the box office in the way that it has. It's really nice to see your friends succeed. And it's been happening more and more, with so many. M3GAN is something that I read years ago, and to see that finally become this iconic new property is amazing."

Who Stars in The Boogeyman?

The Boogeyman stars Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets), Chris Messina (Air), Vivien Lyra Blair (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Marin Ireland (The Umbrella Academy), Madison Hu (Bizaardvark), LisaGay Hamilton (Vice), and David Dastmalchian (Boston Strangler). Savage, fresh off his Shudder hit Host, directs the film from a screenplay by Scott Beck & Bryan Woods (A Quiet Place) and Mark Heyman (Black Swan) and a screen story by Scott Beck & Bryan Woods based upon the short story by Stephen King.

The Boogeyman is now playing in theaters. 

0comments