CRAWL
Skin Of Your TeethWWW.SCIFINOW.CO.UK |^035
Alexandre Aja tells us
why his collaboration
with Sam Raimi was a
long time coming
The term ‘master of horror’ gets thrown
around a lot, but there really are few
fi lmmakers more deserving than the great
Sam Raimi. Sure, he may have moved away
from the genre, but the man gave us The Evil
Dead trilogy after all, and with his Ghost
House production company he’s kept us
supplied with a steady stream of scary movies
since 2004. He’s also had his eye on Aja for
some time, as the director explains...
“He is a legend for me, period. He is
one of the reasons why I’m making this
movie,” Aja enthuses. “After High Tension
when I moved to the US, we had the choice
between making the movie with Wes Craven,
The Hills Have Eyes, or making a movie
produced by Sam Raimi that ended up being
The Messengers. And it was a really tough
choice at the time because choosing between
Wes Craven and Sam Raimi for a young
fi lmmaker, it was like ‘oh I have the two best
producers I could dream about!’ And fi nally
we went with The Hills Have Eyes and I wrote
a note to Sam saying that I hope one day we
will fi nd a way to work together. It took a few
years but here we are. And after all those
years of waiting.
“Sam is an unbelievable human being and
also one of the most talented fi lmmakers. And
when it comes to producing a movie that’s
so diffi cult to make, to have someone who
always has an idea, an answer, an instinct to
help you with respecting your vision, that’s all
I wish for any fi lmmaker.”iconic character from my childhood, and
I have always been looking for something
similar to that. Obviously this character is
slightly different but it was my opportunity
to tell this girl’s story. It’s probably one of the
most feminist scripts I’ve read. I’m no one’s
girlfriend, I’m not in my underwear for no
reason, there’s no fucking love interest, it’s
just a young woman in a situation, fi ghting
for her life. That spoke to me. The fact that
there’s a whole other element to it – it’s
something that I’ve never done before and
have a huge appreciation for Alexandre, he
is an icon because he does this so well. It’s
something he’s very good at and something
that people love to see.
“I wanted the opportunity to headline
my own studio movie,” she continues. “It’s
so rare for women, it’s so diffi cult for us to
be the front and centre of a fi lm and to not
have a leading guy who would be paid more
than you or have a lot more creative control.
This was an opportunity for me to start
something and fi nish it by myself. I wanted
that challenge. I love being on set all day.
Also, as a mother now, I want to [do my part]
and inspire my family, and inspire the next
generation with this character. She’s a kick-
ass chick. I like that she’s sarcastic and I like
that she’s angry, but can still have a kind of
beautiful reunion and still have the tensionthere. I think that was really realistic.”
What’s more, Aja and Scodelario are both
keenly aware that this is an increasingly
rare opportunity to connect with big screen
audiences. This is exactly the kind of fi lm
you want to experience with a crowd in the
dark, fully aware of an entire auditorium
holding their breath.
“It’s kind of fun to be a part of something
that I know will come across in the movie
theatre,” Scodelario enthuses. “It’s part of
the cinema experience that is kind of dying
out now.”
“I have to say it’s never been such an
exciting time to make this kind of movie,”
adds Aja. “In this time where everything is
changing with the streaming platforms and
everything, at the end of the day the only
movies that can challenge gigantic movies
like The Avengers are scary movies. And
there is a reason for that, it’s because they’re
offering an experience. They’re offering the
same kind of physical experience that the
big blockbusters are doing as well, even with
a different type of budget. And people are
so into them now and it’s so great to share
with the audience your love and your passion
for that type of cinema that I really want to
keep going.”Crawl is released on 23 August.Danger inside and out
as the water rises...WWW.SCIFINOW.CO.UK |^035
Alexandre Aja tells us
why his collaboration
with Sam Raimi was a
long time coming
The term ‘master of horror’ gets thrown
around a lot, but there really are few
fi lmmakers more deserving than the great
Sam Raimi. Sure, he may have moved away
from the genre, but the man gave us The Evil
Deaddtrilogy after all, and with his Ghost
House production company he’s kept us
supplied with a steady stream of scary movies
since 2004. He’s also had his eye on Aja for
some time, as the director explains...
“He is a legend for me, period. He is
one of the reasons why I’m making this
movie,” Aja enthuses. “After High Tension
when I moved to the US, we had the choice
between making the movie with Wes Craven,
The Hills Have Eyess, or making a movie
produced by Sam Raimi that ended up being
The Messengers. And it was a really tough
choice at the time because choosing between
Wes Craven and Sam Raimi for a young
fi lmmaker, it was like ‘oh I have the two best
producers I could dream about!’ And fi nally
we went with The Hills Have Eyessand I wrote
a note to Sam saying that I hope one day we
will fi nd a way to work together. It took a few
years but here we are. And after all those
years of waiting.
“Sam is an unbelievable human being and
also one of the most talented fi lmmakers. And
when it comes to producing a movie that’s
so diffi cult to make, to have someone who
always has an idea, an answer, an instinct to
help you with respecting your vision, that’s all
I wish for any fi lmmaker.”iconic character from my childhood, and
I have always been looking for something
similar to that. Obviously this character is
slightly different but it was my opportunity
to tell this girl’s story. It’s probably one of the
most feminist scripts I’ve read. I’m no one’s
girlfriend, I’m not in my underwear for no
reason, there’s no fucking love interest, it’s
just a young woman in a situation, fi ghting
for her life. That spoke to me. The fact that
there’s a whole other element to it – it’s
something that I’ve never done before and
have a huge appreciation for Alexandre, he
is an icon because he does this so well. It’s
something he’s very good at and something
that people love to see.
“I wanted the opportunity to headline
my own studio movie,” she continues. “It’s
so rare for women, it’s so diffi cult for us to
be the front and centre of a fi lm and to not
have a leading guy who would be paid more
than you or have a lot more creative control.
This was an opportunity for me to start
something and fi nish it by myself. I wanted
that challenge. I love being on set all day.
Also, as a mother now, I want to [do my part]
and inspire my family, and inspire the next
generation with this character. She’s a kick-
ass chick. I like that she’s sarcastic and I like
that she’s angry, but can still have a kind of
beautiful reunion and still have the tensionthere. I think that was really realistic.”
What’s more, Aja and Scodelario are both
keenly aware that this is an increasingly
rare opportunity to connect with big screen
audiences. This is exactly the kind of fi lm
you want to experience with a crowd in the
dark, fully aware of an entire auditorium
holding their breath.
“It’s kind of fun to be a part of something
that I know will come across in the movie
theatre,” Scodelario enthuses. “It’s part of
the cinema experience that is kind of dying
out now.”
“I have to say it’s never been such an
exciting time to make this kind of movie,”
adds Aja. “In this time where everything is
changing with the streaming platforms and
everything, at the end of the day the only
movies that can challenge gigantic movies
likeThe Avengerss are scary movies. And
there is a reason for that, it’s because they’re
offering an experience. They’re offering the
same kind of physical experience that the
big blockbusters are doing as well, even with
a different type of budget. And people are
so into them now and it’s so great to share
with the audience your love and your passion
for that type of cinema that I really want to
keep going.”Crawllis released on 23 August.Danger inside and out
as the water rises...SAM THE MAN