Director William Brent Bell talks about making his modern Gothic classic THE BOY.
“PG-13 is such a pain in the ass…”
So says director William Brent Bell, the brain behind the wildly Gothic gem THE BOY (read our rave review here), released last year to sturdy box office and typically mixed fan and critic response.
We really do believe that the film will become a classic of its kind.
THE BOY stars THE WALKING DEAD’s Lauren Cohan as Greta, a young woman who has arrived at an impossibly Gothic manor in the country (her aged limo driver leering at her cleavage in the rear-view mirror) where she has accepted a position as nanny to a young boy and caretaker of said home for two months while the parents/owners are abroad. First, she meets the flirty grocery delivery man (Rupert Evans, handsome but still average guy enough for us to identify with) who welcomes her to the home while dodging questions about the character of the little lad shes meant to mind.
We soon discover why.
Despite the youth of their appearance in the family portrait hanging on the wall, the parents of the boy are in fact elderly and more than a bit off. When they introduce Greta to their son whose name is Brahms the girl is shaken to see that hes not a boy at all, rather hes a porcelain doll, white of face, black of hair and wide and blank of eye.
Mom and dad treat Brahms as if he is indeed real, which Greta plays along with, partially out of pity and partially out of genuine wonder at just how mad the entire scenario shes just stepped into is. After reviewing the rules and duties surrounding Brahms care including the unsavory job of emptying the rat traps around the home the couple bid the girl farewell, departing for their unspecified journey, leaving Greta alone with Brahms.
And then, slowly, surely, the screws are turned.
THE BOY is coming to Blu-ray, DVD and VOD on May 10th (that’s next Tuesday in case your calendar isn’t handy) and SHOCK had the chance to talk to Bell about his magnum macabre opus, specifically about how he managed to make such a deeply perverse film under the studio pressure to deliver a PG-13 horror movie.
Here’s that audio interview now…have a listen….
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