Rian Johnson has tackled a different genre with each of his movies: crime, fantasy, sci-fi, mystery. But one thing you’re unlikely to see from him is horror. The Knives Out director chatted with The Invitation filmmaker Karyn Kusama as part of the “Coffee Talk” series from Film Independent, and he gave his reasons why horror just doesn’t speak to him…
“To be honest, it’s a genre that, because my family was really religious when I was growing up, I wasn’t allowed to see a lot of intense stuff. It’s not a genre I have a grounding in emotionally. A lot of friends like [Kusama] included are incredible filmmakers who engage with this genre and make movies that just amaze me. It’s not something that, for whatever reason, has drawn me.”
Johnson doesn’t have any particular dislike for horror, though, which I think leaves him still open to the possibility of directing one someday. For many filmmakers, tackling a genre they aren’t familiar with is part of the challenge. For instance, I never would’ve thought to see Martin Scorsese direct a 3D kids’ movie like Hugo, and yet he did and did so successfully. There’s a lot of time left in Johnson’s career, and I bet he circles around to horror, albeit in his own way.