In Hollywood, if there is one name associated with horror, it is that of Jason Blum. In fact, through his company Blumhouse Productions, this “pope of horror” has given the genre, for more than 15 years, a fairly incredible number of successes and influential films: Paranormal Activity (Paranormal activity) and its sequels, Insidious (Insidious) and his own, The Purge (The purge) and co, Get Out, Nope (well no), the new saga Halloween, M3GAN, Five Nights at Freddy’s (Five Nights at Freddy’s)… The duty was able to speak to him exclusively, along with Jeff Wadlow, director of the most recent Blumhouse production: Imaginary (Imaginary), showing on March 8.
Variation on the theme of the family who arrives in a haunted house without their knowledge, Imaginary has as its heroine a children’s book author who tries to protect her stepdaughter from an imaginary friend who is as real as she is malicious.
“I was in the middle of lots of films The Purge And Halloween in preparation or filming, and I was seized with a desire to return to more supernatural films,” recalls Jason Blum, joined by videoconference.
To follow up with Jeff Wadlow, who among other things directed the film for Blumhouse Truth or Dare (Blumhouse Truth or Consequence):
“For my part, I had always wanted to make a film about an imaginary friend. And I was excited at the prospect of playing on subjectivity; to ask the audience if it’s real or if it’s not. It was my friends Greg Erb and Jason Oremland who co-wrote the screenplay with me, who had this idea of an evil teddy bear, which also allowed us to fit into the horror sub-genre of evil toy films . »
Commenting on Jeff Wadlow’s comments, Jason Blum adds:
“What’s fun about the film is taking this harmless and cute figure of the imaginary playmate, and wondering what would happen if this entity actually harbored nefarious designs. Once we started discussing it, the topic proved incredibly fertile. »
Genuinely terrified
Said “evil teddy bear” was created animatronically, that is to say using so-called “practical”, physical, and not digital, effects. This is, on account, one of Blumhouse’s signatures.
“All the horror films I see that have digital effects only make me want to do them with practical effects even more,” says Jason Blum.
“I think the public is very sensitive to that, when digital effects are used in horror. This type of special effects is ideal for superhero films and action films. But I think it’s really not effective in scaring the public; it’s a bad crutch that people who don’t know much about horror use. For my part, I try to stay away from digital effects in the films I produce. And it’s not just the audience that can make the difference: it’s also the actors on set. »
Obviously sharing the same views on the issue, Jeff Wadlow adds:
“What I love about so many Blumhouse films is the performances of the scared performers in the film. It’s much easier to deliver an authentically terrified performance when the thing meant to terrorize you is actually in front of you. »
However, for Jason Blum, this concern for realism goes beyond special effects: it manifests itself in the very content of the films that he helps to design or with which he agrees to be associated.
“I believe that great horror films are often about real issues, or things that we might actually have to face in life. »
Or at the very least, who manage to make us believe in this possibility…
Enduring popularity
Another key to Blumhouse’s success is its business model, which involves sticking to budgets ranging from very modest to relatively modest, for maximum profits. Because horror pays off.
Thus, it is common for the horror film of the moment, often produced by Blumhouse, to take the lead at the North American box office upon its release. Except that the phenomenon may be recurring, the specialized industry press readily treats the thing as a surprise, film after film.
When asked if, in his opinion, there is still a lack of awareness, even snobbery, regarding the enduring popularity of the genre, the one who was nominated for an Oscar three times for having produced Get Out and the non-horrific WhiplashAnd BlacKkKlansman (Infiltration operation), responds without tongue in cheek:
“It’s gotten better, but there’s still an aversion to horror on the part of a lot of artists. In fact, strangely, it comes from several celebrity representatives — agents, lawyers, etc. —, which are rather anti-horror. I find that stupid. I think Jordan Peele, with Get Out, is a filmmaker who really helped the genre by attracting a lot of people who wouldn’t have been interested in horror cinema otherwise. The Academy doesn’t really recognize horror as such, however, and everyone loses. Normally, all this doesn’t bother me… But I admit that, when I try to convince an actress or actor to make a film, and she or he is excited, then their representative then dissuades them, I think it lacks vision. »
Because there are many moviegoers who like to be scared at the cinema. The 5 billion US dollars generated so far by Blumhouse Productions are there to attest to this.
The film Imaginary hits the stage on March 8