Sorry About the Demonis a horror comedy coming toShudderlater this month. It’ll be about a young man named Will (John Michael Simpson) who, following a breakup, moves into a new place and discovers that it’s full of “roommates.” The film was directed by Emily Hagins, who made her first feature at the age of 12 withPathogen.
In an interview withGrimoire of Horror, Hagins had this to say about the film:
“I hope this film resonates with at least one person out there, or at least makes someone smile or feel a little uplifted. I’d also love for folks to seek out and support more women-directed horror films whenever they can. Champion the films and filmmakers you enjoy — it does help folks get hired when audiences like the work.”
Sorry About the Demonsaw Hagins reteaming with Shudder and Paper Street Pictures after the three previously collaborated duringScare Package. The anthology film, whichrecently released a sequel, was also a horror comedy that featured the work of eight different directors. Hagins helmed “Cold Open,” the cold open of the film (obviously), which like the rest of the movie, was a meta look at common horror movie tropes.
“My love of horror/comedy is very much tied to my love of horror — the very first horror movie I saw was a zombie horror/comedy calledUndead. I loved the experience of laughing and jumping at the scares with the rest of the audience. It very much moved me as a filmmaker to want to create something that could balance those ups and downs for such a thrilling shared experience in a theater. It was all I wanted to accomplish!”
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Balancing Comedy and Horror
Some of Hagins' horror comedy influences are Sam Raimi, Edgar Wright, Peter Jackson, and Wes Craven. As she learned more about the genre, Hagins said that she loved how different filmmakers could create a different “blend” of the two genres, which is why it’s her favorite genre combination to work with.
“The other main genre I’ve worked in is in the young adult or teen space, since so much of my career and voice as a filmmaker was established in my own teen years. I love a good coming-of-age story, and I’m definitely a sucker for a good ol' angsty teen love triangle! But to answer your question, my heart certainly always comes back to horror. Horror comedy is my first love as a filmmaker!”
Over the course of the interview,Sorry About the Demonwas compared toEvil Dead IIandSanta Clarita Dietin terms of how the cast is corny, but the line delivery is completely serious. Hagins thought that was an interesting comparison because one of the things she thought was key to selling the comedy was for the actors to believe in the ridiculous things they would say. Because if the actors act like there in on the joke too much, then it doesn’t work.
“And in this film we have a balance of over-the-top characters and more grounded characters, but they all exist in the same universe. So to me it was important to show the characters most incapable of change as the least aware characters, because they don’t grow. Their unawareness is part of how silly they come off. For the characters that are growing and changing and learning, their lessons and heartache can also be funny, but it should be more relatable and less absurd since these are the people we’re supposed to root for.”
Sorry About the Demonis scheduled to debut on January 19, exclusively on Shudder.
