The movie will be another horror comedy from one of the directors of Scare Package.
Sorry about the demon is a horror comedy coming to Shudder later this month. It’s about a young man named Will (John Michael Simpson) who, after a breakup, moves to a new place and finds it full of “roommates.” The film was directed by Emily Hagins, with whom she made her first feature film at the age of 12 pathogen.
In an interview with Grimoire of horrorHagins had this to say about the movie:
“I hope this movie speaks to at least one person, or at least makes someone smile or feel a little uplifted. I would also love it if people would seek out and support more female-directed horror movies whenever they can. Champion the films and filmmakers you like – it helps people get hired if the audience likes the work.
Sorry about the demon saw Hagins team up again with Shudder and Paper Street Pictures after the three had previously worked together during Scare package. The anthology film, which recently released a sequel, was also a horror comedy with the work of eight different directors. Hagins spearheaded “Cold Open,” the film’s cold open (obviously), which, like the rest of the movie, was a meta-look at common horror movie tropes.
“My love of horror/comedy is strongly tied to my love of horror — the very first horror movie I saw was a zombie horror/comedy called Undead. I loved the experience of laughing and jumping for fright with the rest of the audience. It really moved me as a filmmaker to want to create something that could balance those ups and downs for such an exciting shared experience in a theater. It was all I wanted to achieve!”
Balance between comedy and horror
Some of Hagins’ horror comedy influences include Sam Raimi, Edgar Wright, Peter Jackson, and Wes Craven. As she learned more about the genre, Hagins said she loved how different filmmakers could create a different “mix” 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, as much of my career and voice as a filmmaker originated in my own teens. I love a good coming-of-age story, and I’m definitely a sucker for a good old terrifying teen love triangle! But to answer your question, my heart definitely always goes back to horror. Horror comedy is my first love as a filmmaker!”
In the course of the interview, Sorry about the demon was compared to Evil Dead II and Santa Clarita Diet in terms of how the cast is corny, but the line delivery is totally serious. Hagins thought that was an interesting comparison, because one of the things she thought was key to selling the comedy was that the actors believed in the ridiculous things they would say. Because if the actors pretend to be in the joke too much, it won’t work.
“And in this movie, we have a balance between over-the-top characters and more grounded characters, but they all exist in the same universe. So for me it was important to change the characters that were the most incapable of , to show as the least aware characters. because they don’t grow. Their ignorance is part of how silly they come across. For the characters who grow and change and learn, their lessons and heartaches can be funny too, but it would be more relatable and should be less absurd, since these are the people we’re supposed to root for.”
Sorry about the demon is scheduled to debut on January 19, exclusively on Shudder.