There was a time when horror movies used to have a specific signature with a freakishly low-budget yet those movies claimed a huge fandom. Yes, grindhouse movies that are filled with intense gore and violence that went on to become a cult. Madame Web star Sydney Sweeney is getting over the disaster of the superhero movie and she is busy on her promotional tour of her most recent horror, Immaculate. But Michael Mohan-directed movie is not quiet in any regard rather it has explicitly invited a huge buzz as the movie revisits the essence of the grindhouse era.
Immaculate Violence In Sydney Sweeney’s Horror
Michael Mohan has collaborated with Sydney Sweeney for the third time with their latest horror Immaculate (previously the duo collaborated in Netflix drama Everything Sucks! and in 2021 thriller The Voyeurs). Sweeney’s character, Cecilia revolves around the engrossing horror as the narrative progresses and the director has revealed his inspiration for his stylistic movie that is filled with the rage of violence and R-rated s*x. “I look at the horror movies that were made during the American New Wave,” Mohan said in a chat with Variety.
“If you look at ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ or ‘Don’t Look Now,’ what I love about those films is that you feel intimate with the main characters, yet they are cinematic. Even though the stories are told in these elegant and classy ways, they have this sense of danger. In ‘The Exorcist,’ there are images in that film that movies today have not topped, in terms of how disturbing they are.”
He went on to add that that’s what he has intended all along to “make the boldest film I possibly could that will, hopefully, stand the test of time and get under your skin.” Of course, while the movie revisits the gore of the grindhouse era, the movie has its own style, quite sensual as it attempts to seduce the narrative that follows into the scare it produces.
Sydney Sweeney As A Producer Of Immaculate
Mohan is quite comfortable having Sweeney attached to his projects. “It’s like watching someone do a magic trick,” he said (via Variety) of the actor who also produces the film. “I started working with Syd back in 2016 on Everything Sucks! The joy of working with Sydney goes way beyond her acting talent,” he added revisiting their first collaboration.
“Even back then, she was the type of person who would stay after wrap and shadow what the first AC was doing. She would ask them questions about why they’re choosing which lenses, and she would sit with the sound recordist and talk to them about why they’re using these microphones.”
The director adds that the 26-year-old is a cinephile and she has the utmost respect for the crew which “inspires everybody to do their best work.” Being a director, Mohan has always looked for the traits Sweeney possesses as a producer.
Sweeney’s Immaculate was recently premiered in SXSW and is scheduled to hit the theaters on 22 March 2024.
