Earlier this month Netflix released their new "horror" movie BIRD BOX starring Sandra Bullock as a woman who must guide two children blindfolded down a river through an apocalypse filled with monsters that make you kill yourself if you see them. The film wisely decides to side-step showing the creatures on camera. I watched the movie with the little lady this past week and found that bit of restraint to be one of the movie's shining lights.
But it turns out the powers that be behind the scenes almost went ahead and showed the curious creatures… and the design sounds utterly ridiculous. Our buddies over at B-D recently spoke with Bullock along with the film's director and screenwriter and they detailed what the monsters look like and when we would have seen them. Needless to say, if you haven't seen Netflix's BIRD BOX yet, beware because HERE THERE BE SPOILERS.
Screenwriter Eric Heisserer:
There was a time when one of the producers was like, ‘No, you have to see something at some point’ and forced me to write essentially a nightmare sequence where Malorie experiences one in that house.
Bullock adds:
It was a green man with a horrific baby face. It was snake-like, and I was like, ‘I don’t want to see it when it first happens. Just bring it into the room. We’ll shoot the scene.’ I turn and he’s like this [growling at me.] It’s making me laugh. It was just a long fat baby.
Director Susanne Bier then says:
It so easily becomes funny. We actually shot that and spent a lot of energy on, but every time I saw it, I was like this is not going to be tense. It’s just going to be funny. At first, Sandy was like, ‘I don’t want to see it’ because she thought it was scary. Then it was like, ‘Don’t show it to me because [I’ll laugh].’ Every time I did it, I was like, ‘Shit, that’s a different film.’ Whatever those beings are, they tap into your deepest fear. Everybody’s deepest fear is going to be different from the other person. I think to suddenly take upon a concrete shape in order to illustrate that becomes weak. Where the conceit is really strong, then trying to illustrate it is kind of almost meaningless. So it would have been the wrong decision.
Again, I'm glad having seen the film that they decided to keep the creatures off-screen. Especially knowing now that said monsters took the form of a "snake-like green man with a horrific baby face." Heaven help us that is some silly shite. Bet the producers said, 'Show us them creatures' and the filmmakers said, 'Okay, here ya go' and the producers were like, 'Never the f*ck mind, keep them shits off the screen.' I bet that's exactly what happened. Word for word. Filmmakers: 1 Producers: 0.
For those who might not know, the Netflix original film begins:
When a mysterious force decimates the population, only one thing is certain — if you see it, you die. The survivors must now avoid coming face to face with an entity that takes the form of their worst fears. Searching for hope and a new beginning, a woman and her children embark on a dangerous journey through the woods and down a river to find the one place that may offer sanctuary. To make it, they'll have to cover their eyes from the evil that chases them — and complete the trip blindfolded.
BIRD BOX is directed by Susanne Bier from a screenplay written by Eric Heisserer (ARRIVAL) based on the book of the same name by Josh Malerman. Chris Morgan, Barbara Muschietti (STEPHEN KING'S IT), Scott Stuber, Dylan Clark, and Clayton Townsend produced. Bullock's costars include Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, Lil Rel Howery, Jacki Weaver, BD Wong, and Sarah Paulson. The movie is now streaming on Netflix.