Director Tobe Hooper (THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, POLTERGEIST) is currently in the United Arab Emirates filming DJINN, his first feature since 2005’s MORTUARY. He doesn’t do too many interviews, but he spoke to Rolling Stone about the project, in addition to commenting on the horror genre itself.
On what drew him to the project: “It’s the best screenplay that I’ve read in many years, and it was much more of what I’ve always wanted to do. It’s more of a metaphysical thriller, laced with extremely good characters.”
On updating the djinn tale: “It’s been illuminating. Believe me, it’s more than folklore. I started with the internet, and I started with Google Earth, getting as much information as possible. Then, the preparation came around and I started visiting places. I started talking to a lot of people, both within the production and outside of it. I’ll be shooting on an ancient territory, a place that’s basically in ruins because the djinn had moved the human beings out.”
On the current state of horror: “A lot of films that I’ve seen made, particularly for the commercial market, in the U.S. have become more-or-less action films. Quite a lot of them anyway. There are a few films where a story is actually told. I take film as seriously as I did in the beginning, and I love it as much. It’s just that the world has changed. I’m not crystallized – I’m aware of that and so I change with the world. At least, I do my best.”
“…The films in the beginning of horror have created great works – archetypes – that people now follow. They think there are certain things that you have to do, and that you need to do. I feel like all those rules should be broken because, if they’re not, you don’t have a new place to travel to.”
DJINN is written by David Tully. Khalid Laith, Razane Jammal (below), Aiysha Hart, Carole Abboud, Paul Luebke and May El Calamawy star. The film follows a couple who return home to discover their luxurious apartment inhabited by malevolent beings.