When writer/director Drew Goddard's new film BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE was first announced, it was said to be "a contained thriller with either sci-fi or horror elements", and while Goddard recently described the project as his love letter to '60s film noir and crime fiction, the newly released trailer does seem to have a touch of horror in it.
The cult leader character played by Chris Hemsworth is presented as being an odd and dangerous threat, people are seen doing very bad things, and the guests at a dilapidated hotel are being spied on by the mysterious "management"… Which reminds me of Goddard's feature directorial debut, THE CABIN IN THE WOODS.
BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE centers on
a bunch of characters who check into a hotel on one night in 1969, and nobody is who they appear.
Over the course of one eventful night, each of these shady characters is offered a shot at redemption — that is, before everything goes to hell.
Hemsworth's co-stars include Jeff Bridges as a down-on-his-luck priest, Dakota Johnson as the older sister of an impressionable Southern girl played by Cailee Spaeny, Jon Hamm as a vacuum cleaner salesman, Cynthia Erivo as a singer named Darlene Sweet, and THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT's Lewis Pullman as the hotel concierge.
Regardless of how far it ends up going into horror territory, it's clear that things are going to get dark and violent in BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE. This looks like a really interesting and entertaining film to me. Hopefully it will live up to the trailer when it reaches theatres on October 5th.