ZACH CREGGER ALMOST CAST ‘ZAC EFRON TYPE’ IN NEW FILM ‘BARBARIAN’ STARRING JUSTIN LONG AND GEORGINA CAMPBELL

Barbarian is a 2022 American horror film written and directed by Zach Cregger, starring Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgard, and Justin Long. The film takes place in Detroit and centers around Tess (Campbell), who is in town for a job interview. Tess rents an AIRBNB only to find it is already occupied by Keith (Skarsgard), a charming but odd stranger, and against her better judgment she decides to stay the night. Little does Tess know that Keith is not the only unexpected house guest.

Zach Cregger says that the idea for the film was centered around women listening to that little voice inside their head, choosing not to ignore “red flags”. “Those red flags are often benign, things like a man doing you a favor that you didn’t ask for, injecting sexuality into an otherwise sterile conversation, or unwanted physical touching even if it’s not sexual. All these things that women have to be careful about, that as a man, I never had to consider because I don’t live in that psychic landscape where half the population could be looking at me as prey. It made me realize how different the experiences are of being a man in the modern world and being a woman.”

Barbarian has classic horror elements that were inspired by films including; The Grudge, Jeepers Creepers, and Get Out. “This movie wouldn’t have happened if Get Out didn’t exist,” Cregger states. Campbell, Skarsgard, and Long are all standouts in the film bringing Cregger’s film to life.

Justin Long, in particular, was not Cregger’s first choice (he was opting for a more ‘Zac Efron’ type), but Long’s character AJ works so well in the film simply because of the type of character he plays. Without saying too much, audiences may or may not want terrible things to happen to his character.

We had the opportunity to interview Georgina Campbell, Justin Long, and Zach Cregger.

Check out the interview below:

Barbarian is in theaters everywhere Friday, September 9th.