With Us only days away, director Jordan Peele took a moment to nerd-out over horror movies with the Wall Street Journal. "I'm not that scared of Jason," says Peele. "I'm scared of the spindly dudes." He proceeds to look back to a Cronenberg classic, citing The Fly as one of the earliest films to leave him genuinely spooked. "It was so scary, so inappropriate for how old I was, and yet I was able to watch and understand it," explains Peele. "By the end, I felt less scared than I did before watching it. That's how I knew the power of horror." He also spreads some love to the horror soundtrack, naming the Nightmare On Elm Street soundtrack as a personal favorite, all while providing his own vocal rendition of the eerie progression.
He also dubs Michael Myers as the scariest villain of all time, albeit misunderstood. "He's not evil, he's just curious," explains Peele. "You know you can't talk him out of whatever he wants to do." When it comes to an "Avengers-style" motley crew of villainous rogues, Peele breaks it down as follows: Freddy Krueger, Candyman, the little silver balls from Phantasm, Chucky, and the Graboids from Tremors. He also shows some love to Shelley Duval's performance in The Shining, naming her as his favorite performance in horror movie history.
Check out Peele's breakdown, and keep an eye out for his new Us film, hitting theatres on Friday, March 22nd. Should you be interested in celebrating the artful genre of horror, I've compiled a "starter pack of sorts" for your viewing pleasure:
The Wailing
Candyman
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (OG)
The Excorsist
Hereditary
Get Out
It Follows
The VVitch
Halloween (OG)
I Saw The Devil
Let The Right One In
Insidious
The Shining
28 Days Later