Darren Lynn Bousman and Stephen Moyer are Set to Capture the Jersey Devil in ‘THE BARRENS’

Somehow, Darren Lynn Bousman has been able to make 11-11-11, The Devil’s Carnival (while also currently touring with it), The Barrens, and shoot a promo for an upcoming thriller called Cinco-de-Mayo, all within a year’s time.  His work ethic alone is something worth applauding even if his films sometimes aren’t as deserving.  It seems he’s been quite the topic on the site as of late due to the recent DVD releases of 11-11-11 and Mother’s Day.  You can hear Andy and I’s thoughts on the later of the two films on this week’s podcast.  The current film that we’ll be talking about today though is the upcoming “monster film” The Barrens.  Cannes is currently exhibiting previews to distributors for a number of films in the hopes of attaining proper distribution.  Bousman’s film is one of these getting its premiere this week.  True Blood star Stephen Moyer stars in the film as a man who takes his family on a camping trip and becomes convinced that they are being stalked by a monster.  Due to its showing at the film festival, a poster has surfaced online from the film.  The simple design works well even if its partially covered by an obnoxiously large font touting “From The Director of Saw II, III, & IV.” You can check it out below.

In a recent interview with Fangoria, the magazine/site caught up with the director on tour with The Devil’s Carnival where he spoke a little more in-depth about The Barrens.

THE BARRENS is finished; we turn it in tomorrow [last Friday]. This is how crazy it is: I shot THE BARRENS, and then I came home, and before I started editing, I shot THE DEVIL’S CARNIVAL. I then went and edited THE BARRENS, and then we quickly edited THE DEVIL’S CARNIVAL, and no one knew about it—we were doing it under the radar. I’m touring this as they’re finishing post on THE BARRENS, which is being turned in Friday morning to the studio. I’m very proud of it. It’s a very different movie from what I’ve done before. It’s THE SHINING meets JAWS in the woods. So it’s a monster movie, but it’s not like a classic monster movie; it’s my version of a monster film.

There were two approaches I could’ve taken on it. It’s basically about Stephen Moyer being pursued by a monster in the woods—the Jersey Devil. However, what makes it different is that it’s more about his relationship with his family, and happens to have a creature in it. So instead of making a monster movie with a human element, it’s a human story that happens to have a monster in it. It plays itself out as a drama with a monster in the background. I love that, where instead of the creature being the A story, it’s the B story, and the human interaction, the human elements are the A story. I always wanted to make a movie where it’s engaging enough without the monster, but then that’s added in.

I am a big fan of Saw II, III, and Repo! The Genetic Opera.  Although I thought Mother’s Day was just okay and I liked 11-11-11 far less, I still look forward to seeing what the man has up his sleeve.  Once again, I have to hand it to him.  His work ethic is unparalleled and I find it hard to believe if he sleeps more than an hour a day.