Darren Lynn Bousman talks past, present and future projects, including Mother’s Day and The Devil’s Carnival

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

The good folks at Collider caught up with director/writer/producer Darren Lynn Bousman to ask him about the state of his ongoing projects. Seeing as the man is constantly busy with at least a couple of movies, it’s no wonder he had a lot of interesting things to say. Read excerpts from the interview below:

On filming 11-11-11:

“My wife, during the entire production, was shooting behind-the-scenes stuff. It’s crazy, if you saw the behind-the-scenes features about the haunted nature of everything, that was not a joke, that was not staged, that was all very, very real. Shooting 11-11-11 was probably the most horrific experience of my life. I am not superstitious. I didn’t believe in shit like that, until going there and experiencing it, firsthand. All that stuff about the cults, the death, the ghosts and the apparitions is all real. It was such an unnerving, horrible, horrific feeling, just being there. It made me very uncomfortable. It was probably the darkest point for me, as a person as well as a filmmaker.”

On MOTHER’S DAY release setbacks:

“It’s upsetting because I don’t think people realize that, once you turn your director’s cut in, it’s no longer yours. It’s the studio’s or the production company’s. We tested through the roof on Mother’s Day. It was one of the highest-tested films I’ve done. It’s the best-reviewed film I’ve ever done. It’s definitely the best acted film that I’ve done. It’s something that I can actually look back on and stand up and say that I’m proud of it. So, yeah, it sucks. It’s been three years. People look at it now as a tainted film, and it’s not, at all.”

On THE DEVIL’S CARNIVAL:

“I’m doing this thing right now called The Devil’s Carnival. It’s a movie that’s not for everyone. In fact, the majority of the population will probably despise it. It’s another rock opera. I did it for me. I did it because I’ve heard so many times, “Oh, your movie is not commercial enough, so we can’t release it. Your movie doesn’t have enough stars in it, so we can’t release it.” I hear all the excuses about why the movies can’t be released. I finally hit a breaking point and said, “Fuck it! I’m just going to release my own movie. I’m going to go off and shoot something. I’m going to be my own producer, director, writer, distributor and everything, and I’m going to put it out there.”

On his new project, THE BARRENS:

“The Barrens was a movie that I always wanted to make. I wanted to make my version of a monster movie. It’s not going to be a classic monster movie. It’s not going to be the thing you think it is. It’s my version of a monster movie. It’s different. It’s unique. It’s like The Shining meets Jaws, in the woods.”