Seance director Simon Barrett on getting to ‘the fun stuff’ in horror movies

Starting with 2010’s How to Die in a Horrible Way, director Adam Wingard And screenwriter Simon Barrett made a series of horror films together that turned them into one of the genre’s most reliable duos. Projects like 2011’s Autoerotic and You’re NextTogether with the segments, V/H/S The ABCs of DeathPlease see the following: V/H/S2, earned them a reputation as clever, self-aware horror creators who weren’t afraid of the genre’s nastier side. 2014’s The Guest was something entirely different: A 1980s horror-movies pastiche that’s smart, scary, and memorable enough to help make Dan Stevens a major star.

Barrett directed short horror films. V/H/S2 and 2021’s V/H/S/94, but he made his own directorial debut with 2021’s Seance, another throwback horror feature set in a remote girls’ boarding school. When a student’s suicide leaves room for a new girl at the school, she promptly runs afoul of the same bullies who abused her dead predecessor. The new girl is lured into the seance, where the deceased girl can be summoned. Events fall apart from there.

Seance is consistently surprising, and it’s a tease throughout, luring viewers down a couple of different paths by using conflicting tropes. What is this ghost story? It could be a slasher. Or a revenge story? Or, something totally different. It’s such a satisfying and unusual way of telling a familiar story that Polygon thought Barrett would be the perfect capper for our Trick or Tropes horror week, exploring the roots of horror movies and the question of why horror returns over and over to re-interpreting the same images and ideas.

Photo: RLJE Films

These 1980s Satanic panic horrors, called seances, are a classic example of Satanic-panic. What motivated you to begin there?

Simon Barrett: I’ve always loved this kind of ritualism, leading to a haunting. I think there’s inherent atmosphere in those situations and devices that you can play off of, and then ideally set up for surprises. I’ve always loved these types of narratives, particularly Oujia films and the seances of it all. They were just something I thought was really cool. I’ve never participated in one, and I have zero real-world interest in the supernatural, but I love it in fiction.

You’ve talked about wanting to make your directorial debut a fun horror movie, as opposed to something heavy about current anxieties. Is it possible that you were referring back to an old trope?

I think that’s true. I don’t know that it was ultimately the right creative decision for me, given the way Seance has been received — it kind of feels like people are a little bit, “Why would you want to sincerely do this anachronistic thing?” But I did have this notion that I wanted my first feature to be a feel-good horror movie. You’re Next was kind of a feel-good horror movie, but it’s quite a cynical film about relationships. Yes.The Guest is as well, though they’re both very silly movies. I wanted something more positive and less cynical about humanity.

It was obvious that I had been thinking too cornily. The film must be timeless and old-fashioned. The romance I wanted was a very old-fashioned, corny version of the romantic. It was very similar to the content that I grew up reading, mostly Georgette Heyer and Agatha Christie novels. This is what I was raised on. That’s how I got interested in horror movies. I then started to watch slashers. I tried to make something lighter and more cheerful than I feel the current horror atmosphere is.

How do you distinguish between fun horror movies and not-fun horror films?

Yes, that’s an important thing to examine. It’s obviously very subjective. But for me, it comes down to the film’s relationship with its characters, and how it treats them. I think it’s a “respect for the characters” thing. It’s easy for me to say that some horror movies are sadistic toward their characters, but it’s a very specific sensibility.

For instance, the movie is my favorite. Napoleon DynamiteIt is so sadistic about its characters that I feel physically uncomfortable when watching it. I despise it. But that’s an extremely personal reaction. Some of these feelings are subjective. But overall, I think it’s whether you’re taking your characters seriously enough as individuals that you care about their outcome. That you show respect for the characters, as well as the story’s themes. You can find them here You’re NextWhile I enjoyed some of these characters, the story and humor that we were trying to convey was not complete without them.

However, SeanceIt was something I found different. It was young women, and I thought, “There’s a not-fun way to do a slasher set among young women in a boarding school.” I wanted to go the different way, where the only characters who die bloodily are villains, so you can embrace the narrative and enjoy the humor on that level. So I guess that’s simply my definition of fun. Do the scenes aim to inflict discomfort or create a negative reaction within the audience? This is Michael Haneke. Funny GamesFeeling? I’ve leaned into that in some of my work. Or are you meant to be, like, “Oh, that was nice, and kind of what I wanted”? You wanted what I desired Sorority Row: HouseIt was the right choice for me. It’s a cozy, slasher-y vibe that I like.

Photo by RLJE Films

What makes horror so popular, even when compared with other genres that are more trope-driven?

Unfortunately, the answer to that question is usually creative bankruptcy. This involves finding an effective trope and monetizing it, then imitating it repeatedly and again. That’s how horror has historically spread itself. I hope that’s not the case in my own work. I do tend to think there’s something fun about these iconic images that have inherent atmosphere, like a Ouija board. They have an inherent meaning that can be used as shorthand. I don’t need to explain to people what’s happening if it’s somewhat recognizable. The fun stuff can be done sooner. I think that’s part of it. My belief is that horror lies in our perceptions of these scary things.

I think personally, I’m probably done making horror movies for a little while, not only because I’m attached to some Adam Wingard projects that aren’t horror movies, but as a director, I’m realizing I might be a little out of sync with the current vibe. I’m an increasingly elderly man. That’s something I’m very sensitive to, is at what point my brain is going to start decaying, because it seems inevitable for us. I’m thinking I probably should maybe take a little break before I get too repetitive and too burned-out, because I’m realizing what I specifically like about horror is the old-fashioned vibe of telling scary stories to friends in the dark.

My V/H/S/94 This segment is set during nighttime rainstorms. I like rainstorms at night, and I know that that’s really corny. It’s so much a trope that it was literally a cliché in 1930s horror cinema. But if you can pull off a cliché well, it evokes such a wonderful feeling of the way these things used to scare us as children, the way horror was probably a taboo genre for a lot of young viewers. You can feel a bit unsafe watching these films, but you can still have a safe and cathartic experience with them. I love that particular journey so much, but I think my sense of humor sometimes juxtaposes with that sincere corniness in a way that makes people think I’m just very confused.

You seem to be conscious of recontextualizing horror tropes in your movies and playing around with the base. You don’t see it this way.

It is what I think. But, I don’t see it this way. So I make an effort to deliver on the tropes. Then, do something different. Horror fan are sensitive to the fact that they may not get exactly what they desire from films. If you see a film called SeanceThey must have at least one soirée. I give three. It hasn’t had any positive impact on my Rotten Tomatoes scores. You would think just statistically alone, I I’d be over 50.

But anyway, there’s truth to that. It’s all about How to Die in a Horrible WayThat movie was one that many people believed was going to be of a particular type, but it was actually a different type, which made it a popular choice. It wasn’t until later that some people were like, “Oh, well that’s kind of interesting on its own merits.” I wouldn’t say I’m upending tropes, but I try to fulfill them and then subvert them narratively on top of that, and I don’t know that that is as much fun.

Eric Zachanowich/RLJE Films

You or your viewers can have as much fun?

It’s a pleasure for the viewers. It’s definitely fun for me. Well, I mean, making movies isn’t fun. If you have fun making movies, you’re not trying hard enough. That is what I really mean. But I do like what I do, and I’m very grateful.

Does the trope matter to you when you’re picking a movie to watch? Do you look at horror movies coming out and think, “Oh, yeah, I really love a haunted-house movie,” or “I won’t ever miss a werewolf movie”?

It’s more about who makes it, and other things, but that’s because I would like to think at this point in my adulthood, I’m a fairly sophisticated viewer. At the same time, yeah, if there’s a haunted-house movie coming out, I’m excited. That’s the funny thing, because I myself don’t really enjoy making haunted-house movies, because I have a hard time with the stakes and rules of them. As a viewer I enjoy them. And if there’s a slasher or a mystery slasher, I cannot wait. The tropes are my favorite. That is probably the answer to your question.

With SeanceBecause it was my debut feature, I wanted to work in a genre that I could understand intimately as an audience member, such as cozy-slasher board-school. SuspiriaThis is a good example of this. Because I like those tropes, I felt a feeling of comfort and intimacy as a viewer. The language was strange and complex, but I still felt able to convey a coherent story. Yes, I like tropes. I am drawn to horror. There aren’t too many horror movies that I miss in theaters.

SeanceYou can rent or buy it on Shudder and Hoopla. Amazon VuduYou can also visit these other platforms.