Meet Hollywood’s master of blood, gore, kills & chills

By Sugandha Rawal

New York, Aug 18 (IANS) Alexandre Aja's love for horror made him dive deep into the genre and create hits like "The Hills Have Eyes", "Piranha 3D" and "Mirrors". The filmmaker says he initially thought that he would get over the genre, but is glad that his obsession with the genre is intact.

The director says he just wants to keep growing, and spread chills and thrills.

"I have been watching horror movies since I was a young kid. I loved them and I thought that at some point by making them, I will, kind of, get used to them and not be in it anymore, but I am still into it," Aja told IANS in an exclusive sit-down interview.

"Every week I go and see a new horror movie and enjoy it and love it. I love to be scared. I love to be in the room with the audience. I love to share that feeling. I want to keep growing," added the director.

Aja feels it is a great time for horror as a genre.

"Today, there are so many opportunities. These movies are so successful in theatres and I think it is very important to see them on big screen. It is very important to feel on the big screen," he pointed out.

Aja's cinema is known for blood, gore, wince-worthy kills and for building suspense with music. He got his break in 2003 with "Haute Tension" ("High Tension") -- which turned out to be his ticket to Hollywood, where he made "The Hills Have Eyes", "Mirrors", "Piranha 3D" and "Horns".

He will be back with a disaster horror movie "Crawl". Aja has returned to water to narrate a suspenseful tale of a daughter trying to save her father from an alligator-infested house amid a hurricane.

"Crawl" chronicles the struggle of a swimmer Haley Keller (played by Kaya Scodelario) as she tries to save herself and her father (Barry Pepper) from alligators amidst a Florida hurricane. The horror thriller will open in India on August 23. The movie will be distributed in India by Viacom18 Motion Pictures. It is written by Michael Rasmussen and Shawn Rasmussen, and produced by Craig Flores, Sam Raimi and Aja.

The story is simple, and that is what drew Aja in.

"I wanted people to have a wide, scary and intense suspense film experience. I remember when I got the script for the first time, what got me in and made me fall in love with the story was the log line. The simple idea of this young woman who has to go and save her dad during hurricane category five in Florida in a place infested with alligators --That was all I needed," he said.

After "Crawl", it is being reported that Aja is prepping to bring an interactive haunted house horror experience to the big screen. The movie will reportedly allow audience members to influence the storyline through an app on their phones. They will be able to decide how the story will go and end. An official confirmation and details about the project is awaited.

(Sugandha Rawal was in New York at the invitation of Viacom18 Motion Pictures. She can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in)