Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson raves over ‘best, most intense horror movie’ he’s seen in years

Jordan Peele and Ari Aster are both also fans of this low-budget film

Peter Jackson has raved about the “best, most intense” horror movie he has seen in years.

Jackson, 61, is best known as the director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Hobbit trilogy – both adaptations of novels of the same name by JRR Tolkien.

Given the huge box office success and overwhelmingly positive reception of Jackson’s own films, it is safe to say that the director’s opinion is highly valued in the industry.

First-time directors Danny and Micahel Philippou will be pleased to know then, that Jackson is a huge fan of their debut feature, which was released on 28 July.

Jackson issued a statement about the film through Ahi, one of the movie’s distributors across Aotearoa and Australia.

“It’s relentlessly scary and disturbing – in the best possible way,” he said (via Total Film). “Talk To Me isn’t just good – it’s very, very good.”

Jackson went so far as to call the Australian feature “the best, most intense horror movie I’ve enjoyed in years”.

His comments echo that of his peers Jordan Peele, the Oscar-winning screenwriter and director behind 2017’s Get Out, and Ari Aster, the director of critically acclaimed films including Hereditary (2018) and Midsommar (2019).

Film Review - Talk to Me

Both Peele and Aster contacted the Philippou twins to share their praise of their new film, which was picked up by indie powerhouse production company A24 after it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

The film stars Sophie Wilde as Mia, a teenager who, grappling with the death of her mother, befriends a group of her peers who regularly conduct seances using an embalmed hand.

The story takes a turn when Mia’s late mother reaches out from the dead.

Film Review - Talk to Me

So far, at the time of writing Talk To Me has earned $31m (£24m) in the US box office. According to Variety, the film is guaranteed to end its box office run as one of A24’s top five highest=grossing films domestically.

A sequel has already been announced with the Philippou siblings returning to direct.

In a four-star review, The Independent’s film critic Clarisse Loughrey wrote: “This is a low-budget horror helmed by a young pair of mavericks. It’s anchored around a phenomenal central turn by Wilde, who’s all twitchy eyelids and haunted relatability.

“Its practical effects are effective, rendering its dead in bloated, blotchy, dripping flesh. And when the spirits reveal more demonic, subversive desires, the tricks they play on the living are delivered with a taunt and a giggle.”

Loughrey suggests that fans of Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead franchise will enjoy Talk To Me.