Interview: Director David Bruckner Discusses Drama, Horror, and ‘The Night House’

Making a horror movie is hard. Making one that deftly depicts drama and emotion as well as the scares is even harder. For many filmmakers, it would be beyond their capabilities. Not David Bruckner, though, as The Night House depicts so effectively. Bruckner invests his audience in the plight of Beth (Rebecca Hall) really well, whether you’re concerned with her well-being on a supernatural plane or just a normal one. Once I saw the flick, I knew that I wanted to talk to Bruckner. A week or two after seeing it, which was earlier on this month, that was arranged. Now, I present our conversation to you…

First, a little set-up. In my review of the film (found here), I included the following bit from Bruckner:

The Night House is unusual in that it really does throw itself all-in into making the drama work as much as the horror. During its debut at the Sundance Film Festival back in 2020, director David Bruckner perfectly explained the thesis. He said something (credit to colleague Perri Nemiroff for this) to the effect of you’ll face either “the idea that ghosts exist or the realization that they don’t.” Whichever side you fall on, this work has something memorable to say.

Below, you can hear my discussion with Bruckner. I did bring up the quote mentioned above, which he responded to, but we tackled The Night House in several ways. Whether it’s Hall’s work, how Bruckner attacked the screenplay, or even just my appreciation for his breakthrough segment in V/H/S, there was plenty to talk about. He was a fascinating guy to chat with, so this was really satisfying, particularly considering how taken I was with this movie.

Here now is my interview with The Night House director David Bruckner. Enjoy:

The Night House is in theaters this weekend!