Longlegs was one of the best horror movies of last year and arguably also one of the most-talked-about movies, so you might have spared a thought for Osgood Perkins as he tried to follow it up.
As it happens, we didn't have to wait too long as The Monkey arrives in cinemas this week, and we're even getting another Perkins movie, Keeper, in October. Perhaps fortunately for the filmmaker, both movies were filmed before Longlegs was even released.
But it's not just that aspect that meant Perkins didn't feel as much pressure as he would have on The Monkey to follow up Longlegs.
"The best news for me is that it's a totally different kind of movie. It's a totally different kind of experience and it's not bad, right? Like how, what a suck would it be if the movie was bad?" he told Digital Spy.
Related: The Monkey compared to Final Destination in first reactions
"We'd have to sit here and pretend, show up and be like, 'Yeah, we're happy and excited about the movie', but people seem to like it. So that's the number one goal, obviously, and just exploring different flavours as an artist, I think that's what we're all after."
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Ahead of its release, The Monkey stands at a decent 84% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing, following some strong first reactions to the new movie, so Perkins certainly hasn't turned in a dud.
But it's not just the filmmaker who got to stretch his creative muscles with a different kind of movie on The Monkey.
For lead star Theo James, who plays two roles as twins Bill and Hal, he counts it as his "first proper horror film". (Sorry Underworld: Awakening and Underworld: Blood Wars.)
Related: Theo James reveals "strange" challenge of The Monkey
"I've always wanted to do one because I love the genre," he told Digital Spy. "Oz and I have known each other a little bit before, so when I heard that Oz was adapting a Stephen King short, it sounded like a kind of no-brainer, really.
"I enjoyed it because, with this especially, you're able to touch on a multitude of things in terms of the human psyche. It's about comedy, it's about humour, but it's also about a father and son relationship, it's about the legacy of trauma and then on top of that, it's just a mad wild ride."
You don't have too long to wait to find out just what a "mad wild ride" The Monkey has turned out to be.
The Monkey is released in cinemas on February 21, while Longlegs is available to watch right now on Prime Video.
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
