A dialogue on inclusion, horror and more with The Birch writer Casey Modderno
By Mads Lennon
The Birch Season 2 interview: The importance of horror as a genre
HR: If the show were going to keep going beyond The Birch Season 2, do you have ideas already for what direction you want to go in?
CM: They are definitely floating around! I can’t really speak on that right now, we’re just focused on the rollout of this season which we’re stoked about.
HR: I know you mentioned Silence of the Lambs, are there are any other horror movies you drew inspiration from or iconic monsters?
CM: Just so my community doesn’t think I’m out there waving the flag of Silence of the Lambs, that’s not my top horror movie [Laughs]. I love the entire scope of the genre, I think it’s such a wide genre, I love it. I think it was the origins of cinema were in horror, people were dealing with the aftermath of World War I.
They had all this repressed stuff they couldn’t talk about it, so they’d go to the movie theater and have a group catharsis as they watched Cabinet of Doctor Caligari or Nosferatu that were winking at the mayhem and destruction and ghastly quality they had experienced. It was very purging. I think horror gives us an outlet for that stuff. I love character-based horror, I love character-based horror films like in the ’70s, The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby.
HR: I love Rosemary’s Baby, it’s one of my favorite movies.
CM: It’s so good, I mean Roman Polanski… [Laughs, makes a motion as if to shove him off-screen]
HR: Right, I try to separate him from it [Laughs].
CM: And I love Mia Farrow, I love John Cassavetes, I love the score, it’s one of the best paranoia films. I love ghost horror, I love Japanese horror films from the late ’90s and early 2000s, like Kiyoshi Kurosawa is one of my favorites. I think his films play these great tone poems, almost, about urban isolation and expressed through the lens of ghosts and so beautifully done.
I love The Shining, and James Wan horror, those feel almost like funhouse rides and I’m so down for it and they’re pure cinema.
HR: I always felt like horror, it doesn’t get enough credit from the award shows and everything. It feels like a genre that has always been ahead of its time, at least for me, it was always a genre that let me explore parts of myself that wasn’t easy to do in other genres and I’ve seen other creators do that, too.
CM: Yeah, it gives you permission to get into some gnarly s–t. I mean stuff we all have shame around or feel like we can’t talk about because we don’t want to be the bummer at the party talking about death, but we all have anxiety, we all have fears of death, we all have certain aspects of social isolation.
I love that there is a brand of horror that exists now that everyone is looking for, which deals with, I think really since Get Out, people want to know how we can discuss social justice through the lens of horror. It’s a great medium for that.
HR: Right Jordan Peele is a great one for that I know Ari Aster has talked about exploring his trauma through film, so it’s fascinating to see how all of these creators are using the medium to explore things like that. And on that note, I think that wraps it up for me are there any final thoughts you want to add?
CM: I hope that it opens up a conversation about the themes I mentioned, I hope it leads people to consider their own means of outright condemning certain people in their life and reducing the humanity of those around them. Beyond that, I just hope people have a fun time watching it!
Next. 11 horror movies given a second life with LGBTQ audiences. dark
The Birch Season 2 premieres this Friday, March 26 on Facebook Watch with new episodes dropping weekly on Fridays at 3 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. ET. You can watch the official trailer for Season 2 HERE.