The Last House Director Details Practical Filmmaking in Wild New Netflix Thriller, And How to Make Animals Act
The creatives and actors who brought Netflix’s newest creature-feature horror flick, The Last House, to life aren’t holding anything back, discussing all of the blood, sweat, and tears that went into filming. From Wagner Moura and Greta Lee getting deep on what helped them build a believable marriage to the film’s stars discussing how the stunts were the most physically demanding performances of their lives, it’s all fair game. And now, the movie’s director is also talking about the insane practical effects that went into the film.
With the reemergence of shark movies as a horror staple, it was only a matter of time before the creature feature subgenre made an even bigger comeback. And The Last House is capitalizing on the trend. The film centers on a family of four who find themselves trapped inside their own home with no way out. Not only do they have to fight against the dwindling resources within their home as they try not to starve to death, but they must also contend with a mysterious entity that now waits just outside. Just how was this lurking threat brought to life? By making everything real, according to director Louis Letterier, who sat down with ComicBook to spill all the behind-the-scenes secrets.
Louis Letterier Says That He’s “Insane”—and That’s Why the Practical Effects Worked
Refusing to rely entirely on CGI, Letterier demanded the best of the best when it came to the effects that would bring this sci-fi horror to life. Elaborating on his choices and how the experience was one of the most difficult he’d faced so far on any set, the director said, “It was the most difficult experience of my career for me and everybody else involved in this movie. But in a great, joyous way, we find solutions…Because I’m insane, I wanted everything to be fully practical.” That means that the grass on the front lawn, the neighborhood trees, the water, and the animals were all real, lending a sense of necessary realism to the movie—something that some sci-fi and horror movies are happy to dispense with altogether.
Speaking of the animals on set, Latterier said, “The animals, 100% real, no CG animals. So it’s fine to direct a golden retriever. It’s a little bit more difficult to direct a fox and a ferret and a skunk. George the Squirrel was really a diva, let me tell you. That guy was actually quite mean, you know.”
He also noted that none of this would have been possible without the cast’s total buy-in, who gave their all in their performances and fully committed to the horror bit over the course of the 13-week filming schedule. But it was the child actors who had never worked on set before that left him truly impressed. “And the kids, we had young kids who had never experienced anything, never been on a movie set before. And I was like, ‘sorry, it’s not like this all the time. You know, sometimes it’s very cushy and nice and you have snacks, but this time we cannot do the snacks,’” he said.
