Comic-Con 2018 Interview: Director Corin Hardy Discusses Gothic Horror and Shooting in Romania for THE NUN

In 2015, Irish filmmaker Corin Hardy left an indelible impression on the indie horror scene with his demonic fairy tale, The Hallow. And now, just a few short years later, he’s about to unleash The Nun on audiences everywhere. The latest entry in the growing Conjuring cinematic universe transports viewers back to the 1950s, giving us a peek into just how Valak (that insanely creepy nun from The Conjuring 2) came to be in the first place in a remote abbey tucked away in the mountains of Romania.

While attending the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con, Daily Dead had the opportunity to speak with Hardy about the evolution of his career over the last few years, and he discussed coming aboard The Nun, the importance of shooting the film on location, and how both Gothic and Italian horror inspired his latest directorial effort. Oh, and there was even some talk about how Taissa Farmiga’s involvement in The Nun might somehow tie in specifically to The Conjuring films as well.

The Nun arrives in theaters on September 7th, courtesy of New Line Cinema.

So, a few years ago you put out The Hallow, and it was really well-received by the community, and it was great seeing the support, because you just never know what's going to click with fans. And here you are now, where you've directed The Nun and collaborated with James Wan of all people, and you're at Comic-Con getting to celebrate that. Can you talk about that process from doing The Hallow to being here today?

Corin Hardy: Yeah, it's interesting hearing you sum it up. It makes it sound so impressive [laughs]. That's nice. That's pretty cool. It's a dream come true, isn't it? As a kid who grew up obsessed with the four directors and the films on your T-shirt—Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper, George Romero, and John Carpenter—that's what I wanted to do: make monsters, make monster movies and makeups, too. I made my short films, and I made music videos, and I finally got to make The Hallow in 2014. I've been developing my own ideas, too, and I started making The Crow, but that went downhill the first time around.

Then, The Nun came up, and I was like, "Oh, I know James Wan's work well. I'm a fan." I wasn't sure what the story was going to be, and then I was really excited that it was a different direction from The Conjuring movies. It was going back in time to the 1950s in Romania, and it had a mystery/adventure element to it, which really excited me. It felt very visual, and it had all the things that I love, especially Gothic horror, and it wasn't taking place in town or in a family household. It was an environment that I thought you could really explore, so I just ran with it when I got it. There wasn't a lot of time to think about it; a week after I was hired, we were off to Romania to scout, and then I've just been working on that ever since. So, yeah, I don't take it for granted, and I’m very pleased to be in this position.

Excellent. I'm curious, because you mentioned Romania, and everything last night was just gorgeous. It just felt like seeing Hammer Horror through a new lens–

Corin Hardy: That's a nice quote. “Hammer Horror through a new lens.” I like that [laughs].

Well, thank you. But what's interesting about this film is that you could've gone two ways with it. You could've gone into a really big set and just tried to mimic that aesthetic that you're going for in this movie. But, instead, you go on location and shoot everything. How much did being able to make this film on location end up helping what you guys were able to achieve on a visual level?

Corin Hardy: Well, it was challenging, exciting, difficult, and rewarding. The aim wasn't to take inspiration from those old, classic Hammer and Italian movies, and make a spoof movie. I love balance. It's so grounded and real, but it's heightened and atmospheric in a classic way, so it felt like we could turn it up a little bit, but we weren't trying to do anything too schlocky, either.

But it's definitely capturing the spirit of those movies and just creating something with that kind of same rich atmosphere to it. So, starting off, I always love doing things as real as possible. It's the same with The Hallow, going and making kind of an Irish fairy tale in Ireland in real woods. It was tough in the same way The Nun was. We'd do a night shoot in cemeteries and difficult locations that were a long way from the town, and I love that challenge, because it's worth it. I just wouldn't find it interesting if we were shooting in a studio for a whole shoot or against a green screen and creating it, so I love the real natural textures and the forests in Romania, and the castle walls and the grit, and the wet, damp, moldy, old corridors. Then, Jen Spence, our production designer, did some fantastic work creating extensions to things that already existed.

In fact, I haven't really told this story—this is a good one. Demián Bichir, who is an incredible actor, turns up on set. We were shooting for the first two days in what is the doorway into the castle. We showed a little bit of that footage last night. Now, we had a real castle up there in Hunedoara. It was called Corvin Castle—it's an incredible place, but it is surrounded by a town, and we wanted it to feel like it was in the middle of nowhere, so I didn't want to use the normal entrance to that building. So, we created our own entrance on the back of the castle, with Jen's Romanian crew building these huge steps up and this big doorway.

So, we're filming on it for two days, and on the second day, Demián's like, "Man, these locations are really fantastic." I was like, "Oh, yeah. Isn't it great what Jen's done, too?" He says to me, "What do you mean?" I go, "Well, this whole doorway, this whole turret, and these steps—she's built all of it." He had no idea, even after being around that set for two days, because they'd put in such a great level of detail. Anyway, that was my long-winded way of saying it was a challenge, but I think everyone rose to the challenge beyond what I could have hoped for.

Between the fact that a lot of what we saw felt very female-oriented, and that you’ve also set this film in an environment that has been historically oppressive, are there any sort of parallels between how the church was back then versus some of the things that we've gone through with the church, and how much of that might spill over into this story in The Nun?

Corin Hardy: That's a very interesting question, and I don’t know how much I can say about that [laughs]. But, I would say we were actually aware of this movie taking place within this religion, and this abbey, and this cloister of nuns, and the rules that are in place, and the perpetual adoration and the praying. I approached this religion as thematically as possible. Visually, I wanted to make sure it was based in as much reality as possible, but also, I didn't want to get too bogged down in certain areas of it, and I wasn’t looking to offend anyone, either.

Okay, so I started to just put a few things together in my head after watching the footage last night. I wanted to ask, how much of a coincidence is it that Taissa's in this movie, and we also have Vera [Farmiga], who has been part of this James Wan-iverse now for years? Taissa’s an incredible actress, and I loved her in both The Final Girls and In a Valley of Violence, so I know her being a part of this film isn’t just some familial connection in real life. But in terms of these stories, it just seems like there could be something there. Or I could be reading too much into everything, too [laughs].

Corin Hardy: Hmm. I don't want to say too much here, but it wasn't a coincidence so much as it being something else entirely. Here's the thing: they originally wanted this character, Sister Irene, to be an English character. We did the casting call, and I watched tons of different auditions. I had no idea who we were going to get, and then I saw Taissa Farmiga. I love Vera Farmiga, and I thought, "It'd be too obvious to just cast her sister,' whether there are connections or not. But when Taissa's audition came in, it was so good, and it was so uniquely perfect for this role, and more effective than any of the other ones, regardless of whether her character's connected in other ways, I had to hire her. She had to play this role.