Sinners Director Ryan Coogler Was So Repulsed By One Film's Gore That He Hired Its Creators

Ryan Coogler is one of the biggest and most respected filmmakers working today. From his breakthrough drama "Fruitvale Station" to making one of the biggest blockbusters of all time with Marvel's "Black Panther," the man truly doesn't miss. One common thread in his success has been Michael B. Jordan, who has collaborated with Coogler as a core star in front of the camera from the very beginning. This year, the two of them have reunited for "Sinners," an original, big-budget vampire flick being released by Warner Bros. Mainstream though the movie may be, Coogler decided to go big on the gore.

The film centers on twin brothers (Jordan) who are trying to leave their troubled lives behind and return to their hometown, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting for them. During a recent press event attended by /Film, and tied to the release of the new trailer for "Sinners," the director revealed that a brutal 2015 movie inspired him to hire some key behind-the-scenes talent. Coogler was asked what helped him lock in for "Sinners," which is his first horror film. "I would say it was the special effects, bro," he replied. "We worked with Mike Fontaine, who's incredible. He did a film called 'Green Room' ... Also another influence on this film." 

Fontaine's credits are impressive, including everything from Scott Derrickson's "Deliver Us from Evil" to "The Batman." But it was director Jeremy Saulnier's "Green Room" that caught Coogler's attention. "I remember some of the effects, they weren't creature effects, but some of the effects just made me look away," Coogler said. "I sought him out and he was on the team that was making Colin Farrell into the Penguin."

Fontaine's job transforming Colin Farrell into Oz Cobb for "Penguin" is one heck of an accomplishment, one that quite a few people are familiar with. For those who perhaps haven't seen "Green Room," it sees a desperate punk band playing a gig at a Nazi bar when things go very, very wrong. They are locked in the club desperately trying to escape. Things get truly horrific and yes, gory. I won't spoil it but there's a scene involving a machete that will scar you (and is probably the moment that Coogler had to look away from).

Saulnier described the violence in "Green Room" as "full-frontal gore" in an interview with /Film's Jacob Hall in 2016. The filmmaker also added that "it's important that when you see someone die in a movie, for me, there's some kind of reason behind it, whether it be motivated by a character or serving a definitive narrative purpose."

Coogler is a very thoughtful filmmaker and, even while making blockbusters, excels in crafting characters we care about. The trailers for "Sinners" make it look like that will be the case here as well, in addition to being pretty brutal. Elaborating on the special effects, Coogler spoke highly of Fontaine's work, as well as the film's visual effects supervisor Michael Ralla.

"He's this young, incredible artist. Just digging into it with him and finding all his moments that could make people look away was really awesome. Working with Michael Ralla, our visual effects supervisor, who I had a chance to work with on 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,' those two together in terms of just really working to creep people out when the time is right in the movie."

Before changing topics, Coogler also made it clear that there will be blood in this film. So much so that he actually had to be mindful of what he was wearing during certain days of filming, because he was going to get bloody himself: "I direct close to the camera, I'm close to the actors, certain days, bro, we got covered in blood."

"Sinners" is set to hit theaters on April 18, 2025.