Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss just made a deal to star in the upcoming horror film There Are Monsters, a descriptive title for a film that will state, authoritatively, that monsters do indeed exist. Moss will play a single mother protecting her daughter, á la Panic Room. (Except with monsters.)
Though Mad Men is not exactly creeping horror, Moss recently won an Emmy for her role as the lead in the Jane Campion miniseries Top Of The Lake, which is decidedly more atmospheric and spooky. There Are Monsters will be written and directed by Bryan Bertino, who also wrote and directed 2008’s The Strangers, which ended up being a box-office hit. He recently wrapped up production of Mockingbird, another horror film.
ScreenDaily also has a quote from Bertino about his motivations for creating horror films:
I love telling stories about fear—fear of the unknown and fear of the things inside us. Horror can cut through the complexities of life and force us to find something deeper within ourselves. What do we really care about in life? Fear can show us.
Which sounds like a Don Draper speech in a pitch meeting. Peggy Olson must be feeling inspired. There Are Monsters is set to begin pre-production later this year.