With a plethora of smartly placed red herrings and a nod of approval from horror master Stephen King, it makes perfect sense why Zach Cregger’s Barbarian has established itself as one of the most chilling horror flicks of the year. While the list of inspirations for the bone-chilling feature could probably stretch out for miles, Cregger has surprisingly alluded to the fact that several influences behind the movie are fairly unexpected.
Chatting with Screen Rant, the 41-year-old director wasted little time in admitting that Barbarian has successfully borrowed a massive amount of influences, with all sets of different perspectives and structures helping the film to grow in credibility, plot, and visual effects. Among the major influences, however, is Drag Me to Hell director Sam Raimi’s unique filmmaking style. Cregger noted: