With Jaws, Steven Spielberg was responsible for one of the most frightening thriller movies ever made, but this 2008 science fiction movie still “scared the hell” out of him. From Jurassic Park to Indiana Jones, Spielberg has made some of the best movies of all time and is regarded as the ultimate blockbuster director.
While his movies have often been frightening (and Jaws, Jurassic Park, and War of the Worlds all have their fair share of hair-raising moments) the director has largely – though not entirely – avoided outright horror. And, perhaps it’s because the director is actually easy to spook.
While celebrating the 15th anniversary of his 2008 sci-fi horror flick Cloverfield, The Batman director Matt Reeves made the revelation that Cloverfield terrified Steven Spielberg.
Speaking with ComingSoon about being on the set of Star Trek with JJ Abrams and Steven Spielberg, Reeves said “I’m just sitting there, and then [Spielberg] turned to me, and after he’s talking – he was giving them a lot of input on the script and stuff and he was really lovely – he turned to me, he goes, ‘Wait, so you directed Cloverfield?’
Reeves continued “And I said, ‘Yeah.’ He goes, ‘You scared the hell out of me.’ And I was like, ‘Oh.’ That was awesome. There was no higher compliment I could get than that. I scared Steven Spielberg. That was cool.”
Being able to say your movie scared Spielberg truly is a badge of honour, because it proves that he was invested and hooked into the film. While Cloverfield also isn’t an outright horror, it’s like that Jaws in that it’s a monster movie packed with tension. Cloverfield was followed up by two sequels, neither of which Reeves directed.
For more movie magic, take a look at our guide to the best movies of all time, as well as our guide to every major new movie coming in 2024.