Who doesn’t love a crossover? And what with the recent success of the Knives Out sequel Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, there’s no reason as to why Rian Johnson wouldn’t want to set his sights on something bigger — the horror genre. What with his brainchild Poker Face earning global recognition for the ingenious writing and lead performance from Orange Is the New Black‘s Natasha Lyonne, Johnson’s surely beaten the mystery-thriller genre to death. He’s made a name for himself — which was the hardest part — so now the sky’s the limit from this moment onward. The horror genre continues to be insanely profitable and welcoming to budding directors. Look at Jordan Peele, the director of Get Out, who turned heads back in 2017 and turned himself into an exemplar of the many hurdles the genre can leap over and boundaries it can test.
Rian Johnson soared to fame with Knives Out, the whodunnit that focuses on the wealthy Drysdale family who hire a private detective to investigate the apparent suicide of the reputable novelist Harlan Thrombey. All clues point to foul play, so Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) narrows down the suspects while simultaneously uncovering the Drysdale’s many nefarious and incriminating secrets. The sequel followed Benoit Blanc to a private Greek island, where tech billionaire Miles Bron invites his closest companions to host a murder-mystery dinner party that quickly goes awry. When the attendees start dropping like flies, Blanc is on the case to uncover the real culprit.
On one hand, we have Benoit Blanc, a modern-day sleuth who rivals the intelligence and notoriety of one Sherlock Holmes. On the other hand, we have a largely influential horror genre that’s ripe with endless possibilities. So what would happen if Benoit Blanc crossed over to the dark side? Well, Reddit has some suggestions.
There’s the most obvious choices, such as slashers like Halloween, Friday the 13th or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, but there’s no real mystery to unravel with those cult-classics. We know in advance who the killers are, so where’s the fun in that? We do, however, have Scream, which has earned a reputation for concealing the identity of the famous Ghostface killer in every installment so far. Especially in Scream (2022) and the upcoming Scream VI, it’s never been clear from the get-go who’s tormenting the Woodsboro survivors and their associates. If Benoit Blanc were called to the scene, he’d no doubt make a meal of Ghostface’s supposed secrecy and identify all those involved in a matter of minutes.
Then there’s Malignant, which is more of a psychological thriller than a horror, but we’ll bite. In fact, psychological is the name of the game when it comes to solving murders, so Blanc would fit in here nicely. Considering what a huge flop Malignant turned out to be, Blanc would likely mimic the same reaction to the big reveal as half of the moveigoers who saw it in theaters. He’d suss out the culprit immediately, then wonder why he’d wasted so much time on such a trivial and idiotic case.
Ah, the Saw series. We’re clued in rather early on that John Kramer is the Jigsaw killer, so that part isn’t up for debate. However, there’s more than one way to test a person’s smarts. If Blanc thinks he’s so clever, let’s pit him against the Reverse Bear Trap and see how he fares. It’s not so easy when you’re the smartest person in the room and there’s no one to outsmart but an ingenious killing device strapped to your head. All of a sudden, intelligence isn’t the only trait in one’s personality worth utilizing. We’ll also argue that some of the later Saw films are, well… garbage, so Benoit Blanc’s presence would significantly improve on that fact.
There’s so many options to choose from. Why not A Nightmare on Elm Street? Hellraiser, anyone? We’re all curious to see Benoit Blanc take on the Cenobites. Don’t lie.