‘Bird Box’ Deleted Scene Showed One Of The Creatures, Described As A “Long Fat Baby”
By Chris Evangelista/Dec. 27, 2018 9:30 am EST
In Bird Box, unseen creatures are killing off people left and right. In the tradition of H.P. Lovecraft, anyone who lays eyes on these monsters goes completely out of their minds, usually killing themselves in the process. It’s a scary premise, and while Bird Box has its flaws, it does an excellent job conveying the terror of the situation. The movie also understands that something unseen is always scarier than something in plain sight. Great examples of this approach include the first half of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, in which the shark is almost never seen, and The Blair Witch Project, in which the witch herself never puts in an appearance. These movies are heightening the terror by forcing us to use our imaginations.
But not everyone shares that sentiment! Speaking with Bloody Disgusting, Bird Box screenwriter Eric Heisserer revealed that at one point, producers insisted the film show the creatures in some form, forcing him to write a scene – a scene that was actually filmed. And according to Sandra Bullock, the end result was more humorous than scary:
There you have it, folks: a long fat baby. Terrifying! Thankfully, the green baby-man never made its way into the final film. “It so easily becomes funny,” director Susanne Bier said in the same interview. “We actually shot that and spent a lot of energy on, but every time I saw it, I was like this is not going to be tense.”
“It was a green man with a horrific baby face. It was snake-like, and I was like, ‘I don’t want to see it when it first happens. Just bring it into the room. We’ll shoot the scene.’ I turn and he’s like [growling at me.] It’s making me laugh. It was just a long fat baby.”
Whatever you think of Bird Box, you have to agree that having a “long fat baby” show up at one point probably would’ve derailed the movie completely. That said, it’s a shame Netflix usually doesn’t put out Blu-ray releases of their films, because I’d love to catch a glimpse of this deleted scene. I guess I’ll just have to use my imagination instead.
Bird Box is now streaming on Netflix.
