Director Mercedes Bryce Morgan Talks BONE LAKE's Erotic Horror
- creepykingdom
- Oct 2
- 3 min read
By Shannon McGrew
In BONE LAKE, a couple’s romantic vacation at a secluded lakeside estate is upended when they are forced to share the mansion with a mysterious and attractive couple. In this darkly hilarious and seductive horror story, a dream getaway spirals into a nightmarish maze of sex, lies, and manipulation, bringing terrifying secrets to light and triggering a bloody battle for survival.
For the release of BONE LAKE, Creepy Kingdom’s Shannon McGrew spoke with director Mercedes Bryce Morgan (Fixation, Spoonful of Sugar). During their conversation, they discussed everything from blending erotic thrills with horror to ensuring safe intimacy on set and what she hopes audiences take away from the film.
Thank you so much for speaking with me today, Mercedes. To start things off, what drew you to Joshua Friedlander’s script, and what aspect of it were you most excited to dive into?
Mercedes Bryce Morgan: What really excited me about it is the fact that it combines all these different genres. It’s not just straight-up horror; it’s also an erotic thriller, and it’s also almost even a European relationship drama. So, as a huge horror fan, I went, ‘Ooh, we can have this, but we can also bring back some of that 90s energy, but in this new way.’ I knew that was the kind of movie I wanted to do.
Sex and violence, especially in horror movies, have always had this weird, natural overlap. Why do you think that is, and why is this movie a good example of that?
Mercedes Bryce Morgan: You took the words right out of my mouth [about the overlap]. Sex and death are some of the things that are just part of being alive. It’s just part of being human; we all have this fear of dying, and we’re programmed for sex. What’s so amazing about horror is that it’s subversive, but it’s mainstream at the same time. The film has a lot of death, so why not make it sexy too? Let’s just full send it [Laugh].
When it came to filming the more intimate scenes, what steps did you take to ensure the actors felt safe and comfortable?
Mercedes Bryce Morgan: We had an intimacy coordinator on set the whole time. At the end of the day, we’re making a movie, and so everyone needs to be comfortable. If someone isn't comfortable, it’s not worth it, because it’s just a movie. Even though, as a film director, my life is centered on movies, I care about them so much that it’s what I do with every waking breath in my body; humans are more important to me. We should approach those scenes the same way we are approaching a fight scene or a dance scene where it’s choreographed for the actors to act, and that’s what we’re there to do.
What stood out to you as most important when it came to finding the right actors to play the couples?
Mercedes Bryce Morgan: I wanted Sage (Maddie Hasson) to be very strong, but also have both our main characters be very grounded almost in a Ready Or Not way where we go off, and we’re comedic, and we have these other people come in and they’re really ridiculous, they’re really heightened, but we have this grounding force going into it. It was really important for me to feel that, but also to really empathize with them at the same time. Marco Pigossi, who plays Diego, is such a sweetie; you care about him so much. With Will (Alex Roe) and Cin (Andra Nechita), I wanted them to be able to have fun with it, and when they got ridiculous, they weren’t afraid to get silly.
When audiences walk away from BONE LAKE, what do you hope lingers with them most?
Mercedes Bryce Morgan: I hope what lingers with them is a questioning of their own mortality and relationships, just kidding [Laughs]. I hope that people just have a fun time, and if it prompts them to think about their past relationships and the present ones, and sparks an interesting conversation, I always think that's fun, of ‘what would you do in this instance?’
What I love about movies is I feel like it’s a communal experience, and so being able to watch it in theaters and hear people laugh and gasp next to you, it’s what I look for. I’m a huge Rocky Horror fan because that’s kind of been given to me my entire life, and so just having something you can enjoy with people, that’s what’s important.
BONE LAKE arrives in theaters October 3, 2025.
