~ Warning: This Article Contains Major Spoilers For True Detective: Night Country! ~
For one that has only four seasons, True Detective has been raging on for an exact decade ever since the release of its first episode and is still managing to keep its viewers on the edge of their seats.
A suspenseful crime thriller, the series never stepped back from bringing some of the most gruesome scenes onscreen, and its currently ongoing season 4 is following the same route.
In fact, right from its very first episode, season four has acquainted its audiences with some of the most horrifyingly detailed scenes, engraved into the series by none other than its mastermind showrunner, Issa López.
But she didn’t do it all on her own. López required assistance to perfectly carry out the terrifying scene, and for that, she went to seek help from “the master of horrible creatures,” Guillermo del Toro.
Guillermo del Toro Helped With One Horrifying Scene Of True Detective
The very first episode of True Detective: Night Country, the fourth season of the ongoing series, brought about one of the coldest murder cases for detective Liz Danvers (played by Jodie Foster) with a snarl of mummified n-ked bodies of some of the scientists at Tsalal research station.
As gruesome as the scene sounds, making it all in the most immaculate way to land the desired impact on viewers was equally hard. And since she knew she couldn’t pull it off on her own, showrunner Issa López decided to approach filmmaker Guillermo del Toro.
During a recent interview with IndieWire, the mastermind director shared details about the same:
“I decided to ask the master of horrible creatures,” said López. “And I called Guillermo del Toro. I was like, ‘Maestro, I’m going to be shooting in Iceland. So I need someone in the U.K…. I need someone who can create something as complex as this.’”
Often referred to as the “Master of Monsters” because of all the brutally terrifying creatures he has created like in the Pacific Rim and Hellboy film series, del Toro was the perfect option to turn to in such cases. And he fulfilled all that was expected from him as well.
By recommending Dave Elsey and Lou Elsey of Igor Studios to López, Guillermo del Toro soon had the duo working with the production designer Daniel Taylor, VFX supervisor Barney Curnow, and cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister of the series to bring about the effect so required.
Also Read: True Detective Night Country Season 4 Episode 3 Release Date, Time, and Where to Watch
The Terrifying Scene Wasn’t Crafted Without Much Problems
While the scene managed to capture all the attention it needed, crafting it out was equally hard. Even the end of Episode 1 of True Detective: Night Country‘s script read a dreadful end as showrunner Issa López shared with IndieWire:
‘The naked, mutilated bodies of at least four men are frozen solid on the icy ground, partly covered in the hardening snow. The wild expressions of pure panic on their faces are almost not human, but still we recognize the faces from the Tsalal Station: Molina, Jie, Lund, Emerson. Naked. Dead. Frozen. And absolutely terrified.’
Although the mere reading of the end gives off strangely eerie and cold vibes, bringing it all to life required even more work and care than one could ever dream of.
For this, they had to first take pictures of the n-ked actors from every single angle and of every single detail. This was so they could make molds from these graphic data and make silicon dummies through it. And as seen, “the finish of them is crazy,” cinematographer Hoffmeister said.
All in all, after a lot of hard work from the cast and crew in making and setting up the bodies, the little corpsicle scene that depicted “terrible dark art” (in López’s words) was finally created and landed the most desired blow on its viewers.
True Detective: Night Country, i.e. Season 4 of the series is available to stream on HBO.
