“Fur Babies” first look: On set of Justin Long's “Tusk”-like “V/H/S/Beyond” horror story with brother Christian

The Long brothers take EW behind-the-scenes of their canine-themed body horror segment, "Fur Babies."

In a dark, creepy basement, a bloodied woman with the jowls of a bulldog sits patiently in an animal crate. Next to her, a man with a scratched face and hairy paw rests in his underwear on a hospital gurney. Surgical tools and jaw bones lay scattered on a stainless steel medical tray. At the back of the room, through a set of industrial plastic door flaps, two terrifying man-dog creatures chat about what's for lunch.

"It's just general insanity and monster mayhem," Justin Long tells Entertainment Weekly as he sets up the next shot for his latest directorial effort. He took over the back corner of a cavernous L.A. soundstage to shoot his segment for V/H/S/Beyond, the upcoming seventh installment of the long-running found-footage horror anthology series. It's the actor's first time behind the camera since 2021's Lady of the Manor, which marked his feature debut as a director.

"I'm reluctant to say too much because there's a pretty wild ending to this thing," says his older brother and co-director on the project, Christian. "Basically, it's about this woman who runs a doggy daycare service. I don't want to give too much away, but suffice it to say she cares more about the dogs than the humans who bring the dogs to her."

"I think a lot of people know a version of that person," Justin adds. "Sometimes they even say it out loud: 'I love dogs more than people.' They are usually pretty positive and chipper, but there's always something a little bit off. We liked the idea of looking at that and pushing it to its extreme."

Related: How Kate Siegel overcame self-doubt on directorial debut, a Mike Flanagan-penned UFO story

Their segment, titled Fur Babies, also marks the second time Justin explored a concept involving an eccentric animal lover who surgically transforms an unwilling victim into a monstrous approximation of a favorite beast. While their V/H/S story, one of six in the upcoming film, is not directly inspired by Kevin Smith's Tusk, the Longs admit that Justin's role in the body horror cult classic has been on their minds.

"We definitely thought about it," Justin says. "It's been in the air a little bit just because of the sub-genre of body mutilation, turning a human into something else. We thought more about Frankenstein, really, but I guess that applies to Tusk, as well. It's hard to ignore because I had that experience, and with the makeup, there's a similar DIY quality, and there's a taxidermy crossover."

Christian points to another inspiration, Kathy Bates in Misery, saying, "It's that kind of cheerful, positive person who has a super dark underbelly that always really appealed to us. But, yeah, I'm sure the Tusk thing lives in you so much, it's hard not to think about it."

"For sure," Justin agrees. "And we both love creature effects. We grew up in the '80s, so that in-camera stuff really appeals to us. It's been fun getting to incorporate that and creating something hopefully different in horror. That's the thing I always appreciated about Tusk: say what you will about it, but it was unique."

Related: Barbarian star Justin Long has the worst meal ever in utterly disgusting NSFW deleted scene

On this particular day on set, the Longs are shooting a scene where those two man-dog creatures attack a pair of unsuspecting intruders. At their master's command, they burst through the plastic door flaps and charge toward the camera on all fours. One of the monsters, a half-man, half-Pomeranian named Gary, jumps for the jugular, tackling his prey onto a pile of safety pillows. Even after chatting with the man-dog actors out of character, watching them scurry on their paws in the basement's dim amber glow is genuinely unsettling. The brothers credit veteran V/H/S set and costume designer Patrick Magee for creating the humanoid canines.

"It was funny explaining the story to him," Justin remembers of his first conversations with Magee. "He didn't bat an eye. It was like telling him about a meet-cute for a basic romantic comedy.... We got really lucky with Patrick. I love that process. I love seeing it come to life. And now, I get to have a different perspective on it."

"You don't have to do the three hours," Christian notes, referring to the extensive prosthetics Justin wrote to become a walrus in Tusk.

"It's nice to get to check in on [the actors] and not have to sit in the chair for four and a half hours myself," Justin confirms. "But they seem really eager. Our dogs just couldn't be more game."

Related: The 21 best scary movies streaming right now

As the brothers watch each take from a monitor, Justin's wife, actress Kate Bosworth, looks on supportively, taking pictures on her DSLR camera. When a producer notices Justin angling himself so that the people behind him can see the screen, too, he tells the director not to be afraid of being in the way — it's his set, after all. But those are the small kindnesses that have endeared the Hollywood star to his indie crew on the low-budget project.

"I think all of our cast and crew fell in love with him," veteran V/H/S producer Josh Goldbloom remarks. "He was the friendliest, most collaborative guy who wants everybody to be a part of the process. He knew, probably from being an actor, that everybody was there to make him better, and he's the type to sit and eat lunch with the PAs and shoot the s--- every day. I can't say enough about Justin Long. He's incredible."

Related: The 21 best horror anthology series ever

The Longs were a relatively last-minute addition to V/H/S/Beyond, which also includes the directorial debut of long-time Mike Flanagan muse Kate Siegel (The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, The Fall of the House of Usher). Goldbloom was on the set of director Justin Martinez's segment in the film when he got a call from Justin's agent about another client he represents.

"He asked, 'What's all that noise in the background?' And I was like, 'Oh, I'm on set doing a V/H/S movie." Goldbloom recalls. When the agent relayed that Justin would love to direct one of the segments, the producer quickly offered him the final slot. He had coffee with the actor the next day, and a little over a month later, they were heading to set.

"His segment probably came together the quickest of any segment that I've ever produced," Goldbloom says, adding that it was also "one of the funniest, most bats--- insane things that we've ever done."

As wild as it sounds, directing the segment feels like a natural fit for Justin, who, despite being known for his comedic roles earlier in his career, transitioned into one of Hollywood's foremost horror stars with performances in Barbarian (2022), House of Darkness (2022), Tusk (2014), and the ongoing Goosebumps TV series.

"You're a Scream King," Christian declares when the conversation turns towards Justin's genre credentials. "Or maybe a Scream Prince."

"I don't know how regal I am," Justin jokes. "Am I old enough to be a king?"

Related: Justin Long admits to pooping the bed while wife Kate Bosworth slept next to him: 'She was not judging'

Justin relents with assurances that he is indeed old enough at the age of 46 to be horror royalty. "I just love working, and I love the genre. We're both real fans of horror movies, and we grew up not really being able to watch them, so it was always like the taboo," the filmmaker, who previously described growing up in a "kind of conservative" Roman Catholic family, says. "There was a dangerous element to them, but I remember I loved looking at the video boxes, the artwork of those great '80s horror movies."

Justin also sees a connection between his work in horror and his comedic performances, which often bleed together in his films. "We've been talking a lot about how close those two really live," he adds. "It's a similar formula, almost mathematical."

"It's all timing," Christian agrees.

While the brothers host a podcast together twice a week called Life Is Short, they're cherishing the experience of working alongside each other on a movie set. "I wish we could do more of it, but I try to soak it in as much as I can when we do get the opportunity because they don't happen all the time," Christian says. 

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

"Yeah, maybe we'll get sick of it," Justin jokes before adding, "No, I feel the same exact way. People say, 'How do you work with your brother?' Some are surprised by how easily we work together. To me, it's like the easiest person to work with because we think so similarly. And I trust him creatively, and I trust his instincts and his sense of humor and his sensibilities more than anyone else."

Thinking about it for a moment, Justin adds with a wry smile, "Maybe that's an arrogant thing to say because we are so similar. It's like I trust myself. We don't really have conflict. Now I feel like we're jinxing things."

"That's true," Christian says. "We still have a big afternoon."

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.