Crazy Old Lady Director Talks About Building Anxiety and Tension at Every Moment In New Horror Film

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I just saw Crazy Old Lady at Fantastic Fest 2025, and wow, it really delivers on the title! Originally called Vieja Loca, this Spanish film is a seriously intense and stressful experience. It’s directed by Martin Mauregui, and the story centers around Pedro, played by Daniel Hendler. He gets this unexpected call from his ex – she needs a huge favor. She wants him to look after her elderly mother, Alicia – played brilliantly by Carmen Maura – who is, well, the crazy old lady of the title. It’s a really unique and gripping story!

I recently heard a fascinating interview with Martin Mauregui, where he spoke with Russ Milheim from TopMob. He talked about how they really focused on building and maintaining constant anxiety and tension throughout the whole film, which sounds incredibly challenging! He also shared some wonderful things about working with the amazing Carmen Maura, and you could just tell how much he admired her. It was really insightful to hear about the creative process behind achieving that level of suspense.

You can find some highlights from the interview below. Crazy Old Lady doesn’t have a U.S. release date yet, but it will likely be streaming on Shudder when it becomes available.

If you’re looking for a horror story that will really ramp up the anxiety and tension, the new adaptation of Stephen King’s The Long Walk is an excellent choice.

Crazy Old Lazy Director Martin Mauregui on Keeping Tension and Anxiety Alive

Mauregui Manages to Keep It All Tense Even If It’s Just a Conversation

Editor’s Note: The following responses from Martin Mauregui are courtesy of his translator.

  • TopMob: “I want to talk about that opening scene, which I think was a very unique way to set the stage for this movie, because it’s a 10-minute scene in the car, and it’s mostly a phone conversation. So can you talk about why you felt that was the best way to set the foundation of everything that was to come see?”

Martin Mauregui: Here’s a quick story: it happened to a friend of mine. She was driving when she got a call from her mom, who started telling stories about a husband she never had. So I wanted to present this as an everyday situation. But the story kept growing and growing, hinting that something unsettling was about to happen, something bad. I also aimed to create a feeling of something normal turning sinister, or something that disrupts the balance of things.

  • TopMob: “It is an anxiety-filled movie. Can you talk about how you made that anxiety so strong throughout the entire thing, and then also just building tension throughout the movie?”

Martin Mauregui: There are several techniques to gradually reduce tension and build towards a feeling of anxiety. One key approach is collaborating with the actors, and we also continue to decrease tension through numerous rehearsals.

As a film fan, I always say it’s important to keep the tension between the characters. Whether you maintain that balance or deliberately disrupt it, that’s what really establishes the pacing and overall feel of a scene. We were constantly tweaking that feel during recording, looking at things from different angles to really nail the right tone…

The atmosphere was tense on set, and that was partly due to the fact that the actors were actually chained to the chair, which really created a sense of realism.

  • TopMob: “I think it’s also so impressive how you were able to keep the tension and anxiety through, like, just a lot of this movie is conversation. So what do you think is the key there in making sure, you know, when nothing is physically happening, like, even during those conversations, you never lose an ounce of that tension?”

Martin Mauregui: We have many resources for making the story engaging, and initially, our focus was on enhancing the scenes and figuring out which ones to include in the film. That was our primary task. Simultaneously, we also had a variety of ways to develop the characters.

For instance, the concept of repetition-when she starts playing the same game over and over-is a technique we use to develop the dialogue and increase the suspense. It’s similar to the start of the first scene, where she repeatedly asks for the same recipe.

We utilize this as a method. It might seem paradoxical, as repeating ourselves continuously can actually generate something fresh and unique.

The entire video interview from Fantastic Fest 2025 can be watched here:

You can find more interviews from Fantastic Fest 2025 here, including our discussion with the director of Sisu: Road to Revenge.

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2025-09-30 20:36