An Oscar-Winning Director Played A Hand In Creating True Detective: Night Country’s Grotesque ‘Corpsicle’

As if the image of frozen bodies stilled in a perpetual mental breakdown isn’t horrifying enough, Issa López makes sure to give the corpsicle an extra dose of nightmare fuel by way of an introduction that recalls an infamously disturbing scene from David Fincher’s “Seven.” As episode 2 starts, Liz Danvers is startled when one of the seemingly deceased scientists starts writhing in agony while still trapped in the tundra. But even without this nightmarish jump scare, the corpsicle itself is a marvel of horror filmmaking ingenuity.

That’s hardly surprising given the talent that worked on sculpting this grotesque tableau. As López told IndieWire, the episode 1 script originally read:

“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.” 

Chilling enough. But López wanted to ensure this frightful image was realized as vividly as possible. So, she made a call to a modern master of the horror genre. She explained:

“I decided to ask the master of horrible creatures, and I called Guillermo del Toro. And 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.'”

According to the article, del Toro pointed López towards Igor Studios’ Dave and Lou Elsey who guided the creation of the corpsicle, alongside “Night Country” production designer Daniel Taylor, VFX supervisor Barney Curnow, and cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister.