POPCORN (1991)
Label: 88 FilmsRegion Code: Region-FREE
Rating: Cert. 15
Duration: 91 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 7.1 Surround, Original DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Mark Herrier
Cast: Jill Schoelen, Dee Wallace, Ray Walston, Malcolm Danare, Tom Villard
Synopsis: Canada took the slasher movie to the next level when the country produced the trendsetting BLACK CHRISTMAS in 1974, at the height of what has become known as 'Canuxploitation'. Later shockers from the nation of moose, Mounties and maple syrup included the equally effective MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981) and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME (1981) but by the turn of the eighties the terror-trend was drying up... at least until the plasma-spilling shocks of POPCORN in 1991! This is Canadian slice and dice action par excellence - and returns to the good old days of splashed blood, high body counts and a mysterious killer as a young female screenwriter (played by the great Scream Queen Jill Schoelen from THE STEPFATHER and CUTTING CLASS) suffers nightmares of a strange figure who may well be breaking into the 'reel' world... Postmodern and provocative, and featuring a genre ensemble cast that includes Dee Wallace Stone (THE HOWLING) and Kelly Jo Minter (THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS), POPCORN has maintained a following of macabre movie fans for decades since its release!
In the 90's humor infused slasher Popcorn (1991) we have a group of college students who belong to a film club, it is decided that they need to have an event to raise awareness about the club on campus, while brainstorming ideas student Toby D'Amato (Tom Villard, One Crazy Summer) pitches an all-nite horror-thon at the abandoned Dreamland movie theater. The pitch goes over well and the students and their teacher, Professor Davis (Tony Roberts, Amityville 3-D), give the dilapidated cinema a quick makeover with the help of Dr. M (Ray Walston, Fast Times at Ridgemont High), the eccentric owner of a local film memorabilia shop. It turns out that the cinema has a tragic past, years earlier it screened the film 'The Possessor' by avant-garde director Lanyard Gates, who was the leader of an acid-freak film cult. During the screening Lanyard performed the last act of the film live on stage, murdering his family in front of a live audience before sending the theater up in flames, apparently dying himself in the inferno.
Current day the film students plan to screen three movies, all of which are in the William Castle gimmick-driven vein of schlock cinema. We have 50's era atom-age monster movie 'The Mosquito' in Project-O-Vision, Tohoe-esque Asian import 'The Stench' in odor-riffic Aroma-Rama, and the sci-fi thriller 'The Amazing Electrified Man' in Shock-O-Scope! The gags for each film include a giant mosquito that will buzz the audience from above, pumping green stinky fog into the cinema and attaching electric-buzzers to he bottom of the theater seats - these are all plays on real-life William Castle gimmicks, the shock-seats are straight out of The Tingler (1959)!
While prepping the theater they find a short film reel containing Gate's film 'The Posessor', while watching it student Maggie Butler (Jill Schoelen, The Phantom of the Opera) realizes that the scenes from the film are straight out of her nightmares, becoming obsessed with finding out why she's dreaming about this murderer's movie. The night of the horror-thon the audience shows up in force in the best sort of midnight movie way, the moviegoers are rowdy and in full costume, but during the screening the film students are being killed off one by one by a mysterious face-changing stranger.
We have a fun cast of college teens, who for the most part are very likable and fun; we have horny stud Mark (Derek Rydall, Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge), wheelchair bound Bud (Malcolm Danare, "Moochie" from John Carpenter's Christine), Cheryl (Kelly Jo Minter, The Lost Boys), the very cute Tina (Freddie Marie Simpson, A League of Their Own), goofball Leon (Elliott Hurst) and the sassy Joannie (Ivette Soler).
We are lead to believe that Lanyard Gates has returned, possibly from beyond the grave, and somehow Maggie and her mother Suzanne (Dee Wallace, The Howling) figure into proceedings. This is such a weird role for Wallace, a rather tiny and innocuous character, the poor woman has one of the worst short-cropped haircuts I've seen her in, it's made in the late 80s so their plenty of bad fashions on display, but her hair is the worst offender of the bunch. The killer is a chameleon of sorts with an arsenal of rubber faces he uses to impersonate the teens he has killed, his identity is a nice twist that I did not see coming, but when I watch a movie I rarely try to guess who it is, I just go along for the ride, and in this case it caught me off guard, and I liked it.
The movie channels a pair of earlier slasher films, we have touches of the The Initiation (1984), with some remembered dream-sequences and a fire, and the face-switching culprit reminded me a bit of Happy Birthday To Me (1981), it doesn't steal anything but there are some similarities there if you're looking. Something the movie lacks though is bloodshed, as with most late-80's/early-90's slashers the gore is far too often absent, but there are some nice set-ups and death sequences, but with no real gore-payoff, which is certainly a detraction. Making up for that is some good atmosphere and a cast of character you can actually like, plus the whole 50's schlock and 80's slasher mash-up is just good fun.
The best take away for me were the three movies-within-a-movie segments directed by original director Alan Ormsby (Deranged), these are spot-on homages to the schlock of yesteryear, a scene of a giant mosquito sucking the brain out of a man's head is a particular highlight with his face caving in as the insect empties the brains from his skull with its over sized proboscis. If you loved "Mant" from Joe Dante's Matinee (1993) you should have a retro-blast with these.
Aside from the lack of slasher gore there are a few other slightly problematic areas, the movie has a bit of an identity crisis happening, while this is a straight-up slasher horror-comedy, but there are scenes with Dee Wallace that imply a Clarey supernatural overtone, which then go absolutely nowhere. Then there's a confusing body on an altar during the final scene that confounded me, and a death in the bathroom stall where apparently the kid is killed by one of the "stench" bombs, seemingly killed by the gas emitted, but also blown up by it!?! I'm assuming these are relics of having two directors on the film, as the film was begun by Bob Clark collaborator Alan Ormsby (Deranged), who directed all of the movie-within-a-movie stuff, but he was replaced a few weeks into it by Porky's actor Mark Herrier, so maybe in piecing it together something was lost in that edit, regardless I find the finished film to be a fun watch.
Audio/Video: Popcorn (1991) arrives on UK Blu-ray from 88 Films, utilizing the 2K restoration performed by Synapse Films (there logo appears on the back of the slip and wrap), who spent years restoring it, so UK fans are in for a real treat. There's a nice layer of film grain evenly distributed throughout, the movie is splashed with color and garish horror visuals, a variety of awful and awesome late-80's fashions, and it all looks wonderful in HD. The colors are vibrant, and the image has some modest depth and clarity, details look goo. Audio on the Blu-ray includes both English 2.0 DTS-HD MA and a 7.1 surround mix done by Synapse Films, with optional English subtitles.
Onto the extra we begin with a new audio commentary with Director Mark Herrier, Stars Jill Schoelen, Malcolm Danare, and Special Makeup Effects Artist Mat Falls, moderated by Kristy Jett from Fangoria. A fun group commentary, everyone is having a blast recalling working with the cast and crew, their tie in Jamaica, pointing out specific scenes and how certain things were achieved onscreen. They also speak of the situation that ended with original director Alan Ormby being replaced by Mark Herrier, but apparently Clark was a very hand on producer, sort of like Stephen Spielberg and Tobe Hooper on Poltergeist, it's an interesting story, and the commentary, though a bit hectic at moments, is a good listen.
We also get nearly hour-long making of retrospective from Red Shirt Pictures with interviews from Director Mark Herrier, Stars Jill Schoelen, Derek Rydall, Dee Wallace, Malcolm Danare, Ivette Soler, and Elliott Hurst, Special Makeup Effects Artist Mat Falls, Composer Paul Zaza, and Distributor Executive Jonathan Wolf. Of special note to me was how they go into more detail about Ormsby being taken off the project, how he shot the very cool movie-within-a-movie segments, what a hands-on producer Bob Clark was, and what it was like to be an actor on a film that lost it's director and lead actress three weeks into the shoot. Also discussed is Tom Villard's admission to director Herrier that he was HIV positive at the time, dying just four years later from AIDS related pneumonia
Additionally there's a six-minute interview with actor Bruce Glover (Chinatown) who appears in the "The Amazing Electrified Man" movie-within-a-movie segment. Apparently he was not a fan of Ormsby and his experience making it, but still enjoys his work on it.
We also get a selection of trailers, TV spots, and a still gallery of images from the film.
The single-disc Blu-ray release is part of 88 Films' Slasher Classics Collection (this being #39), coming in a snazzy red Blu-ray keepcase with a 2-sided sleeve of artwork, that being the original skeleton/mask artwork, the b-side featuring the same artwork minus the unsightly BBFC classification ratings logo or the numbered spine. If you ordered directly from 88 Films website the first 500 copies came with a matte finish slip with the same key art as the sleeve with a numbered spine.
Special Features:
- Website Exclusive Matte Finish Slipcase [Limited to the first 500 Customers]
- Synapse Films Supplied 2K Scan of a 35mm Interpositive Vault Element
- All-New Blu-ray 7.1 Surround Sound Mix Supervised by Synapse Films
(Original 2.0 Stereo Mix also Included)
- Audio Commentary with Director Mark Herrier, Stars Jill Schoelen, Malcolm Danare, and Special Makeup Effects Artist Mat Falls moderated by Kristy Jett from Horrorhound, FearNEt and Fangoria.
- Midnight Madness: The Making of “Popcorn” featuring interviews with Director Mark Herrier, Stars Jill Schoelen, Derek Rydall, Dee Wallace, Malcolm Danare, Ivette Soler, and Elliott Hurst, Special Makeup Effects Artist Mat Falls, Composer Paul Zaza, and Distributor Executive Jonathan Wolf (57 min) HD
- Electric Memories – An Interview with Actor Bruce Glover (7 min) HD
- Original Theatrical Trailer (1 min) HD
- Television Trailer and TV Spots (6 min)
- Still Gallery (7 min) HD
88 Films region-free Blu-ray of Popcorn (1990) looks and sounds wonderful, it's the same exact edition as the U.S. release from Synapse Films so U.S. fans won't need to double-dip,but that's very good new for UK fans, this is an awesome presentation. For a 90's slasher Popcorn certainly has more of an mid-80's (Slaughter High-ish) vibe with some fun homages to the schlock of yesteryear framed in a fun slasher story, there's a lot here to love, recommended.
