Popcorn (1991) Studio Three Film Corporation/Horror RT: 91 minutes Rated R (graphic violence, language) Director: Mark Herrier Screenplay: Alan Ormsby Music: Paul Zaza Cinematography: Ronnie Taylor Release date: February 1, 1991 (US) Starring: Jill Schoelen, Tom Villard, Dee Wallace, Derek Rydall, Malcolm Danare, Elliott Hurst, Ivette Soler, Freddie Marie Simpson, Kelly Jo Minter, Karen Witter, Ray Walston, Tony Roberts, Scott Thompson. Box Office: $4.2M (US)
Rating: *** ½
On the surface, Popcorn looks like a leftover slasher flick from the 80s. However, its warped sense of humor prevents it from being dismissed as more of the same old “slice and dice” (or “slash and gash” if you prefer). This underappreciated horror gem snuck into theaters in Feb ’91. Sadly, nobody went to see it. Perhaps the studio should have taken a different approach and released it first as a midnight movie. That always seems to generate interest. The action, as a matter of fact, takes place at an all-night horror movie festival held by a group of film students. It’s the perfect movie for midnight showings.
Directed by actor Mark Herrier of Porky’s fame, Popcorn opens with a weird dream sequence of heroine Maggie (Schoelen, Cutting Class) running away from some creepy looking dude. She wakes up and writes down the details of the dream so she can include them in a screenplay that she’s been writing. Maggie is a film student at the local college. Her class is in dire need of finances to keep their film club running. Fellow student Toby (Villard, One Crazy Summer) comes up with the idea of holding an all-night horror movie marathon at an abandoned theater. It’s a perfect venue for this type of event. It’s one of those old-time theaters with a single screen and a huge auditorium with a balcony. It’ll be an expensive venture, but luckily a mysterious benefactor named Dr. Mnesyne (Walston, Fast Times at Ridgemont High) offers them everything they need free of charge.
They plan to show three movies; “Mosquito” (a 3-D movie complete with a giant plastic mosquito rigged to fly over the heads of the audience at a specific moment), “The Amazing Electrified Man” (the theater seats are rigged to deliver mild shocks to the viewers’ behinds) and “The Stench” (shown in Odorama, the theater’s ventilation system distributes certain odors throughout the theater). While setting up for the festival, one of the students discovers a short film sealed in its can. They decide to watch it. It turns out to be the recurring dream that Maggie’s been having about somebody called The Possessor. The short film was made by Lanyard Gates, the leader of a hallucinogenic drug- taking film cult in the 70s. His movies were regarded as crap by the critics so when he made his final film, he included a live ending in which he murdered his family and set the theater on fire. Everybody is creeped out by this and decide not to include the short film in their festival.
The big night arrives and a large crowd of rowdy patrons show up as does an uninvited guest. That, of course, would be the killer who wastes no time in claiming lives. Who could it be and why is he after Maggie? What’s their connection?
While not as bloody as other slasher movies, Popcorn has a few good kill scenes. Somebody is impaled by the giant fake mosquito’s stinger. Another gets fried by the electrical panel controlling the seats’ buzzers. This is cool and all, but the best part of Popcorn is the cheesy movies-within-the-movie. They were created specifically for this movie, but they look like they could have come directly from the vault of American International Pictures. It’s a clever homage to director William Castle who made a career of gimmicky horror flicks like The House on Haunted Hill (released in “Emergo”) and The Tingler (released in “Percepto”). Respectively, they featured a rubber skull rolling down a wire from above the screen towards the audience and the seats rigged with buzzers that delivered mild shocks to viewers. I imagine these movies were fun to watch with an audience. The makers’ affection for this type of horror movie is evident by the fun they have with the idea.
Herrier does a great job with Popcorn. It’s suspenseful, original and funny. It reminds me of 1987’s Anguish also about a killer loose in a theater showing a horror movie. Even so, it manages to transcend the genre and create an identity of its own. Watching Popcorn is a lot fun, especially if you’re a movie buff like me. It’s fun to pick out various references to other scary movies. You’ll also appreciate the sometimes subtle humor. For example, the students in the class are played by mostly unknown actors. This is obviously a reference to the unknown casts of dozens of cheapie slasher flicks from the 80s. Besides Villard, the only other known actor is Malcolm Danare of Christine.
In the lead role, Schoelen continues to prove she’s an incredibly talented actress. She has that certain something that makes you want to watch her every movement. Film buffs will appreciate the inclusion of Dee Wallace (The Howling), Roberts (Amityville 3D) and Walston whose character is really something else. He’s decked out in a black cape, hat and cane and sports a treasure chest filled with cinematic goodies. He’s a fairly sinister character. He plays his brief role (only one scene) with panache and style.
Here’s the thing, I could ramble on and on about the merits of Popcorn, one of the few memorable low-budget horror flicks of the 90s. I could explain how the horror landscape was a virtual wasteland in the 90s, especially in the mad slasher/dead teenager genre. I know, what about Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer? They were fine, but the whole irony thing got old really fast and the casts looked like they were recruited from the teen shows that played on UPN and the WB Network. If I wanted to watch Dawson’s Creek or Party of Five, I would have stayed home. Besides, these movies aren’t low budget, not like the ones that used to come out all the time the previous decade. Popcorn deserves to be recognized as a cult classic. It has intelligence, wit and a clever screenplay not to mention a genuine affection for the genre.
