Popcorn (1991)

That was an excellent one.

Absolutely the worst movie.

Absolutely Brilliant!

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

"Popcorn" from 1991 has to be one of the better feel good horror flicks that's a blend of old style horror meeting the present day and being a film within a film of the 80's slasher style. It's also a twist and tease of drama, suspense, fun comedy, and murder in a bloody slasher type of a way. Set in California at a college some film students decide to run an night horror marathon at an old run down cinema house. The students will do crazy special effects while the crowd watches the old vintage 50's and 60's films. Thru it during the night a crazy sadistic killer is on the loose causing an 80's slasher type stalker feel, from behind the curtain and thru the audience. As this creep has a connection to an old film called "The Possessor" plus this monster knows one of the film students from his past. Also horror queen legend Dee Wallace Stone has a part that's memorable as a damsel in distress who's kidnapped and has her mouth taped with white duct tape! Overall "Popcorn" provides thrills and chills to any horror film buff as it's a little independent horror gem to belong in any fan's chest!

Spoilers ahead!Popcorn, a movie that was released in 1991, was one of those movies that I spent a lot of effort trying to watch when it came out. I distinctly remember trying to see it in the theater, but it being out of the theater before I could. I also remember renting it once or twice, and for some reason or another, never getting to watch it. Well, I finally got to watch it, and I am glad for that.When a group of film students decide to have an all night horror movie marathon at a local theater, luck falls their way. They get to not only show three classic (albeit fake) horror movies, and they manage to get their hands on the original gimmicks that went with the flicks. The first movie is "Mosquito", a movie about the attack of a giant mosquito. For this movie, they have a giant mosquito prop that they shoot through the theater over the heads of the film-goers (and eventually, straight through their teachers chest!). Then there is "The Attack of the Amazing Electrified Man", in which a man is executed in the electric chair, but doesn't die. All the seats in the theater are wired to deliver a mild shock to the movie goers (and a not-so-mild shock to one of the students!). Then there is "The Stench", which we don't really get to see enough of the movie to know what it is about, however, the students have a big smoke machine that they can add scents to (and one of the students is gassed to death in the bathroom!).While the students are going through the props that are so graciously loaned to them by Dr. Mnesyne (played by the great Ray Walston), they discover a reel of film that when watched, seems to be an odd art house style movie. Maggie (Jill Schoelen), however, recognizes the face in the film as someone she has seen in her dreams. Their teacher Mr. Davis (Tony Roberts) tells them that the creator of the film was a cult leader, and at one time had gone mad, and during the showing of the film, killed his entire family on stage, then burned down the theater, killing several members of his cult as well. Soon, people are going missing left and right, and it seems that the cult leader may be back from the dead!I am really happy I caught this movie finally after so many years. From all the things I have read about it, it seems that it suffered from a lot of problems during the film making process, some of which were replacing directors and main actresses, financial problems, and releasing problems. I found this movie to be a big change from a lot of the movies that were coming out in the late 80s/early 90s, as the killer is a little more original with the kills, and in general, the film is just fun to watch. The characters are likable, and even the reveal at the end of the movie was kind of a surprise for me. Sure, there are plot holes all through this movie, but it has a certain charm to it, that to me, really translates on the screen to a real enjoyable movie, and one that I am pretty sure I will be revisiting again.

Although it takes a while to get going, POPCORN proves to be a warm and affectionate little slasher movie made along the same lines as Joe Dante's Matinée – i.e. a celebration of the world of the B-movie in its cinematic form. Indeed, the ghost of William Castle seems to be watching over this movies, both in the presence of the cheesy films shown by the fictional cinema and in the bizarre antics of the film students, determined to give their audience an interactive experience!It's all about the gimmicks and the celebration of the weird, so much so that the actual slasher plot comes second. It's a slight shame, because the story isn't bad, even if it is remarkably familiar: there's an evil killer from the past returning to affect the heroine in the present, and his calling card is that he uses prosthetic masks to disguise himself as anyone and anything. The subsequent kills aren't particularly gory, but they are well staged with an element of Grand Guignol that becomes especially apparent during the over-the-top climax.POPCORN was made in Jamaica doubling for small-town America, which gives it even more of an offbeat vibe – and the reggae soundtrack is great. The acting is nothing to write home about (THE HOWLING's Dee Wallace-Stone is the only actress of note in a minor part), but when the story and screenplay are so obviously written by genuine fans of old-time horror shows – well, this becomes a film impossible to dislike.

I've always been kind of surprised that people find this movie remarkable in any way. Maybe the problem is that I was already getting tired of movie psychopaths, serial killers, and the whole slasher formula by this point, and having yet another entry in that crowded scene kind of bored me. This one was admittedly a bit smarter and wittier than the competition, but that just wasn't enough to win me over. You'd have the be a hell of lot wittier and smarter than this to win me over, and very, very few slasher films have done so, since the 1980s (when the genre was already in decline, thanks to a glut of low budget sequels).I probably should mention that some people consider it a cult classic, so maybe you'll like it better than I did, but I can't really recommend it. If you'd really like to see a really good slasher movie, I'd suggest Halloween (the John Carpenter original), Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, or Man Bites Dog.