Popcorn (1991)

Country of Origin: USA / Jamaica
Year of Production: 1990
Running Times: 91 mins
Format: Eastmancolor 35mm
Ratio:
Sound: Dolby

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Movie Partners / Century Films (Jamaica) Ltd
Executive Producers: Howard Hurst, Karl Hendrickson, Howard Baldwin
Producers: Torben Johnke, Gary Goch, Ashok Armitraj, Bob Clark
Co-Producer: Sophie Hurst
Associate Producer: Warren Evans
Production Manager: Natalie Thompson
Production Coordinator: Fran Solomon

SCRIPT
Script: Tod Hackett (real name: Alan Ormsby)
Story: Mitchell Smith

DIRECTION
Directors: Mark Herrier, Alan Ormsby (uncredited)
1st Assistant Director: Phil Dupont
2nd Assistant Director: John Wildermuth Jr

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Ronnie Taylor
2nd Unit Photography: John Harris
Camera Operators: Chic Anstiss, Jon Cassar
Key Grip: Chris Faulkner
Gaffer: David Fisher
Colour: Continental

EDITING AND POST PRODUCTION
Editor: Stan Cole
Assistant Editor: John Meakin

MUSIC
Music: Paul J. Zaza
Songs: Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil (Saturday Night at the Movies); Ossie D, Stevie G, Tod Hackett, Paul J. Zaza, Yvonne Murray (Scary Scary Movies); Paul J. Zaza, Yvonne Murray (Up Over You)
Songs Performed By: Ossie D, Stevie G (Saturday Night at the Movies; Scary Scary Movies); Lloyd Lovindeer, Chalice (Pocomania Days); Yvonne Murray (Up Over You)

SOUND
Sound: Oscar Lawson, Bryan Day
Sound Mixers: Terry Gordica, Barry Jones, James Porteous
Re-Recording Mixers: John Gare, Don White (uncredited)
Sound Editing Supervisor: Terry Gordica

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Mary Sue Heron, John Murdoch
Hair: Carmen Dodaro
Costume Designer: Heidi Kaczenski

SPECIAL MAKE UP EFFECTS
Special Make Up Effects Supervisor: Bob Clark

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects Supervisor: Georgio Ferrari
Special Effects: Frank Carere

VISUAL EFFECTS
Special Optical Effects: John Furniotis

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Peter Murton
Art Director: John Myhre
Set Decorator: Jerri Thrasher
Set Dresser: Hugh Scaife
Property Masters: James Edward Ferrell Jr, Tom Wilkinson

MISCELLANEOUS
Script Supervisors: Maggie Craig, Lisa Katcher
Production Assistant: Debbie Wilkinson

LOCATIONS
Locations: Jamaica
Location Manager: Sally Porteous

STUNTS
Stunt Coordinator: Shane Cardwell
Stunts: Derek Rydall

CASTING
Casting: Joseph D'Agosta

CAST
Jill Schoelen (Maggie)
Tom Villard (Toby)
Dee Wallace-Stone (Suzanne)
Derek Rydall (Mark)
Malcolm Danare (Bud)
Elliott Hurst (Leon)
Ivette Soler (Joannie)
Freddie Marie Simpson (Tina)
Kelly Jo Minter (Cheryl)
Karen Witter (Joy)
Ray Walston (Doctor Mnesyne)
Tony Roberts (Mr Davis)
Will Knickerbocker (landlord / warden)
Ethan Ornsby (two headed guy)
Ben Stotes (Hatchethead)
Ken Ryan (radio announcer)
Mat Falls (Lanvard Gates)
Cindy Tavares-Finson (Gloria Gates)
Giana Hanly (Sarah Gates)
Suzanne Hunt (Dr Latimer)
Robert Dickman (Skeeter)
Thom Adcox-Hernandez (Corky)
Bruce Glover (Vernon)
Munair Zaza (doctor)
Bobby Ghisays (judge)
Lori Creevay (Marge)
Ed Amatrudo (boyfriend)
George O. (1st hood)
Nico Bernuth (2nd hood)
Rohan Henry (3rd hood)
Maki Fame (lab technician)
Kimio Satoh (scientist)
Fumito Naozaki (miner 1)
Hikonori Washina (miner 2)
Adam Ormsby, Von B. von Lindenberg, April Harris, Ray Garaza, Mike Stephens, Wayne Farnes, Guy Christopher, Phillip V. Caruso (uncredited), Daniel Selby (uncredited) (students in theater)

A group of teenagers are preparing to open an abandoned cinema for an all-night horror movie show. But they are soon being stalked by a serial killer and the prime suspect would seem to be Lanyard Gates, an insane film maker who murdered his family live on stage fifteen years earlier. And one of the students may be his surviving daughter, now living a new life under a new name...

A surprisingly entertaining horror spoof that tread some of the ground later explored by Scream (1996). Like Wes Craven's film, a good grounding in the history of the slasher movie adds to the fun, but there's enough going on for the less slasher- literate to enjoy too. The mini-movies shown at the festival are spot-on parodies and will be immediately recognisable to any long term genre fan. It's no masterpiece and does tend towards the predictable, but it's great fun and a rare early 90s horror that actually played theatrically.

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Studio Three Film Corporation
Video Distributor: RCA

Australia
Rating: M

Norway
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: 15

USA
Rating: R

1991
February
1: USA - theatrical release

Buy a bag, go home in a box.

Skinner - German / Hungarian title
Cineman kummitus - Finnish title
Phantom of the Cinema - Finnish title

MAGAZINES

Psychotronic no.16 p.55 (USA)
review

Variety 4 February 1991 (USA)
credits, review

BOOKS

Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror (2nd Edition) p.476
credits, review

slashers; stalk and slash; spoof; film festivals; revenge; stages; cinemas; theatres; film student; movies; psychopaths; serial killers

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008