Popcorn (1991)

Director:

Mark Herrier

Writers:

Mitchell Smith (story)
Alan Ormsby (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 February 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Buy a bag, go home in a box.

Plot:

A "Leatherface" type murderer who wears other people's faces, kills at an all-night horrorthon at an old theatre put on by a bunch of film students...

Plot Keywords:

Stage | Film Student | Film Festival | Abandoned Theater | Cult Favorite

Cast

Jill Schoelen	...	Maggie
Tom Villard	...	Toby
Dee Wallace	...	Suzanne (as Dee Wallace-Stone)
Derek Rydall	...	Mark
Malcolm Danare	...	Bud
Elliott Hurst	...	Leon
Ivette Soler	...	Joannie
Freddie Simpson	...	Tina (as Freddie Marie Simpson)
Kelly Jo Minter	...	Cheryl
Karen Witter	...	Joy
Ray Walston	...	Dr. Mnesyne
Tony Roberts	...	Mr. Davis
Scott Thompson	...	Bearded Guy
Will Knickerbocker	...	Landlord / Warden
Ethan Ormsby	...	Two Headed Guy

Also Known As:

Phantom of the Cinema (USA) (festival title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Norway:15 (video premiere) | South Korea:18 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Kingston, Jamaica

Company:

Century Films

Trivia:

The "Dreamland Theatre" shown in the film is actually The Ward Theatre in Kingston, Jamaica.

Goofs:

Continuity: Just before Suzanne tries to talk Maggie out of going to the horrorthon, she walks over from the porch doors, which are shut. But near the end of this scene, when Suzanne walks over to answer the phone, one of the porch doors is now open.

Movie Connections:

References "George of the Jungle" (1967)

Soundtrack:

SCARY SCARY MOVIES

An extra large helping of rather tasty, early 90s schlock.

When a group of film students need to raise some cash, they organise a horror movie festival at a run-down theatre, offering fright-fans a selection of old monster movies—complete with their original promotional gimmicks! As a packed house enjoys a triple bill of hokey trash (fictional B-movies 'Mosquito', 'The Amazing Electrified Man' and 'The Stench'), a disfigured killer proceeds to use the movies' gimmicks to bump off the students, whilst wearing a variety of latex masks to deceive his victims.

Popcorn is exactly like its title suggests: a light-hearted, teen-centric, and not-to-be-taken-too-seriously popcorn movie. Although this means it is fairly light on the gore (and features absolutely no nudity), with its pretty nifty horror-film-themed script (that any fan of the genre should get a kick out of), some fine make-up effects, and a genuine sense of fun, this early 90s offering proves to be great escapism for its duration (plus, I'm a sucker for a gorgeous brunette in peril, so the film automatically scores points with me for starring the lovely Jill Schoelen as its helpless female in distress).

The screenplay, by talented genre scribe Alan Ormsby definitely shows that the man knows his stuff when it comes to schlock horror, with the three films-within-the-film taking plenty of good natured swipes at the clichés and conventions of the genre. The cast all give spirited performances, with Dee Wallace-Stone racking up another solid horror film credit, Tom Villard giving a particularly memorable performance as goofy film fan Toby, and the always impressive Ray Walston appearing in a short but welcome cameo.

Occasionally the film gets a little too daft for its own good (the running gag where the hero continually gets hurt soon becomes tiresome), and the ending seems to rattle on forever, but there's easily enough fun stuff in this one to make it worth checking out.

7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.