Popcorn is a schizophrenic movie. It's not like Something Wild or From Dusk 'till Dawn, where there's a dramatic shift in plot and tone. No Popcorn had a personality disorder from the very beginning.
On one hand Popcorn is a nice, amusing story of a group of film students trying to earn money by staging an all-night horror show at a local theater. Normally I like film students about as much as I like head lice, but these kids are all right.
Then there's an alternating supernatural slasher plotline about a man called Lanyard Gates who dabbled in the black arts. Years ago Gates made an Avant-garde movie called Possessor. His plan was to show Possessor at midnight, at the same theater as the college kids' event, and kill his followers. Lanyard's plan is to do the job right this time and anyone who gets in his way is killed.
Popcorn is an odd little horror gem. Fans love it, even if it never quite achieved the cult status as, say, The Monster Squad. 1991 was an odd time for horror movies, and there weren't a lot of original films being released. Freddy, Jason, Michael, and Chucky were hobbling along with decreasing returns, and other lesser-known movies were being regurgitated in futile attempts at franchises. Popcorn was a breath of fresh air for horror lovers.
Comparisons to Joe Dante's Matinee are inevitable, but Popcorn came out two years beforehand. Both movies feature fun, nostalgic footage of fake bad movies.
Subversive elements come into play with the Lanyard Gates subplot. The unsettlingly creepy footage of Possessor brings a lot of uneasy atmosphere to the story.
Ray Walston wonderfully portrays an old huckster who brings a little vintage ballyhoo to the shenanigans. Jill Schoelen, who everyone loved from The Stepfather, is the lead student. Dee Wallace plays her mother. Tony Roberts is the film prof and Tom Villard is a goofy-cool kid with some secrets. More about these last two later.
Popcorn hails back to a time when movies were events and a lot more fun. It makes me wish I had been around for the classic days of bad horror and SF clunkers. I watch them today, but it isn't the same.
Back in '91 I walked a block or two over to an old independent theater to see Popcorn. It wasn't like the splendor of yesteryear, but the old Newmarket Cinemas had something you don't get from streaming, cable, or the big multiplexes: Character.
The theater also had history. I used to get summer-long passes from school for a dollar or two, and every week the kids on the block would pile in an adult's car to see some cool movie. Later I went to unruly midnight shows there. I first watched Friday the 13th, Halloween, Alien, and dozens more at Newmarket Cinemas. It was one of the very few local theaters brave (and smart) enough to show unrated movies like Evil Dead 2, and controversial films like Friedkin's Rampage and The Last Temptation of Christ.
Newmarket Cinemas went under when a monolithic AMC theater opened up in town. I will always miss it.
Getting back to the feature, Popcorn is a lovely little chestnut worth viewing and reviewing. There's a scene with a Reggae version of "Saturday Night at the Movies" playing while the kids prepare for their horror marathon that ranks as one of my all-time favorite movie moments.
I watched Popcorn for the fourth or fifth time on the morning of January 7, 2025. That evening I heard the news about the death of Tony Roberts. Like or hate Woody Allen, you can't deny the charm and wit Roberts brought to his early films.
Tom Villard died in 1994. He was a popular actor who graced movies like One Crazy Summer, Parasite, Grease 2, Heartbreak Ridge, and High School USA. Villard was one of the very few Hollywood figures who, in the early nineties, spoke openly about being gay and having AIDS. He went on Entertainment Tonight and told his story, saying that he needed help. It was a courageous move, but Villard died later that year.
Written by Mark Sieber
On one hand Popcorn is a nice, amusing story of a group of film students trying to earn money by staging an all-night horror show at a local theater. Normally I like film students about as much as I like head lice, but these kids are all right.
Then there's an alternating supernatural slasher plotline about a man called Lanyard Gates who dabbled in the black arts. Years ago Gates made an Avant-garde movie called Possessor. His plan was to show Possessor at midnight, at the same theater as the college kids' event, and kill his followers. Lanyard's plan is to do the job right this time and anyone who gets in his way is killed.
Popcorn is an odd little horror gem. Fans love it, even if it never quite achieved the cult status as, say, The Monster Squad. 1991 was an odd time for horror movies, and there weren't a lot of original films being released. Freddy, Jason, Michael, and Chucky were hobbling along with decreasing returns, and other lesser-known movies were being regurgitated in futile attempts at franchises. Popcorn was a breath of fresh air for horror lovers.
Comparisons to Joe Dante's Matinee are inevitable, but Popcorn came out two years beforehand. Both movies feature fun, nostalgic footage of fake bad movies.
Subversive elements come into play with the Lanyard Gates subplot. The unsettlingly creepy footage of Possessor brings a lot of uneasy atmosphere to the story.
Ray Walston wonderfully portrays an old huckster who brings a little vintage ballyhoo to the shenanigans. Jill Schoelen, who everyone loved from The Stepfather, is the lead student. Dee Wallace plays her mother. Tony Roberts is the film prof and Tom Villard is a goofy-cool kid with some secrets. More about these last two later.
Popcorn hails back to a time when movies were events and a lot more fun. It makes me wish I had been around for the classic days of bad horror and SF clunkers. I watch them today, but it isn't the same.
Back in '91 I walked a block or two over to an old independent theater to see Popcorn. It wasn't like the splendor of yesteryear, but the old Newmarket Cinemas had something you don't get from streaming, cable, or the big multiplexes: Character.The theater also had history. I used to get summer-long passes from school for a dollar or two, and every week the kids on the block would pile in an adult's car to see some cool movie. Later I went to unruly midnight shows there. I first watched Friday the 13th, Halloween, Alien, and dozens more at Newmarket Cinemas. It was one of the very few local theaters brave (and smart) enough to show unrated movies like Evil Dead 2, and controversial films like Friedkin's Rampage and The Last Temptation of Christ.
Newmarket Cinemas went under when a monolithic AMC theater opened up in town. I will always miss it.
Getting back to the feature, Popcorn is a lovely little chestnut worth viewing and reviewing. There's a scene with a Reggae version of "Saturday Night at the Movies" playing while the kids prepare for their horror marathon that ranks as one of my all-time favorite movie moments.
I watched Popcorn for the fourth or fifth time on the morning of January 7, 2025. That evening I heard the news about the death of Tony Roberts. Like or hate Woody Allen, you can't deny the charm and wit Roberts brought to his early films.
Tom Villard died in 1994. He was a popular actor who graced movies like One Crazy Summer, Parasite, Grease 2, Heartbreak Ridge, and High School USA. Villard was one of the very few Hollywood figures who, in the early nineties, spoke openly about being gay and having AIDS. He went on Entertainment Tonight and told his story, saying that he needed help. It was a courageous move, but Villard died later that year.Written by Mark Sieber
The author does not allow comments to this entry
No comments