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March 13, 2006
SXSW Finds A Non-Doc Hit
Midnight at SXSW is about half new stuff and half films with distributors and/or veteran filmmaking names attached. One of the two World Premieres at Midnight here premiered Sunday night and I am writing about it at 4:24am Austin time because I want to start the conversation before it sells... distributors are circling.
First time director Scott Glosserman was here with his entire family for the premiere of Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon. Title sucks. Poster looks like a conventionally crappy cheapo horror film. The only two acting names you’re likely to recognize are Freddy Englund and Scott Wilson.
And yet, it is just a little short of the ingredients to be the next Scream. For that, a few young and upcoming actors and a few shots that this first-timer didn’t quite get would have helped. Still, this is a terrific little movie that deconstructs and reconstructs the horror film with humor, efficiency, great intelligence, and more than a few screams.
It’s a bit of a rough pitch. A college news crew follows around guy who claims to be the next Jason Vorhees in training. He explains the process, with completely identifiable explanations of all the slasher movie conventions. But is it all for real or is he just a big mouth? And if it is for real, what will this passive news crew do when the blood starts sloshing?
The home run find of the film is Nathan Baesal as the slasher wannabe, who apparently is on some TV show now. But this is my first time seeing him and he is charming and convincing enough to be a serious young (late 20s) male lead.
But it is the career of Scott Glosserman and screenwriter David Stieve that is sure to take off with this film. The film is smart and assured and while it doesn’t have the breathtaking flourishes, it never falls over the edge in any way. This is a strong debut for a guy who is looking to have a long career, after taking film at Penn when there was no film program and who worked the halls of CAA before escaping to the creative side.
This could easily be the first real commercial success to emerge out of SXSW. Like I said... it ain’t Scream. But it is yelp. And there is no reason why it can’t do $20 million or more theatrical and become a college classic on DVD.
Just needs the right person to buy it... someone willing to give Glosserman a few hundred thousand to add a couple "missing" kill shots (Glosserman and Stieve came up with a kill that I haven't seen before, but needs one more beat on camera) and another set of breasts (even if the actress is not prepared to play show and tell, that is what body doubles and inserts are for) and to change the name to something that is as clever as the movie itself, like “The Blair Slasher Project” or “How To Kill Teenagers.”
Posted by poland at March 13, 2006 02:20 AM
Comments
It also has the unfortunate matter of having a similar title to the next Hannibal Lecter movie (the prequel)... but it does sound interesting. Here's the website:
Posted by: EDouglas ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/nav-commenters.gif)
at March 13, 2006 05:00 AM
It sounds like Man Bites Dog.
Posted by: jeffmcm at March 13, 2006 01:15 PM
Enough with the dead teenagers movies already. If someone wants to be innovative, let 'em do it with a western or a war movie or sumpin'.
Posted by: Cadavra at March 13, 2006 03:27 PM
i was curious about this film as the director was so self effacing and charming. But you are right a terrible title and a somewhat confusing trailer. Personally I think people are so over the mockumentary format that this appears to be lessen cousin of Craven's Elm St post modern #7 spin. I'd be very surprised if it eventually does 20m at the b/o - unless whoever picks it up plays on the underdog riff, as this doesn't seem to have the stats to launch with a bang. Needs nuturing and lots of support from genre scribes. Also Dave Midnight screenings are notorious for false vibes about a films potential.
Posted by: Jeffrey Boam's Doctor at March 13, 2006 04:34 PM
there's a rave for it on AICN by young quint who I actually think has pretty good taste for a youngster. So maybe it wasn't just the beers dave was sloggin back at the downtown ;)
Posted by: Jeffrey Boam's Doctor at March 13, 2006 05:39 PM
"It sounds like Man Bites Dog."
God that movie was bad. Horrible.
If they rename this movie The Blair Slasher Project I will chow down a bag of cocaine.
Posted by: KamikazeCamelV2.0 at March 13, 2006 10:05 PM
Sure does sound like Man Bites Dog. Jeff's on the ball.
Camel, horrible how? I thought it went too far and was very disturbing (I saw the cut with the rape scene, which I've heard was missing from some versions) but it was well-made, ahead of its time and it knew what it was doing. It said everything Natural Born Killers wanted to, and might have if Oliver had laid off the drugs.
I can't believe they're making the Lecter prequel. Hannibal was one Lecter tale too many, and I'm one of the suckers who couldn't wait to buy it in hardcover.
Posted by: frankbooth at March 13, 2006 11:21 PM
Man Bites Dog was a good movie that was "horrible". i was in France at the time and there was much talk of it in Belgium and France. It was so disturbing because it was hard not to believe it was for real at times.
Posted by: Lota at March 14, 2006 05:41 AM
Thanks, Poland for making people aware of the film. You're right, it isn't flawless but we worked our asses off and we're pretty proud of it. I hope people enjoy it.
By the way, the show is Invasion on ABC. I play the one-armed deputy, Lewis Sirk. Its a great show. Check it out.
Nathan
Posted by: nbaesel at March 14, 2006 03:34 PM
Will INVASION see a second season? It started really slow but the build has been worth it. It will play much better when it is on DVD when you don't have to wait 2 months between new episodes.
Posted by: Richard Nash at March 14, 2006 03:44 PM
I'd really like to know what Sanchez thinks.
Posted by: jeffmcm at March 14, 2006 08:49 PM
Everyone on production of Invasion seems confident it'll get a second season. Its been picking up the pace and the audience base, and the future episodes to air will continue to get bigger, better, stronger, and faster. Just wait. There's great stuff to come!
Posted by: nbaesel at March 14, 2006 10:26 PM
I'm sure he would have let you know, Jeff, whether it was pertinent or not. And so would bob, and Angelus, and Lester...
Posted by: frankbooth at March 15, 2006 11:40 PM
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