Popcorn (1991)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

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:

Cult Favorite | Film Festival | Revenge | Stage | Slasher

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

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:

Revealing mistakes: When the killer is putting masks on in front of Maggie, you can see the dead body of Tina hanging behind Maggie. The dead body moves/shakes/breathes many times throughout the scene.

Movie Connections:

References The Tingler (1959)

Soundtrack:

UP OVER YOU

The popcorn is stale

A group of film students trying to raise money hold an all night Horror movie marathon showcasing various 1950's type films. The theater they are holding it in suffered a tragedy 15 years ago when a crazed filmmaker killed his entire family on stage in order to get revenge on all those that laughed at him. So of course that means that the students will all be knock off one by one by a crazed killer.

"Popcorn" is a film that sets its standards pretty low, it aims to be a entertaining no-brainer horror-comedy and that's it. For the first 25 or so minuets it actually works on that level, but the serious problems set in that wreck the film. First off, the characters are very annoying and unsympathetic. They are also one dimensional to boot. Second off the script is terrible with lots of annoying and stupid humor that simply put doesn't work, many of the jokes can be seen coming from a mile away. Third there is no sense what so ever of any mood or suspense, this movie just moves along aimlessly. Something that's even worse than the lack of suspense is that this is really quite boring towards the end. The acting is very amateur too. Even worse is that "Popcorn" offers no nudity or decent gore. This is so PC and tame I'm honestly surprised the MPAA rated this "R" and not "PG-13" (and I'm pretty sure that's what it would be rated today). Overall "Popcorn" is a pretty lame attempt to pay tribute to the theater experience of yesteryear that doesn't work after it's entertaining if flawed beginning. This is not worth checking out at all.