Sly, inventive horror parody

POPCORN (1991)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"It was a great experience, tons of fun and adventure. Jill was great, although I didn't get to know her as much as I would have liked."

           - Derek Rydall (who played Mark in "Popcorn") on working on the film and with Jill Schoelen


Time is a major factor in how a film is received. The first time I saw "Popcorn" in 1991, I was less than enthused by it. Perhaps I had missed the point or perhaps I had expected a scary horror film. The truth is that "Popcorn" precedes "Scream" by a few years, and its intention was to be a sly wink at the horror genre. On second viewing, I can say it is a far greater success than I had thought, maintaining a breezy, upbeat tone through most of its 90-minute running time. Perhaps the film was ahead of its time.

Jill Schoelen as Maggie

Jill Schoelen ("The Stepfather") plays Maggie, a film student who is having strange dreams of some hirsute hippie engaging in strange rituals. These dreams convince her that she has a screenplay in her hands, and she avidly records her dreams in a tape recorder. Her mother (Dee Wallace) is not too fond of Maggie's dreams or her inability to eat breakfast. Nevertheless, Maggie's college film class at the University of California lacks the funds to continue as a course (it seems they are constantly being shafted). So Maggie's teacher (Tony Roberts) and other film classmates decide to host an all-night horror-thon of old B monster movies at a condemned theatre. This will help raise funds for the classmates to make their own independent films. A bunch of people attend the premiere night of the horror-thon, including that hirsute hippie who may be after Maggie. The hippie in question was the director of some avante-garde film called "The Possessor," which he never completed. When it was shown in the very same theatre, it was missing the last scene which he performed live on stage. This last scene involved the actual murder of his whole family!

"Popcorn" is not a standard issue horror flick and no ordinary slasher flick by any means - this is meant to be a parody. It is fun watching the audience watching these gimmicky 3-D monster flicks, where gimmicky tricks such as electric shocks and aroma gases are employed for the appropriate scenes. In fact, these scenes occupy most of the movie's final thirty minutes (my favorite of these recreated 50's horror flicks is "Electrified Man" with Bruce Glover, Crispin's father). There are also clever puns on everything from Ingmar Bergman to the content of avante-garde films, to the dubious virtues of the "Police Academy" series. A reggae band also appears on stage, which is a hint that this film was shot on location in Jamaica!

The backstory on Maggie and her relationship to her mother, not to mention the possibility that the hippie could be her father, is not gripping stuff but it holds the movie somewhat. It helps that Jill Schoelen adds a touch of class, sincerity and vulnerability here, far exceeding the emaciated, bloodless scream queens post-"Scream." Also worth noting are priceless moments by Tony Roberts (he could read the phone book and I would listen) and the engaging Ray Walston as a film memorabilia owner with his own steady supply of William Castle gimmicks (Film critic Leonard Maltin sarcastically suggested that these actors appeared to have shot their scenes in a day when in fact, according to Ms. Schoelen, they had been on set for close to a month). The late Tom Villard (who unfortunately passed from AIDS) is the most memorable of the classmates because he is the nuttiest and most unpredictable. Kudos to Malcolm Danare as the wheelchair-bound classmate who operates the electronic gimmicks. I could live without Maggie's on-and-off again boyfriend (a bland Derek Rydall), especially the blonde date he brings to the premiere that is simply marking time. And maybe someone can explain to me if Dee Wallace's entrance to the theater is a dream or a supernatural occurrence. Hmmm.

"Popcorn" is terrific fun because it does not take itself seriously, and all the endless and inventive in-jokes and cinematic puns make it more than worthwhile. I do prefer this film over the blood-soaked "Scream" and its sequels because it is far more jokey and self-parodic towards slashers, and it embraces the B-movies of the past. The underrated Jill Schoelen and the vastly underrated Dee Wallace give the film a helping of humanity. Grab a box of popcorn and enjoy.

Footnote: "Popcorn" was not given the typical first-run release that any new theatrical release would normally receive. It was shown in bargain theatres. What a crime!