Woodyanders A madman bumps off assorted people during a midnight movie marathon held at an old rundown theater. Director Mark Herrier keeps the entertaining story moving along at a zippy pace, maintains an amiable tongue-in-cheek tone throughout, and stages several ooga-booga shock set pieces with considerable flair before going for broke at the wild and exciting climax. Alan Ormsby's witty script not only pays affectionate homage to loveably cheesy 50's micro-budget clunkers (the deliberately tacky ersatz schlock movies are absolute hoots), but also puts a fresh and fun spin on 80's slasher fare. Moreover, Jill Schoelen contributes a winningly perky portrayal of the troubled Maggie, Tom Villard has a field day as deadly and deranged, yet still pitiable and tragic disfigured psycho Toby, and there's sturdy work from reliable veterans Dee Wallace as the secretive Suzanne, Tony Roberts as jovial professor Mr. Davis, Ray Walston as flamboyant showman Dr. Mhesyne, and Bruce Glover as lethal electrified convict Vernon. Kudos are also in order for Ronnie Taylor's slick cinematography and Paul Zaza's spirited shivery score. A hugely enjoyable flick.

Mark Turner I can remember when the movie POPCORN came out how great an idea I thought they had come up with. Movies within a movie and all paying tribute to one of the greatest promoters of horror films that ever lived, William Castle. Not directly mind you, but a tribute to the ballyhoo he was known for. Combine that with the current style of horror film involving teens in jeopardy and you know it had everything a horror fan could ask for.The story revolves around college student Maggie Butler (Jill Schoelen), majoring in film at the local university and living at home with her mother Suzanne (Dee Wallace). Dealing with some terrifying dreams Maggie keeps a record of them intending to use those nightmares for a film she wants to do one day. Suzanne is concerned about her daughter's nightmares but has her own issues to deal with when she's lured to the Dreamland Theater by a voice from her past.In an effort to come up with a unifying project and to generate funds for the fledgling film department Maggie's professor Davis (Tony Roberts) takes a suggestion made by her fellow student Toby (Tom Villard). The group decides to put on an all-night horror movie marathon. At first concerned about the time they have to do so, Davis agrees when he learns Toby has connections to a Dr. Mnesyne (Ray Walston), a memorabilia collector who has the films they need as well as the gimmicks that were used when the films were first released. Gaining access to the old Dreamland Theater, the group sets up cleaning the building and preparing for the big night.While preparing and checking out the items in the box they come across a short film and decide to watch it to see what it is. What they witness is a film by the legendary Lanyard Gates, a crazed film maker who took things to the extreme in an effort to create the most realistic film possible. So real that the last anyone knew of him he was shooting a film that resulted in his demise along with his followers, burned in a theater while filming the short the students are now watching.Not scared off by the film they carry on with their project. A giant mosquito is rigged to fly over the audience, electro-shock buzzers are placed in select seats and foul odors are prepared for a movie in odorama. The day comes, the audience fills the auditorium and the films begin. But something else is going on as well. One by one the various members of the group are being killed without the others being aware. Who is behind it all, who will survive and what it all has to do with Maggie and her dreams will be revealed by the end of the film.There are several things that make this movie work. The first and most obvious is the movies within the movie. Each of them has ties to old hokum live items that were used at one time or another. And the movies themselves are a hoot. They were also what led to the movie getting a new director halfway through as you'll find out in the extras.The second thing that works is the story itself. Using the tried and true theme made big in the 80s with a group of young people in jeopardy and being knocked off one by one keeps the theme of the horror films from them intact while combining it with those old movies at the same time. This nice blend combines to make an entertaining film in the end.Two performances stand out in the film. Schoelen does a great job as Maggie. The whole film hinges on her being believable and she is quite that here. The second is in Tom Villard who is great as Toby. The dedicated film fan who puts it all together could be played too broadly but he does it quite well here. The rest of the cast is great in their performances as well.Synapse has once again done a fantastic job of offering this movie in the best format possible with the cleanest looking transfer I've ever seen of it. It's a 2k scan of an archival 35mm interpostive. Extras include an audio commentary track by director Mark Herrier, Schoelen, Malcolm Danare, and special makeup effects artist Mat Falls, MIDNIGHT MADNESS: THE MAKING OF POPCORN documentary, ELECTRIC MEMORIES an interview with actor Bruce Glover, the theatrical trailer, television trailer and TV spots, a still gallery and reversible cover are by Chris MacGibbon.If you've never seen this film this is the way to do it, a treat for move fans as well as horror fans. Tame enough with little gore to be seen, safe enough to qualify for a PG-13 in today's world and still it's a solid horror film. For me this is one worth adding to your collection.

Leofwine_draca Although it takes a while to get going, POPCORN proves to be a warm and affectionate little slasher movie made along the same lines as Joe Dante's Matinée – i.e. a celebration of the world of the B-movie in its cinematic form. Indeed, the ghost of William Castle seems to be watching over this movies, both in the presence of the cheesy films shown by the fictional cinema and in the bizarre antics of the film students, determined to give their audience an interactive experience!It's all about the gimmicks and the celebration of the weird, so much so that the actual slasher plot comes second. It's a slight shame, because the story isn't bad, even if it is remarkably familiar: there's an evil killer from the past returning to affect the heroine in the present, and his calling card is that he uses prosthetic masks to disguise himself as anyone and anything. The subsequent kills aren't particularly gory, but they are well staged with an element of Grand Guignol that becomes especially apparent during the over-the-top climax.POPCORN was made in Jamaica doubling for small-town America, which gives it even more of an offbeat vibe – and the reggae soundtrack is great. The acting is nothing to write home about (THE HOWLING's Dee Wallace-Stone is the only actress of note in a minor part), but when the story and screenplay are so obviously written by genuine fans of old-time horror shows – well, this becomes a film impossible to dislike.

kosmas-thrash-zone 1991: The slasher boom of the early eighties has already dried out and the only things that were left from that era are tired unoriginal sequels of franchises and low-budget horror b-movies that have rip-off the formula of famous slasher franchises... Popcorn popped out during 1991 and was yet another slasher b-movie...NO!!!Popcorn may be a cheesy slasher film without budget but is very original and is the movie that ends the era of slasher films.A comedy/parody/horror slasher hybrid,unique in its own way,Popcorn satirizes the horror industry itself and the horror audience of the time that want more senseless blood and gore. The plot centers upon Maggie who is being stalked in her dreams. She's part of a film school crew that stage a horror movie festival. The killer stalks her in the movies(Not very original).Instead of the gore or the antagonist,Popcorn's selling point was its satire, pop culture references and genre deconstruction and the makers of Scream were all aware of that,using these elements as the principal idea of their big budget film.Also if you remember Ghostface has an electronically altered voice used for the signature prank calls of Scream.The same method that was FIRST used by Popcorn killer doesn't feature as heavily as it does in Scream but it is significant.May Scream be a rip-off of Popcorn?The bad thing of this movie is the plot.When it starts as something unoriginal and predictable,in the middle it changes to a brilliant suspenseful film and at some point towards the end it is suddenly fallen apart.What a waste...Yeah it is a forgotten movie and it will continue to be but it may deserve better luck.May the false advertising as a standard slasher film or the changes and the replacement of director and female lead be the cause of the failure of this good movie???I don t know and no one does but it sure deserves credits for the creation of a franchise that would change the luck of the slasher films in the following years called Scream...