Popcorn is an American horror film from 1991 directed by Mark Herrier and written by Alan Ormsby. The film revolves
around a “Horror-thon” in an abandoned theater, when a mysterious murderer
begins killing off the teenagers. The film focuses on a college film student Maggie
Butler (Jill Schoelen)
who has had recurring dreams about a young girl named Sarah who is being chased
by a killer while being stuck in a house fire. Taking notes from her dreams,
she plans to make a movie out of her dreams. Recently her mother Suzanne
(Dee Wallace), who she lives
with, has been receiving strange and threatening phone calls. A friend of the
Professor, Toby D’Amato (Tom
Villard) a film school student has a plan to throw an all-night “Horror-thon”
to raise money for their department. They set up the “Horror-thon” at a now defunct
Dreamland theater, an old building that’s about to be demolished in three
weeks. Professor Davis (Tony Roberts)
head of the film department is concerned about time constraints and has hired
an expert on film memorabilia, Dr. Mnesyne (Ray Walston) who chooses
the horror props for the festival. While setting up the props, they begin to
see a mysterious figure roaming the theater.
The figure turns out to be Toby, who fifteen years-ago was badly burned
as a child in a theater, after a showing of a horror movie with his mother, who
was killed in the fire. Now, he still holds
a grudge against Suzanne and Maggie for being responsible for his mother’s death.
He has deranged thoughts and now plans to exact his revenge on them by
re-enacting the film he witnessed with his mother. As he acts out his revenge
with murder scenes from the movie, he kidnaps Maggie and Suzanne, eventually
finding out that the final cuts of the film end up destroying his plans. The
film is thrilling, exciting and has a bit of comedy entwined within the film
which made this film a cult classic among many as the film has gone out of
print. The film is still very hard to find and expensive to purchase, but for
its original plot and ideas coming from the horror culture, this film is a must
own for your own horror collection. It still can be found in limited listings
on eBay and for purchase on Amazon
released by Elite
Entertainment on DVD which
is now discontinued. A domestic version of the film is planned to be released by
Synapse Films on BluRay soon which will
make this a well sought release.
