Editorials
Exhumed & Exonerated: ‘Popcorn’ (1991)
Every decade has its ups and downs when it comes to cinema, no matter the genre. Horror fans love to loft on high the output of the ‘30s & ‘40s, the ‘70s & ‘80s, and the more recent decades. More often than not, however, the 1990s are labeled as the worst decade for the genre. Not only that, but ‘90s horror tends to be written off as a whole, beyond a handful of undisputed classics. The purpose of Exhumed & Exonerated: The ‘90s Horror Project, is to refute those accusations by highlighting numerous gems from the decade. Stone cold classics will be tackled in this column from time to time, but its main purpose will be to seek out lesser-known and/or less-loved titles that I think deserve more attention and respect from fans. Let the mayhem begin!
POPCORN
Directed by Mark Herrier & Alan Ormsby (uncredited)
Screenplay by Mitchell Smith & Tod Hackett
Produced by Ashok Amritraj, Howard Hurst, Torben Johnke, Sophie Hurst, and Bob Clark (uncredited)
Starring Jill Schoelen, Tom Villard, Dee Wallace Stone, Derek Rydall, Tony Roberts, Malcolm Danare, Kelly Jo Minter, and Ray Walston
Released on February 1, 1991
The early ‘90s (and late ‘80s) saw quite a few self-reflective horror films come along. Naturally the postmodernist tendencies kicked into high-gear after Wes Craven’s Scream was released in late 1996, but the desire of filmmakers in the genre to examine the past was already well under way by then. Both Wes Craven’s New Nightmare and John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness tapped into this obsession with self-examination, as did Fred Dekker’s The Monster Squad years earlier. While most of these are well-known within horror-loving circles, one such applicable film that doesn’t get nearly enough love is Popcorn.
Directed by Porky’s trilogy star Mark Herrier and an uncredited Alan Ormsby (Deranged), Popcorn follows a group of film students who decide to put on a William Castle-style horror movie marathon to raise money for their film program and hopefully fund some of their student projects as well. I conjure the name of Castle simply because they have chosen three (fake) films to show during their all-night fundraiser that all appear to help from the 1950s/1960s and all have some sort of gimmick.
“Mosquito” is an atomic creature feature not unlike those made by Jack Arnold and William Alland, complete with a big mosquito puppet that they have rigged to swing down from the theater ceiling. “The Attack of the Amazing Electrified Man” sees an AIP-style feature about a simple-minded death row inmate transformed into a shocking (literally!) terror, with The Tingler-style electric buzzers on the seats for added audience goosing. Finally, there is the Japanese film “The Stench”, released in “Odorama”, where the students use gas capsule to flood the theater with foul smells on cue to accompany the feature. It’s supposed to be a big, raucous night of ballyhoo and is sure to be a success…
…were it not for the murderous maniac with a different set of plans for the event. You see, 15 years earlier, there was a fringe cult filmmaker named Lanyard Gates (Matt Falls) who was rather miffed that critics and audiences were scoffing at his work and the work of his group. In retaliation, he filmed a horror short and shot all but the finale, which he decided he would enact live on stage at the premiere. Unfortunately, his finale involved him attempting to murder his wife and daughter on stage. While he succeeded in killing his wife, his sister-in-law (Dee Wallace Stone) burst in, shot him, saved the little girl, and set fire to the theater, thereby burning all of Gates’ demented followers alive inside.
In preparation for this marathon, our students enlist the help of movie memorabilia maestro Dr. Mnesyne (Ray Walston) to supply the old school gags and an assortment of costumes and decorations to spruce up their location with. Contained within those crates is “The Possessor”, Gates’ aforementioned experimental horror film. The students watch it and laugh it off, tossing it back into the box and moving on with their preparations.
So what’s the connection? Our mysterious killer is hellbent on finishing the Gates film during the marathon, complete with an uninterrupted recreation of the murderous live final act. There are some further twists, turns, and revelations, but what we basically have here is a postmodernist slasher that, in many ways, must have been on Kevin Williamson’s mind when he first sat down to write Scream (or Scary Movie, as it was originally titled), as well as the opening sequence of Scream 2. Hell, we even have a cast of characters here who are as obsessed with movies as their eventual attacker is!
While the core narrative and characters are entertaining, thankfully including the disguise-changing villain himself, a lot of the fun comes from the movies-within-the-movie themselves. These segments were directed by Alan Ormsby (who was fired from directing the whole feature) and, coupled with the fact that the film’s FX were supervised by uncredited producer Bob Clark (Black Christmas), it makes this all an unofficial reunion of talent from the makers of Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things, Deathdream, and Deranged. Each of these faux films matches the style and tone of the era they are attempting to evoke almost perfectly, making the entire set-up more genuine than a lot of films that pull similar routines.
“Mosquito” absolutely plays out like a William Alland feature in the vein of Tarantula or The Deadly Mantis. “Electrified Man” skews more towards early AIP fare like I Was A Teenage Werewolf and War of the Colossal Beast. “The Stench” lands more in early color Toho territory, evoking the non-kaiju efforts of Ishiro Honda. As for “The Possessor”, it contains more of a ‘60s Euro-horror vibe, evoking psychedelic experimental cinema and the works of Italian maestro Mario Bava. These different flares all give it an extra appeal for any horror fan obsessed with or interested in the genre’s history.
Judging the film based on its look is a bit hard at this time, as the only copies of it one can find these days are the old VHS release and the now-OOP DVD from the ‘00s, which itself looks like a high-end VHS copy. As a result, I’ll refrain from commenting on its overall visual atmosphere, at least until Synapse finishes the HD restoration that they are apparently working on as we speak. Fingers crossed that it sees release sometime within the next year or so, as I suspect this film will look pretty damn good once it has been spruced up. Popcorn certainly deserves it.
The tone and style of the film evokes mid-to-late ‘80s cinema, almost to the point where if I didn’t know it hailed from 1991, I would have automatically assumed it was made around 1987 or so. The acting also holds to this vibe, especially considering some of the cast members. In addition to aforementioned genre vets Dee Wallace Stone (The Howling, Cujo) and Ray Walston (“My Favorite Martian”, there are quite a few familiar faces. Jill Schoelen (The Stepfather, Phantom of the Opera ’89) is our final girl, Maggie. Tom Villiard (One Crazy Summer) plays her goofy fellow film student pal Toby and Derek Rydall (Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge) is her on again-off again boyfriend, Mark. We are also treated to Tony Roberts (Annie Hall, Amityville 3-D) as their professor and Malcolm Danare (Christine, The Curse) and Kelly Jo Minter (Summer School, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child) as two of the other students.
Popcorn isn’t a forgotten classic, but it is definitely an under-loved gem. From its ‘80s vibe to its fun concept to its wide assortment of bonafide horror talent, it’s a lot of fun and probably a great film to pop in and munch down on some popped corn with a few like-minded friends. Whether you decide to wait for Synapse’s promised Blu-ray or you track down on your own before then, chances are you’ll be entertained by this offbeat slasher and its homages to ‘50s & ‘60s genre cinema. It starts off a bit rocky, but once it gets going, it’s a fun ride.
Up Next: Wishmaster (1997)
Previously On…
Species | Mute Witness | Popcorn | Wishmaster | Alien 3 | Cast A Deadly Spell
Disturbing Behavior | The Sect | The Addams Family
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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