Editorials
What Happened to Dario Argento’s ‘The Sandman’?
Dario Argento has been in the game a long time. From his directorial début in 1970, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (now out on a beautiful disc from Arrow US), to his most recent film, 2012’s Dracula 3D, Argento has managed to build an astounding resume. Certainly his later efforts have not been on par with his earlier output (though, I think there are more bright spots than most), but fans still hold out hope his next time in the director’s chair will recapture the magic of his Giallo glory days. Enter, The Sandman.
The Sandman was announced in June of 2014 as part of the Off-Frontières co-production market. Little was known right off the bat except that Argento signed on to direct a script written by David Tully (Djinn). These early details were quickly followed with news of rock legend Iggy Pop taking on the titular villain role. Before long we were given solid info as to what the heck the film would be about, and undoubtedly, it sounded like the perfect match for Argento’s phantasmagoric sensibilities.
Inspired by the original Sandman of German folklore that plucked out the eyes of children who wouldn’t sleep, The Sandman website describes the tale as follows:
“THE SANDMAN tells the story of a young student in the city who struggles to forget their childhood trauma at the hands of the serial killer dubbed ‘The Sandman’. As a child the student killed The Sandman years ago, on Christmas Eve, after witnessing the murder of their mother. This memory is repressed until they see the beautiful woman who lives in the apartment across the way dying at the hands of that same masked killer. We follow our protagonist to find out who is the real killer. This is a story of voyeurism and obsession and is a direct homage to Giallo films of the past.”
Needless to say, diehard fans of Argento and Iggy Pop were more than intrigued. In October of 2014, they were given the opportunity to get involved with the project. An Indiegogo page launched to help fund The Maestro’s film; the campaign sought a total of $165k to help “partially” bankroll the production. Tax credits, due to the Canadian/German co-production status, were said to bolster a large chunk of the film’s remaining budget. The launch page stated, “While those monies are secured, it is not enough to make the film. We are dedicated to bringing a quintessential masterwork to the faithful fans of Dario and Iggy. It’s the first time for us to approach you and ask for your support before making the film… because we want to do it right and deliver!”
The perks offered to help drum up that sweet cash ranged from copies of the film, signed posters, and even the chance to don the infamous black gloves of the killer on-screen. That particular perk was “one and done”. It went for $5k! Another exciting addition to the crew of The Sandman was Claudio Simonetti, one of the masterminds behind many of Italy’s finest scores. He would be composing for the film along with Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill series) contributing the theme for the soundtrack.
Everything sounded great. For the first time in a long time, a script written specifically for Argento was handed to him with the promise of full artistic freedom. The crowdfunding campaign was a huge success, exceeding with 119% to goal. With $195,633 raised by 1082 backers, The Sandman was coming. Hopes were that it’d be released in time for Christmas the following year. It has now been three years since the initial announcement. Sadly, The Sandman has yet to go into production.
So, what exactly happened? Personally, I was over the moon with excitement when the word first broke (I didn’t back the project as I was one broke mo-fo in 2014). I’ve stated this before, but to reiterate, Argento is a part of the Holy Trinity of directors that helped shape my genre tastes. Romero and Craven complete that particular trifecta. I was hungry for more info on this movie. Realizing there hadn’t been any substantial news regarding The Sandman in some time, I started to do some digging.
It’s important to note that filmmaking is often a long, arduous journey. Projects can stop and start at the drop of a dime. Unfortunately, a lot of fans who put up their cash during the campaign have yet to receive their promised perks. Obviously, items such as copies of the film will have to wait, but what about signed posters? A quick peek at the comments on the Indiegogo page show a lot of anger from backers. People are requesting refunds and even labeling the campaign a “fraud.” Some commenters are more understanding but remain upset over the “Updates” which have come with less consistency as time has gone on. All hope is not lost, however. Argento has actually spoken on the matter. In August of last year, IndieWire interviewed Argento. In regards to The Sandman, he had this to say:
“Iggy Pop keeps asking, ‘How long do we have to wait on this film?’ Honestly, it’s not my fault. This film is a co-production by many different producers in different countries. They apparently can’t agree on a number of things, including where to shoot, locations, things like that. It goes on and on. I know it’s been dragging on. Time goes by and they haven’t reached an agreement. I must say that I myself have been thinking about some other projects in the meantime. I still need to work on them, think about them.”
While The Maestro’s patience might be wearing thin, he recently hinted at two possible projects in his near future. As quoted by Dark Universe, he stated, “Let’s see what will start first.” There was no confirmation that one of these could be The Sandman, but the producers have recently become more vocal about the production’s progress. Just last month, a post on the film’s Facebook page revealed that locations are locked (Ontario) and financing is still being secured. And those perks? On July 5th, a reminder to backers went out to make sure all mailing info was up to date. The signed posters were close to being shipped!
It’s certainly been a long journey for Dario Argento’s possible return to the sub-genre that made him a horror-household name. Here’s hoping the wait is worth it for fans and backers of the project.
Note: I attempted to reach out to “Team Sandman”. They did not respond to request for comment.
Written and Directed by Stevan Mena on a budget of around $200,000, Malevolence was only released in ten theaters after it was purchased by Anchor Bay and released direct-to-DVD like so many other indie horrors. This one has many of the same pratfalls as its bargain bin brethren, which have probably helped to keep it hidden all these years. But it also has some unforgettable moments that will make horror fans (especially fans of the original Halloween) smile and point at the TV like Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Malevolence is the story of a silent and masked killer told through the lens of a group of bank robbers hiding out after a score. The bank robbery is only experienced audibly from the outside of the bank, but whether the film has the budgetary means to handle this portion well or not, the idea of mixing a bank robbery tale into a masked slasher movie is a strong one.
Of course, the bank robbery goes wrong and the crew is split up. Once the table is fully set, we have three bank robbers, an innocent mom and her young daughter as hostages, and a masked man lurking in the shadows who looks like a mix between baghead Jason from Friday the 13th Part 2 and the killer from The Town That Dreaded Sundown. Let the slashing begin.
Many films have tried to recreate the aesthetic notes of John Carpenter’s 1978 classic Halloween, and at its best Malevolence is the equivalent of a shockingly good cover song.
Though the acting and script are at times lacking, the direction, score, and cinematography come together for little moments of old-school slasher goodness that will send tingles up your spine. It’s no Halloween, to be clear, but it does Halloween reasonably proud. The nighttime shots come lit with the same blue lighting and the musical notes of the score pop off at such specific moments, fans might find themselves laughing out loud at the absurdity of how hard the homages hit. When the killer jumps into frame, accompanied by the aforementioned musical notes, he does so sharply and with the same slow intensity as Michael Myers. Other films in the subgenre (and even a few in the Halloween franchise) will tell you this isn’t an easy thing to duplicate.
The production and costume designs of Malevolence hint at love letters to other classic horror films as well. The country location not only provides for an opening Halloween IV fans will appreciate but the abandoned meat plant and the furnishings inside make for some great callbacks to 1974’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. All of this is buoyed and accentuated by cinematography that you rarely see in today’s low-budget films. The film is shot on 35mm film by A&E documentary filmmaker Tsuyoshi Kimono, who gives Malevolence an old-school, grainy, 1970s aesthetic that feels completely natural and not like a cheap gimmick.
Malevolence is a movie that no doubt has some glaring imperfections but it is also a movie that is peppered with moments of potential. There’s a reason they made a follow-up prequel titled Malevolence 2: Bereavement years later (and another after that) that starred both Michael Biehn and Alexandra Daddario! That film tells the origin story of our baghead, Martin Bristol. Something the first film touches on a little bit, at least enough to give you the gist of what happened here. Long story short, a six-year-old boy was kidnapped by a serial killer and for years forced to watch him hunt, torture, and kill his victims. Which brings me to another fascinating aspect of Malevolence. The ending. SPOILER WARNING.
After the mother and child are saved from the killer, our slasher is gone, his bloody mask left on the floor. The camera pans around different areas of the town, showing all the places he may be lurking. If you’re down with the fact that it’s pretty obvious this is all an intentional love letter and not a bad rip-off, it’s pretty fun. Where Malevolence makes its own mark is in the true crime moments to follow. Law enforcement officers pull up to the plant and uncover a multitude of horrors. They find the notebooks of the original killer, which explain that he kidnapped the boy, taught him how to hunt, and was now being hunted by him. This also happened to be his final entry. We discover a hauntingly long line of bodies covered in white sheets: the bodies of the many missing persons the town had for years been searching for. And there are a whole lot of them. This moment really adds a cool layer of serial killer creepiness to the film.
Ultimately, Malevolence is a low-budget movie with some obvious deficiencies on full display. Enough of them that I can imagine many viewers giving up on the film before they get to what makes it so special, which probably explains how it has gone so far under the radar all these years. But the film is a wonderful ode to slashers that have come before it and still finds a way to bring an originality of its own by tying a bank robbery story into a slasher affair. Give Malevolence a chance the next time you’re in the mood for a nice little old school slasher movie.
Malevolence is now streaming on Tubi and Peacock.
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