Movies
‘The Mask’ Was Originally Going to Be a Horror Movie?!
Chuck Russell has made some pretty cool movies throughout his career. He’s of course known in the horror world for directing A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and The Blob (1988), one of the best horror sequels of all time and one of the best horror remakes of all time. He subsequently directed Jim Carrey-starring comedy The Mask, centered on a man who turns into a crazy green freak after putting on a mysterious mask.
Hey wait. That sounds like a horror movie, doesn’t it?
Well, it was originally supposed to be!
Speaking with Xfinity in advance of this past weekend’s Bloody Disgusting co-presented Horror Fest at Wizard World Philly, Russell revealed that the 1994 family film was originally conceived as a very Elm Street-esque slasher flick. Stanley Ipkiss, well, he was going to become New Line’s new Freddy Krueger!
“It’s a great example of really fighting for your vision in a film. We changed it from a horror film into a comedy,” Russell revealed. “It was originally conceived as being a horror film. That was a real battle. New Line wanted a new kind of Freddy movie. By coincidence, I had seen the same original Mask comic they ended up buying, and I thought, ‘That’s really cool, but it’s too derivative of Freddy Krueger.’ It really was. He would put on the mask and kill people. And have one-liners. It was a really cool, splatterpunk, black and white comic. They’ve redone the comics to be more like my movie, but the original comics were really cool, dark and scary.”
He added, “But I knew, as a film, it would be very reminiscent of Freddy Krueger.”
What would The Mask look like as a horror movie? Find out below!
Sunrise Films has announced the official North American release of William Bagley‘s horror comedy Hold the Fort, and it’s accompanied by an energetic new trailer.
Hold the Fort debuts on digital platforms on June 23.
In the film, “Lucas and Jenny think their life is finally coming together when the couple become homeowners. Little do they know that their new house comes with a big catch. Lucas and Jenny soon find themselves in a fight for their lives when they become trapped in a battle between their Homeowners Association and an onslaught of monsters from hell. The horror-comedy takes the timely concern of home-ownership and wraps this up in an entertaining action-packed thrill ride.“
Watch the new trailer below, which introduces one wild HOA gathering during an equinox. Things get bloody fast.
Chris Mayers (Adult Swim Yule Log), Haley Leary (“The Walking Dead”), Levi Burdick, and Julian Smith star.
William Bagley writes and directs, in addition to producing with Smith, Matt Dodd, Luke Williams, and Tim Reis (Adult Swim Yule Log).
Ahead of the release, Bagley said, “My goal with this film was to make a hilarious, fast-paced thrill ride while also telling a great story with heart. Hopefully, through all the blood, laughs, fights, and gags, you leave the film feeling inspired to tackle whatever life throws at you.“
Hold the Fort premiered at Fantasia last summer before going on to play FrightFest London, Toronto After Dark, and Beyond Fest.
I wrote in my review, “It’s an infectiously charming assemblage of jokes and monster vignettes bound together by a barebones plot with not much on its mind beyond delivering an entertaining time.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.