News
R.I.P. ‘Piranha’ Star Heather Menzies
Sad news during the holiday season this year, as we’ve learned that actress Heather Menzies-Urich passed away on Christmas Eve at 68, succumbing to brain cancer.
Born December 3, 1949 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Heather Menzies-Urich got her start in Hollywood as Louisa in 1965’s The Sound of Music, subsequently becoming a star in the world of horror with both Sssssss and Joe Dante’s Piranha in the ’70s.
Dante remembered Menzies in a touching tribute on Twitter.
“A lovely person who was immensely helpful and supportive as the star of PIRANHA, my first solo directing job,” Dante tweeted. “She and Brad Dillman made an amusing mismatched couple and carried the John Sayles script to a level of success that surprised even me.”
Menzies, who married Robert Urich in 1975, also starred in “The Farmer’s Daughter,” “Logan’s Run,” and “The Love Boat.” She played Dr. Wendy Day in 1979’s Captain America.
Movies
McDonald’s No-Clips Out of Reality with Unexpected ‘Backrooms’ Short Movie
The best part about engaging with collaborative genre fiction on the internet is that anyone can get in on the action, with worldwide accessibility often resulting in absurd story beats that wouldn’t be possible if any single person was responsible for the entire narrative. And while Kane Parsons’ Backrooms film is definitely the young filmmaker’s own unique take on the infamous creepypasta, it’s fun to see other creators join the Backrooms sandbox now that the big screen adaptation is getting ready for a record-shattering opening weekend.
As if cleverly timed releases like Puppet Combo’s The Backrooms game weren’t enough (not to mention that Scary Movie poster poking fun at Parsons’ flick), McDonald’s official social media accounts have now released an analog horror video of their own celebrating the liminal terrors of the McRooms – complete with a familiar purple surprise at the end of the footage.
While it’s funny enough to see the world’s most recognizable Fast Food giant engage with internet-borne Found Footage thrills seemingly out of the blue, the video is actually referencing a long-running gag among the Backrooms fandom where creators jokingly talk about there being a fully functional McDonald’s restaurant hidden somewhere in level 0 of the infamous liminal labyrinth.
Now, would it be too much to hope for a moist-carpet-flavored McShake to tie in with the film?
Backrooms is now playing only in theaters from A24.


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