Film Review: POPCORN

I would like to think that the film Popcorn is as good as I remember it when I saw it in ’91 when it was first released, but sadly this is a film, that for me, has aged very badly. Popcorn is about a group of students who put together a revival for old school gimmick films (B-movies in the vein of William Castle) and a serial killer who can mimic any one he wants in order to kill everyone at the revival event.

Jill Schoelen leads a cast on up and coming young actors (at the time at least) in a horror comedy with real bite. When I original saw the film I was young and the novelty of the film was not lost on me. I likened the film to the old Castle and Universal monster films. It was never a scary film, just a film that you could laugh at and have a good time.

Now the novelty is gone and the film can’t hold water under real scrutiny. I wish it did. I’m a huge fan of Schoelen from her days in such films as The Stepfather, Cutting Class, The Phantom of The Opera, and When a Stranger Calls Back, to name a few. The film is entertaining for a few laughs but that’s about it.