Coven (film)
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| Coven | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Mark Borchardt |
| Produced by | Bill Borchardt Mark Borchardt |
| Written by | Mark Borchardt |
| Starring | Mark Borchardt Tom Schimmels Miriam Frost Robert Richard Jorge Mike Schank |
| Music by | Patrick Nettesheim |
| Editing by | Mark Borchardt |
| Distributed by | Northwest Productions |
| Release date(s) | 1997 |
| Running time | 40 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Coven is a direct-to-video black and white short horror film, directed by Mark Borchardt. It was released in 1997. The making of the film was documented in the award-winning independent film American Movie.
Coven was largely funded by Mark's uncle Bill Borchardt's savings with the understanding that Mark must sell 3,000 copies in order for Bill to make his money back. Coincidently, uncle Bill died shortly after the release of Coven. Bill, along with Mark and an assortment of Mark's friends and neighbors, stars in the film. It was shot with local talent around Milwaukee.
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[edit] Plot Summary
In Mark's words, the film is "about a guy who joins a self-help group, only they're not that helpful." The film introduces "Mike" (Borchardt) as a writer struggling with a lack of artistic productivity. To deal with the pressures he feels from within and without, he escalates his abuse of alcohol. One day when faced with overwhelming deadlines, he takes a large quantity of pills with alcohol resulting in an overdose and hospitilization. When "Steve" (Tom Schimmels) takes notice of Mike's increasing volatility and isolation, he confronts the defensive writer. Steve shows genuine concern for his friend's self-destructive behavior and intervenes. (The film suggests by lack of others at the intervention that Steve may be the only friend Mike has left.) Steve suggests a recovery and support group with whom he has been affiliated and after gaining some perspective, Mike joins them. After becoming a part of the group, he comes to realize that the group has a deeper occult agenda and use extreme, sometimes supernatural, tactics to "help" new members remain clean and sober.
[edit] Trivia
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Coven was shot sporadically over the course of three years as funding became available. As a result, maintaining continuity became a nightmare and the viewer must be prepared for this in order to tolerate the film. In some scenes, actors look much older in some shots than in others. Some actors were not available at the time of Automated Dialogue Replacement and had to have lines overdubbed by other actors.
Coven embodies the independent filmmakers' DIY aesthetic. It was shot using all-volunteer amateurs, on a shoestring budget, financed by Borchardt's multiple jobs and an uncle's savings. Additional dialogue recording was done in office restrooms and Borchardt's car.
Throughout American Movie, Borchardt pronounces Coven with a "long O" vowel sound. At times he disregards others' advice as to its alternate pronunciation being the correct one with the observation that the title will lack credibility if it rhymes with oven.
Coven established Borchardt as an amateur filmmaker. American Movie helped Mark get noticed to a broader audience, which led to recent appearances (along with co-producer Mike Schank) in television programs like Family Guy and Greg the Bunny, in which they parody scenes from the movie.
The short has been condemned by members of Alcoholics Anonymous as a metaphorical attack on the motives and modus operandi of AA and other support groups. Borchardt maintains it was just an interesting premise for the story.
