Killer Flick
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| Killer Flick | |
|---|---|
 US film poster |
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| Directed by | Mark Weidman |
| Produced by | Chip Smith |
| Written by | Mark Weidman |
| Starring | Zen Todd Tod Thawley Creighton Howard Kathleen Walsh Fred Dennis |
| Distributed by | Mainline Releasing |
| Release date(s) | 1998 |
| Running time | 93 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Killer Flick is a 1998 American independent film written and directed by Mark Weidman.
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[edit] Plot summary
The film centers on four aspiring filmmakers, Rome, Buzz, Max, and One-Eye, who go on a surreal rampage and make their exploits into a movie. While evading law enforcement, the filmmakers discuss their plans on how to make their movie as violent and sexy as possible so that they can sell it for a lot of money.
After the group blows up a gas station, Rome flirts with an attractive woman he meets on the street, Tess, and tries to cast her. He gives her a copy of the script to audition, but after reading it, she disgustedly argues with the group about the shallow, adolescent nature of their movie. The argument is part of the script, however, and Tess passes the audition. The group orchestrates a few more scenes of violence for the movie, at times by recruiting bystanders at gunpoint to play roles, while other times creating situations simply by writing them into the script.
Needing a villain for the movie, the group decides to kidnap their favorite B-movie star, Virgil Morgan, and force him to participate. They arrive at Virgil's Hollywood home and abduct him. After a few unsuccessful attempts to film a scene, Virgil tutors the group on basic filmmaking skills. Most of the actors that appear in the film, including those whose characters have already been killed, gather in Virgil's living room and perform a read-through of the script.
The group orchestrates a climatic car chase and gun battle. During the chase, the group decides to name their movie "Killer Flick", with the tagline "Because we'd kill to make a movie". At the end of the chase, Tess is shot and killed. The group tearfully buries her, consoled in the knowledge that her death was required by the traditional structures of screenwriting.
[edit] Themes
The film frequently blurs the line between itself and the movie its characters are making. The characters periodically exercise editorial control over what happens around them, giving the impression that they are actually creating the film they inhabit. The often-repeated intention of the filmmakers is to make a violent exploitation movie on the cheap and then sell it for a lot of money. The group's goals portray filmmaking as a mercenary enterprise, satirizing independent film and the real filmmakers' own intentions.
The film also portrays the work-in-progress aspect of independent filmmaking, as the characters are constantly writing, casting, scoring, and changing their movie as they film it. This work-in-progress theme is also used in the film's official website, which makes it appear as if the site is being built while the user browses it.
[edit] Reception
The film won Best Picture at the Pomona Film Festival and earned enthusiastic praise from several film critics, including Kevin Thomas from the LA Times, but was not a financial success. It aired occasionally on HBO and was released to DVD in 2003. As of October 2006, writer/director Mark Weidman has no other film credits listed on the Internet Movie Database.
