Home

Blood on the Backlot

Submitted by Superheidi on 10/25/2004

Blood on the Backlot
Directed by: Michelle Deal
Written by: Donald Peterson
Featuring: Brinke Stevens, Grant Axton, John Billingsly, Silky Blackwood, Cliff Castlefield, Jim Hanks, Brent Kirkland, Bill Miller, Ken Saunders, Jennifer Tierney
2000, 22 minutes
Review by: Superheidi

Michelle Deal has directed what is one of the funniest short horror films I’ve ever seen. When women tackle horror, as is the case more and more these days, on film, they tend to go for either a gut-wrenching disturbing gore fest, or a really campy and fun tribute. The latter is what Michelle has done. From a superb and witty script by Donald Patterson, Blood on the Backlot pokes fun at 1940’s noir films, mysteries, and bitchy scream queens.

Brinke Stevens is perfectly cast as the childish and impossible Sabrina Morgan, an actress cast in the latest horror film by Pepercorn Studios. Pepercorn Studios is notorious for making bad b-movie horror flicks, complete with bad monster masks and all. Sidney peppercorn (Brent Kirkland) facilitates Sabrina’s career by casting her in the same roles again and again…That is, until Sabrina Morgan is murdered one night on the backlot by what seems to be a werewolf! Detective John Waddington is on the case immediately, and no one is safe from suspicion…John Waddington doesn’t believe in werewolves, and he is going to discover who really killed Sabrina Morgan if it takes him all night.

John Waddington is a truly irresistibly funny character. A jab at those old detectives played by the likes of Humphrey Bogart and William Powell, John Waddington (played by John Billingsly) is everything you would hope for in a detective; quick, clever, witty, and totally dead wrong. Though he couldn’t solve the murder if you paid him, he has some pretty entertaining ideas about who did kill Sabrina, and why. Gathering everyone present in one room to go over the crime, John questions the cops, the Studio head, the other actors, and everyone who might have had anything to do with Sabrina. As it turns out, they all have some very good reasons for wanting to get rid of her…

A Scooby-Doo cartoonish atmosphere, crossed with elements of the films Clue and The Thin Man, Blood on the Backlot is ceaselessly fun. The stylish elements of noir filmmaking are so flawlessly copied, but still mocked, with fantastic costumes, sets, and even the carefully chosen language each character uses. Some very brilliant editing hides any budget deficiencies here may have been, and the complicated fun mystery is a riot. The combination of good acting, good writing, and good directing can only work to make this story succeed, whether you like comedies, horror, mysteries, or just a good movie.

No votes yet
»