Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. It can be tough for low budget filmmakers out there, especially when they have a festival hit and don't launch right away.
I've seen it a lot, especially in genre films. I've seen The Signal guys struggle to get films off the ground despite selling their $50,000 shot-with-friends movie for seven figures.
It's a tough time for low budget filmmakers. Scott Glosserman come out with the genuinely fun take on slasher films that puts every Scream sequel to shame to much critical reception a few years back called Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon.
What was brilliant about Behind the Mask was how it shifts from being a funny slasher deconstruction to a real-deal slasher film. At first the film is a faux-documentary conceit as a woman follows a slasher-in-the-making as he prepares for his big night. There's a shift, though, that begins gradually until the point where the documentary stops happening and you're in the world. It's quite a great concept and Glosserman executes it fantastically.
If you haven't seen the movie, check out the trailer below. It'll catch you up to speed on the tone and features the late, great Zelda Rubinstein!
Director Scott Glosserman has an idea for a sequel/prequel/remake (if you've seen the movie you know that is quite possible and a great way to wedge in some commentary on the modern state of horror that Scream 4 just totally ignored) that he's calling Before The Mask: The Return of Leslie Vernon and he's raising money independently to make the movie happen.
He's going with the Kickstarter model, but what's interesting is that since there was a significant fanbase for the first movie he's essentially selling pre-orders for the new movie (on DVD) to the fans, charged only if the film is greenlighted, which is a bit different from just asking for blind donations on Kickstarter in return for a koozie or something.
If you're a fan of Behind the Mask and want to see more of Leslie Vernon, then head on over to the Facebook page and like it up... and pre-order the DVD or, if you really feel generous, buy an autographed poster for a little more money.
It's an interesting model for these guys who make a movie that is liked, but doesn't blow up the world and one I hope succeeds for them. Getting genre out of the hands of bean-counters is always a good thing.
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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