The Strange Saga Of SEANCE, The Corey Feldman Movie That Time Forgot
The internet, man.
Usually, it disappoints us. Profoundly. Other times, it unites and amazes us.
For instance: remember a couple years ago, when footage from Jerry Lewis' long-lost concentration camp comedy The Day The Clown Cried popped up online? Remember how amazing that was? How, after being kept under strict lock and key for over four decades, boom: suddenly the internet coughs up The Day The Clown Cried footage like it was no big deal? How everyone dropped what they were doing to gawk at it? How delighted we all were to suddenly find ourselves just a click away from seven-plus minutes' worth of straight-up Hollywood history? For film geeks and Jerry Lewis aficionados alike, this was mind-blowing. Holy Grail shit. This was the new highest point on the Internet Magic Scale.
Two years later, John Preston's Seance (AKA Killer In The Dark) has arrived online, and it falls somewhere lower on that same scale.
Here are the facts, as I understand them: yesterday, someone on Reddit made a post to the r/movies subreddit announcing that "Fifteen years ago my friend's dad spent a million dollars making a movie starting Adam West. He finished it but never released it because it was terrible - we finally convinced him to upload it to YouTube". In the body of the post, this Reddit user (u/neckbeard_le_pirate) went on to explain that, yes: back in 2001, his friend's dad (current occupation: construction worker) had spent $1m making a horror film called Seance (AKA Killer In The Dark). The film starred Corey Feldman, Adam West, and someone named Mikki Padilla, and -- once completed -- it was shelved, never to be heard from again. Until...
Well, you know how Reddit user neckbeard_le_pirate is. He's not the type to just sit on a potential goldmine like Seance (AKA Killer In The Dark). Reddit user neckbeard_le_pirate is a giver, son. A man of the people. A philanthropist, really, when you get right down to it. If he gets wind of a terrible, $1m horror film starring Adam West and Corey Feldman that no one's ever heard of, you can bet your sweet ass he's going to do whatever it takes-- up to and including hassling the man who financed said film, and for over a year if necessary-- in order to make sure we all get to see it, too. And that's precisely what he did. Let's start here, with the trailer.
If you weren't already onboard with Seance (AKA Killer In The Dark), well, you are now. This movie has everything: bold sideburns! Multi-wick candles! Corey Feldman rocking a goatee that one might reasonably describe as "Andrew Jareckian"! Adam West playing a character who's a bindle away from being a full-blown cartoon hobo! It ain't The Day The Clown Cried footage, for sure. But it'll do. Yeah, it'll do nicely.
And the best part is, you can watch the entire thing right now, online, legally and for free. Somehow, Reddit user and national hero neckbeard_le_pirate convinced Rick Vasquez (who executive produced and wrote Seance (AKA Killer In The Dark)) to upload the film in its entirety to YouTube, where it might finally receive the audience it deserves. Even as we speak, it's just sitting there, waiting to be watched. On the off-chance you are still unconvinced, here's a few choice quotes from Vasquez on the film:
“Corey is believable, sensitive, exceptional performance. It is the best film Corey Feldman has ever done.” - R. Vasquez
And--
“We called Adam [West] ‘one-shot Adam’ because he could do every take perfectly in one shot. Everyone’s childhood hero became our hero on set.” - R. Vasquez
Still on the fence? Consider this, the only available review for the film, posted on Seance (AKA Killer In The Dark)'s IMDB page:
Good premise. Mikki Padilla, Shannon Malone, and Amy Lotsi add a sexy appeal as they are hunted down by this foreboding child with the power to possess souls. Corey Feldman holds his own as he leads the crusade to vanquish this evil child from his youth, and it is a thrill to see Adam West (TVs Batman) in a feature which is rare. The music by Noah Agruss is masterfully done and director John Preston does a good job providing a few chills and screams. One of those movies that gives you that eerie crawling feeling up your spine. It has the feel of Chucky meets Poltergeist. You don't mind watching it more than once and is best viewed in the dark. As a low-budget horror film most wont feel cheated and the ending has a nice twist. Overall I feel it will grab a broad audience from teens to adults and have legs for some time to come.
That totally impartial, 9/10 star review was written by one Charles Mariotti, who is surely not the same Charles Mariotti listed as a "consulting producer" on the same IMDB page. He is also not to be confused with the Charles Mariotti of Charles Mariotti Entertainment, the company currently hosting Seance (AKA Killer In The Dark)'s trailer on YouTube. Nothing to see here, move along.
One last thing I think you should all be aware of: according to neckbeard_le_pirate's post on Reddit, Seance (AKA Killer In The Dark) is based on a true story. Rick Vasquez and his brother's true story, to be precise. Yes. Rick and his brother had "an experience with a ghost in their childhood", and one day they decided to spend $1m dramatizing the events of that experience in a(n admittedly terrible) horror movie starring Corey Feldman and Adam West. What are you gonna do, not watch that movie? After all that money was spent? After everything Reddit user, national hero, and all-around good guy neckbeard_le_pirate went through to make it available to us? I really hope not. That'd be ungrateful. Selfish, even.
Note: Of course I haven't watched Seance (AKA Killer In The Dark) yet, but that's only because I opted to spend my time alerting you to its existence first. Also I had some errands to run. But let's all agree to watch it right this minute, and we'll meet below in the comments section to discuss it in, oh, maybe 95 minutes or so.
