Splatter -- Joe Dante
Roger Corman. Joe Dante. Tony Todd. Richard C. Matheson (son of Richard Matheson). On board so far? How about Corey Feldman? It's easy to forget that before Feldman was a douchebag and before he fell into a pit of drugs, he was a charismatic and good actor. The Goonies, Stand by Me, Gremlins, The 'Burbs, even The Lost Boys. He's terrific in all of them. But now we end up with what we've got here: a joke. It is impossible to take him seriously anymore. It's a shame.
But really, no one comes off too good in Splatter, a web series produced by Roger Corman and helmed by a top-5 all-time director for me, Joe Dante. Corman hasn't been involved in anything interesting since the '80s and Dante has struggled to make movies since the mid-'90s. Splatter feels like a group of kids learning how to make movies, throwing everything at the screen to see if it sticks, not the product of two of my favorite movie minds. And poor Tony Todd is given nothing. Feldman is exactly as you'd expect from the teaser above.
There is some potential, though. If there had been some money behind this (and on Corman productions, there rarely was/is), Splatter could have looked good. And if it hadn't been shot on a really crappy digital camera (some out there may find the aesthetic charming in a low-budget way, but it makes me went to vomit). Get some better actors, flesh out the story a bit so that every line isn't trying to force in exposition. I even legitimately smiled at the finale (as ridiculously as it's staged) after hating the prior 27 minutes.
This is only for Joe Dante completists.
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