Mexico City /
The Creator VC Studios initially developed In search of darkness as a trilogy of full-length documentary films focused on horror cinema of the 1980sa time in which several horror classics such as Friday the 13th either evil dead. The documentary trilogy stood out for bringing together many icons and experts of the time.
The director of the saga, David A. Weiner spoke with MILLENNIUM of the new installment that will focus on the next decade and will feature a cast of more than 40 horror legends:
“This time we are going to the 90s, we decided it was time for a new decade. What is different? We are now dividing the decade into two films; The first part that covers from 1990 to 1994 is the In Search Of Darkness longest so far, it will last almost 6 hours.”
The director and journalist highlights that one of the elements to explore in In search of Darkness 90sit will be digital technology like CGI in horror, which began to displace practical effects sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. Furthermore, he says that the long duration of these documentaries is required by their very structure, which narrates the films that came out each year with interviews with the actors, directors or people who participated in the production. The filmmaker also talked about the challenges of making a project of this scale.
“When writing it I begin by outlining all the elements of the decade that I want to talk about, the broader themes and the films themselves, structured to fit into the same story that is the decade, like a big puzzle and once I create the relevant questions for my outline I move on to the interviews.
I sit down with the talents of the film or a very famous fan in our studio or their house and we have very long interviews because they are exclusive. Sometimes we talk for 2 or 3 hours, for example, with Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger), he loves to talk and to The New Nightmare of Wes Craven (1994) I’m also sitting with Heather Langenkampwhere she plays herself.
I also talk to Don Mancini creator of the saga chuckywho talks about how with each installment the rules of the studio changed. I will talk to Doug Bradleywho plays Pinhead in the movies hellraiser; There comes a point where it becomes difficult to take parts of each interview to fit the mathematical equation and allocate adequate time to each film; Sometimes I prefer not to dedicate so much time to the most famous films in order to give a place to others that are not so well known..”
From the classics to the misunderstood
David relates that, in seeking broader coverage of 90s horror icons, they will also cover films that came directly to home format (VHS) or on television.
“One of the first icons that came to mind was Pennywise of Stephen King’s It (Eso, 1990), we will talk to its director and now I have to cheat because that was a miniseries on television when it came out, plus people always ask about horror on television.”
Despite keeping the complete list of films mentioned in the documentary as a surprise, the director announced that they will not only focus on American cinema, as there are also terrifying films from Mexico, Japan or Germany. In the case of Mexico, the selected film is The invention of Cronusfirst film of Guillermo del Toro.
In search of darkness promises to illuminate the forgotten horror films of the time, recognizing the effort that filmmakers had to anticipate the public or capture their personal vision while trying to reach the limits of what was shown in the nineties:
“I spoke with Jörg Buttgereit who is in Berlin, made the controversial films Nekromantik and Nekromantik 2. I think sometimes these filmmakers are misunderstood because of the darkness of their films, here he talks about why he decided to make them and not just the controversy, but the fact that he almost went to jail for them.
From fans to fans
“In Search Of Darkness take all these movies, whether it’s a well-known movie like The silence of the innocent (1991), or straight-to-video movies that no one has heard of. They are all important to us because, as fans, we watched them when we probably shouldn’t have been in the basement with a VHS tape or escaped to the cinema, they became our favorites and This is how we connect with the horror community to keep that fire burning by sharing these stories and introducing these films to the next generation.”
Said David Weiner stating that everyone involved in the project is horror fans and that, like all Creator VC projects, In search of darkness 90s is crowdfunded by fans; You have until midnight on November 3 to enter 90shorrordoc.com and purchase your copy of the documentary; In recognition of his contribution, his name will appear in the credits.
“The fans are very involved in the production, we give them exclusive reports on the talent that participates and sometimes they can interact with them, we invite them to be part of this. You get a digital copy of the movie, but we know that most fans are collectors, so you can also get the physical version, a collaboration certificate, posters, patches and t-shirts, etc..
They are difficult things to get because they will not be in stores or on any platform. streaming as usual. We do things a little differently, but when the movie ends and in the credits you see your name next to directors like John Carpenter either Mike Flanaganyou can say that thanks to you this movie could be made, how many people can have their name in a Hollywood movie?”
The director of the documentary concluded by inviting people to follow the 80shorrordoc page on social networks to be part of the growing community of horror culture fans who seek darkness in classic films of the genre.
AMG