Nostalgia Package
#OtherWorlds2019 approaches! To gear up, staff members are sharing the feature films they’re most excited about and why. Next up, Programmer and Registrations Director Reid Lansford shares his thoughts on the Texas premiere of SCARE PACKAGE:
The video store. A relic of a forgotten, better time. Sure, “everything” is available today on various online streaming services at the click of a remote, but an algorithm-based curation built from whatever titles are temporarily licensed can’t even come close to the experience of a brick and mortar video rental store.
And in those stores, there was no better section than the horror aisle. Shelves upon shelves of VHS tapes, each one with box art more alluring than the last, promising all kinds of grisly terrors and buckets of gore. And when you reached a franchise grouping (Freddy, Jason, Chucky, or the rest) you had the opportunity to get caught up in the only cinematic universe I would ever want to get lost in. If like me, you often weren’t lucky enough to get to rent these tapes, you had to settle for permanently burning the box art into your memory and conjuring up your own versions based on the summary on the back of the tape.
SCARE PACKAGE, this year’s Centerpiece Film of our Under Worlds sidebar, fully embraces that nostalgia. Using a legendary video store right here in Austin as its main setting, and tape boxes as its chapter intros, SCARE PACKAGE brings together a fantastic group of filmmakers to create what will undoubtedly become the next definitive cult horror comedy. This is easily one of my favorite films we’ve had at Other Worlds, and not just because of the simple nostalgic trappings. It’s clear a lot of love for the horror genre went into this; no trope is left unused, every cliché and contradiction is questioned and embraced. It’s clear that like me, these filmmakers also spent a lot of time wandering the horror aisles in their hometown video stores (but based on the end result, they were lucky enough to get someone to rent the tapes for them.)
I can’t quite think of anything we’ve shown at Other Worlds before that says “Late Night Movie” more than SCARE PACKAGE, so there was really only one time and place to play it. Join us and some of the folks involved with the film at 10:15 PM on Saturday, December 7th (select badges are still available here) for what’s sure to be one of the most fun and goriest nights we’ve ever had at Other Worlds.
And after that, when the festival is all done, do us a favor. Go to any of the great video stores right here in Austin and rent some movies. I’d recommend by starting in the horror section.
SCARE PACKAGE screens Saturday, December 7 at 10:15pm
USA | 2019 | 103 min
Directors: Emily Hagins, Baron Vaughn, Noah Segan, Chris McInroy, Anthony Cousins, Hillary & Courtney Andujar, Aaron B. Koontz
Cast: Toni Trucks, Joe Bob Briggs, Dustin Rhodes, Chase Williamson, Baron Vaughn, Noah Segan
A meta Horror-comedy anthology film where each segment subverts a different set of Horror tropes, all intertwined around the on-boarding of a mysterious new employee at a struggling genre video store: Rad Chad’s Horror Emporium.
“SCARE PACKAGE is a great representation of what we look for in a Centerpiece film as it is smart and extremely fun. Each segment of this anthology has a different voice, but still feel like they belong together. It blends satire with gruesome horror and still manages to develop characters within the different segments. While everything has a nostalgic feel, it’s blended well so the audience is never overwhelmed by it. And it’s great to highlight our Under Worlds sidebar with something shot in Austin.” – Dan Repp, Other Worlds Senior Programmer and Event Director
