Screamplay (Fantastic Fest 2026)

Interior: writer’s studio. The film reviewer sits hunched over her laptop, typing away like a madwoman – she has just begun writing her review of a recently-restored ‘80s horror gem that was recently remastered in 4K by Muscle Distribution, and premiered at the 2026 edition of Fantastic Fest. The door slowly opens behind her, and the killer enters, grabbing a hold of her head with his gloved hands, and bashes her head into the keyboard, until she lies dead on a desk strewn with loose keys and bloody teeth…

There’s always one you haven’t seen. Screamplay (1984), the solitary feature film written and directed by one Rufus Butler Seder, languished in relative obscurity until fairly recently; originally released by Troma, Seder’s wacky satirical horror-comedy styled after classic Hollywood cinema and German Expressionism might have been a hard sell to ‘80s audiences looking for straightforward slasher thrills, which seems oddly appropriate given the film’s focus on a writer’s struggles to find success in Hollywood – the city where dreams go to die and nightmares are brought to life. More recently, the film has gained a small cult of followers who recognise it for the hidden gem it is, and thanks to the folks at Muscle Distribution and Matchbox Cine, it looks as though their number is about to grow. Having now seen it for myself, I can tell you that the cult of Screamplay has certainly gained at least one extra member.

Screamplay follows the delightfully-named Edgar Allan (played by director Seder), a budding screenwriter who travels to Hollywood with dreams of a career in writing “murder movies”. He soon finds himself living and working as a janitor at the Welcome Apartments, owned by sleazy muscle-man Martin (George Kuchar) and home to a variety of weird and wonderful residents, including spirited young actress Holly (Katy Bolger), horny ageing horror-star Nina Ray (M. Lynda Robinson), and religious fanatic ex-rockstar Lot (Bob White). Whenever Edgar gets frustrated with his fellow tenants, he writes gruesome death scenes for them into his latest screenplay – but when the pages go missing, somebody starts carrying out the murders for real! Who has taken up the role of Edgar’s slasher, and is it too late to stop real life from sticking to his script?

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Right off the bat, Screamplay is a fascinating boiling pot of genres and influences, ranging from ‘40s detective noir to ‘20s-style silent horror to ‘80s Troma splatter-comedy. It also happens to be visually astounding, with gorgeously-constructed sets, deliberately wonky retro-style projection effects and editing techniques, and gorgeously stylised camerawork, though the real star of the show has to be the harsh, shadowy expressionist lighting which is equal parts Val Lewton and Caligari in effect; all of this is impressive for a low-budget independent film from any time period, let alone a project largely helmed by one guy in ‘80s Brooklyn, and yet that’s only a small part of what makes Screamplay such a singular (and fun) curiosity to behold. For all its points of influence, Screamplay is a surprisingly unique slice of genre film, especially for an era when meta-horror hadn’t yet become a widespread phenomenon; the closest point of comparison I can think of, and a very positive one at that, is Paul Bartel’s Eating Raoul (1982), and even that barely covers the fact that the films have a vaguely comparable tone.

Also of note are the performances, which are all impressive to a degree which makes me wonder why a lot of the cast didn’t get more screen work around the time of release. The most impressive turn of all, and the funniest at that, is from Seder himself as Edgar, who delivers a delightfully heightened performance that perfectly flips between Looney Tunes character and unhinged maniac; it might just be because I’ve got ‘toons on the brain after watching Coyote vs. Acme (2026), but the whole thing has a bit of a Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1986) vibe to it, even if I can’t put my finger on the specifics. It also helps that Seder perfectly looks the part, being the spitting image of a Conrad Veidt-esque silent screen ghoul – beyond the sex, violence, and wacky humour, you’d never be able to tell that this wasn’t a legitimate lost ‘40s picture from looking at its stars. The other stand-out performance comes from George Kuchar, who avid cult film aficionados will likely recognise from the legendary black-and-white bisexual porno-horror Thundercrack! (1975) – which is possibly the closest relative Screamplay has to any other film style-wise – among others; Kuchar is great here at being both intimidating and ridiculous, and his switch-up in manners whenever Holly is onscreen is masterfully done.

Screamplay is such an unexpectedly clever film, too, with all sorts of little plot and set dressing details that turn out to be important in some joke or narrative development later on that I could never have anticipated – hell, even the reveal of the killer’s identity surprised me! It’s a good, funny, mile-a-minute ride where the jokes don’t ever stop and the kills are a nice mix of gruesome and goofy, and whilst it’s very much the kind of film that’ll leave you a little exhausted and wondering if you need to give it a rewatch in order to catch all the things you missed and get more of the full experience, it’s very much the kind of murder-movie that actively begs to receive more discussion and appraisal. I’m shocked that it has taken this long for Screamplay to receive a high-quality remaster, and the fact that Muscle Distribution have done one is part of the reason why they’re quickly becoming one of my favourite names in the business. Now that Elizabeth Purchell and the folks at Muscle are partnered with Vinegar Syndrome for home video releases, I can only hope that this remaster means there’ll be a shiny new physical media edition of Screamplay on its way in the near future…

ROBYN’S ARCHIVE – SCREAMPLAY